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What does an SDR do? (And how to be a good one)

An SDR, short for sales development rep, starts sales conversations. You reach out to people who might need what your company sells, find out if they really do, and book a meeting with the seller who closes the deal. It is one of the most common first jobs in tech sales.

By ChannelCareers. Updated . Built from our live job posts and public sources, listed at the bottom.

See Entry-level sales (SDR and BDR) jobs

Key takeaways

  • SDRs open doors. Account executives close them.
  • The week is outreach, follow-up and notes. Habits beat charm.
  • The good ones research first, listen more than they talk and log everything.
  • You will hear no a lot. Plan for it before day one.
  • In the channel, this job can lead to partner roles like Channel Account Manager.

What is an SDR?

An SDR is the first person a buyer hears from. Your job is to learn whether there is a real problem the company can solve, and to hand a warm conversation to a closer. You do not close the deal yourself. You earn trust in a short call or a short email, and that earns the next meeting.

The same job goes by many titles. These are the ones you will see most:

  • Sales Development Representative (SDR)
  • Business Development Representative (BDR)
  • Account Development Representative (ADR)
  • Inside Sales Representative
  • Partner or Channel Development Representative
  • Channel Sales Associate

Read the job text. The same title can mean different work at different companies.

SDR or BDR: what is the difference?

Often, an SDR follows up with people who raised a hand first, and a BDR reaches out cold. Many companies swap the two titles freely. Ask in the interview which one the job really is, and how many calls, emails and meetings the team expects.

What does a normal week look like?

Mostly outreach. A common day starts with a block of calls, then moves to email and LinkedIn messages. The rest goes to answering people who asked for info and keeping notes in the CRM, the tool that tracks every contact and every next step.

  • Morning: a call block.
  • Midday: research your next list of accounts.
  • Afternoon: email, LinkedIn, replies to inbound requests.
  • End of day: update the CRM so tomorrow starts clean.

This is a pattern from job posts and sales guides. Your team will set its own rhythm.

What makes a good SDR?

Good SDRs do a handful of boring things every day, and they do them better than the person next to them. Here is the list.

  • Research before you reach out: Check their company site, recent news and LinkedIn. Use one real detail in your opener. A little research beats a perfect template.
  • Ask real questions: The first call is for learning why they might need the product. Pitching comes later.
  • Listen more than you talk: Gong data, as quoted in a HubSpot-based guide, found top reps spend about 54% of a call listening. Average reps spend about 42%.
  • Follow up on a plan: Space your touches across phone, email and LinkedIn. Add something useful each time, like an article or a customer story. One rep's rule of thumb, shared in the HubSpot-based guide, is 7 to 10 touches before you write a lead off.
  • Run your calendar like it matters: Block time for calls, email, research and notes. Guard the call block. Many sales trainers push this one hard.
  • Be short and clear: On the phone and in email, one idea and one ask per message. If they need to reread it, trim it.
  • Practice out loud: Role-play with a teammate. Replay your own calls once a week. It feels awkward and it works.
  • Take coaching well: Hiring guides rank this near the top. If you fix feedback fast, people invest in you.
  • Stay steady after a no: Treat an objection as information. It tells you what the buyer cares about.
  • Keep the CRM clean: It is your memory. A missed follow-up date is a lost deal.
  • Know the product and the buyer's problem: You do not need to be an expert on day one. You do need to know what it fixes.

A taste of what the data says about openers: Gong studied 300 million cold calls. Opening with "Did I catch you at a bad time?" worked about 2% of the time. Openers that admitted it was a cold call and then asked for a moment worked about 11%. So did openers that named similar companies first. Small words change results.

Is SDR for you?

Five quick questions. Answer yes or no.

Can you hear "no" and still make the next call?
On a call, would you rather listen than talk?
Will you read up on a company before you reach out?
Do you want to close the deal yourself from day one?
Do you take coaching well, even when it stings?

Your answers stay on this device. We only count the result, never who you are.

What mistakes do new SDRs make?

  • Quitting on a prospect after two or three tries.
  • Sending one script to everyone.
  • Pitching during the first call, before you know the problem.
  • Chasing activity numbers over fit. A few calls to the right people beat a pile of calls to anyone.
  • Talking over the buyer.
  • Letting CRM notes slide until Friday.
  • Working so many hours that you burn out. Protect sleep and time off.

How do the first 90 days go?

You learn, then you ramp, then you own it. One onboarding plan we read puts it this way. Plans differ by company, so treat this as a rough shape.

  • Month 1: learn the company, the customer and the basics of the product. Shadow calls. Pass a mock call before you go live.
  • Month 2: more live outreach. Your target is partial. Learn to spot buying signals.
  • Month 3: run outbound on your own and build your own lists. Look for patterns in what works.

What do SDRs in the channel do differently?

Some SDRs at tech vendors do not talk to end buyers at all. They contact resellers and managed service providers (MSPs) and recruit them as partners. A reseller-recruiting playbook gives a clear picture of the work:

  • Learn the partner types. VARs, MSPs and integrators sell differently and want different margins.
  • Send a one-page program summary before the first call.
  • Build a short list of partners who already serve your target customers.
  • Start with the person who owns the gap, often a practice lead.
  • Prove one partner first, then bring in more.

The job posts we track for channel SDRs also mention helping partners register deals and joining partner reviews.

How do you get an SDR job with no experience?

Show that you can talk to strangers and follow a process. Hiring managers screen for coachability, resilience, curiosity and attention to detail. Years of experience count for less here than at most jobs.

  • From college: Retail, hospitality, fundraising and student groups all count. Say how many people you talked to and what you did when someone said no.
  • From another job: Pull out the parts that look like outreach. Calls, follow-ups, hard conversations, small wins.
  • Show your homework: Research the company and say what you would ask their buyer. Bring one idea to the interview.
  • Know a little channel: Read about MSPs, resellers and partner programs. A line about it in your application helps in channel roles.
  • Meet people: Channel events and early-career groups are a good start.

Applying does not guarantee an interview, and every company hires in its own way.

Where does the SDR job lead?

Most people aim at Account Executive, where you close deals yourself. Unify studied about 180,000 US SDRs and BDRs who started between 2021 and early 2026. In that study, 22.3% reached AE, with a median of 12 months in the SDR seat. About half moved up at the same company. Many others moved up by changing companies. Treat that as one data point and ask your own manager about timing.

In the channel, a common next step is a partner-facing job such as Channel Account and Partner Manager. Those jobs often ask for experience first, and a good SDR year builds it.

  1. Sales Development RepYou are here. Start sales talks and book the meeting
  2. Account ExecutiveClose deals yourself
  3. OrChannel Account ManagerGrow sales through partner companies

What does it pay, and who is hiring?

240open jobs
129companies hiring now
13%remote
156jobs show pay

Typical base pay: $53,000 to $70,000

$37,000$140,000

From 101 jobs that list a yearly base salary. The dark part is the typical range.

Senior roles can pull the top end up. Some jobs list pay with a bonus included, so read each post.

From the Entry-level sales (SDR and BDR) jobs on ChannelCareers on November 1, 2026. These numbers change as jobs open and close.

Who is hiring right now

Arrow Electronics 14Wolters Kluwer 8Verkada 7AvePoint 6ZoomInfo 6Oracle 5

Newest Entry-level sales (SDR and BDR) jobs

Questions, answered fast

Is SDR a good first job?

It is a fast way to learn how tech sales works, and it is also hard. You will hear no often, and the pace is high. People who like learning quickly tend to do well.

How long until I can move up?

It varies a lot. In one 2026 study, the SDRs who reached AE spent a median of 12 months as an SDR first, and most SDRs in the study had not reached AE yet. Ask in the interview what the path looks like at that company.

Do I need a degree?

Some posts ask for one. Many focus on whether you can do the work. If you do not have a degree, lead with results and examples.

How many follow-ups before I give up?

More than most people think. Space them out. One rep's rule of thumb is 7 to 10 touches across phone, email and LinkedIn. Make each one add something useful.

What is the best cold call opener?

Skip the ones that invite a quick no. Gong's study of 300 million calls found that openers that admit it is a cold call and ask for a moment did far better than "Did I catch you at a bad time?"

What is the difference between an SDR and a BDR?

Often, SDRs follow up on inbound interest and BDRs reach out cold. Many companies use both titles for the same job.

Meet people in the channel

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Sources

Our own live jobs, plus the pages below. Many are company blogs, so we treat their numbers as rough.