SDR (Sales Development Representative)

What is an SDR?

SDR (Sales Development Representative) is a sales role focused on qualifying inbound leads and generating outbound opportunities for Account Executives.

SDRs don't close deals. They book meetings with qualified prospects who fit the Ideal Customer Profile.

The role sits between marketing and sales:

• Marketing generates leads
• SDRs qualify and book meetings
• AEs (Account Executives) close deals

This specialization increases efficiency. SDRs become expert prospectors. AEs focus on closing.

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SDR vs BDR vs AE

Sales development has three main roles:

SDR (Sales Development Representative):
Qualifies inbound leads generated by marketing. Someone downloaded a whitepaper or signed up for a trial. SDR reaches out to qualify and book meetings.

BDR (Business Development Representative):
Generates outbound opportunities through cold email and cold calling. Pure hunter role. No warm leads.

AE (Account Executive):
Closes deals. Runs discovery calls, demos, handles objections, negotiates contracts.

Some companies use SDR and BDR interchangeably. Others separate them by inbound vs outbound focus.

Career progression typically: SDR/BDR → AE → Senior AE → Sales Manager → VP Sales

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Core SDR Responsibilities

1. Lead Qualification

SDRs determine if prospects are worth AE time.

They use frameworks like BANT or MEDDIC:

BANT:

• Budget: Can they afford it?
• Authority: Are they the decision maker?
• Need: Do they have the problem we solve?
• Timeline: When are they buying?

MEDDIC (for complex B2B):

• Metrics: What's the quantified business impact?
• Economic Buyer: Who controls budget?
• Decision Criteria: How are they evaluating solutions?
• Decision Process: What's the approval process?
• Identify Pain: What specific problem needs solving?
• Champion: Who will advocate internally?

Qualifying rigorously prevents wasted AE time on bad-fit prospects.

2. Outbound Prospecting

SDRs build targeted prospect lists and conduct outreach.

Daily activities:

• Research target accounts (20-30 min)
• Build prospect lists (30-45 min)
• Send cold emails (50-100 emails)
• Make cold calls (40-60 dials)
• LinkedIn outreach (20-40 touches)
• Follow-ups across channels (30-45 min)

Total: 6-8 hours of focused activity.

Successful SDRs master multi-channel sequences:

Day 1: LinkedIn connection + personalized note
Day 2: Cold email #1 (value hook)
Day 4: Phone call attempt #1
Day 5: Cold email #2 (different angle)
Day 7: LinkedIn engagement (comment on their content)
Day 10: Cold email #3 (case study)
Day 12: Phone call attempt #2
Day 14: Cold email #4 (direct ask)
Day 21: Breakup email

3. Meeting Setting

Getting prospects on AE calendars is the core output.

SDRs must:

• Explain value proposition clearly
• Set proper expectations for the call
• Confirm fit before booking
• Provide AE with qualification notes

Bad handoffs waste everyone's time. "I booked a meeting but I'm not sure if they have budget" is useless.

4. CRM Management

SDRs log every touchpoint in the CRM.

This includes:

• Emails sent
• Calls made
• LinkedIn touches
• Responses received
• Meeting outcomes
• Qualification notes

Data hygiene matters. Sales leaders use SDR activity data for forecasting, coaching, and territory planning.

5. Continuous Learning

Top SDRs study:

• Buyer personas deeply
• Competitive intelligence
• Industry trends
• Sales methodologies
• Messaging that works

The role requires constant adaptation as markets shift and prospects evolve.

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SDR Performance Benchmarks

Activity Metrics

Metric	Ramping SDR	Fully Ramped	Top Performer
Emails/Day	30-50	50-100	100-150
Calls/Day	20-40	40-60	60-100
LinkedIn Touches/Day	10-20	20-40	40-60
Total Touches/Day	60-110	110-200	200-300

Outcome Metrics

Metric	Ramping SDR	Fully Ramped	Top Performer
Meetings/Month	5-10	10-20	20-35
SQLs/Month	3-7	7-15	15-25
Pipeline Generated/Month	$50K-$150K	$150K-$400K	$400K+
Quota Attainment	70-85%	85-110%	110-150%

Source: Bridge Group SDR Metrics Report 2025

Response Rates

Channel	Poor	Average	Good	Excellent
Cold Email Reply Rate	<1%	1-3%	3-8%	>8%
Cold Call Connect Rate	<5%	5-10%	10-15%	>15%
LinkedIn Response Rate	<3%	3-7%	7-12%	>12%

Top performers achieve 2-3x higher response rates through better targeting and messaging.

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SDR Compensation

Base Salary:
$45K-$65K (entry-level)
$55K-$75K (experienced)

OTE (On-Target Earnings):
$70K-$95K (entry-level)
$85K-$120K (experienced)

Typical Split:
60/40 or 70/30 (base/variable)

Accelerators:
Many plans pay 1.5-2x commission above 100% quota attainment.

Example:

• Base: $60K
• Variable: $40K
• Total OTE: $100K
• At 120% quota: $60K base + $56K variable = $116K total

Variable comp tied to meetings booked, SQLs created, or pipeline generated.

Top 10% of SDRs earn $120K+ in year two through accelerators and promotions to Senior SDR or AE roles.

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SDR Career Path

Typical progression:

SDR (0-18 months):
Learn prospecting, qualification, messaging. Build foundation.

Senior SDR (18-30 months):
Mentor junior SDRs. Handle key accounts. Refine methodology.

AE (30-48 months):
Close deals. Run full sales cycle. Earn $100K-$200K OTE.

Senior AE (48-72 months):
Handle enterprise accounts. Earn $150K-$300K OTE.

Sales Manager (72+ months):
Lead team of 5-10 reps. Earn $120K-$180K base + variable.

VP Sales (5-7 years):
Own entire sales org. Earn $180K-$300K+ total comp.

Alternative paths:

• Customer Success (relationship-focused)
• Sales Operations (data and process)
• Sales Enablement (training and coaching)
• Revenue Operations (cross-functional strategy)

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Skills Top SDRs Master

Core Skills

1. Research & Targeting
Finding the right prospects matters more than volume. Top SDRs spend 30% of time on research, identifying trigger events and pain points.

2. Multi-Channel Sequencing
Email alone isn't enough. Phone, LinkedIn, and email together generate 40% higher reply rates than any single channel.

3. Objection Handling
"Send me more information" = "I'm not interested but too polite to say so."
Top SDRs identify real objections vs brush-offs.

4. Time Management
Protecting 4-6 hours daily for high-value activities (prospecting, calls, emails) vs administrative tasks (CRM updates, meetings).

5. Messaging
Writing cold emails that get responses. Speaking value propositions clearly in 30 seconds.

Tools SDRs Use

CRM:

• Salesforce (enterprise standard)
• HubSpot (mid-market favorite)
• Pipedrive (SMB friendly)

Sales Engagement:

• Outreach (enterprise sequencing)
• Salesloft (multichannel automation)
• Apollo.io (data + engagement)

Cold Email:

• Firstsales.io (87% inbox placement at $28-269/mo)
• Instantly (high volume at $97/mo)
• Smartlead (multi-inbox at $94/mo)

Data:

• ZoomInfo (premium B2B contacts)
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator (targeted list building)
• Cognism (GDPR-compliant EU data)

Dialers:

• Aircall (cloud phone system)
• PhoneBurner (power dialer)
• Qcall.ai (AI voice calling at $0.07/min)

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Common SDR Challenges

1. Deliverability Issues
60-70% of cold emails hitting spam kills pipeline. Firstsales.io solves this with 87% inbox placement through automated warm-up and real-time monitoring.

2. Low Response Rates
Most SDRs quit after 1-2 touches. 80% of sales require 5+ touches. Persistence wins.

3. Quota Pressure
Missing quota 2-3 quarters in a row typically leads to PIP (Performance Improvement Plan) or termination. High-pressure role.

4. Burnout
Rejection is constant. 95%+ of outreach gets ignored. Mental resilience required.

5. Ramp Time
Most SDRs don't hit quota for 3-6 months. New reps must survive the learning curve.

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SDR Success Framework

Week 1-4: Foundation

• Learn ICP inside out
• Study buyer personas
• Master CRM and tools
• Shadow successful reps
• Practice pitch 100+ times

Month 2-3: Activity Ramp

• Hit activity benchmarks daily
• A/B test messaging constantly
• Track what actually works
• Build repeatable sequences
• Focus on learning, not quota

Month 4-6: Results Focus

• Shift from activity to outcomes
• Refine targeting based on data
• Increase meeting show rates
• Improve SQL conversion
• Start hitting quota consistently

Month 7-12: Optimization

• Mentor newer reps
• Build specialized sequences
• Handle key accounts
• Prepare for AE promotion

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Related Terms

• BDR (Business Development Representative) - Outbound-focused prospecting role
• Account Executive - Closing role SDRs feed
• Lead Qualification - Core SDR responsibility
• Cold Email - Primary SDR channel
• Pipeline - What SDRs build for AEs

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Next: Read our complete guide on SDR roles and responsibilities with activity benchmarks and career progression.