11.06.26 · 19 min read
Compare the best sales outsourcing companies for 2027, from CIENCE to Martal. See published pricing, what each supplies and startup fit.
Sales outsourcing companies supply part of your sales function, from first-meeting reps to closers, leaders and the systems behind them. This guide compares ten of them on what they supply, published pricing and fit for startups, and it says plainly when you should sell yourself first.
Disclosure: QC Growth publishes this comparison and sells embedded GTM services that overlap with some of these firms. It does not list itself among the ten. Luke Bivens, founder of QC Growth, appears in a testimonial on The GTM Engineering Company's site. Prices and features come from each firm's own pages, checked on 6 November 2026, and many figures are vendor claims. Verify before you buy.
The table lists ten firms in the order we would look at them for an early-stage team. Where a firm publishes no price, we say so and do not estimate.
| Company | Best For | Key Strengths | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| The GTM Engineering Company | Founder-led teams that need a system | Builds in your CRM, published tiers | $5,000 and $7,000 a month |
| CIENCE | Adding SDR capacity monthly | Line-item prices, month to month | From $4,249 for 1 offshore SDR (our sum) |
| Martal Group | Closing help beyond meetings | SDR, closer and account tiers | Not published; 3 to 4 month pilot |
| memoryBlue | Teams that may hire the reps | SDR to AE roles, audition-to-hire | Not published |
| Sales Xceleration | A leader and a process | Fractional sales leadership | Not published |
| Sales Focus | Established teams needing field sales | Employed inside and outside sales | Not published |
| Belkins | Meeting volume in a contract | Yearly appointment tiers | Not on pricing page |
| SalesRoads | A managed phone-led team | Price ladder for 1 to 6 SDRs | $11,950 per 4 weeks for 1 SDR |
| Leadium | Done-for-you outbound by month | Month to month, candid terms | Not published; form bands from $2,500 |
| SalesHive | Flat managed plan | Plans set by daily touches | Quote only |
Only four firms publish a dollar figure, and they sell different things. A $5,000 system build and a $5,000 rep are not the same purchase.
Sales outsourcing means paying an outside firm to perform part of your sales function. The part varies. Some firms supply reps who book first meetings, some supply closers, some supply a part-time leader and some build the systems that make a small team productive.
That range explains why quotes differ by a factor of ten. The diagram shows four models, and the right one depends on which gap you have.
Independent data on outsourced sales results is scarce. Every outcome figure in this guide comes from a vendor, so we label them as claims.
The case rests on cost and speed. A full in-house team needs a leader, reps and tools, and each hire takes months. Outsourcing lets a company test a market while it learns what to hire.
Compensation shows the size of the commitment. Founderpath reports a median VP of Sales base of $160,000 across 256 SaaS salaries, with base at 40 to 55% of on-target earnings (Founderpath, September 2026). The Bridge Group puts median SDR on-target earnings at $80,000 and average ramp at 3.0 months (Bridge Group, February 2025).
The risk is control. An outside firm learns your product from a brief, and it may serve several clients at once. Ask what you keep when the contract ends.
The right fit depends on which gap you have.
Stage and product type change the answer, as the five cases below show.
Outsourcing fits once you know who buys and why. The firm tests volume against a known buyer, and you stay on the calls that close.
If you have not closed a deal yet, sell yourself first. A firm cannot find a buyer for you.
If reps or founders take meetings but win few, a fractional leader or a systems build helps more than extra SDRs.
Sales Xceleration and The GTM Engineering Company sit at this end.
Technical buyers reject generic outreach and quick scripts. Ask each firm for software references and for sample messages.
A build or embedded model often fits better than a rented rep.
Regulated buyers need compliance-aware outreach and longer cycles. Ask how a firm handles consent and data.
Ask for a reference in your segment.
Companies past Series B can use outsourced teams to cover a region or segment without a long hiring plan.
Sales Focus and memoryBlue are built for this case.
Each review uses the firm's own pages where they exist and labels anything we could not verify. QC Growth is an embedded GTM team and is not one of the ten, so we describe where it fits in a separate section.
The GTM Engineering Company builds outbound systems inside your HubSpot or Salesforce account: Clay workflows, enrichment, scoring and signal-based outreach. It sells the build and not the headcount.
Its site states that the approach is not for teams seeking full-time headcount, so you still need someone to take the meetings.
It is the only firm here that publishes both a Starter and a Growth price and lists what each tier includes. Starter covers a stack audit, ICP definition, a basic lead list and a simple Clay workflow. Growth adds advanced automation, full RevOps work, campaign build-out and multichannel setup.
Case studies on the site include Slate, Spara, Fluint and Trumpet.
The firm's site lists Starter at $5,000 a month, Growth at $7,000 a month and Enterprise as custom. Its FAQ says engagements run monthly from $5,000.
The GTM Engineering Company fits a founder-led team that needs the system built and will take the meetings.
Disclosure: its site shows a testimonial from Luke Bivens, founder of QC Growth. We list it because the fit is real, and you should weigh that tie.
CIENCE supplies outsourced SDR teams for outbound and inbound appointment setting. The site says there is no long contract and that you can add or remove reps monthly.
It has no closer or account executive function, so it covers the top of the funnel only. Its site now carries graph8 branding.
Its pricing page lists every cost: a $2,000 campaign team, a $499 tool fee and per-SDR fees from $1,750 offshore or $3,500 in the US or Europe. The site's own example of five offshore SDRs totals $11,249 a month before a bonus.
A bonus is paid per SDR when held-meeting attainment reaches 60% of target or more.
The pricing page lists the fees above, and one offshore SDR works out to $4,249 a month before the bonus and setup fee, by our arithmetic.
CIENCE is the cheapest published way to add outbound capacity, and the monthly term makes it easy to stop.
Pair it with a founder or AE who can close, because the firm will not.
Martal Group sells outsourced sales in three tiers. Tier 1 is lead generation, Tier 2 adds onboarding, closing and negotiation, and Tier 3 adds account management. It offers fractional, full-time and enterprise teams.
It states that it has more than 200 onshore reps, which is a vendor claim.
Martal is one of the few firms in this guide that sells the closer layer, and it lets you buy it in steps.
Named clients on its site include Jedox, Clickworker, Deephow, HALO Recognition, Berger-Levrault and Awin.
Martal's pricing page reads 'Inquire about pricing' and describes a flat monthly fee, with commission on some tiers. Ask for a written quote.
Martal suits a company that wants outsourced closing and can commit to a pilot of three to four months.
A seed team with a short runway should price the pilot against its cash before agreeing.
memoryBlue supplies SDR, account development and account executive teams that work in your tools. Reps complete a six-week academy, and you can audition and then hire them.
It reports more than 650 reps and seven offices. Both numbers come from the firm.
The audition-to-hire option turns an outsourced seat into a path to permanent staff.
Its site includes a cost calculator, which no other firm in this guide offers.
memoryBlue publishes no price. The Belkins blog estimates about $11,000 a month, which is a competitor's figure, so confirm it with the firm.
memoryBlue works for a team that already has a CRM and a pitch and wants staff it can keep.
A founder still testing the offer will find the model heavy.
Sales Xceleration places fractional sales leaders who set strategy, build the sales infrastructure, recruit and train. The engagement is part-time, and the site describes quarterly and annual reviews.
It sells a leader and not a team of reps.
A fractional leader fills the one gap that SDR firms leave open: who sets the process and hires the first reps.
The firm claims more than 8,000 clients and 20 to 30% growth, which are vendor figures.
Sales Xceleration publishes no pricing on its site. Founderpath puts the median VP of Sales base at $160,000 across 256 SaaS salaries, which gives you a ceiling for what a fractional share should cost (Founderpath, September 2026).
Sales Xceleration fits a company that has some revenue and needs a leader more than it needs more reps.
A pre-product-market-fit team should sell first and hire a leader later.
Sales Focus builds dedicated W-2 sales teams for inside and outside sales, lead generation, sales management and recruiting. It says it launches a team within 45 days and describes that as a guarantee.
Its client list leans toward energy, healthcare and distribution.
It is one of few firms that places employed sales staff for you, including outside sales.
Named case studies include Hitachi USA, MARCOA Media and CDL College Driver System.
Sales Focus publishes no pricing on its site. Its claims of $1.2 billion generated and a 37% average revenue increase are vendor figures.
Sales Focus is a better match for an established company than for a seed-stage software team.
Ask for software references before you start a conversation.
Belkins sells retainer packages with yearly appointment volumes: Growth at 100 or more, Growth Plus at 200 or more and Small Business at 30 or more. Higher tiers add calling, account-based marketing and ads.
SDR outsourcing, sales consulting and GTM development are add-ons.
Appointment tiers give you a number to hold the firm to.
Its blog publishes more guidance on outbound than most firms here.
Belkins' pricing page has no dollar amounts. A page on its own blog says outsourcing starts at $5,500, which is a vendor claim.
Belkins fits a team that wants meeting volume written into a contract.
Seed teams should confirm which team delivers the work before signing.
SalesRoads provides outsourced SDRs with a strategist, a coach and a research team. It states a 15 business day launch and no long-term commitment.
It is SDR-only, with no account executive function.
Its price ladder runs from one to six SDRs, so you can see what scaling costs.
Named clients include AchieveIt, Protecht, Crewhu, Bold Penguin and Paylocity.
The pricing page lists one SDR at $11,950 per 4-week engagement and six at $43,150.
SalesRoads works for a team that has proven phone outreach and wants a managed squad.
Early teams will find the entry price high.
Leadium runs appointment setting, data sourcing and inbound qualification. Contracts are month to month, and onboarding starts on the 1st or 15th.
It offers no closers, and its site shows limited client capacity.
Leadium states that it does not guarantee appointments and commits to activity deliverables instead.
Its logos include Segment, SignalWire, Phunware and People.ai.
Leadium's pricing page is a form with budget bands from $2,500 to $3,500 up to above $10,000. It does not state the unit.
Leadium is a fair monthly option for outbound if you accept activity targets in place of guaranteed meetings.
Get the targets in writing.
SalesHive offers Starter, Growth and Crush plans. Growth includes one offshore SDR with 250 or more daily touches, and Crush includes two offshore SDRs with 500 or more.
It states there is no per-meeting pricing and no setup fee.
Plans are defined by daily touch volume, which makes the work easy to compare.
Annual plans carry a lower monthly rate.
SalesHive quotes each plan on request, according to its pricing page. It publishes no dollar figure.
SalesHive suits a team that wants a simple managed plan and can compare several quotes.
Ask how it defines a meeting.
The table puts the models side by side. Prices come from each firm's page where published, and the in-house line uses the Bridge Group median and the BLS benefits share.
In the BLS June 2026 release, benefits were 30.0% of total compensation in private industry, or $14.07 of $46.89 an hour (BLS). If $80,000 is the 70% wage portion, the full cost is about $114,000, or $9,500 a month. That is our illustration with an all-industry average.
Account executive pay matters if you hire closers yourself. Founderpath's median AE base is $75,000, and it puts base at 45 to 55% of on-target earnings, which implies roughly $136,000 to $167,000 in on-target earnings by our arithmetic (Founderpath). We found the figure through search results, so confirm it before you budget.
| Model | What you pay | What you keep at the end |
|---|---|---|
| SDR team (CIENCE, SalesRoads, SalesHive, Leadium) | $4,249 to $11,950 a month for one program where published | Only what the contract assigns, so negotiate for sequences and data |
| SDR plus closer (Martal, memoryBlue) | Not published; Martal pilots run 3 to 4 months | Depends on the contract; memoryBlue offers audition-to-hire |
| Fractional leader (Sales Xceleration) | Not published; a full VP of Sales has a $160,000 median base | Process, hiring plan and playbook |
| Systems build (The GTM Engineering Company) | $5,000 or $7,000 a month | The workflows and data live in your CRM |
| In-house SDR | $80,000 median OTE, about $9,500 a month once average benefits are added (our illustration) | The person, the know-how and the data |
Outsourcing wins on speed and loses on ownership. Write what you keep into the contract.
A founder who sells until the playbook works and then hires usually keeps more than one who outsources from the start.
Use these six checks before you sign.
Most of the risk sits in terms you only see in the paperwork, so ask for them early.
Decide whether you lack meetings, closing, leadership or systems. A firm that sells reps cannot fix a missing process.
Write the gap in one sentence and share it with every vendor.
Only some firms supply closers. CIENCE, SalesRoads, SalesHive and Leadium cover the top of the funnel, while Martal and memoryBlue offer AE roles.
If you need closing and the firm provides none, your founders carry that load.
Pilots of three to four months, such as Martal's, use cash before you see results. Monthly terms, such as CIENCE and Leadium list, carry less risk.
Ask for an exit if the first 90 days miss an agreed target.
Ask whether you pay for booked, held or qualified meetings. SalesHive says it counts bookings and not attendance.
Write the definition into the agreement.
Ask who owns domains, sequences, lead lists and call notes at the end. Without a clause, you may start again from nothing.
Request a handover in writing.
Ask for two references from software companies at your stage. Several firms here lean on enterprise or trades clients.
A short paid test is safer than a long contract when references are thin.
Use the table as a checklist when you shortlist.
It also works as a brief for vendor calls. Ask each firm to fill in the rows that apply to you.
| Category | Key Considerations |
|---|---|
| Top 3 sales outsourcing companies to check first | CIENCE for published pricing, The GTM Engineering Company for a system build, Martal for closing help |
| Who is it for | Startups that have closed first deals and know the buyer |
| Use cases | Testing a market, adding capacity, adding closers, setting a process, building outbound systems |
| How to choose | Name the gap, check whether the firm closes, match the term to runway, define a meeting, secure asset ownership |
| Mistakes to avoid | Buying reps when the gap is process, signing a long pilot without an exit, and trusting vendor outcome claims |
| Pricing starts | $4,249 a month at CIENCE (our sum), $5,000 at The GTM Engineering Company, $11,950 per 4 weeks at SalesRoads |
An outsourced rep fills a seat. An embedded GTM team builds the motion. QC Growth places a pod of a GTM operator, a GTM lead, a GTM engineer and BDR support inside your team and runs inbound, outbound and partner channels together.
It fits Seed to Series A companies past product-market fit that need several of the four models at once. QC Growth is an embedded team and no staffing firm, so we left it out of the ten above.
QC Growth is the embedded GTM team for Seed to Series A technical founders. A fractional pod of a top-1% GTM operator, a GTM lead, a GTM engineer and BDR support builds and runs your Allbound motion, with inbound, outbound and partner channels in one signal-driven system. The infrastructure, data and playbooks stay with you.
The operators have carried the bag in these markets: Luke Bivens at Gatsby and Netlify, Aron Schuhmann at Gatsby and OctoAI, Shane O’Connor through a 10x ARR run at Scalar, and Kori Bivens, a former VP at RVO Health who leads the healthcare division. QC Growth’s portfolio of more than 50 companies includes Netlify, Gatsby, Turso, Mastra AI, ZeroEntropy, Grafbase, Arcjet, Eraser.io and Crescendo.
It is built for Seed to Series A companies past product-market fit in developer tools, AI, healthcare and deep tech, that need a sales function built and run without a full in-house team.
A pod covers the system, the outbound and the playbook in one engagement. Packages run $12,000 to $15,000 a month for GTM Systems + Ops and $15,000 to $20,000 for Full Service GTM, with a three-month minimum and no equity, against $57,000 to $81,000 a month plus 1.25% to 2.75% equity for a senior in-house team, broken down in QC’s in-house versus fractional cost math. See what the Full Service GTM package includes.
The best sales outsourcing company in 2027 depends on the gap you need filled. CIENCE is the clearest on price for SDR capacity, The GTM Engineering Company publishes system-build tiers at $5,000 and $7,000 a month, and Martal sells closing tiers. Ask each firm for software references and a written meeting definition.
Consider the gap, whether the firm closes, the term, the meeting definition and who owns the assets. Pilots of three to four months can consume a large share of a short runway. Confirm references from companies at your stage.
QC Growth places an embedded GTM pod inside your team and runs inbound, outbound and partner channels with you. It builds the system and the playbook, and you keep the infrastructure, data and playbooks. It is no staffing firm.
Book a Free Growth Audit through the QC Growth contact page and bring your ICP, your CRM and your current pipeline. QC Growth reviews what you have and scopes a package.
Switching is easy only on monthly terms. CIENCE and Leadium run month to month, while Martal uses pilots of three to four months. Ask for sequences, lead lists and domain access in writing so a new firm does not start from nothing.
Published prices run from $4,249 a month for one offshore SDR at CIENCE to $11,950 per four weeks for one SDR at SalesRoads, and The GTM Engineering Company lists $5,000 and $7,000 a month for system builds. Six of the ten firms publish no dollar price, so request written quotes.
Outsourcing is cheaper at the start and costs more per year of use. One in-house SDR costs about $9,500 a month by our illustration using Bridge Group pay and BLS benefits, and one outsourced SDR program costs $4,249 to $11,950 where prices are published. The outsourced fee buys speed and the hire buys ownership.
Some can. Martal sells closing and negotiation tiers, memoryBlue supplies account executive roles and Sales Focus places inside and outside sales staff. CIENCE, SalesRoads, SalesHive and Leadium cover first meetings only, so your team closes.