Introduction:
“I don’t have a sales team dedicated to outbound prospecting yet, but I want to add one. How much revenue could it generate, and what would it cost?”
“We already have a prospecting team, but I think we can do better. How much are we missing out on? What would it look like if we were world-class?”
If you sell products (not services) directly to businesses, here’s a quick "60-second rule of thumb" to ballpark the revenue a well-trained prospecting team can add — assuming you're not targeting low-margin deals or very small businesses:
Incremental Revenue Per Year = (2 New Customers/Month/Rep) × (12 Months) × (Average Value of Top 20% Customers) × (Number of Reps)
Key Notes:
Smaller Business Targets: If you’re selling to smaller businesses, reps might close 4–6 customers/month — but deal sizes will be smaller. Carefully analyze profitability to avoid losing money chasing lots of tiny deals.
Revenue Attribution: Include revenue from a customer's first purchase, plus anything else they buy within six months.
Outbound-Only Focus: This model assumes outbound-sourced revenue, separate from marketing or inbound leads.
A trained rep typically sources 8–15 qualified opportunities per month.
With a 15–20% close rate, that equals 2 new customers/month or 24 new customers/year.
Multiply 24 customers by the average value of your top 20% of customers.
Outbound-sourced customers are often 3–10x larger than your overall average, because outbound targets are hand-picked.
Example: Salesforce’s average inbound deal was ~$5,000 ACV; outbound deals were ~$50,000 ACV.
To estimate customer value:
Average the revenue of your top 20% largest customers (excluding extreme outliers).
Multiply that by the number of reps to get total incremental revenue per year.
Prospector to Closer Ratio:
Typically, one prospector supports 1–3 closers, maintaining close working relationships.
Fully Loaded Rep (salary + tools): $60,000–$125,000/year
Team Manager (full-time): ~$150,000/year
Optional Costs:
Upfront list-building: $5,000–$10,000
Recruiting fees
External consultants/training: $3,000–$300,000+
Overseas research/admin support: $1,000–$1,500/month per person
Assume your average top-tier customer generates $135,000 in first-year revenue.
Hire one recent college grad.
First 6–9 months = slow ramp-up.
Close 10 deals over two years.
Revenue: $1.35M
Costs: $150,000
Grow team from 2 to 6 reps in Year 1.
Hire a full/near-full-time manager.
10 opportunities/month per rep, 15% close rate.
Revenue: $5.4M (Year 1) + $10.95M (Year 2) = $16.35M
Costs: ~$1.5M over two years
Start with 6 reps, grow to 12 by Year 2.
Heavy investment in tools, consulting, recruiting (~$500k+).
12–15 opportunities/month per rep, 20% close rate.
Revenue: $10.95M (Year 1) + $19.16M (Year 2) = $30.11M
Costs: ~$2.75M over two years
Note: If you're a subscription-based business, substitute "first-year revenue" with "lifetime customer value."
Company Readiness: You should have at least $1M+ in revenue and a repeatable sales model before adding outbound reps.
Selling Services: Prospecting still works, but results are slower and less predictable.
Hire Carefully:
Recent grads are cheaper but ramp slower (6–12 months longer).
Experienced reps cost more but ramp faster.
Specialty Markets:
Professional services and niche markets can take longer to crack.
