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Sales development representative (SDR)

A sales development representative (SDR) is a salesperson who finds and qualifies new prospects and books first meetings for the account executives who close the deals. An SDR's work ends at the handoff: a qualified meeting on an account executive's calendar.

Updated November 2026 · 4 min read · GetSales team

What an SDR does

The role exists so the people who close deals spend their hours on deals. An SDR does the work that comes before the first meeting.

  • Research. Pick accounts that fit the ideal customer profile and find the people there who own the problem.
  • Outreach. A sequence of emails, calls and social messages spread over a few weeks, each with its own reason to answer.
  • Qualification. When someone replies, check fit, need and timing, often against a checklist such as budget, authority, need and timeline (BANT).
  • Handoff. Book the meeting, log what was learned in the CRM and brief the account executive.

Some teams also give SDRs the inbound leads: demo requests, trial sign-ups and contact forms, answered fast and qualified the same way.

In the US an SDR's cold email falls under the CAN-SPAM Act, which makes no exception for business-to-business email. Each message needs a true sender and subject line, a clear note that it is an ad, a valid postal address and a way to opt out, and an opt-out has to be honored within 10 business days.1

Where the role came from

Splitting prospecting from closing is often traced to Salesforce.com, where Aaron Ross started an outbound prospecting group and later co-wrote the book Predictable Revenue about it. He describes four functions: market response reps who qualify inbound leads, sales development reps who prospect outbound, account executives who close, and account managers who look after customers. In his model the prospecting reps do not close deals. They create and qualify opportunities and pass them to account executives.2

Titles have drifted since. Many companies now call inbound qualifiers SDRs and outbound prospectors business development representatives (BDRs), and some use one title for both. The job description says which one a company means.

How SDR work is measured

  • Activity: emails sent, calls made and touches per prospect. Easy to count and to game, so never the only number.
  • Replies: the share of people contacted who answer, and the share who answer with interest.
  • Meetings held: booked meetings that took place, since a no-show costs the account executive a slot on their calendar.
  • Accepted pipeline: the opportunities account executives accept after the first meeting, and what they are worth.

Where software helps

Software does much of the repetitive work, such as sending sequences and sorting replies, and leaves the SDR the judgment calls. In GetSales, the AI SDR reads every reply, scores intent and drafts the first answer. Each scenario sets whether it sends on its own or waits for your OK, and a price question comes to you by default.

Sources

  1. Federal Trade Commission, CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business, August 2023, edited January 2024. Read 28 October 2026.
  2. David Skok, For Entrepreneurs, An Argument for Specialized Sales Teams: An Interview with Aaron Ross, January 2012. Read 28 October 2026.

Last updated: November 2026

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