What does Stellar Digital do?

Stellar Digital builds automated lead generation, operations, and outreach systems for B2B companies. We automate cold email, sales pipelines, and go-to-market workflows so your team focuses on closing deals instead of manual prospecting.

How much does B2B lead generation cost?

B2B lead generation costs vary by approach. Automated outbound systems typically cost $2,000-6,000 per month for setup and management, delivering qualified leads at $30-75 per lead. This is significantly cheaper than hiring in-house SDRs at $60-80k per year plus tools and training.

What is a go-to-market engine?

A go-to-market engine is an automated system that handles your entire outbound sales pipeline: finding target companies, enriching contact data, writing personalized outreach, sending campaigns, and tracking responses. It replaces 3-5 manual tools with one integrated workflow.

How long does it take to see results from cold email automation?

Most clients see first qualified replies within 2-3 weeks of campaign launch. Full ramp-up takes 4-6 weeks as email domains warm up and messaging is A/B tested. By month 2, most campaigns are generating 10-30 qualified meetings per month depending on total addressable market size.

What industries does Stellar Digital work with?

We work with B2B companies across SaaS, cybersecurity, staffing, fintech, professional services, and other verticals. Our systems are industry-agnostic -- the automation framework adapts to any B2B market with a defined ideal customer profile.

Tools

Lead Gen ROI Calculator

Enter your numbers. Get back what you actually need to know: leads required, budget required, and whether you should be using an agency, SDRs, or paid ads.

B2B Lead Generation ROI Calculator

Calculate exactly how many leads you need, what they should cost, and whether agency-managed outbound, in-house SDRs, or paid ads give you the best return. Free B2B lead gen ROI calculator — no sign-up required.

How to use this calculator

Enter your average deal size, your close rate on qualified leads, and your monthly revenue target. The calculator works backwards to give you the number of qualified leads you need per month, the budget required at agency rates, and a side-by-side comparison of cost per meeting across three channels: agency-run cold outbound, in-house SDR, and paid advertising (LinkedIn or Google).

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you calculate lead generation ROI?

Lead generation ROI is calculated as ((Revenue Generated - Lead Gen Cost) / Lead Gen Cost) times 100. For example, if you spend $5,000/month on lead gen and close two deals worth $15,000 each, your ROI is ((30,000 - 5,000) / 5,000) times 100 = 500%. The key inputs are deal size, close rate, and cost per qualified lead.

How many leads do I need to hit my revenue target?

Divide your target monthly revenue by your average deal size to get deals needed. Then divide deals needed by your close rate (as a decimal) to get leads needed. Example: $50,000 target divided by $15,000 deal size = 3.3 deals. 3.3 divided by 0.25 close rate = 14 qualified leads per month.

What is the average cost per lead for B2B?

B2B cost per lead varies significantly by channel. Agency-run outbound typically delivers qualified leads at $50-75 each. In-house SDRs cost $150-300 per qualified lead when fully loaded (salary, benefits, tools, ramp time). Paid ads (LinkedIn, Google) average $100-200 per lead, though quality varies widely by targeting and offer.

Is it cheaper to hire an SDR or use a lead gen agency?

At typical volumes (under 200 leads/month), agencies are cheaper. A junior SDR costs $55-75k base plus 20-30% overhead, tools, and 60-90 days to ramp — that is $6,000-9,000/month before they are productive. An agency at $3,000-5,000/month delivers leads immediately. The crossover point is usually 500+ leads/month, where an in-house team becomes more cost-effective.

What is a good ROI for B2B lead generation?

For B2B companies, a 3-5x ROI on lead generation spend is generally considered healthy. That means for every $1 spent on lead gen, you should be closing $3-5 in revenue. High-ACV businesses ($25k+ deals) often see 10x+ ROI because the cost per lead is small relative to deal size.

Ready to see what this looks like for your numbers? Book a free 30-minute growth audit with Stellar Digital.

Your numbers

Average deal size$15,000

Net new revenue per closed deal, before any discounts.

Monthly close rate25%

Qualified leads to closed deals. Be honest — use last 90 days actuals.

Target monthly revenue$50,000

New closed revenue target, not pipeline.

Lead generation channel

What you need

Deals per month

3.3

to hit your target

Leads per month

at 25% close rate

Monthly budget

$827

Agency channel

Projected ROI

5,948%

revenue vs. spend

Channel comparison

Channel	Cost/lead	Monthly spend	ROI
AgencyBest ROI	$50–$75	$827	5,948%
In-House SDR	$150–$300	$3,000	1,567%
Paid Ads	$100–$200	$2,000	2,400%

Annual savings vs. in-house SDR

Based on cost-per-lead difference at your required volume

$26,080

Want us to build this pipeline for you?

We audit your current setup, map the gap, and show you exactly what to fix. No slides, just numbers.

Book a free audit

How to calculate lead generation ROI

Most B2B teams track cost per lead without ever connecting it back to revenue. That makes the number meaningless. A $20 lead from a content download is not worth more than a $150 lead from a cold email if the cold email lead closes at 4x the rate. ROI-based thinking forces you to hold every channel to the same standard: revenue generated per dollar spent.

The core formula

Lead gen ROI = ((Monthly revenue from leads − Monthly lead gen spend) / Monthly lead gen spend) × 100. A 400% ROI means you are getting $5 back for every $1 spent. Most B2B teams should target 300-500% ROI on outbound at minimum. If you are below 200%, the channel is not working at the current cost structure.

Working backwards from revenue

The more useful calculation is working backwards from your revenue target. If you need $100,000 in new monthly revenue and your average deal is $25,000, you need four closed deals. At a 25% close rate, you need 16 qualified leads. At $75 per qualified lead (agency-managed outbound), that is a $1,200 monthly budget to hit $100,000 in revenue. That math makes the conversation very easy.

Why cost per lead misleads you

The problem with optimizing for cost per lead is that you end up pulling in leads that do not close. A SaaS company paying $15 per lead from content syndication sounds great until they realize the close rate is 3% and each SDR call costs $40 in time. The real cost per opportunity is $550. Compare that to $75 cold email leads closing at 20%: cost per opportunity is $375. Always attach a close rate assumption to every cost per lead number.

Agency vs. in-house SDR: the real comparison

The honest comparison is not agency retainer vs. SDR salary. It is total cost per qualified meeting. An SDR at $65,000 base with 25% overhead and $500/month in tools costs roughly $7,000 per month all-in. If they book 20 qualified meetings per month after ramp, that is $350 per meeting. A well-run agency at $4,000/month booking 20 meetings is $200 per meeting. The agency wins on cost until you need scale that requires dedicated headcount or the role needs to exist for non-pipeline reasons (enterprise relationships, event coverage, etc.).

What drives ROI up

Four levers move lead gen ROI in meaningful ways. First, close rate: improving from 20% to 30% reduces leads needed by 33% with no change in spend. Second, lead quality: fewer leads that actually fit the ICP close faster and at higher ACV. Third, outreach personalization: relevant emails get 2-3x reply rates, which reduces cost per response. Fourth, sequence optimization: A/B tested subject lines and copy compounds improvements over time. Most teams focus on volume when the real leverage is in conversion rate at each stage.

When to trust the calculator vs. when to stress-test it

The calculator gives you a starting model. Real-world results diverge based on ICP tightness, offer clarity, and whether your CRM is actually tracking attribution. Before making budget decisions, sanity-check three inputs: your actual close rate from the last 90 days (not your target), your average deal size net of any early-stage discounting, and whether the leads you are comparing are actually qualified by the same definition. Apples-to-apples comparisons are rare. A 15-minute review of your pipeline data will tell you more than any model.