SDR/BDR (Sales Roles): Definition, Challenges, and Explanations

The terms SDR (Sales Development Representative) and BDR (Business Development Representative) refer to two sales roles that are often complementary within a company's sales departments. These roles specialize in prospecting, qualifying, and initially developing leads or prospects.

SDRs generally focus on qualifying inbound leads, i.e., contacts who have already expressed an interest in the company's products or services. BDRs, on the other hand, are more responsible for identifying and engaging prospects using an outbound approach, i.e., active prospecting.

In summary, these two roles help to feed the sales pipeline upstream by preparing opportunities for the sales teams responsible for closing deals.

Using SDR and BDR roles allows you to effectively structure the prospecting and qualification process within a sales team. This ensures that prospects are properly identified and prepared before being passed on to the salespeople responsible for closing the sale.

These specialized roles improve the overall productivity of sales teams by enabling a better distribution of tasks: SDRs handle incoming leads with particular attention, while BDRs develop new opportunities in a more proactive setting.

This approach helps increase conversion rates, accelerate the sales cycle, and ensure greater customer satisfaction by offering deals tailored to the actual needs identified during the qualification phases.

The SDR receives qualified leads through various channels such as web forms, events, and inbound marketing. They contact these prospects, conduct telephone or email interviews to understand their needs and verify their "qualification" according to defined criteria (budget, needs, timing, etc.).

BDR, on the other hand, relies on an outbound strategy: it identifies potential prospects through targeted research, cold calling, networking, or the use of CRM tools. Its goal is to engage in conversation to generate business opportunities where there may not have been any before.

Once leads have been qualified by the SDR or identified by the BDR, they are passed on to the sales teams, who can then focus on negotiating and closing sales.

The advantages of SDR and BDR roles include greater task specialization, which optimizes sales productivity. They enable better pipeline management and accurate prospect tracking, thereby improving opportunity conversion rates.

However, these roles require specific training and good coordination with other sales teams. Their effectiveness also depends on the quality of the tools used and the overall strategy implemented.

One potential drawback is the risk of disconnect between initial qualification and final customer treatment if internal communication is insufficient or criteria are not clearly defined, which can lead to a degraded customer experience.

An SDR in a SaaS company can receive requests via a free trial form, qualify prospects according to their maturity and relevance, and then forward them to the sales team for a personalized product presentation.

A BDR in a B2B company will target specific businesses, use LinkedIn to identify decision-makers, and initiate conversations by email or phone in order to establish initial contact and generate sales appointments.

These roles are particularly useful for companies with a high volume of leads or seeking to expand their market by exploring new segments through targeted outbound approaches.

• Salesforce - What is an SDR?
• HubSpot - Role and mission of a BDR
• Mind Tools - Business Development and SDR
• Gong.io - Differences and complementarity between SDR and BDR