SDR (Sales Development Representative)
A pre-sales professional responsible for qualifying contacts and booking meetings for the closer, without running the negotiation.
Also known as: sdr · sales development representative · pre-sales · pre-sales rep · sdr in sales
Try CRPRO free for 7 daysSDR stands for Sales Development Representative — pre-sales, in short. It is the role that receives the contact, qualifies it, and only hands off what makes sense to whoever closes. The SDR does not negotiate price or run the proposal.
Why split the role
The logic is specialization. Prospecting and qualifying take volume and a script; closing takes time and depth. When the same person does both, they prioritize whatever is close to closing and let the new base go cold — and the cost of that only shows up two months later, when the pipeline runs dry.
SDR, BDR and closer
- SDR — works demand that already arrived (inbound): a form, WhatsApp, a referral.
- BDR — Business Development Representative, prospects demand that has not arrived (outbound): cold lists, LinkedIn, cold calls.
- Closer — runs the proposal and the negotiation through to close.
On small teams, all three roles live in the same person. Splitting them starts to pay off once the volume of new contacts exceeds what one person can qualify in a day.
What an SDR is measured on
Not revenue — qualified meetings delivered. The usual metrics are contacts worked, connect rate, qualification rate and the no-show rate on booked meetings. Measuring an SDR on revenue misaligns the incentive: they start pushing bad contacts forward.
SDR and WhatsApp
In Brazil, qualification happens on WhatsApp, where response time decides almost everything. An SDR with no automatic conversation distribution spends the day deciding what to answer first instead of qualifying.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an SDR and a salesperson?
The SDR qualifies and books; the salesperson (closer) runs the proposal and closes. The SDR delivers a qualified meeting, not revenue.
What is the difference between an SDR and a BDR?
The SDR works demand that arrived on its own — inbound. The BDR actively prospects people who never reached out to the business — outbound. The script and the pace of the two roles are quite different.
How many contacts can an SDR work per day?
It varies by channel and complexity, but the number that actually matters is different: if they cannot reply to a new contact within minutes, volume has already passed what the operation can handle without automation.
Does every business need an SDR?
No. The role only pays for itself once there is enough new-contact volume to keep someone busy full-time. Before that, splitting the roles just creates a handoff with no gain.
Related pages
Related glossary terms
Sales pipeline
A representation of the stages a contact moves through from first contact to purchase, used to measure where deals stall and to project revenue.
Sales CRM
A system that centralizes contacts, history and open deals so the sales team does not depend on memory or loose spreadsheets.
Support SLA
An agreed deadline for replying to or resolving a support request, used as an operational target and measured against each conversation's real time.
Sales consultant
A professional who diagnoses the customer's need before offering a solution, running the sale as consulting instead of a catalog pitch.
Prospecting
The process of identifying and approaching potential customers who have not reached out to the business yet, to turn them into sales opportunities.
Sales pitch
A short presentation that explains what problem the business solves, for whom, and why now, with the goal of earning the next step.
Sales manager
A professional who answers for the sales team's result, setting targets, distributing accounts and tracking the salespeople's pipeline.
Qualified lead
A contact who passed objective criteria for profile, problem, decision, and timing, and therefore justifies a salesperson's time.