How to effectively outsource lead generation in 2025

Outsourcing cheap routine tasks doesn’t make sense anymore.

Now that driving revenue growth is harder than before, simply hiring a third-party vendor to flood your pipeline with leads that won’t become qualified over time isn’t going to cut it.

My take? It’s time for a mindset shift. Instead of outsourcing solely to increase lead volume, I encourage you to outsource to gain access to specialized experts who have an intimate understanding of your business, industry, and customers.   

In this post, I share my best bits of wisdom on why that matters. I also reveal exactly when to outsource lead generation (Hint: it’s not when your pipeline is empty), what functions to delegate or keep in-house, and how to negotiate for value beyond your budget.

What is B2B lead generation outsourcing?

B2B lead generation outsourcing is the practice of hiring third-party providers to drive leads for your company. These providers handle a myriad of tasks, such as list building, prospecting, and lead nurturing.

When’s the best time to outsource lead generation? 

The best time to outsource lead generation is when you’re seeing traction in a new initiative.

💡 Case in point:

After buyWords, one of our sister agencies, hired its first business development representative (BDR) to launch a 1-to-1 outreach campaign, it generated tons of leads for the pipeline.

buyWords had 2 options for gaining momentum: either spend months expanding the in-house team or outsource to an external service provider that could accelerate its outreach campaigns without any hiring or training delays.

Remember how buyWords generated excellent results in its outreach campaign?  

By this point, it already had its messaging and positioning in place. It was ready for market expansion. All it needed was someone who could manage the specialized tasks like building a bigger list of potential clients and launching a sophisticated outreach sequence to connect with them. 

Outsourcing was a no-brainer.

Ironically, the worst time to outsource lead generation is when you’re lacking deals in the sales pipeline and want to increase them immediately.

That’s the wrong move because stagnant pipelines often stem from issues that take time to refine — an inaccurate ideal customer profile (ICP) and weak value proposition come to mind. Bringing in a partner months before EOY is unlikely to work.

What are the benefits of outsourcing lead generation?

Outsourcing your leads offers compelling advantages over ramping up an in-house team. Here are the key benefits:

Tap into specialized knowledge

You have a better chance of succeeding with an agency that has narrow industry knowledge. Take Driveline Retail Merchandising, which partnered with Belkins because its in-house team lacked cold outbound expertise. We experimented with different titles and departments to reach out to the right decision-maker across 10K+ large retail companies. In each iteration, we narrowed the targeting and sharpened our messaging. It wasn’t a task just anyone could accomplish. In 16 months, through deep ICP research and testing, we booked 109 meetings with major retailers in 250+ U.S. locations.

Free up internal resources

Your outsourced agency becomes an extension of your team, acquiring quality leads while you focus on core business activities. The best part? Your internal team size remains the same, but your sales pipeline enjoys a predictable flow of leads every month. This means you can scale lead generation efforts up or down as your business needs change — without going through the hassle of hiring or reassigning staff.

Access premium tools

Leading agencies offer industry-leading tools at no extra cost. At Belkins, this includes proprietary email deliverability solutions, validation services, LinkedIn outreach instruments, and list scraping tools — saving you up to $10K in annual software expenses.

Cut costs exponentially

The average in-house sales team costs $150K annually, while outsourcing runs around $40K–50K. This cuts your recruitment costs by at least two-thirds. With these savings alone, you can quickly recoup your investment. Factor in the revenue from the outsourced provider, and the ROI becomes even greater — effectively paying for itself in a short time.  

Boost lead quality

Specialized agencies assign dedicated experts at every funnel stage, ensuring every lead has the best chance of conversion.

What are the risks of outsourcing lead generation (and how do you overcome them)?

Outsourcing has its challenges, but they can be addressed without hurting morale or the bottom line: 

Initial learning curve

Both parties will face a learning curve. The agency needs time to grasp your product or service, and your internal team will face struggles (adapting to new processes, reluctance to rethink the ICP with market changes, etc.) Set expectations and allocate time to test, learn, and collaborate.

Misalignment

Whether it’s the company, product, objectives, or service delivery, it’s not uncommon for misalignment to occur in these areas when outsourcing lead generation. Potential solutions include defining success metrics upfront, running product training sessions, and establishing a feedback loop with the agency.

Loss of control

This is common in outsourcing. To avoid losing control of your in-house processes, delegate your support functions, not your core business operations. I’ll explain more later in this guide.

Excessive low-quality leads

Leads that don’t convert are a waste of time. Run regular check-ins to align messaging and targeting. Refine your ICP and appoint a more experienced sales development representative (SDR). Compare the agency’s outreach strategy against your internal sales data to spot discrepancies.

Damaged domain reputation and brand image

Inexperienced agencies might implement non-compliant outreach tactics, jeopardizing your email deliverability and brand reputation. Vet agencies thoroughly, evaluate their email performance metrics (e.g., spam complaint rate), and review their processes before launch. 

How much does it cost to outsource lead generation?

Outsourcing lead generation to an agency costs $2K to $20K monthly.

Note that lead generation agencies also offer other pricing models, such as commission-based and hybrid options (combining a retainer with a commission based on the results).

📚 Read more: B2B lead generation pricing models explained

This guide focuses on monthly retainers, one of the most popular models in the industry. Here’s what to expect:

To sum up, start with your business’s current stage, sales capacity, and growth objectives when choosing your plan. 

Besides the number of leads generated, you should also evaluate the diversity of your outreach channels and integration with existing sales processes.

The most successful partnerships don’t just drive leads; they deliver a structured system that performs month after month, ensuring your pipeline grows predictably. 

What must-haves should you prioritize (and how can you get the most out of each plan)?

When companies negotiate with agencies, they often focus on the wrong things. 

Take Belkins, for instance. Our prospective clients usually insist on increasing lead volume or pushing for lower costs when we speak to them. But in our experience, prioritizing these factors leads to failure.

Why is that? Because a clockwork lead generation machine requires a team of specialists — SDRs, writers, strategists, etc. Focusing solely on cost-cutting severely impacts service quality and ultimately delivers poor results.

Instead, focus on the agency’s specialized skills and campaign execution. Whether it’s a $5K or $20K plan, check whether the agency includes these non-negotiables:

• A top-tier tech suite (including CRM integration)
• Well-defined data processes for lead sourcing, qualification, and enrichment
• Security compliance (e.g., Belkins holds a Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) certification where all its sent emails are recognized as legitimate)
• A proven strategy for growing your pipeline and revenue
• A long-term plan for refining messaging and targeting
• A reliable, dedicated team that collaborates with your in-house team — and amplifies it 

What tasks can you outsource (plus how to decide)?

Evaluate your internal capabilities when deciding what to outsource or keep in-house. 

Generally, outsourcing works best when (a) you need specialized help for support functions and (b) you want to complement your in-house team to build momentum.

Your core business function — and any other area where you have strong internal capabilities and management — should strictly remain in-house. That way, you maintain direct control and can continually build your in-house expertise.

Here are the activities you can outsource to a service provider.

1. List building, nurturing, and qualification

Ready-to-use lead lists from platforms like Zoominfo or Apollo miss the mark without proper manual enrichment.

Through manual lead research and enhanced targeting, your agency qualifies and nurtures high-fit prospects in your most promising industries and regions. The team handles everything in a nurturing sequence — from follow-ups to addressing buyer objections.

2. Outbound tactics like cold calling and emailing

Cold outreach works when it’s relevant to the buyer.

If you want to outsource cold email outreach, the agency will assess your domain reputation and set up the necessary infrastructure before launching a tailored campaign.

Regarding cold calling, the SDR team will prioritize qualified leads showing positive signals. Every lead is targeted with a tailored call script based on past interactions from other channels, warming them up for appointments.

3. LinkedIn lead generation

The cornerstone of a successful LinkedIn outreach strategy is expertise. 

Here, you work closely with the agency to build your authority in front of decision-makers within your ICP. Expect creative thought-leadership content that drives actions and long-term nurturing campaigns that build meaningful relationships. 

By positioning both your personal and company brand in front of key decision-makers consistently, you’ll naturally attract leads and create a pipeline of opportunities.

4. Appointment setting

The best of both worlds: strong relationships with existing clients and breakthrough growth in net new accounts. The latter is harder to achieve with limited resources.

To boost your lead-to-appointment conversions, the agency starts with market fit validation and granular lead research to identify and connect with key decision-makers.

Each campaign is customized based on the ICP, spotlighting your unique offerings and value propositions that resonate with buyers. The SDRs will also craft a follow-up sequence to schedule meetings and reduce no-shows.

When we implemented this strategy for GE HealthCare, we booked 135 in-person meetings across 4 renowned medical conferences.

5. Account-based marketing 

A long sales cycle or limited total addressable market (TAM) shouldn’t stop you from securing high-value accounts.

In your account-based marketing (ABM) strategy, the outsourced agency starts with market analysis and research, focusing on the key buying committee personas in your ICP.

Each key stakeholder receives segment-specific messages across ads, emails, retargeting, and more within a coordinated strategy. With ongoing lead research and analysis, your pipeline will also be filled with high-value leads.

6. Multichannel lead generation 

Reach more prospective buyers at different stages.

Your outsourced agency will execute campaigns at scale across multiple inbound and outbound channels to capture and nurture fresh leads.

Expect increased engagement and greater brand visibility. Every channel has its own distinctive messaging and operates independently.

7. Cross-channel lead generation

Cross-channel is a step above multichannel lead generation.

The agency will integrate various channels to engage prospective customers across all touchpoints and create a consistent experience to amplify your reach. 

The process starts with data integration and customer segmentation based on actions and attributes. This allows for personalized messaging and analytics tracking across your chosen channels.

8. Omnichannel lead generation

Omnichannel outperforms multichannel and cross-channel lead generation by a mile.

By interconnecting your buyers’ favorite channels holistically, you create a seamless experience throughout the buying journey, stay top of mind, and stand out from competitors.

In our experience, a tailored omnichannel marketing strategy reduces customer acquisition costs (CAC) by 20% and offers at least a 200% ROI.

Agencies specializing in omnichannel strategies are experts at aligning their clients’ marketing and sales departments for a unified customer experience.

At Belkins, our multilayered process involves:

• Strategy development to analyze everything that’s going on in your market and craft a unique omnichannel roadmap.
• Awareness building to generate top-of-the-funnel (ToFu) leads across channels.
• Audience activation to nurture high-potential leads with messages that address their unique challenges and missed opportunities.
• Engagement to deepen the relationship through personalized messages and in-depth, middle-of-the-funnel (MoFu) content like webinars and white papers.
• Conversion to book sales appointments through multilevel follow-up and nurturing campaigns.
• Reporting and analytics to refine and ensure long-term growth

Note that we don’t wait until the final stage to generate meetings. 

Throughout all four stages (Awareness > Activation > Engagement > Conversion), we engage high-intent leads across 40–60 touchpoints and multiple channels. 

This makes a huge difference. When we invite leads to book a call during the Conversion stage, we see up to 50% higher conversions.

These are the strategies we implement for 1,000+ clients across 50+ industries, securing 100-400+ appointments yearly.

Evaluate which activities complement your in-house team. By outsourcing, you fundamentally improve not only your lead generation program but also your entire sales process.

Narrowing down your options: Should you outsource to a freelancer or agency?

I’ll give it to you straight: outsource to agencies. Here are 4 reasons why we consistently outperform freelancers in acquiring qualified leads.

Our combined experience is unmatched

Agency SDRs manage multiple activities: list building and sourcing, lead qualification, and demo bookings, among others.

These trained professionals boast years of experience in complex activities across diverse industries. They’ve accumulated extensive knowledge that a freelancer, a company of one, will rarely possess.

The team pivots quickly

Agency business models rely on specialized professionals leading specific fields. They work in teams.

Agencies manage large workloads effectively

If SDRs take on too many prospective clients, they risk burning out. If they take on too few, the agency wastes resources.

That’s why many agencies (Belkins included 👋🏻) assign a set number of prospects to each SDR. This allows productive outreach, prospecting, and lead qualification without risking burnout.

The same can’t be said for freelancers. Since they might not follow such a strict structure — plus you can’t exactly verify their workload — they can potentially overbook themselves and risk diminishing their quality of work.

Agencies have more skin in the game

Finally, there’s the critical factor of reputation.

Agencies work with more clients than freelancers.

With a larger client base and greater exposure to public reviews, they’re held to higher standards. That’s why agencies like Belkins prioritize quality and raise the bar for clients.

Now that I’ve convinced you to hire an agency, here are a few outsourced lead generation agencies to consider.

Belkins: best for tailored & customized lead generation for all budgets

Belkins is a top-ranked lead generation agency with over 1,000 successful clients across 50+ industries. Every year, we deliver up to 400 qualified appointments through bespoke tailored strategies.

What sets us apart from competitors is our:

• 4th-place among the 1,000 best B2B companies on Clutch, based on 221 reviews and counting (none of our competitors made the list). Belkins is the only sales outsourcing agency to rank in the top 100 best companies worldwide, setting us apart from every competitor in the space.
• Strategic mapping, research, and testing of ICP and messaging to find PMF. Through continuous analysis and iteration, we see to it that you consistently connect with your best customers today rather than wasting resources on poor-fit leads. 
• Hyper-granular lead research process that guarantees every ICP makes sense from an ROI standpoint. Unlike competitors who rely on automation, we’re the only agency that employs lead research specialists who manually verify every lead in your target lists.
• End-to-end implementation across channels and departments to improve not only your B2B lead generation efforts but also your entire sales process.
• Scalable and consistent outreach execution for businesses of all sizes.
• Long-term strategy refinement to consistently generate a regular flow of high-quality leads and stay competitive in your market.
• U.S. and global market expertise. We hire based on credentials and expertise, assembling a world-class sales team unbounded by borders. With deep focus and experience in the U.S. market plus our global presence, Belkins runs multilingual campaigns worldwide while maintaining consistent excellence.

Pricing: 3 plans with custom packages; contract length varies from 3 to 12 months

Revit: Best for pay-per-lead with flexible terms

Revit was founded on the principle that low-commitment and high-quality lead generation services should be readily available. 

The agency emphasizes simple and reliable strategies proven over years of market experience. While it offers less customization and integration, Revit excels at providing solutions that are easy to implement and scale. This makes it a wonderful option for SMBs and startups that prioritize results over routine.

Pricing: Starts at $2.6K/month for a 3-month pilot

Outbound Consulting: Best for small businesses seeking their first clients

If you’re outgrowing referrals or struggling to improve your pipeline with a small team, consider Outbound Consulting. This agency deeply understands the unique challenges of SMBs, so much so that it consistently closes 1–3 new deals every month.

Pricing: Custom quotes with packages for 4, 6, and 12 months

Outsourcing lead generation isn’t about delegating cheap routine tasks

Lead generation outsourcing is fundamentally about working with the right people who boast specialized expertise and aren’t afraid to raise the bar.

It’s a “people-first” business.

Prioritize this as you narrow down your list of agencies. And don’t be afraid to negotiate the engagement terms and resources — or even request senior specialists and founders during onboarding.

It makes a big difference.