What is an SDR?
A Sales Development Representative (SDR) is a specialized sales role focused on generating qualified pipeline through outbound prospecting and inbound lead qualification. SDRs do not close deals — they identify, contact, and qualify prospects, then hand qualified opportunities (SQLs) to Account Executives (AEs) who carry deals to close. The SDR role emerged with the specialized SaaS sales model and dominates B2B startup sales structure.
SDR responsibilities
Four core activities. (1) Outbound prospecting — cold email, LinkedIn outreach, cold calling targeting defined account lists. (2) Inbound qualification — calling leads from demo requests, content downloads, trial signups. (3) Meeting booking — scheduling qualified prospects with AEs. (4) CRM hygiene — accurate contact data, activity logging, opportunity progression. SDR daily activity typically ranges 200-400 touches with 5-15 meetings booked per week as benchmark.
SDR vs BDR distinction
Some organizations distinguish SDR from BDR. (1) SDR — typically focuses on inbound lead qualification. (2) BDR (Business Development Rep) — typically focuses on outbound prospecting. Other organizations treat the terms as synonymous. Modern practice often blurs the distinction with “blended” SDR/BDR roles handling both motions.
SDR compensation
Standard structure. (1) Base salary — USD 45-70K US, EUR 30-50K Europe, varying with location. (2) Variable — 30-50% of base, typically tied to meeting booked or pipeline generated metrics. (3) OTE — typical USD 75-110K US. SDR is traditionally an entry-level sales role, with progression to AE after 12-24 months. Some technical SDRs progress to Sales Engineer instead of AE.
SDR tooling
Modern SDRs operate complex tool stacks. (1) Sales engagement — Outreach, Salesloft, Apollo automate multichannel sequences. (2) Data sources — ZoomInfo, Apollo, Cognism, Lusha provide contact and account data. (3) Intent signals — Bombora, 6sense identify accounts in buying mode. (4) Conversation intelligence — Gong, Chorus analyze call recordings. (5) Calendar booking — Calendly, Chili Piper, automation tools handle meeting scheduling.
SDR org structure
Organizations scale SDR teams several ways. (1) Vertical alignment — SDRs assigned to specific industries. (2) Geographic alignment — territory-based SDR assignment. (3) Pod model — SDR + AE pairings (1-to-1 or 1-to-many). (4) Inbound vs outbound split — separate teams for each motion. Most B2B SaaS at USD 5M+ ARR runs 3-10 SDRs supporting 5-15 AEs.
Türkiye context
For Türk B2B startups serving global markets, Türk-based SDRs offer competitive economics — combining English fluency, technical aptitude, and lower cost than US/EU. Türk-based SDR-as-a-service (Tekpon and others) is growing market segment. Türk SDR talent pool benefits from English-language education exposure and culture-of-hustle from startup ecosystem.
Related: Account Executive, Outbound Sales, Inbound Sales.