Glossary: outreach
What is a sales development representative (SDR)?
A sales development representative (SDR) is a salesperson whose job is to start conversations with potential customers and book qualified meetings. The SDR does not close deals. Each meeting is handed to an account executive, who runs the sale from there.
Two sales roles, one handoff
Sales development representative
- Finds and contacts prospects
- Qualifies the replies
- Books the first meeting
Account executive
- Runs the meeting
- Builds the proposal
- Closes the deal
The SDR role covers three kinds of work.
The sales development representative finds and contacts prospects, qualifies the replies and books the first meeting. The account executive runs the meeting, builds the proposal and closes the deal. The split exists so closers spend their time on conversations that are already open.
Prospecting fills the top of the pipeline.
The SDR researches accounts, finds the right people and reaches out by email, phone or social.
Qualifying protects the closer's time.
Each reply is checked for fit and need before a meeting is offered.
Handoff passes the context on.
The SDR books the meeting and tells the account executive who the buyer is and what they said.
Here is one month of an SDR's work at an invented company.
Imagine Oakenrill, an invented company that sells analytics software. In one month its SDR has 800 prospects contacted by email and phone, which leads to 56 conversations.
The SDR qualifies those 56 conversations and gets 14 meetings booked. That gives 11 meetings held, and the account executive marks 7 as opportunities accepted. The SDR is measured on the 11 and the 7, not on the 800.
One month for Oakenrill's SDR
- 800prospects contacted
- 56conversations
- 14meetings booked
- 11meetings held
- 7opportunities accepted
Set up the SDR function in four steps.
Whether the work is done by a hire, a team or an agency, the same four things have to be in place.
The four steps in order
- 1Define the target
- 2Agree the bar
- 3Supply the tools
- 4Measure outcomes
- 1
Define the target for the SDR.
Supply the ideal customer profile and the buyer personas. An SDR should not be deciding who the company sells to.
- 2
Agree the bar for a qualified meeting.
Write the test with the account executives so both sides count the same thing.
- 3
Supply the tools: lists, copy and sending setup.
Verified lists, tested messages and healthy sending domains are what the role runs on.
- 4
Measure outcomes, not activity.
Activity counts are easy to inflate. Meetings held and opportunities accepted are not.
Prymatica runs outbound as a managed service. Infrastructure, lists, copy, sending and optimization are all handled by our team, and we qualify replies and book your meetings. You take the calls. See how Prymatica's cold email process works.
Teams make these mistakes with the SDR role.
SDRs are measured on activity.
A target for emails sent rewards sending. A target for meetings held rewards the right conversations.
The SDR builds the list from nothing.
Hours spent finding addresses are hours not spent talking to buyers. Give the SDR a verified list.
The handoff loses the context.
If the account executive opens the call by asking what the SDR already learned, the buyer notices.
These glossary terms sit next to sales development representative.
These Prymatica pages go deeper on sales development representative.
Questions
People ask these questions about sales development representative.
What does an SDR do day to day?
An SDR researches target accounts, sends emails, makes calls, answers replies, qualifies interested prospects and books meetings for account executives. Most of the day is outreach and follow-up.
What is the difference between an SDR and a BDR?
Usage varies by company. Often SDR means someone who follows up inbound leads, and BDR, business development representative, means someone who does outbound prospecting. Many companies use the two titles for the same job.
What is the difference between an SDR and an account executive?
The SDR opens conversations and books meetings. The account executive takes those meetings, runs demos, negotiates and closes. The SDR owns the start of the pipeline, and the account executive owns the rest.
Should you hire SDRs or outsource the work?
Hiring gives you people who learn your product deeply and stay. Outsourcing gives you a running system without recruiting, training or tooling. Some teams outsource to prove a market first, then decide whether to build in-house.
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