The Pros and Cons of Outsourcing Lead Generation
Should you outsource lead generation?
It’s a question that many business leaders are asking in 2024. Sales and marketing business process outsourcing is on the rise and will continue on that trajectory through at least 2030. Lead generation is commonly named a top challenge for B2B marketers, so it makes sense that it’s a process many might choose to outsource.
The challenge is knowing if it’s right for your business. RevBoss provides lead-gen services, but we’ll be honest with you: There are pros and cons to outsourcing, and it’s not always the quick fix businesses want it to be.
When you do outsource, it’s important to stay actively involved in processes like defining your ideal customers and developing targeted messaging that’s true to your brand. Working successfully with a service provider requires partnership.
In this guide, we’ll talk about outsourcing lead generation from our own experiences with clients, and walk you through the right questions to ask to ensure you make the right decision for your business.
Here at RevBoss, we started out as an outsourced lead generation agency and have evolved into a sales development company. That means no matter where you land on the issue, RevBoss can help!
Quick Takeaways
- Outsourcing lead generation offers fast implementation, expert insights, and scalability, but requires careful consideration of potential trade-offs.
- Key benefits include quick setup, access to specialized expertise, and cost savings, enabling businesses to focus on strategic growth.
- Challenges of outsourcing include the risk of losing in-house process development, initial investment costs, and the need for active collaboration.
- Ensuring alignment between your business goals and the outsourced provider’s strategies is crucial for maximizing lead generation success.
Outsourcing Lead Generation: The Pros
There’s no doubt that handling lead-gen internally can be a challenge, especially as businesses work to leverage technology to execute on a greater scale. Outsourcing lead generation is a strategic solution that offers fast deployment and expert insight, all without the overhead of in-house operations.
Let’s dive deeper into the most important advantages of outsourcing:
1.) Quick implementation
Vendors have perfected their process to get clients up and running right away—at RevBoss, it happens in less than two weeks! From startups looking to jumpstart growth to established large companies wanting to give their sales a boost, this kind of fast launch is awfully convenient.
Not only can you expect faster time to value on your lead-gen efforts, you know you are using a tried-and-true process that’s already worked for other organizations.
2.) Access to lead-gen expertise
Outsourcing lead generation means you’re working with professionals whose focus is all lead-gen, all the time. You get access to experience and expertise spanning many industries, types of organizations, and market scenarios. This is one thing that makes outsourcing so attractive even for small and/or startup companies.
3.) Lower risk
Initiatives like new product launches or market expansions come with inevitable risk, and for many companies, the last thing they want to do is add more by launching a prospecting or lead-gen strategy that may or may not pan out successfully. When you want to be able to keep your focus on other strategic initiatives and execute with confidence, outsourcing lead generation may be the way to go.
4.) Increased lead-gen scalability
The past several years have shown companies more than ever the importance of being able to react quickly to market changes. Outsourcing lead generation allows you to scale your efforts up and down as needed without having to worry about carrying internal costs (like full-time salaries and benefits) or complicated lead-gen infrastructures.
This ability to operate with greater flexibility and adapt quickly to changing markets is the #1 reason companies across industries choose to outsource.
5.) Cost savings
Outsourcing saves you the headache—and expense—of setting up the tools and team you’ll need to execute a lead generation strategy in house. At the same time, you get access to bundled products and services for an end-to-end lead-gen strategy at a single price.
Over time, this streamlined model allows you to reallocate money you’d otherwise spend on running your own lead-gen efforts to other strategic initiatives for higher overall ROI.
6.) Continuous Optimization
Lead generation agencies continuously test and refine strategies across various campaigns and industries. This commitment to optimization ensures your lead-gen efforts are always at the forefront of best practices, leveraging the latest trends and technologies to maximize effectiveness and ROI.
7.) Dedicated Support and Reporting
When you outsource lead generation, you gain a partner wholly focused on delivering results for your business. This includes dedicated support for campaigns and comprehensive reporting that offers deep insights into performance metrics.
Having this detailed analysis is invaluable for making informed decisions and further tailoring strategies to meet your specific business objectives and market dynamics.
Outsourcing Lead Generation: The Cons
Outsourcing lead generation can significantly boost a company’s outreach and sales efforts. But to make the right decision, it’s also essential to know and understand the potential downsides of this approach.
Deciding to outsource means entrusting a critical aspect of your business to an external party, which, while beneficial in many respects, comes with its own set of challenges. Let’s dive into them a little further
1.) Lack of in-house process development
It goes without saying that in choosing to work with a third party, you’re effectively choosing not to build a process in-house, which means that you’re not going to develop the process, know-how, and experience on your internal team. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is a trade-off that you need to consider.
2.) Hit to Your Budget
While we know that outsourcing lead generation saves you money over time, there’s no getting around the initial investment. You’ll need to be ready to handle the up-front cost of hiring a lead generation agency and setting up your strategy, which not every company can (or wants to) do.
3.) Outsourcing still requires work
Lead-gen service providers aren’t magicians. They’re very good at the process, but still require time and attention from you, the customer. The models below show how strong collaboration shortens time to value when you hire someone to handle your lead gen.
In the first model, there’s a delay in value as the vendor works out how to deliver unique value to your organization. In the second model, strong collaboration drives a gradual but consistent rise in value after the initial deal is made.
Good partners need help at the outset and should quickly find a groove. But if you’re not able or willing to put in the time and effort required to get a partner up to speed, you’ll likely experience delayed or less-than-stellar results.
4.) Lost culture
A team of lead-gen hustlers can do wonders for your company culture—when they perform well, an in-house lead generation team generates energy, emotion, and velocity that can feed other areas of your business. While you save on the cost of an in-house team by outsourcing, you miss out on the impact of its day-to-day presence.
5.) Potential for misaligned objectives
Working with an external lead-gen provider introduces the risk of misalignment between your business objectives and the agency’s strategies. Ensuring that your goals, especially in terms of lead quality and brand representation, align with the provider’s methods is crucial. Regular check-ins and strategy sessions can help mitigate this risk, keeping both parties on the same track.
6.) Communication barriers
Effective communication is the backbone of any successful outsourcing relationship. Still, differences in time zones, cultures, or operational styles can create barriers that hinder smooth collaboration. Overcoming these challenges requires establishing clear communication channels and setting mutual expectations from the start, as well as fostering an environment of openness and feedback.
7. Less company/product/service knowledge
No one quite knows your products or services like your own sales team. Lead gen providers are savvy at getting up to speed on their clients’ offerings and representing them well, but it doesn’t replicate the nuanced and complete understanding your own team maintains. That’s why it’s critical to look at outsourcing as a partnership that you’ll actively participate in to keep it aligned with your brand.
How to Decide If You Should Outsource Lead Generation
The decision to outsource lead generation hinges on important factors like timing, budget, readiness, and anticipated ROI. The questions outlined below can help you determine if outsourcing is best for your business right now:
- Are you ready for outbound sales development? If not, get ready before you consider lead gen outsourcing.
- Do you have the budget and time to commit? Remember, you’ll need to make an upfront financial investment and spend time with your lead-gen provider (especially during the first few weeks) to get the strategy right.
- Do you have a well-defined target market and repeatable sales process? If not, an outsourced lead-gen partner can help you do this quickly to maximize revenue.
- Does your team know how to build a sales process and team? If not, you’ll likely need to outsource lead gen in order to grow.
- Is your current strategy lacking in results? Even if you’ve got an established lead-gen and sales strategy in place, you may want to outsource to give it a boost.
As you can see, the decision to outsource lead generation (or not) is about more than just affordability—it requires a thorough qualitative and quantitative evaluation of your current strategy and resources, goals, and organizational preferences.
How RevBoss Can Help You Grow
Maximize your lead-gen potential and power your pipeline with a strong sales prospecting strategy—one supported by comprehensive tools and services like the ones we offer at RevBoss.
Our outbound email software and lead generation services are custom-built for startups, marketing agencies. consultancies, and other B2B organizations to help them grow.
Schedule a quick call with us and find out how RevBoss can help you win more clients.