Leads By Me vs hiring an SDR

If you need more B2B sales conversations, you have two main options: hire a sales development rep (SDR) or bring in an outbound partner. Here is how the two compare on cost, speed, risk and fit, including when hiring is the better call.

Side by side

	Hire an in-house SDR	Leads By Me
Service fee	Around CAD $7,500/month in pay at typical on-target earnings, before payroll costs, tools and management time	CAD $249/month self-serve; managed LinkedIn CAD $1,200/month; managed cold email CAD $2,000/month; managed email plus LinkedIn CAD $3,000/month; all plus applicable taxes
Time to launch and replies	Hiring time, plus onboarding and ramp	No internal hiring cycle; reply timing varies and is not guaranteed
Targeting, messaging and infrastructure	The SDR and your team, using tools you buy and set up	Depends on the plan. Managed services cover targeting, messaging, campaign operation, reply review, and qualified handoff; specified tools and infrastructure remain client-paid
Management	You recruit, coach, review activity and set targets	You run Leads By You; Leads By Me operates the selected channels on the managed services
Channels	Phone, email and LinkedIn	LinkedIn and cold email. No cold calling
Initial commitment	Employment and ramp costs	Monthly options on every plan, with optional three-month launch payments on managed services; managed LinkedIn can start with 30 live days at no service fee for qualified firms, with tools and data paid separately
Operational ownership	Knowledge and relationships may leave with the employee	Ownership depends on the service. Client-paid platforms and infrastructure remain the client's responsibility

SDR figures are planning estimates from public salary and benchmark sources, not quotes. Your market, city and comp plan will change them.

What an SDR really costs in year one

Salary is only part of the cost. Here is a simple worked example. Swap in your own numbers.

Cost line	Planning assumption	Year one
On-target earnings	Base pay around CAD $55,000 to CAD $70,000, plus commission, for roughly CAD $90,000 at target	CAD $90,000
Payroll costs and benefits	Assume about 15% on top of pay. Use your own figure	CAD $13,500
Tools and data	Sequencer, LinkedIn tools, contact data, dialer	Varies
Recruiting and management time	Hiring process, onboarding, weekly coaching	Varies
Total before tools and time		about CAD $103,500

Most of the first quarter is usually ramp: learning the offer, building lists and warming up sending accounts. So the first few months of that spend produce little pipeline.

For comparison, Leads By You is CAD $249/month. New Business Conversations (managed LinkedIn) is CAD $1,200/month, or CAD $2,700 upfront for the first three paid months, then CAD $1,200/month; qualified firms can start with 30 live campaign days at no service fee. Managed Cold Email is CAD $2,000/month, or CAD $5,000 upfront for the first three paid months. Beyond Your Network (email plus LinkedIn) is CAD $3,000/month, or CAD $7,500 upfront for the first three months. All prices are plus applicable taxes. Client-paid tools, data, and infrastructure are additional. See the full responsibilities and costs.

When hiring an SDR is the better choice

An outbound partner is not the right answer for everyone. Hiring usually makes more sense when:

• Your sale depends on the phone. We run LinkedIn and cold email. If your buyers are best reached by cold calling, you need someone who dials.
• You have someone to manage the role. An SDR without a sales leader to coach them tends to stall.
• You want to build a sales team. SDRs often become account executives. If you are building a bench, hiring is part of the plan.
• Your deal size supports it. If one closed deal pays for a year of salary many times over, the cost matters less than the capacity.

Some teams do both in order: prove the market, the list and the message with an outbound partner first, then hire once they know what works.

When Leads By Me is the better fit

• You want to begin outbound without waiting through an internal hiring cycle and ramp period.
• No one on your team has time to manage outbound day to day.
• You want to test a market or offer without committing to a salary.
• You want targeting done properly. We score prospects for fit with PipelineIQ, our lead scoring system, before anyone is contacted.

Related: How much does outsourced lead generation cost in Canada?

Frequently asked questions

Is an outbound agency cheaper than hiring an SDR?

Usually, yes, for the first year. In our planning example an in-house SDR in Canada costs about CAD $103,500 in year one before tools and management time. Leads By Me offers CAD $249/month self-serve, managed LinkedIn at CAD $1,200/month (qualified firms start with 30 live days at no service fee), managed cold email at CAD $2,000/month, and managed email plus LinkedIn at CAD $3,000/month, plus applicable taxes. Client-paid tools, data, and infrastructure are additional. Compare scope and total cost, not only the service fee.

How quickly does each option start producing conversations?

With Leads By Me, response timing varies by offer, audience, channel conditions, and campaign execution. A new SDR first has to be hired, then ramp, and benchmarks often put the ramp at around three months.

Can an outbound agency fully replace an SDR?

Leads By Me can operate LinkedIn and cold email outreach within the selected managed scope, but it does not replace phone prospecting or your team's discovery, proposals, closing, fulfilment, and customer relationships.

What happens to the work if we stop working with Leads By Me?

Every plan has a monthly option. Each managed service also offers an optional launch payment covering the first three paid months. Managed LinkedIn can start with 30 live days at no service fee for qualified firms, with tools and data paid separately, and you choose whether to continue at day 30. Confirm ownership, handoff, and cancellation terms before purchase.

Do I need to hire anyone to work with Leads By Me?

No additional outbound operator is required for the selected managed channel scope. Leads By Me handles targeting, messaging, campaign operation, reply review, and qualified handoff; your team handles discovery, proposals, closing, fulfilment, and the customer relationship.