Thinking about building an SDR team in-house? Let’s do the math.

I hear this debate all the time —”should we build an SDR team in-house or outsource the function to an experienced provider?”

On the surface, in-house seems like the logical choice. You assume more control, you hire directly, and you get to shape the team. But when I walk customers through the real cost of sales development, it’s clear that hiring, training and retaining SDRs in-house is a far bigger lift than most people anticipate.

Outsourcing, on the other hand, offers a flexible, scalable alternativethat often delivers results faster. But does it make sense for you? Let’s break it down.

The hidden costs of an in-house SDR team

When companies evaluate SDR costs, salaries are just the beginning. I caution customers to look at the full picture, because the actual cost of running an in-house SDR team adds up fast (recruiting, onboarding, training, and tech investment).

In our experience, even in an optimized model, these costs start at $7K per SDR.

🔹 Hiring and onboarding costs – SDRs have high turnover, and finding, hiring, and ramping them takes time. Every time you lose one, you start over. And the SDR function often attracts young people still exploring career options. Within a very short window, many of them will bail out unless 1) you know what you are looking for when hiring them and 2) they get the support needed to feel successful. That leads me to my next point:

🔹 Management and training – One of the biggest hidden costs in building an in-house SDR team is management. SDRs need coaching, development, and oversight to be effective. But here’s the reality: unless you’re running a team of 10+ SDRs, it’s tough to justify hiring a dedicatedSDR manager.

📊 What we’re seeing:

• A 1:10 ratio(one manager per 10 SDRs) is ideal for proper coaching, training, and performance tracking.

• Some companies try to run a 1:5 ratio, but that’s expensive and inefficientunless SDRs are extremely high-value.

• Anything below that? SDR management falls on sales leaders who already have a full plate.

💡 What this means for you: If you don’t have 10+ SDRs, then managing them becomes an added burden—which is where outsourcing becomes the more efficient, scalable option.

Many of the people we bring on come with high expectations around technology. They need to help them do their jobs and move fast. Which brings me to another big investment area:

🔹 Technology and infrastructure – CRMs, auto-dialers, email automation, compliance tools—these aren’t optional, and they aren’t cheap.

Then, we’ve got costs associated with time-to-market. You can’t put a price on these, really…

🔹 Global expansion challenges – If you plan to sell into new markets, do you have the local hiring expertise, multilingual reps, and compliance knowledgeto execute? Most companies don’t.

🔹 Scalability issues – You can’t just snap your fingers and grow your SDR team. Hiring takes time, layoffs hurt morale, and market shifts can leave you stuck with the wrong resources.

When we run side-by-side costs for our customers, outsourcing ends up saving businesses $30,000 per SDR per year. That’s because in-house SDRs require hiring, training, management, tech, and overhead costs that add up fast. For example, a typical in-house SDR costs $9,500 USD fully-loaded each month, whereas outsourcing covers all of this for $7,000 USD monthly. And that’s not even counting the friction of retention, turnover, and the HR time spent on rehiring and ramping new SDRs.

But wait…there’s more

Customers ask me all the time, “Isn’t outsourcing just as expensive?” The short answer? No. It’s more cost-effective, faster, and removes a ton of operational headaches.

✔ Immediate scalability – If you need to ramp fast, test new segments, or expand into new regions, outsourcing gets you there in weeks, not months.

✔ Expert execution – SDR providers live and breathe inside sales. They bring proven playbooks, best practices, and built-in sales development expertise.

✔ No infrastructure headaches – SDR firms come with the tech stack, analytics, and automation—so you don’t have to.

✔ Less risk, more results – Turnover? Underperformance? Hiring delays? Your outsourced provider absorbs those challenges…not you.

✔ Alignment with sales & marketing – Many companies struggle to align B2B lead generation strategies across marketing and sales. A strong outsourced SDR team solves that gap.

What about AI? Can’t you just automate this?

I hear this one all the time: “What if we just use AI instead of hiring SDRs?” Look, AI is a great tool—but it’s not a replacement for real sales development.Here’s why:

🤖 AI can help with: Email automation, lead scoring, and data enrichment.

🙅 AI can’t replace: Human connection, prospecting skills, and real-time objection handling.

📉 Over-relying on AI leads to: Automated outreach that sounds robotic, lower response rates, and lost pipeline.

The best approach? AI + experienced SDRs working together. Use automation for efficiency, but keep humans in the loop for relationship-building and deal acceleration.

The bottom line: all the ROI, none of the risk

Some companies have the bandwidth, expertise, and long-term hiring commitment to build an in-house SDR team. But most don’t—and that’s where outsourcing just makes sense.

✅ Faster pipeline growthwithout months of hiring and training.

✅ Proven SDR talentthat’s already trained and ready to execute.

✅ Scalability—scale up or down as your business needs evolve.

✅ Lower cost, higher efficiency—get expert SDRs without the overhead.

If you’ve been weighing in-house vs. outsourced SDRs, let’s talk. We help companies navigate this decision every day, and I can walk you through the numbers, the pitfalls and the best approach for your business.

📩 Let’s chat. Either comment here or DM me. Oh, and we have a great eBook that shows more detail about these calculations/decisions. Hit me up if you want a copy!