Should you hire SDRs in-house or partner with an AI-powered offshore team?

Founders don’t buy headcount; they buy outcomes. If your goal is more first meetings next month—not next year—the real question is build vs. buy. Here’s a clear look at the trade‑offs, the ramp, and where an AI + offshore SDR team outperforms a traditional in‑house build.

What changes when AI does the heavy lifting

AI handles the heavy lifting: from deep account research and data enrichment to trigger detection and automated message drafting. That unlocks your team to double down on high-value activities—calls, live responses, and rapid follow‑ups. When you combine AI with a trained offshore SDR team, you capture both human nuance and operational efficiency, all without ballooning your cost structure.

The decision inputs (keep it simple)

• Speed to live: A dedicated SDR team launches in weeks—ICP alignment, messaging frameworks, and optimized sequences ready out of the gate. In-house? Expect a full recruiting cycle, onboarding, and months to reach operational pace.
  
  
• Management overhead: Internal SDR teams require hands-on coaching and daily QA just to tread water. A high-performing SDR provider ships with proven playbooks, QA templates, and insight-rich, manager-level dashboards from day one.
  
  
• Startup costs: Stacking salaries, tool subscriptions, and ramp time, in-house models cost more in the first six months, while outsourced SDR teams spread expense and accelerate productivity.
  
  
• Brand protection: With embedded controls—voice guidelines, compliance checks, seamless opt-outs—an external SDR team can represent your brand authentically, minus the risk or volatility of traditional volume-based agencies.
  
  

The 30/60/90 you can actually run

• Days 1–30: Confirm ICP in five lines; build a 300–500 account list; ship 10–12 touch sequences across email, LinkedIn, and phone; route positive replies to same‑day calendars. Measure reply rate and meetings set.
  
  
• Days 31–60: Refine angles (pain, trigger, ROI); tighten objection handling; add lookalike accounts; review deliverability and domain health weekly.
  
  
• Days 61–90: Keep what books meetings, cut what doesn’t. Lock the manager dashboard: speed‑to‑lead, meetings by source, slip reasons, open deals with no next step.
  
  

Build vs. buy: when each wins

• Build in‑house if outbound is strategic IP, you have a seasoned enablement lead, and a 12‑month runway to iterate.
  
  
• Buy an AI + offshore SDR team if you need pipeline now, want predictable costs, and prefer a done‑for‑you motion that plugs into your CRM.
  
  

What good looks like by the end of quarter one

• A validated ICP and living account list
  
  
• Clean handoffs to AEs with context in the record
  
  
• Meetings booked at a predictable cost, not heroics
  
  
• A process you can scale (or swap) without drama
  
  

Want to see your break‑even with real assumptions? Book a discovery call with Sales Leopard. We’ll map your numbers and, if it’s a fit, stand up the SDR team—Tech + Talent + Process under your brand.