An SDR, or sales development representative, is the entry-level B2B sales role at the top of the revenue funnel. Their job is to fill the pipeline with qualified meetings for the people above them: find prospects, reach out, qualify who is worth a conversation, and book the meeting — then hand off to an account executive. They are not responsible for closing. Understanding that line is the single most useful thing about the role.
In plain English
Think of the SDR as the person who turns the company's existing demand into meetings. Inbound leads, content downloads, and existing accounts land in the SDR's queue; the SDR reaches them fast, qualifies them, and books the meeting. Cold-opening net-new markets from zero is the BDR's job. The SDR does not pitch the whole product, quote pricing, or negotiate terms — that is the closer's job.
How it's actually used
On a sales team you will hear: "The BDR and SDR both feed the account executives, but the BDR builds the pipeline in net-new markets while the SDR fills it from the demand that already exists." The SDR's day is fast follow-up — calls and emails — on inbound leads and existing segments, turning them into a discovery call or a qualified meeting. The metric everyone watches is meetings booked and their show rate, not revenue.
Why it matters to you
If you are starting a sales career with no degree and no experience, SDR is the cleanest on-ramp that exists. It is a learnable craft — research, relevance, follow-through — and it is the standard path to a quota-carrying AE role. The tradeoff is real: rejection density is high and your first-year comp is mostly OTE while you ramp. Go in with that clear and the role becomes the fastest way to a closing job.