Ramp is the tiebreaker in year one
An SDR who takes four months to ramp has effectively burned a third of the year's cost before hitting quota — and if they leave at month nine, you never recover it. Agencies skip ramp, which is most of their real advantage; they rarely win on steady-state cost per opportunity.
Normalise on quality, not volume
Booked meetings are not the unit of value.
- • Count only meetings that become qualified opportunities.
- • Track no-show rate separately — agencies often quote booked, not held.
- • Watch brand risk: an agency mailing your ICP badly is expensive in ways this model can't price.
- • Check who owns the data and sequences when the contract ends.
The hybrid answer
Many teams use an agency to prove a segment, then bring it in-house once cost per opportunity and messaging stabilise. Model both at your real numbers and pick the switchover point deliberately rather than by frustration.
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Read the guideFAQ
What load should I use for benefits?
20%–30% covers payroll taxes, benefits, and equipment in most US teams. Non-US employer costs can run higher — use your finance team's number if you have it.
Should manager time really be charged to the SDR?
Yes. A manager coaching six SDRs is a real cost of the in-house model that the agency comparison doesn't carry. Divide their loaded cost by span of control.
Agencies quote per meeting — why include a retainer?
Almost all charge both, or bury setup and list costs in the first months. Put whatever you're actually invoiced into the two agency inputs.
What if the agency's meetings don't convert at all?
Set meeting-to-opportunity near zero and the cost per opportunity goes to infinity — which is the honest answer. Insist on a qualification definition in the contract.
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