Does this sound like you:
You can think of nothing worse than cold-calling potential prospects.
(It’s no fun getting a phone slammed down in your ear…)
Or maybe writing engaging cold emails is really not your thing…
(Copywriting might not be your idea of an exciting afternoon.)
So you might consider outsourcing an SDR team to do the dirty work.
Sounds good? Right?
NOT Necessarily
Before you jump onto the SDR outsourcing bandwagon, read this first…
Believe it not, but it might not be the best fit for your business just yet.
Curious? Keep reading.
Signal 1: You have a company culture of doing everything
If you do, great 🙂 This isn’t a bad thing.
If you love hiring people and finding talent, there might be no reason to outsource sales development representatives.
Why?
Because if you can find, build and manage your own in-house team, why not? If you are the company’s founder, you will most probably be paying outside consultants, but you do all the implementation yourself.
If you are someone who also is a bit of a control freak, outsourcing an SDR team might seem daunting, BUT if you have the dedicated SDRs from a professional company that offers complete transparency, then you should feel safe to allow them to handle all your outreach.
Just remember to ask a few important questions during the onboarding process before you hire just any SDR company.
Such as:
1: What does the contract look like?
2: Do they use different channels for their outreach strategies? Such as Linkedin messaging, cold emails, cold calling, or SMSes? If they only use one channel run…
3: Do they have any recent case studies that you can look at?
4: What is their lead generation strategy?
5: Do they have a research professional, as well as a personalization specialist?
6: When can you expect your first lead?
So if you are an A-type personality, have a long discussion with the company you would like to outsource.
There should be complete transparency, and if they aren’t willing to show you their metrics, talk about their process, or want to lock you into a contract…
The answer is simple…
RUN…
Signal 2: You have a deep understanding of your target audience (And… If not, you have plenty of time to figure it out.)
If you have a deep understanding of your ideal customer and cold email, you wouldn’t need to hire a company to build a qualified list of prospects for you.
Another reason to not outsource an SDR team is if you have time on your hands and would like to explore and understand how to build your own in-house team.
If this is the case, then that’s not a bad idea either, as you will know exactly what to expect if you do choose to hire a sales team later on.
This might happen if you want to increase your outreach for higher conversions, needing more people to prospect.
NOTE: But you will also need to be sure that you have a winning product and are already making good money.
It doesn’t make sense to pay for an SDR team if you’re not making any money just yet.
You would most likely know who to target and how to target the right prospects for your business.
Perhaps, you have run some email campaigns on your own over a period of 6 months and have found patterns between buyers.
In many cases, though, if you are battling to find the right leads, a professional outsourced SDR company could help you build a list of ideal prospects.
They will be able to find patterns of who is buying your product or service and then reach out to them.
(If you are looking for a done-for-you- lead generation company, read this.)
How would they do this?
Well, firstly by asking the following questions:
- What similarities do these customers have?
- What is your ideal customer profile?
- What kind of buyers are these?
- Are they all located in a similar area?
- Are they all in a specific industry?
- What is the size of their business?
- Do they also use a similar type of tech or CRM tool?
(For a more detailed article on list building, click here.)
If you are already asking these questions and have found patterns, you could always run your own initial marketing campaigns.
If your company starts to do well, you could always outsource a sales development team later on.
Once you have a good amount of high-quality leads in your sales pipeline and a solid strategy that works, bringing your SDR team in-house would make sense.
Signal 3: You are on a shoestring budget
If you are just starting out in your new business, you might not have the funds to hire an outsourced SDR team.
Perhaps you might want to hire a more cost-effective SDR outsourcing company, but this might not be the best idea.
If you are on a shoe-string budget and only have a couple of thousands of dollars to spend on lead generation, you are going to have to do it yourself.
As mentioned in the intro, prospecting might not be your thing. But there are various courses, podcasts, and even sources on the internet that can help you get started.
You might be able to hire one person initially to kick off your sales process, but as your company grows and sales come in, you can hire more people or look to outsourcing sales.
How much does it cost for SDR Outsourcing?
Most SDR companies have similar pricing. According to research on today’s cold email services and lead generation agencies, you should be comfortable with spending between $2000 – $5000 per month for well-done cold email outreach and lead generation services.
If you are tempted to hire lower-end services. Don’t.
Why?
They won’t be able to invest in personalization or quality prospecting data. They might just buy a list of prospects and send out a generic email template to thousands of people, hoping to get a few leads… But this wastes time and money.
It would be better to save up and then hire a company that can get you qualified leads.
Rather have them send out 100 emails per week (for example) that are highly personalized and expertly targeted.
Because by doing this, you could end up getting 1 qualified lead per day. This means that closing deals will become part of your playbook sooner than you think.
Remember: It’s better to go slower than hire cheaper salespeople who burn through your market within a few days. If this happens, you could be labeled as a spammer and develop a bad digital reputation.
Signal 4: You have a solid inbound marketing strategy that’s working.
If you have a very strong inbound marketing strategy that’s working and already brings in sales, you might not need outbound marketing.
Many companies are using social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and Twitter to get their names out there.
Outbound works because it gets your brand name out there immediately. You can get leads from day 1 if you have the right sales team.
Inbound leads takes time, but if you already have a strong brand following and are making money, you could always build your own internal SDR team, even if it is small initially, to have a stronger brand voice.
In fact, mixing inbound marketing with outbound could be a killer recipe for marketing success.
Have a look at some stats below from Hubspot about inbound and outbound marketing:
Blogging and Lead Generation
According to Social Media B2B, B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month than those that don’t. This should make a lot of sense.
If you have an active blog, you have a better chance of making a connection with your website visitors. With educational content delivered in a conversational tone, your prospects get to know your business in a more personal way.
Online Readership
The Content Marketing Institute reports that 8 out of 10 people identify themselves as blog readers, and 23% of all time spent online is spent on social media sites. The numbers don’t lie.
More and more people are reading blogs, and when they find blog articles they like, they are sharing them with their social media networks.
To leverage this new buyer behavior, you need both an active blog and an active presence on all the relevant social media networks.
Content is King
“Content Marketing Institute recently reported that 80% of business decision-makers prefer to get company information in a series of articles versus in an advertisement.
The bottom line: We don’t want to be sold to, we want to be educated, and articles deliver the kind of information your prospects are seeking in order to make smart, well-informed decisions.”
Some more stats:
- Email is nearly40x more effective than either Facebook or Twitter at new customer acquisition.”
- Eight out of 10 prospects want to talk to sales reps via email over any other medium.
- 41.2% of salespeople said their phone is the most effective sales tool at their disposal.
The Takeaway
SDR outsourcing might not be for everyone. A few factors come into play, such as your budget, company culture, target market, and other marketing strategies.
But even if you aren’t ready just yet to outsource an SDR team, it doesnt mean that you will never be ready.
In some cases, you might decide to have your own internal team for appointment setting and sales or start off with outsourcing and then bring it in-house.
Whatever you decide, always choose a company that offers total transparency and has a track record that you can trust.
Salesbread has 14 years of experience in B2B lead generation. We offer our clients complete transparency and guarantee 1 lead a day.
Want to know our secret sauce? Well, it’s no secret… Schedule a free 15 min consultation below, and let’s help get you those qualified leads that bring in sales.