What is an SDR for?
An SDR does not close deals. They open the door, check that someone is actually there, and hand over. Before any technique, this lesson sets the job straight.
The SDR is where revenue starts
SDR stands for Sales Development Representative. The job is to start conversations with people who are not waiting for you, find out whether they have a problem your product solves, and book a meeting for the salesperson who will close.
An SDR is therefore measured on qualified meetings, not on signed revenue. It is a specialisation: separating prospecting from selling lets each person repeat one precise motion every day until they master it.
SDR, BDR, AE: who does what
Titles change from one company to the next, but one split comes up again and again. The SDR handles inbound demand (a form, a free trial, a downloaded guide) and qualifies it. The BDR, Business Development Representative, goes after accounts that have never heard of you: that is cold outbound.
In many smaller companies one person does both and is simply called an SDR. The Account Executive (AE) takes the meeting, runs the deeper discovery, builds the proposal and signs.
- Inbound: the prospect came to you, the SDR qualifies quickly and well.
- Outbound: the SDR goes to the prospect, the first touch is cold.
- AE: takes the meeting, discovers, proposes, negotiates, closes.
What a good meeting actually means
A booked meeting is only worth something if it is held, with the right person, about a real topic. Most teams define a qualified meeting with a few criteria shared between SDRs and AEs: the contact’s role, the company’s size or industry, a stated problem, and an accepted time slot.
Those criteria are your contract with the AE. If they are not written down, ask for them in your first week. That is what keeps you from chasing meetings nobody wants.
Why this job builds the best salespeople
An SDR hears more "no" in a week than an AE in a quarter. They learn to open a conversation in ten seconds, ask one question that gets people talking, and spot the real issue behind an objection. Those are exactly the reflexes an Account Executive needs.
That is also why the role is a step rather than a destination: among our customers, after 12 to 24 months, an SDR who hits target usually moves to AE, account management or SDR team lead. The rest of this track gives you the method to get there.
Key takeaways
- An SDR opens conversations, qualifies and hands over to an AE: judged on qualified meetings, not on closed deals.
- Inbound and outbound are two different jobs, often done by the same person in a small company.
- A qualified meeting is defined in writing, with the AE, in your first week.
- On the first call, you sell the meeting, not the product.
Check what you remember
Question 1 of 4One correct answer per question. The explanation appears after your choice.
What is an SDR mainly measured on?
Go further
A term you are not sure about? The cold calling glossary
