Sales development representative (SDR)
What is a sales development representative?
A sales development representative (SDR) is a sales role focused on the top of the pipeline: researching prospects, sending outreach, following up and qualifying interest, then handing qualified meetings to account executives who close deals.
Some companies split the role into SDRs for inbound leads and BDRs (business development representatives) for outbound.
Why a sales development representative matters
Specialising the prospecting work keeps the pipeline full while closers focus on deals. In early startups, founders usually do this work themselves first (founder-led sales).
Related marketing terms
Prospecting is searching for and qualifying potential customers, then making first contact to start a sales conversation.
Outbound sales is when sellers find and contact prospects first, by email, phone or social messages, instead of waiting for inbound leads.
Cold emailWhite hat
A cold email is a first message sent to someone you have no prior relationship with, to start a business conversation. It must follow anti-spam law.
A sales cadence is a planned sequence of outreach touches, such as emails, calls and messages, spread over days or weeks for each prospect.
Founder-led sales is when a startup’s founders sell the product themselves in the early days, before hiring a sales team.