If you've spent any time in B2B sales, you've heard the term SDR thrown around constantly. It's one of those roles that's everywhere in job boards, sales org charts, and LinkedIn profiles. But what does an SDR actually do, day to day? And more importantly, do you need one?
Whether you're a founder thinking about building a sales team, a marketing leader trying to figure out how sales development fits into your funnel, or someone considering a career in sales, this guide covers everything you need to know about the SDR role in 2026.
What Is an SDR?
SDR stands for Sales Development Representative. An SDR is the person responsible for the top of your sales funnel. Their job is to find potential buyers, start conversations, qualify whether those buyers are a good fit, and book meetings for your account executives (AEs) or senior sales team to close.
SDRs don't close deals. That's a critical distinction. They open doors. They do the hard, often unglamorous work of identifying prospects, reaching out through cold email, cold calls, and LinkedIn, and converting strangers into booked meetings. When they do it well, they're the engine that keeps your pipeline full.
Think of it like this: if your AEs are the ones scoring goals, your SDRs are the ones creating the chances. Without them, your sales team is standing around waiting for inbound enquiries that may or may not come.
What Does an SDR Do Day to Day?
The SDR role is built around outbound activity. Here's what a typical day looks like.
- Prospecting and research. SDRs spend a significant chunk of their day identifying target accounts and the right contacts within those accounts. This means using tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, Apollo, or your CRM to find decision makers that match your ideal customer profile. Good SDRs don't just pull a list. They research each prospect, understand their company, and look for relevant triggers (new funding, leadership changes, expansion plans) that create a reason to reach out.
- Cold outreach. This is the core of the role. SDRs send personalised cold emails, make cold calls, and send LinkedIn connection requests and messages. The best SDRs personalise each touch based on research, not templates. They're not sending the same email to 500 people. They're crafting messages that feel relevant and specific to each prospect.
- Qualifying leads. When a prospect responds (positively), the SDR qualifies them. This means asking questions to determine whether the prospect has a genuine need, the budget, the authority to buy, and a timeline. Most teams use a framework like BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline) or MEDDIC. The goal is to ensure that only genuinely qualified prospects get passed to the AE team.
- Booking meetings. The ultimate output of an SDR's work is a booked, qualified meeting between the prospect and an AE. This means coordinating calendars, sending calendar invites, and confirming the meeting (which is a bigger deal than most people realise, as we cover in our guide on reducing meeting no shows).
- CRM management. SDRs log all their activity in the CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive). Every call, every email, every meeting booked. This data is essential for tracking performance, identifying what's working, and reporting to management.
SDR vs BDR vs AE: What's the Difference?
These titles get used interchangeably in some companies, which creates confusion. Let's clear it up.
| Role | Focus | Primary Activity | Measured By |
|---|---|---|---|
| SDR (Sales Development Rep) | Outbound prospecting | Cold outreach to new prospects | Meetings booked, qualified pipeline created |
| BDR (Business Development Rep) | Inbound lead qualification | Following up on inbound leads, qualifying them | Qualified leads passed to sales, conversion rate |
| AE (Account Executive) | Closing deals | Running demos, proposals, negotiations | Revenue closed, deal size, win rate |
In practice, some companies combine the SDR and BDR roles into one position. Others keep them strictly separate. The key difference is that SDRs are typically focused on outbound (reaching people who haven't contacted you), while BDRs handle inbound (people who have shown interest through your website, content, or marketing campaigns).
The AE sits downstream from both. They receive qualified meetings from SDRs and BDRs and are responsible for moving those opportunities through the sales cycle to close.
Skills Every Good SDR Needs
The SDR role is often seen as "entry level" in sales, but don't mistake entry level for easy. It's one of the most demanding positions in a sales organisation. The SDRs who succeed share a few core skills.
- Resilience. SDRs hear "no" (or get ignored) far more often than they hear "yes." A good SDR doesn't take rejection personally. They learn from it and move on to the next call.
- Written communication. Cold emails are the SDR's primary weapon. The ability to write concise, compelling, personalised messages is non negotiable. If you can't write clearly, you can't do this job well.
- Active listening. On calls, the best SDRs listen more than they talk. They ask smart questions, pick up on pain points, and use what they hear to qualify or disqualify prospects quickly.
- Organisation and time management. SDRs juggle hundreds of prospects at different stages. Without strong organisational skills and disciplined use of the CRM, things fall through the cracks.
- Curiosity. The best SDRs genuinely want to understand each prospect's business. They research proactively, ask thoughtful questions, and bring genuine interest to every conversation.
- Coachability. SDR managers and AEs are constantly providing feedback. The reps who improve fastest are the ones who take feedback on board without ego.
Typical SDR Metrics and KPIs
SDRs live and die by their metrics. Here are the numbers that typically define performance.
- Calls per day: 40 to 80 calls is typical, depending on the industry and target market.
- Emails per day: 30 to 60 personalised emails.
- LinkedIn touches per day: 20 to 40 connection requests and messages.
- Meetings booked per month: 10 to 20 qualified meetings is a solid target for most B2B SDRs, though this varies by deal size and complexity.
- Connect rate: The percentage of calls that result in a live conversation. Typically 5 to 15%.
- Reply rate: The percentage of cold emails that get a response. A good reply rate is 3 to 8%.
- Meeting to opportunity rate: How many booked meetings turn into real sales opportunities. 50 to 70% is healthy.
The SDR Career Path
Most SDRs don't stay in the role forever. It's typically a stepping stone, and the path forward is well defined in most sales organisations.
SDR (0 to 18 months) → Senior SDR / Team Lead (12 to 24 months) → Account Executive (18 to 36 months)
From AE, reps typically progress into Senior AE, Enterprise AE, Sales Manager, or other leadership roles. Some SDRs move into marketing, customer success, or sales operations instead. The skills you build as an SDR (prospecting, communication, resilience, CRM discipline) are transferable to nearly any commercial role.
Average SDR Salary (UK and US)
SDR compensation varies by location, experience, and company stage. Here's a rough guide for 2026.
| Market | Base Salary | OTE (On Target Earnings) |
|---|---|---|
| UK (London) | £28,000 to £35,000 | £38,000 to £50,000 |
| UK (outside London) | £24,000 to £30,000 | £32,000 to £42,000 |
| US (major metros) | $50,000 to $65,000 | $70,000 to $90,000 |
| US (other markets) | $42,000 to $55,000 | $58,000 to $75,000 |
OTE includes base salary plus commission or bonus for hitting quota. Senior SDRs and team leads can earn 20 to 30% above these figures. Keep in mind that you'll also need to budget for tools (CRM, sequencing software, data providers), management time, and training, which adds another £10,000 to £15,000 per head per year.
How SDRs Fit Into the Sales Organisation
The SDR function sits between marketing and sales, which is why it can be organisationally tricky. In most B2B companies, the SDR team reports to either the VP of Sales or the VP of Marketing (sometimes a dedicated Head of Sales Development).
Here's how the handoff typically works.
Marketing generates awareness and inbound interest through content, ads, and events. SDRs supplement this with outbound prospecting, reaching prospects who haven't yet engaged with marketing. When an SDR books a qualified meeting, they hand off to an AE, who runs the sales process from first meeting through to close.
The quality of that handoff is critical. SDRs need to pass detailed notes (what the prospect said, what pain points they mentioned, why they agreed to meet) so the AE doesn't walk into the meeting cold. The best SDR teams use structured handoff documents and even join the first few minutes of the AE call to make warm introductions.
Build vs Buy: Hire In-House or Outsource?
This is the question every growing B2B company eventually faces. Do you hire your own SDRs, or do you outsource the function to an agency like ORRJO?
Hiring in house makes sense when:
- You have the budget for full time salaries, tools, and management
- Your product or service requires deep technical knowledge that's hard to train externally
- You want full control over messaging, process, and culture
- You have an experienced sales leader who can hire, train, and manage SDRs effectively
Outsourcing makes sense when:
- You need to move fast and can't wait three to six months to hire and ramp SDRs
- You want to test a new market, vertical, or geography before committing to full time hires
- Your budget doesn't stretch to the £55,000 to £75,000+ annual cost per SDR (salary, tools, management, office)
- You want proven processes, frameworks, and technology from day one
- You don't have internal sales leadership to manage the team
At ORRJO, we run outsourced SDR programmes for B2B companies across the UK, Europe, US, Canada, and the Middle East. Our SDR teams are trained, managed, and equipped with proven frameworks from 10,000+ meetings booked. If you're considering outsourcing, let's talk about what that looks like for your business.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does SDR stand for?
SDR stands for Sales Development Representative. It's the role responsible for outbound prospecting and booking qualified meetings for the sales team.
Is SDR a good career?
Yes. The SDR role is one of the best entry points into a high earning sales career. Top performing SDRs progress to Account Executive roles within 18 to 24 months, where OTE can reach £80,000 to £120,000+ depending on the company and market.
How many meetings should an SDR book per month?
A solid benchmark is 10 to 20 qualified meetings per month, depending on deal size and target market. For enterprise sales (deals above £100,000), eight to twelve high quality meetings may be more realistic. For mid market and SMB, 15 to 25 is achievable.
What's the difference between an SDR and a BDR?
SDRs focus on outbound prospecting (cold outreach to people who haven't engaged with you). BDRs focus on inbound lead qualification (following up with people who've shown interest). Some companies use the titles interchangeably.
How much does it cost to hire an SDR in the UK?
The fully loaded cost of an in house SDR in the UK (salary, NI, tools, management, training) is typically £45,000 to £65,000 per year. In London, expect the upper end. Outside London, the lower end. Outsourcing to an agency is often more cost effective, especially for companies that need to scale quickly or test new markets.
The Bottom Line
SDRs are the front line of your revenue engine. They do the hard work of turning cold prospects into warm conversations, and without them, your AEs are left hoping that inbound will fill the pipeline. In most B2B companies, it won't.
Whether you build an internal team or partner with an agency like ORRJO, the SDR function is essential for predictable growth. Get it right, and you've got a machine that fills your pipeline month after month. Get it wrong (or skip it entirely), and your sales team will always be chasing instead of closing.
If you want to explore what an outsourced SDR programme could look like for your company, or if you just want honest advice on how to build the function, reach out to our team. We've helped companies from startups to Microsoft build SDR engines that deliver.
