You’ve probably done the same as Google “BDR vs SDR” and ended up more confused than when you started. In fact, you might be one of many who have done the same. Even the large-scale industry names like Salesforce don’t really agree — while they consider reps as moving from SDR to BDR as a progression up the career ladder, HubSpot, G2 & LeadFuze have seen BDR as a continuation of outbound, and sales development representative remote or onsite as inbound.
Before you publish a job description or redesign your team, let’s take a closer look at the different roles of sales development representative vs business development representative, and which one your business should be looking for now.
What is a BDR (Business Development Representative)?
A business development representative BDR is someone who creates new business by initiating outbound prospecting. A business development representative, remote or onsite, seeks out potential customers that are not already aware of your business, researching target accounts, initiating cold outreach via email, phone, and LinkedIn, and opening doors that marketing doesn’t.
BDRs do not make sales. They are qualified to be interested in early-stage and transfer the leads to Account Executives (AEs) who are interested in pursuing them. You should think of them as demand creators – they create a pipeline from scratch every single day.
→ BDR core responsibilities:
- Do research and create a strategic list of target accounts that relate to your ICP.
- Execute multi-touch points outbound sequences (cold email, cold calling, LinkedIn)
- Tap into buyer-specific messaging to address specific industries and buyer personas.
- Give AE’s time-sensitive qualifications and book discovery.
- Give insight into what prospects are interested in hearing.
What are SDRs? (Sales Development Representatives)
A sales development representative (SDR) filters out inbound leads, which are those individuals who have already indicated that they are interested in your product by completing a form, signing up for a trial, downloading content or requesting a demo.
It is not the SDR’s responsibility to seek out interest; it is available. Their task is to quickly respond to reply to the inquiry, and if it is a true sales opportunity, to efficiently send the appropriate leads to the AEs. SDRs are demand generators – sales development representative skills work the pipeline that marketing has created.
→ Sales development representative responsibilities:
- Answer inquiries promptly (preferably within minutes)
- Lead qualification (BANT, MEDDIC, CHAMP)
- Develop warm leads that aren’t yet in the buying stage
- Delegate qualified opportunities with context to AEs
- Maintain accurate and up-to-date CRM information.
BDR vs SDR: Key Differences
Even though both roles of sales and business development representatives are inbound and outbound, there are several key differences between them, and it is their split that really marks the beginning.
- Voice input: Generated by SDRs’ work leads. BDRs create their list of prospects from the ground up.
- Nature of conversations: SDR conversations begin warm: The prospect already knows your company. BDR calls are going cold start – the rep will have to gain qualification in order to be allowed to talk first in the conversation.
- Volume vs. precision: SDRs will be able to process higher volume with speed. BDRs work on fewer accounts but for a longer period of time, researching, personalizing, and following up.
- Metrics used to measure performance: SDRs are measured by speed-to-lead, MQL-to-SQL conversion rate, and meetings booked. BDRs are judged SALa (sales Accepted Leads) & on the number of accounts they touch, the number of SQLs they produce from cold outreach and the amount of pipeline value they generate.
One of the most frequent team-building errors is to use the same scorecard for both positions.
- Relationship to marketing: SDRs are marketing’s best ally in sales — they complete the sales funnel by providing the feedback on the quality of leads. Better times for cold outreach, thanks to marketing’s brand and content, make BDRs more independent.
SDR vs. BDR at a Glance!
| Factor | SDR | BDR |
| Primary Motion | Inbound qualification | Outbound prospecting |
| Lead Source | Marketing-generated | Self-sourced target accounts |
| Prospect Awareness | Already knows you | Cold or unaware |
| Key Skill | Fast qualification, active listening | Persistence, research, and personalization |
| KPIs | Speed-to-lead, meetings booked | Pipeline created, SQLs generated |
| Best For | High inbound volume | New markets, enterprise, low inbound |
BDR vs SDR: Which Role Does Your Sales Team Need?
The first step in tackling your real pipeline challenge is to find the issue.
→ Hire an SDR when:
- Marketing is generating 30+ MQLs per month but they aren’t being followed up on fast enough
- Your own AEs are qualified leads for a longer period of time than closing every one of them.
- Your AEs are complaining about the quality or lack of volume in their inbound qualified leads.
- No one’s working the good inbound leads, which is causing them to go cold.
→ Hire a BDR when:
- You’re submitting little to no inbound volume, or the volume you’re submitting is inconsistent.
- You are targeting Enterprise or Mid-Market accounts that have a complex, multi-buyer buying process.
- You are entering into a new market or enterprise accounts, which will never fill out a web form.
- You always have a small amount of pipe and you must make space; you don’t just find it.
When scaling up, and when in parallel inbound/outbound motions are preferred, hires are required, but separately. A hybridity of both features combined tends to lose out on either.
→ Stage-based guidance:
- Pre-$1M ARR: It is advisable to have the founder do both functions in order to create ICP clarity before hiring in.
- $5M ARR and above: One SDR, two to four BDRs (depending on pipeline needs)
- $5M-$20M ARR: Divide the motions along with all the roles with different KPIs and playbooks.
- Over $20M ARR: Structured SDR and BDRs with team leads, team SLA, and aligned comp plans
BDR vs SDR Salary and Career Outlook
Both of these jobs are clearly roles that are intended to be a launch pad and not a position to stay in. The average length of time before promotion or drop out is 12-18 months.
| Role | Base Salary | On-Target Earnings |
| SDR | $45,000–$65,000 | $60,000–$85,000 |
| BDR | $50,000–$70,000 | $70,000–$95,000 |
Business development representative skills also make a bit more than their warm lead counterparts due to the difficulty of cold outreach and the experience it demands. According to The Bridge Group’s Sales Development report, the median OTE is in the $80,000 range for both roles & there’s a roughly 68:32 ratio of base to variable.
In both, their career ladder would be Account Executive to Senior AE to Account Manager or Sales Lead.
Should You Hire an SDR or a BDR First?
If you do have a marketing engine that is creating inbound leads but not qualified, hire a sales development representative first. If inbound is under a certain amount and you need to go out and try to create a pipeline, hire a sales development representative first.
Prior to hiring, make sure you have: a clearly defined ICP, a qualification framework, a basic playbook, CRM in place, and AE capacity to do the meetings that are booked. Good or bad, the quality of your hire doesn’t matter if these underpinning foundations are not in place and you will waste time and money on blaming the hire instead of the lack of infrastructure.
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FAQs
What is the difference between BDR and SDR?
Salesforce business development representatives answer incoming leads from those who have expressed an interest in your business. BDRs initiate contact with the cold prospect who is not engaged yet. SDRs document the demand, BDRs build it!
Is BDR higher than SDR?
Yes, in many organizations. Inbound prospecting is usually a more junior task than outbound prospecting, and even Salesforce is pushing SDRs into more senior positions, such as BDR. This is different for different companies, however, and both positions are found in the entry-to-mid-level sales career.
Should I connect to an SDR or BDR first?
Get an SDR when you have leads coming in that are not being followed up on. If you have a pipeline that relies on going outbound to find new business, hire a BDR. Regardless of the outcome, get your ICP, playbook and CRM in place before you hire.
Do “BDR” and “SDR” collaborate?
Yes, they complement each other in companies that have both positions. SDRs are responsible for the marketing lead, while BDRs pursue accounts that are not being pursued by marketing. Both feed pipelines to the same AEs and there are handoff rules in clear and unambiguous terms in the best setups, so there is no chance of a handoff getting lost.
