Newsletter #25: Coming Out About Problems in the Industry - PART 1

What’s the Big Problem with Outsourcing SDRs—and How Are We Trying to Solve It?

A new industry is called “new” for a reason—you don’t fully understand all its ins and outs before diving in.

When I started my journey in B2B lead generation 10 years ago, I’ll be honest—I didn’t put too much thought into it. I wasn’t weighing every risk or overanalyzing my decision. Like most people, I made my choice based on three simple factors:

1. What I was capable of doing.
2. Whether this industry was growing.
3. How expensive it was to get started.

For example: Starting an AI company is 10x more expensive than launching a marketing agency. But on the flip side, scaling an AI company is 10x easier once you gain traction.

The outsourced SDR industry has been around for a while now, and if you’ve been in close contact with it long enough, you’ve probably seen the same argument over and over:

“Outsourced SDRs don’t work.”

And honestly? Most of those arguments are valid.

But my job today isn’t to repeat what’s already been said.

Instead, I want to provide a short but honest assessment of what can actually be done to make outsourced SDRs work—whether you’re:

? Building an outsourced SDR firm

? A business leader looking to engage with one

What I’ll Cover in This Newsletter:

1. What’s the general consensus on outsourcing SDRs?
2. How should the relationship between a client and a service provider actually look?
3. How should companies think about outsourcing SDRs the right way?
4. What is Belkins doing to solve this industry-wide problem?

Let’s get into it.

I once learned something valuable from a very smart marketer—even though he doesn’t consider himself one.

?? Before introducing an original idea, you first need to build consensus around well-accepted thoughts.

Why?

Because whether it’s an algorithm or a reader, trust is built when what you’re saying aligns with other popular, credible sources.

So before I share my own take, let’s establish the consensus on why outsourced SDRs often fail.

Signs That Your Outsourced SDR Isn’t Working

If You Are a Client:

1. You’re getting little to no leads.
2. You see no traction in engagement or brand exposure. (No email opens, replies, clicks, pageviews, visits, or downloads)
3. The leads aren’t converting into sales. (You’re getting meetings, but they’re going nowhere)
4. You’re not learning anything from the data. (No insights, no trends, just a bunch of numbers that don’t help)
5. You’re not learning anything from your marketing investments. (No clear feedback on what’s working or not working

If You Are an Agency:

1. Clients are churning right after the pilot. (They aren’t seeing enough value to stay long-term.)
2. Your team keeps trying different approaches, but nothing is working. (You’re stuck in an endless cycle of tweaks with no clear results)
3. Your client’s processes remain unchanged before and during the engagement.
4. You’re making little to no margin trying to make it work.

The General Consensus on Why This Happens

1. Companies outsource SDRs too early—before achieving product-market fit.
2. They lack strong differentiation and pricing strategies.
3. They don’t have a structured sales process or pipeline management.

And my personal favorite:

4. The outsourced SDR partner overpromised and underdelivered.

This is the industry-wide problem we’re dealing with.

Now that we’ve established the consensus, I’ll dive into how to fix it.

Why Is This Actually Happening?

The root of the problem lies in the tempting promise of outsourced SDR services:

"We will drive guaranteed leads on your behalf at a fraction of the in-house cost—without you having to do any work."

That’s the core pitch, and it’s one you’ll hear from countless agencies, I started with it myself. But the real question is:

• Are agencies just bad actors taking advantage of clients?
• Or are there simply too many desperate or naive clients who believe in the myth of a quick fix—thinking that paying less and putting in no effort will magically solve a problem they either can’t or won’t address themselves?

Both arguments have merit, but in my opinion—and something I actively push to improve—both clients and agencies need to change. If we all want to build successful, long-term partnerships in the outsourced SDR space, then this shift needs to happen ASAP—with or without AI.

How You Need to Change as a Client

1. Be patient.

Stop looking for a quick fix.

• “Get me good leads by the end of the quarter.”
• “I need results fast.”
• “Let’s roll out in seven days.”
• “This automation via Clay will bring me XXX leads.”
• “Here’s a playbook that got me 1,000 leads in 10 days.”

This is all crap.

You might get lucky if you have strong product-market fit and a great business model—then, sure, you can scale quickly. But the reality is that 95% of companies aren’t there yet.

If your lead generation (AKA your marketing) strategy is driven purely by “What will get me the fastest results?”—you are setting yourself up for failure.

Even paid ads—which, by definition, are designed to deliver immediate exposure—don’t provide instant results anymore. Any experienced paid media specialist will tell you that:

1. You won’t see real results in the first few months.
2. You need to optimize the algorithm before getting high-quality conversions at a lower cost.
3. Paid ads are already a “money in, money out” scenario—yet they still require patience.

And if that’s true for paid advertising, why would you expect cold outreach—one of the hardest acquisition channels to master—to deliver overnight success?

2. Be strategic.

Outbound outreach—whether it’s cold email, cold calling, or LinkedIn messaging—is not a standalone marketing or sales activity. It’s not something that should live in a silo, disconnected from the rest of your business. Instead, it’s a core business function that needs to be deeply integrated across both marketing and sales.

Buyers have changed.

Today, everyone researches before making a purchase. They compare options, check reviews, watch YouTube videos, and seek out social proof. This is not a door-to-door sales game anymore, and treating it as such is a massive mistake.

Your messaging must be consistent across every touchpoint.

Your cold outreach cadences, email scripts, LinkedIn messages, and sales calls should all align with:

• Your website copy
• Your social media presence
• Your CEO’s LinkedIn content
• Your paid ads
• Your brand messaging across all channels

Hiring an agency without any additional marketing budget to support outreach is a huge mistake. My strong advice?

?? Commit at least 2x-3x what you’re paying the agency into additional marketing efforts.

Why? Because outreach alone isn’t enough. The prospects you engage with will Google your company, check your website, and look you up on LinkedIn. If your messaging across those platforms isn’t aligned and well-crafted, your outreach efforts won’t convert.

3. Be smart.

The first and most important question you should ask when working with an agency is not:

?? "Give me meetings."

The real first question should be:

? "Is my messaging actually addressing my ideal customer’s pain points? Are we resonating with the people we are targeting?"

There’s a simple and actionable method for getting this right:

1. Identify key target accounts, buyers, and sub-verticals.
2. Deconstruct your value proposition to ensure it speaks to their needs.
3. Connect the dots, gather real-world feedback, refine the messaging.
4. Validate that your positioning is working—then scale.

What do most companies do instead?

They go backward.

They say: "Let me throw $10K at this because I need meetings. I don’t care about testing my messaging, I don’t care about feedback, I just need the calls booked."

Then, when those meetings don’t convert?

"It’s the agency’s fault!"

Now, let me be clear—agencies like Belkins absolutely have a responsibility to guide clients. I’ll cover this later, so don’t think I’m just pointing fingers. But my major point here is this:

There should be a logical development process behind anything you build.

Too often, I see companies ignore the fundamentals and instead pray that things will just work. And if they don’t? They blame the agency.

This is not a strategy—it’s a setup for failure.

4. Be supportive.

The era of traditional outsourced services is over.

We now have AI agents automating repetitive tasks—so if you think you’re just hiring an appointment-setting agency to send emails, you’re looking at it all wrong. What you actually need is specialized expertise.

Stop treating service providers as a disconnected labor force with limited access, minimal integration, and no real support.

When I hire anyone at Belkins, my job is simple:

• Get them ramped up as fast as possible.
• Provide them with all the data and information they need to succeed.
• Support them all the way.
• Remove any blockers so they can focus on their job—which, in turn, speeds up my ROI on them.

Unfortunately, the way many companies treat agencies is completely different:

"We don’t have time for onboarding." "Our compliance team won’t approve this access." "We can’t do this." "This isn’t necessary." "We’ll do it our way."

I get it—there are real concerns behind these objections:

“What if I waste my time on this agency and it doesn’t work?”

“What if there’s a security breach?”

“What if they fail?”

These are valid concerns—to an extent. But does that mean you can’t take any risks? Does that mean you should hold back on giving the agency what they need to succeed?

We don’t build businesses without trust. And trust, by definition, requires risk. If you can’t trust the partner you’re hiring, why even bother working with them?

5. Be ready to grow.

One statement I hear way too often:

“We don’t do marketing planning for this year—we just play it by ear.”

My immediate reaction?

“Maybe it’s time you guys start planning? Let us help you. Let’s do it together.”

Because if you’re not willing to change, learn, and grow—what’s the point?

Business growth comes from:

? Hearing feedback

? Incorporating that feedback

? Actually using your investments to their full potential

That’s rule #1 of running a successful company.

At Belkins, we work with multiple vendors. Each one goes through a time-consuming vetting process because we only want the best. But once they’re in?

I treat them like part of my team.

I want them to spend more time with us.

I want them to fall in love with our company.

I want them to be excited about the work we do.

I want them to go home and talk about how great their experience was.

I want them to think about our product even outside of work.

That’s why I show appreciation.

That’s why I give access.

That’s why I integrate them into our processes.

That’s why I spend time with them.

That’s why I send kudos.

Because at the end of the day, I build meaningful relationships with the people who help me build my company.

And honestly?

I’d love for all Belkins clients to treat my team the same way we treat our own vendors.

Because if they did?

The success rate of every engagement would skyrocket.

The Result: A Smoother, More Effective Partnership

1. You will allocate enough time for your new marketing initiatives to be properly set up and optimized. (You are patient.)
2. Your new SDR function will be seamlessly integrated into your overall GTM (Go-To-Market) strategy. (You are strategic.)
3. You will first confirm the fundamentals—your ideal buyers, positioning, messaging, and the data to back it up. (You are smart.)
4. Your outsourced team will consistently go the extra mile, exceeding SLAs and delivering beyond expectations. (You are supportive.)
5. You will develop a structured plan, adapt to the data you receive, and continuously refine your approach. (You are growing.)

Since I couldn’t fit everything into one edition (turns out this newsletter is too long for an email), this marks the end of Part 1.

?? [Click here to read Part 2.]