Here’s a simple way to compare customer acquisition costs from Marketing efforts vs outbound Sales efforts.
NOTE: This doesn’t factor in the long-term benefits that naturally come from Marketing such as brand awareness, dark social, and becoming a thought leader so that people come to you when they are eventually ready to buy.
Calculate the average cost per inbound closed won customer. (Or avg cost per inbound $ of revenue if the deal sizes are different between inbound and outbound.)
Then compare that with the cost per outbound closed won customer.
Depending on your company stage, you’ll get different winners. Just don’t ignore those long-term benefits from Marketing I mentioned earlier 🙂