If you’re feeling the pressure to ignite growth, you may be wondering if an in-house business development rep is the solution. The decision is trickier than it sounds. Many companies dive in with high expectations, only to find themselves juggling hidden costs, lengthy ramp-up times, and the constant challenge of keeping that new hire engaged, effective, and aligned with the company’s goals.
Scaling business development internally often comes with unforeseen obstacles. From the high cost of recruiting top talent to the extensive training required to get them fully operational, bringing someone on board can quickly drain resources—and still not guarantee results. Even once they’re settled in, maintaining momentum, staying adaptable in a changing market, and achieving consistent results can strain internal teams and budgets.
Before committing to an in-house hire, you’ll want to weigh the risks, understand the full scope of investment, and evaluate whether internal growth truly serves your needs—or if there’s a more strategic way to reach your goals. In this guide, we’ll cover what you need to know to make an informed choice that positions your company for sustainable growth.
Defining the Role of a Business Development Representative
Before deciding to hire in-house, clearly define what you need from a business development rep. Let’s break down the key responsibilities, how to align the position with your company goals, and the skills and experience necessary for success.
1. Key Responsibilities
This role typically involves identifying and pursuing new business opportunities, building and nurturing client relationships, and developing strategies to drive revenue. It’s not just about cold outreach; it’s about understanding market trends, nurturing long-term partnerships, and finding innovative ways to unlock growth.
2. Importance of Alignment
To maximize impact, the rep’s efforts need to be tightly aligned with your broader business strategy. Whether you’re focused on scaling revenue, entering new markets, or deepening relationships with existing clients, a successful business development rep will tailor their approach to support your company’s specific objectives.
3. Skills and Experience
The best candidates for this role combine industry knowledge with strong communication and relationship-building skills. They should be skilled in negotiation, have a deep understanding of the sales cycle, and be adept at strategic thinking.
Experience in your niche market – whether it’s agency new business, adtech, media, or sponsorship – is also critical to ensure they can hit the ground running and understand the unique challenges and opportunities your business faces.
The Financial Investment of Hiring an In-House BDR
Once you’ve clearly defined the role and the skills needed, it’s time to consider the financial investment that comes with hiring in-house.
Bringing on a business development rep is more than just a salary, it involves a range of costs that can significantly impact your budget. Let’s break down the key financial factors you’ll need to account for.
1. Salary costs
A qualified business development rep in adtech, media, or sponsorship typically commands a competitive salary. Industry benchmarks range depending on experience and location. It’s critical to budget accordingly to attract top talent.
2. Benefits and perks
Beyond salary, you’ll need to factor in benefits like health insurance, retirement contributions, and paid time off. These perks are essential for retaining employees and can add another 20-30% to the total compensation package.
3. Tech stack
To enable your rep to perform efficiently, you’ll need to invest in tools like CRM systems, prospecting software, email automation, and analytics platforms. Tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, or LinkedIn Sales Navigator aren’t optional—they’re essential for success and come with ongoing subscription costs.
4. Additional overhead
Don’t forget about office space, equipment like laptops and phones, and ongoing training.These costs add up, especially if you’re scaling up your business development efforts.
Time Investment: Onboarding and Ramp-Up Period
Beyond the financial investment, there’s the often-overlooked factor of time. Hiring an in-house BDR doesn’t just cost money, it also requires a significant time commitment to get them up to speed and delivering results. Let’s take a deeper look.
1. Onboarding time
Expect a new hire to need at least 1-3 months to get fully onboarded. This includes everything from learning internal systems to understanding your unique value propositions and sales approach. During this time, they’re not yet driving revenue.
2. Learning curve
Even the best reps will face a learning curve as they get familiar with your products, company culture, and specific sales processes. This adaptation period is essential to ensure they represent your brand effectively and build meaningful client relationships.
3. Expected time to ROI
Realistically, it could take 6 months or more before your new hire starts producing measurable results. Business development is a long game, and the time spent training and nurturing a new rep delays the return on your investment, making it crucial to factor this into your overall hiring decision.
The Hidden Costs of Hiring In-House
In addition to the time and financial investments, there are hidden costs to hiring in-house that can often be overlooked. These unseen expenses can impact your bottom line just as much as direct costs and should be a critical part of your decision-making process.
Let’s dive into what these hidden costs look like and why they’re so important to consider.
1. The Possibility of Turnover
If your new hire leaves within a year, you’re left with the financial loss of their salary, benefits, and tools, but also the time spent training them. Plus, the need to start the recruitment process all over again can set your business back months, potentially leaving key growth opportunities on the table.
2. Time Investments
Finding the right candidate can be a lengthy process. Time spent on recruiting, conducting interviews, and onboarding is time taken away from running your business and focusing on growth. The longer this process takes, the more costly it becomes.
3. Misalignment Potential
If you don’t hire the right person, the consequences go beyond financial. A misaligned hire can disrupt team dynamics, underperform, and waste valuable time and resources.
Worse, they might steer your business development efforts in the wrong direction, delaying your goals even further or damaging your reputation among key prospects.
4. Technology and Tools Required
Another critical factor that often gets overlooked when hiring in-house is the technology and tools needed to support a business development rep. Without the right systems in place, even the most skilled rep will struggle to perform effectively.
Before making any hiring decisions, it’s important to assess the tools required and the additional costs they bring.
- Necessary tools: A successful business development rep will rely on a robust CRM system (like Salesforce or HubSpot), lead generation tools, and reporting systems to track progress. These are essential for managing relationships, staying organized, and measuring success.
- Licensing and maintenance costs: Each of these tools comes with licensing fees and ongoing maintenance costs. Depending on the size of your team, these costs can add up quickly, and they’re crucial to budget for when planning to hire in-house.
- Integration and onboarding: Ensuring your new hire is seamlessly integrated into your existing tech stack can take time. They’ll need to be trained on the tools you use and how they fit into your broader business processes, which can further extend the ramp-up period.
The Benefits of Hiring an In-House Business Development Rep
While there are significant costs and considerations when hiring in-house, there are also undeniable benefits that can make it a worthwhile investment for some businesses.
When done right, bringing a business development rep in-house can deliver long-term value and deeper alignment with your company’s vision. Let’s take a look at the top three pros of hiring in-house:
1. Dedicated Team Member
An in-house business development rep becomes a fully embedded part of your team, aligning closely with your company’s culture, values, and goals. This deep integration ensures they aren’t just selling your services but representing your brand in an authentic and consistent way, fostering stronger connections with clients that reflect your company’s mission.
2. Possibility of Long-Term Strategy
Because they’re dedicated solely to your business, an in-house rep can focus on nurturing deeper, more meaningful client relationships. They have the time and space to understand your clients’ unique needs, building trust and fostering loyalty over the long term.
3. Direct Control
With an in-house rep, you have complete control over how your business development strategy is executed. You can directly influence their approach, messaging, and tactics, ensuring everything aligns perfectly with your broader goals and vision for growth.
Is It the Right Time to Hire An In-House Business Development Rep?
With the benefits of hiring in-house clear, the final question to ask is whether now is the right time to make that move. Timing is crucial, and bringing on an in-house business development rep requires careful consideration of your current resources, growth stage, and long-term strategy.
Let’s explore the key factors to determine if hiring in-house is the best next step for your business:
1. Consistent growth
If your business is experiencing steady growth and you need a dedicated team member to focus on scaling your client base, it may be time to bring someone in-house. An internal rep can provide the focused effort needed to maintain and accelerate this momentum.
2. Complex sales cycles
When your sales process is becoming more intricate and requires a deeper understanding of your services, products, and client needs, an in-house hire can offer the personalized attention necessary for navigating these longer sales cycles effectively.
3. Strong financial position
Hiring in-house comes with significant costs. If your company is in a solid financial position and can comfortably absorb the salary, benefits, and tech investments required, you’re more likely to be ready for this move.
4. Need for strategic alignment
If your current business development efforts require tighter alignment with your overall company goals and culture, an internal hire can provide the control and consistency needed to ensure your messaging and strategy stay on track.
5. Existing Team and Bandwidth
Consider whether your leadership and sales teams have the capacity to support, train, and manage a new business development rep effectively. Onboarding and ramping up a new hire demands time and attention, especially during the first few months when they’re learning your products, processes, and company culture.
If your existing team is already stretched thin or lacks the experience to guide a new rep, you might face delays in achieving the results you’re aiming for. Ensuring that you have the internal resources to properly support this role is key.
6. Projected Growth
Lastly, assess your company’s projected growth and how a business development rep aligns with your long-term goals. If your business is poised for significant expansion, having an internal rep can help strategically drive this growth. They can focus on building relationships that support these future objectives, aligning business development efforts with your company’s vision.
Additionally, a dedicated in-house rep provides the flexibility to adjust strategies as your goals evolve, ensuring that your growth initiatives are not only supported but accelerated by a team member who’s fully invested in your company’s success.
Outsourcing as a Faster Path to Results
While hiring an in-house business development rep offers long-term potential, it also comes with significant investments of time, money, and resources. The ramp-up period alone can delay results, and there’s always the risk of turnover or misalignment.
If you’re looking for a faster, more efficient path to growth, outsourcing can be a smarter solution. Catapult, with over two decades of experience and a proven team of experts, helps companies bypass the lengthy onboarding process.
We deliver results quickly by leveraging our full suite of tools and industry knowledge without the hidden costs and challenges of an internal hire. Let Catapult accelerate your business development efforts and help you hit your growth goals faster.