Outsourcing B2B business development typically costs $3,000 to $15,000+ per month, depending on the engagement model. Entry-level appointment-setting services start around $3,000–$5,000/month, mid-market SDR-as-a-service runs $5,000–$10,000/month per dedicated rep, and full-funnel agencies handling strategy, copywriting, and multichannel outreach often charge $10,000–$15,000+ monthly.
What you're actually paying for
The monthly fee bundles several cost components that you'd otherwise carry in-house. Most teams underestimate how much of the price is tooling and data, not just labor.
- Dedicated SDR or BDR time — usually 1 rep per $5K–$8K tier
- Sales intelligence and data — platforms like Apollo, ZoomInfo, or Lusha
- Outreach tooling — email sequencers, dialers, LinkedIn automation
- Strategy and campaign management — ICP definition, messaging, A/B testing
- Reporting and CRM integration — pipeline visibility into HubSpot or Salesforce
If you're weighing whether to build this internally, the tradeoffs between SDR outsourcing and an in-house BDR team come down to ramp time, management overhead, and how predictable your pipeline needs to be.
Common pricing models
1. Retainer (most common)
A flat monthly fee for a defined scope and rep count. Predictable and the standard for SDR-as-a-service.
| Tier | Monthly cost | Typical scope |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | $3,000–$5,000 | Appointment setting, single channel |
| Mid-market | $5,000–$10,000 | 1 dedicated SDR, multichannel |
| Full-funnel | $10,000–$15,000+ | Strategy, copy, multiple reps, reporting |
2. Pay-per-lead or pay-per-appointment
You pay per qualified meeting booked, usually $150–$500 per appointment. Good for testing, but quality varies wildly. Cheap leads often mean low show rates and weak fit. Make sure the vendor defines what counts as qualified before you sign — vague SQL definitions are where most disputes start.
3. Hybrid
A reduced base retainer (say $2,500/month) plus a per-meeting bonus. Aligns incentives but requires tight tracking.
4. Commission or revenue share
Rare in pure BD because attribution is messy. More common in full-cycle sales outsourcing, often 10–20% of closed revenue.
What drives the price up or down
Several factors swing your monthly cost by thousands:
- Target market complexity — enterprise outreach costs more than SMB because deal cycles are longer and decision-makers are harder to reach
- Geography — US-based SDRs cost 2–3x more than offshore teams in Eastern Europe, Latin America, or South Asia
- Channels — email-only is cheapest; adding cold calling, LinkedIn, and paid social raises the price
- Data and tooling included — whether the vendor uses Apollo, ZoomInfo, or Lusha for contact data affects both cost and lead quality
- Qualification depth — booking a raw meeting is cheaper than running a full sales discovery call workflow
Offshore vs onshore cost difference
Geography is the single biggest lever. As a rough guide:
- US/Canada onshore: $6,000–$12,000/month per dedicated SDR