Junior salesperson or prospecting system: the real cost

When an industrial company wants more new customers and has no time to look for them, the first idea is usually to hire a junior salesperson. It is a reasonable option and, in some cases, the best one. But before deciding, compare on the same terms: what each option really costs and what part of the work it covers.

The real cost of a person

Salary is only part of it. To compare, add up:

• Annual gross salary and the employer's social security contribution.
• Tools: CRM, contact database, email and sending, paid LinkedIn if used.
• Equipment and space.
• Recruitment and training: the time of whoever interviews and whoever teaches.
• Time to productivity: in technical sales it can be several months.
• The cost if they leave: if it does not work out or they change company, you start again.

The result depends on your city, your collective agreement and the profile. Work it out with your own numbers rather than relying on a generic figure.

What a junior salesperson covers

• Finding companies, locating contacts and writing or calling.
• Handling replies and booking meetings.
• Recording everything in the CRM.

It is work that one person can sustain as long as that person does only that. If they also handle orders, quotes or fairs, prospecting waits for a free moment.

What an outsourced system covers

• Account search and list cleaning.
• Identifying who decides at each company.
• Sending and follow-up with clear rules (opt-out, limits, exclusions).
• Recording and reporting what happens.

What it does not cover: the sales conversation from the first reply, the quote and the close. That remains yours. Nor does it guarantee a number of meetings or sales, which depend on your offer and your market.

Comparison list (fill it in with your numbers)

• Total annual cost: person (salary + contribution + tools) versus the service fee.
• Time to start: weeks of recruitment and training versus days or weeks of onboarding.
• Flexibility: permanent contract versus a service you can pause.
• Product knowledge: high over time versus needs explaining.
• Turnover risk: yes versus does not depend on one person.

When each fits

• Junior salesperson: if the product is very technical, you have time to train them and you want to build your own team.
• Outsourced system: if you want to start fast, test a market without committing or free your current team.
• Both: the system generates conversations and your person converts them.

A way to decide

1. Work out the real annual cost of the person with your data.
2. Ask for the service price and compare month by month.
3. Define what must happen in the first 90 days to continue (meetings, replies, learnings).
4. Choose the option that lets you decide with data after that period.

What we can do

We build and run the prospecting system and hand you the conversations; you or your team take them to the close. If you want to see how it would look for your market, ask for 5 companies that fit you. For manufacturers, this is how we plan customer acquisition for manufacturers.