What a sales development representative (SDR) does, how the role differs from a BDR, an appointment setter and an account executive, and when to outsource it.
What an SDR is
An SDR, short for sales development representative, is the person who starts a sales conversation. They find potential buyers, contact them, work out whether the company might be a fit and, when it is, pass the opportunity to a salesperson who runs the sales process. The role exists because finding and qualifying leads is a different job from closing them. Closing needs depth in the product and the buyer's situation. Starting conversations needs volume, persistence and the discipline to handle a lot of no. Splitting the two lets each person do the job they are best at.
The title is common in software and services companies that sell to other businesses, but the work appears wherever a company sells something that needs a conversation before it needs a contract.
What an SDR does in a working day
An SDR's day is built around outreach and follow-up. Typical activities include researching target companies and the right people within them, calling and emailing to start conversations, following up with people who showed interest, qualifying them against agreed criteria, booking a meeting with the salesperson, and recording everything in the customer relationship system so nothing is lost at the handover. Much of the time is spent on contacts that go nowhere, which is why the skill that matters most is the ability to keep a steady rhythm and learn from each attempt.
Good SDRs are not scripted callers. They adjust to the person on the line, ask good questions, listen to the answers and judge whether a conversation is worth continuing. The scripts and talk tracks that support them are written by the team; how they are used is the SDR's craft. For examples of the structure behind a first call, see cold calling scripts.
SDR, BDR, appointment setter and account executive
The titles overlap, and companies use them differently, so it helps to separate the jobs.
- SDR (sales development representative). Usually handles inbound leads and does outbound outreach, qualifies, and books meetings for a salesperson.
- BDR (business development representative). Often used for the outbound-focused version of the role, aimed at larger or more strategic target accounts. Some companies use SDR and BDR as the same title.
- Appointment setter. Has a narrower task: to get a qualified meeting on the calendar. The qualifying may be lighter and the research less detailed. See what is appointment setting for how that work is defined and when it pays to outsource.
- Account executive. Runs the sales process from the first meeting to the close. The SDR's meetings are the account executive's pipeline.
The practical difference lies in how much qualification and research the role carries. If you need meetings booked with a defined type of company, an appointment setter is the simpler fit. If you need the person to research the account, personalise the approach and judge fit before handing over, that is closer to an SDR.
How an SDR is measured
The commonly used measures are activity, such as calls and emails, conversations, meetings booked and, most importantly, meetings held and opportunities that qualified. Activity alone is misleading. A high number of calls with no meetings tells you the targeting or the message is wrong. A high number of meetings booked that never happen, or that the salesperson judges to be a poor fit, tells you the qualification is too loose. The measure to watch is the number of good meetings, agreed in advance with the salespeople who take them, and how many become opportunities.
This is also why the handover matters. If the SDR and the account executive do not agree on what a qualified meeting is, each will judge the other unfairly. Write the definition down, with examples of meetings that count and ones that do not, and review it regularly.
Building an SDR team in-house
Hiring SDRs is straightforward; keeping them productive is the work. They need a defined target list, a message that has been tested, tools that record what they do, a manager who listens to calls and coaches, and a realistic ramp before the results appear. The role is often a first step into sales, so people move on, which means recruiting and training are continuing costs rather than one-off ones. Companies that treat the SDR team as a fixed project often find it underperforms because the support around it was never built.
When to outsource the SDR function
Outsourcing makes sense when you want the outreach done but do not want to build the team and management around it, when volume is uneven, when you want to test a market before committing, or when your own salespeople are spending time on prospecting that someone else could do. It works best when you can define the target customer, the message and what a qualified meeting looks like. It works poorly when the offer is unclear or the company has never sold to this market before, because no team can fix a message nobody has tested.
If you decide to, outsourced SDR services describes how a managed team runs the function, and hire SDRs covers dedicated individuals working to your direction. For a meeting-led version of the same idea, see appointment setting services. Whichever you choose, keep ownership of the target list, the message and the definition of a good meeting. Those are the parts that decide whether the outreach produces revenue.
Frequently asked questions
What does SDR stand for?
SDR stands for sales development representative. It is the person who finds and contacts potential buyers, qualifies them and books meetings for a salesperson, so the salesperson can concentrate on running the sales process.
What is the difference between an SDR and a BDR?
The two titles are often used interchangeably. Where they are separated, an SDR usually handles inbound leads as well as outbound outreach, while a BDR focuses on outbound outreach to larger or more strategic target accounts. Check how a particular company defines each before comparing roles.
Is an SDR the same as an appointment setter?
Not quite. An appointment setter has a narrower task, getting a qualified meeting booked, and may do less research and qualification. An SDR usually carries more of the research and qualification before handing the opportunity to a salesperson.
How is an SDR's performance measured?
By meetings held and opportunities created, supported by activity measures such as calls and conversations. Activity alone is not enough: the number to watch is the number of good meetings, using a definition agreed in advance with the salespeople who take them.
Should a company outsource its SDR function?
It suits companies that want outreach done without building the team and management around it, that have uneven volume, or that want to test a market. It works best when the target customer, the message and the meaning of a qualified meeting are already defined, because an outsourced team cannot fix an untested offer.
