--- title: "In-house hire, agency or partner: a cost comparison" description: "What an in-house salesperson, an agency or an external partner really costs: recruitment, social security, tools and the months before they perform." url: https://duranb2b.com/en/my-model language: en-GB author: Eduardo Durán Velázquez · B2B Sales Partner contact: eduardo@duranb2b.com spanish_version: https://duranb2b.com/mi-modelo --- 03 · MY MODEL # Before you hire a salesperson or an agency, run the numbers [What it really costs](https://duranb2b.com/en/my-model#fricciones) · [The comparison](https://duranb2b.com/en/my-model#matriz) ## What it really costs 01 · The cost you don’t see ## An in-house salesperson costs almost twice their gross salary +31.5% to 33% in mandatory employer social security in Spain (around €13,000 a year on a €40,000 salary). €4,500 to €6,000 a year on sales software. For foreign companies without a Spanish subsidiary: +€6,000 to €8,500 a year for an employer of record. Example: €40,000 gross base salary · cost per fully productive year 1. **1.0×** Gross salary €40,000 2. **1.45×** + employer social security and sales software €57,800 3. **1.8×** ÷ actual productive time (~80% of the year after holidays, bank holidays and absence) €72,250 4. **2.25×** + a 3.2-month ramp-up with no output, over an average tenure of 16 months ≈ €90,000 Sources: Spanish social security contribution bases and rates for 2026 (Orden PJC/297/2026); Randstad Research, absenteeism Q1 2026; Bridge Group, SDR ramp-up and average tenure. Excludes recruitment, severance and management time. Calculated for a hire in Spain. In other European countries the percentages differ, but these costs exist there too. - 02 · The employment risk ## Costly dismissals and months when no one is prospecting If the hire doesn’t work out, unfair dismissal in Spain costs 33 days’ pay per year worked. And between holidays, bank holidays and sick leave, they are paid for 12 months and productive for about 10: for those two months, no one is prospecting. - 03 · The months without sales ## 3 to 4 months on full salary before they perform First you have to find and hire them. Then they start from scratch: learning your product, understanding your market and building their own lists and messaging. Until all of that is working, you are paying their salary from day one. - 04 · The burnt domain ## Your outreach in spam and your customers missing your emails Prospecting from your usual domain and mailboxes burns them. And once they are burnt, your invoices, proposals and replies stop getting through as well. - 05 · The volume agency ## A junior rep with 15 clients, automated bots and no calls An experienced salesperson sells you the service, but your account is run by someone with little track record, and it is one of fifteen. If that person leaves, you start again. Emails go out in bulk, to anyone, in your name, and nobody calls your prospects. - 06 · Your time ## 5 to 10 hours of your week spent managing a salesperson An in-house salesperson needs targets, a weekly review of their opportunities and support in the important meetings. All of that falls to you, and the hours come out of your product, your strategy or your own clients. ## The comparison | CRITERIA | IN-HOUSE HIRE | TRADITIONAL AGENCY | MY MODEL | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Investment | **€4,000 to €5,500 a month in total cost** Salary, social security and sales software. | **Fixed monthly fee, results or not** Plus a set-up fee, usually €1,500 to €5,000, and extras billed separately: data, tools and additional domains. | **Monthly retainer + success fee** A single set-up fee covering all the infrastructure (domains, mailboxes and warm-up). Software included, no extras. | | Commitment and exit | **Permanent contract** 33 days’ pay per year for unfair dismissal, plus final settlement, if the hire doesn’t work out. | **6- to 12-month minimum term** Rigid contracts with exit penalties. | **Cancel with 30 days’ notice** No employment liabilities: no social security, final settlement or dismissal costs. | | Time to launch | **3 to 4 months** Of learning on full salary before they perform, not counting the time it takes to find them. | **Several weeks to get started** Account assignment and generic onboarding before the first contact. | **Outreach from week 3** Two weeks of preparation: accounts researched and sequences written while the mailboxes warm up. | | Who does the work | **A salesperson you have to train and manage** 5 to 10 hours of your week setting targets and reviewing opportunities. | **An account manager juggling several clients** The person who sold to you is not the one working your account. If they leave, you start again. | **Me, personally** The person talking to you today is the one doing the work. You have no one to manage. | | Channels | **Depends on who you hire** Starts from scratch: the method, the tools and the messaging all have to be built. | **Automated email and LinkedIn** Volume sending and few or no calls. | **Real ABM across three channels** 150 accounts a month, each researched individually and prospected with the Josh Braun method: cold calling, LinkedIn and hyper-personalised email sequences. | | Domain safety | **Technical risk** If they prospect from the company email, your main domain is exposed. | **Spam risk** Mass sending in your name, and much of it ends up in spam. | **Brand protection** Separate secondary domains and warmed-up mailboxes; your official email is never touched. | | Scope | **Whatever the role covers** To book meetings and close deals as well, you need an experienced full-cycle salesperson, the most expensive profile to hire. | **Usually meetings only** With the risk of meetings with no budget behind them, booked to hit the contract quota. | **From prospecting to close** Meetings only or the full sale, depending on what you need, in English or Spanish. | ## Where are your B2B sales getting stuck? Let’s look at it in 20 minutes A diagnostic video call, with no obligation. If we’re not a fit, I’ll tell you on the call. [Book a call (20 min) →](https://duranb2b.com/en/contact) · [eduardo@duranb2b.com](mailto:eduardo@duranb2b.com) CLEAR AGENDA 1. **01** Product and market 2. **02** Bottleneck 3. **03** Diagnosis