Sales Development Representative (SDR)
A Sales Development Representative (SDR) is an inside sales rep focused on qualifying inbound leads and booking meetings, not on closing deals.
Key takeaways
- A scored queue, written qualification criteria and a defined touch sequence structure the role.
- Raising the qualification bar lowers meetings booked but raises the share actually held.
- Speed to first touch and persistence drive connect rate more than script wording.
- SDR headcount must be sized against account executive capacity to take meetings.
- Without steady inbound volume the role quietly becomes cold outbound prospecting instead.
In depth
The role runs on three artefacts. A queue, ordered by score and by how recently the person acted, decides who gets worked next. A qualification framework with written exit criteria decides what has to be true before a meeting is booked. A sequence defines the touches across call, email and social, with intervals and a stated maximum before the record is dispositioned. Every attempt is logged, which is what lets the queue reorder itself rather than depending on an SDR's memory of who was called yesterday.
Throughput is bounded by inbound volume per SDR, connect rate and the height of the qualification bar. Raising the bar lowers meetings booked but raises the share that are held and accepted, which is the number an account executive feels. Speed to first touch and persistence across attempts drive connect rate more than script quality does. The ratio of SDRs to account executives has to match downstream capacity, since meetings booked into a full calendar convert worse than fewer meetings booked into an open one.
Good practice is to work the queue by score band and recency rather than by whatever arrived last, to book directly onto the account executive's calendar, and to run a joint review where AEs mark which meetings were genuinely qualified. A scorecard funnel changes the opening move: budget, role and the specific gap are already recorded, so the SDR skips the discovery the funnel answered and opens on the weakest area the score exposed, which is a sharper reason to talk than a generic introduction.
The role assumes enough inbound flow to fill a queue. Without it, SDRs drift into cold outbound and are doing a different job under the same title. It also fits badly at both ends of the deal-size range: in high-touch enterprise sales the first conversation often has to be with someone senior enough to discuss architecture, and in low-value self-serve motions the fully loaded cost of a human meeting exceeds what the deal returns. Rigid scripting also suppresses the judgment the role exists to apply.
Example in practice
How to measure it
Start with the activity chain, because each link is diagnosable: time to first touch, attempts per lead, connect rate per attempt and conversion from worked lead to meeting booked. A weak connect rate with strong meeting conversion points at reach, not at conversation skill. The reverse pattern points at the pitch or at the fit of the leads being worked, and each implies a different fix.
Then measure quality, since booked meetings are an intermediate step rather than an outcome. Track show rate, the acceptance rate from account executives against written criteria, and conversion from held meeting to created opportunity. Also watch queue ageing: how many records are sitting past the attempt policy without a disposition. That number reveals capacity problems long before the meeting count starts falling.
Common mistakes
Paying purely on meetings booked produces exactly what it rewards. The SDR books anyone who agrees to a call, show rates fall, account executives start declining the meetings, and within a quarter nobody trusts the pipeline coming from the team. Move the measure to meetings held and accepted by the AE, with acceptance decided against written criteria rather than by mood, so the incentive points at the same outcome the sales organisation cares about.
The second is abandoning records after one or two attempts. A single unanswered call proves nothing about interest, yet queues fill with leads marked unresponsive that were barely touched. Set an explicit attempt policy across channels with intervals, make it visible in the record, and require the policy to be exhausted before a disposition of no contact is allowed. Enforce it by reporting attempts per disqualified lead, not by reminding people in meetings.
Frequently asked questions
How do quiz funnels make SDRs more efficient?
A scorecard quiz captures budget, role, and pain before the first contact, so SDRs can prioritize high-scoring tiers and personalize outreach. This reduces wasted dials and raises meeting show rates because intent is already confirmed.
What metrics measure SDR performance?
Common SDR metrics include qualified meetings booked, meeting show rate, lead-to-opportunity conversion, and pipeline value sourced. Activity counts like emails and calls matter, but outcome metrics tied to quality leads are far more meaningful.
What does an SDR do on a typical day?
Works a prioritised queue of inbound leads, makes calls and sends personalised emails according to a defined sequence, qualifies against written criteria, books meetings onto account executive calendars and logs every interaction. Time also goes into research before outreach and into keeping records clean, since the queue only prioritises correctly when dispositions are accurate.
What is the difference between an SDR and an account executive?
An SDR qualifies interest and books meetings; an account executive runs the sales process and closes. Splitting the two lets each specialise, since prospecting rewards volume and consistency while closing rewards depth on fewer deals. The split only pays off when inbound volume is high enough to keep a dedicated qualifier fully occupied.
How many meetings should an SDR book each month?
Derive it rather than copying a number. Take the pipeline the account executives need, divide by the average deal size and the meeting-to-opportunity and opportunity-to-close rates, and you get the meetings required. Then check that the resulting figure fits the inbound volume available and the calendar capacity of the AEs who have to take them.
How should SDRs be compensated?
Base salary plus variable pay tied to qualified meetings held rather than merely booked, sometimes with a component linked to pipeline created. Paying on booked meetings alone rewards volume over fit. Adding a small component tied to the eventual opportunity keeps attention on quality without making pay depend entirely on outcomes the SDR does not control.
How many times should an SDR try to reach a lead?
Enough attempts, spread across channels and days, that a single missed call does not end the conversation. Set the number explicitly in an attempt policy and hold to it, because the common failure is stopping far too early. The right number is whatever your own data shows as the point where additional attempts stop producing connections.
What makes a good handoff from SDR to account executive?
A written summary of what qualified the lead, the buyer's own words about the problem, who else is involved and any timing or budget constraint mentioned. The account executive should be able to open the call without repeating questions already answered. A handoff that forces the buyer to explain themselves twice loses much of the credibility the SDR built.