Lead generation can be a real challenge for growing tech companies. There is enormous pressure to scale rapidly in an already competitive market, as well as to test out different verticals with minimal risk.

All kinds of problems arise when you fail to invest in your lead gen strategy. Finding the right audience will prove difficult, high-quality leads can slip through the cracks, and you may find your sales funnel is reliant on referrals, which can only get you so far.

In 2024, the landscape for markets like SaaS and enterprise tech are incredibly competitive. What’s more, increasing economic uncertainty demands a cost-effective approach to scaling. If you want to carve out a space for your business, you need to invest in lead generation but also minimize your financial risk. This is not an easy balance to strike.

Accelerating your pipeline with a small team is a considerable challenge, but it can be done. One of the best ways to hit the ground running is to have a solid lead gen strategy in place from day one. This will ensure you’re sending the right ICPs through your funnel and not wasting money on poor-quality leads.

In this article, we’ll look at two of the best solutions – outsourced lead generation (through a tech or SaaS lead generation agency) and in-house SDR teams, enhanced by AI tools.

Outsourced Lead Generation: How Does it Work?

Outsourcing your lead generation means paying another company or agency to handle your outbound campaigns.

Pros of Outsourced Lead Generation

Outsourced lead generation is successful if your main pain point is not having enough time to handle tasks like prospecting, following up with leads and setting up email sequences. A team will take care of all of this for you, and you’ll then convert or qualify leads as they come through the sales funnel.

By outsourcing these tasks, you’re also tapping into a team of experts, all of whom have different specialties and skills to bring to your campaigns, while you get on with building your business. This is one of the biggest benefits of outsourced lead generation.

Outsourced lead generation is generally quick and easy to deploy, once the agency knows a bit about your goals – you could be generating leads in as little as a few weeks, depending on the agency.

Cons of Outsourced Lead Generation

On the other hand, you’ll have limited strategic control over your campaigns. Most agencies operate in a “black box” capacity, so you won't know the inner workings of your lead generation – you’ll just see the results. This also throws up concerns about GDPR and data ownership, which can damage your reputation when you’re just starting out.

Outsourced lead generation is expensive, with most agencies charging around $5000 per month for good-quality leads.

ROI and Timeframe

The success of outsourced lead generation will depend on the agency you use, its pricing structure and the strategy’s alignment with your business goals. As a result, ROI can be inconsistent, with real results sometimes not becoming apparent for 3-6 months.

A SaaS lead generation agency may also have hidden costs depending on the tools and techniques they use, with longer ramp-up times for niche markets. In other words, you could end up blowing your lead gen budget and not having much to show for it.

In-House SDR Teams: Full Ownership for a High Price

In-house lead generation is usually the job of an SDR (Sales Development Representative), although it can fall into the scope of other sales and marketing roles.

“In-house” lead generation just means that all lead-gen activities are performed by a team or individual employed by your company – they will take care of prospecting, outreach and nurturing.

Pros of In-House Lead Generation

Taking care of your lead generation internally means you’ll have complete control over everything – from strategy to targeting and messaging. You won’t need to worry about an agency not aligning with your brand, as using internal teams will help build knowledge and experience for future and long-term campaigns.

Lead generation will also be more tailored to your ICP, whereas agencies don’t tend to work specifically in particular niches or markets and will use more of an umbrella approach.

Cons of In-House Lead Generation

It can be difficult to scale with in-house lead generation for a couple of reasons. The national base salary of an SDR is $45-65K per year, and that doesn’t account for benefits, bonuses and tools.

Sales reps also have a particularly high turnover rate, with tenure only usually lasting 18 months, which could result in continuous hiring and re-training costs.

ROI and Timeframe

The ROI of hiring an SDR or team to generate leads is variable – but we estimate that the average cost of hiring and training a small team of 3 SDRs and the appropriate tools is between $200-$300K per year, which many early-stage companies don’t have spare.

Hiring, training and optimizing an SDR or sales team can take months, so lead generation can be slow. This is bad news if you’re trying to make a quick impression on the market or scale up quickly.

In-House or Outsourced Lead Generation? Choosing the Best Approach

As you can see, in-house and outsourced lead generation both have pros and cons, and the right choice will depend on your business needs.

Outsourcing limits flexibility and control, so if you require full oversight, handling your lead gen internally might be best, especially if you’re concerned about quality control.

Outsourced solutions can scale faster, so if you’re prioritizing rapid growth, it might be best to use a SaaS lead generation agency. If you have budget constraints, you’ll need to weigh the cost of different agency retainers with the long-term costs of hiring and training SDRs.

Agencies tend to provide faster ROI, while internal lead generation might be a better longer-term strategy if you’re not worried about scaling quickly.

Topo: The Future of Lead Gen for Growing Companies

If you want the best of both words there is another solution! Topo leverages the latest in AI technology to combine the best features of both internal and outsourced lead generation.

Using our cost-effective tool, you’ll retain full insight and ownership of your campaigns, while our AI SDRs will handle the execution of manual tasks like prospecting, enrichment and outreach.

With dynamic, tailored adjustments for different industries – as well as new ICPs, verticals or territories – our sophisticated AIs will handle all your lead generation tasks just as a human SDR would, complemented by your expertise and oversight.

Topo’s SDRs are not meant to replace human teams but are designed to work alongside small and scaling companies to produce fast results, maintaining a high quality of leads but eliminating long ramp-up times.

Our tool syncs seamlessly with CRMS like Salesforce, as well as other marketing and analytics platforms. Plus, starting at $750 per month, Topo is 10 times cheaper than hiring a human SDR. It's the perfect scalable, cost-effective solution for early-stage and Series A companies.

• Tech or SaaS lead generation agency retainer: $5K+ per month

• In-house SDRs: $45-65K per year

• Topo’s AI SDRs: $750 per month

Topo represents the future of lead generation, bridging the gap between human oversight and AI software, delivering the benefits of both in-house and outsourced strategies.

If you’re looking for a scaleable, affordable lead-gen solution that combines AI efficiency with human-guided customization, book your free demo with Topo today.