---
title: "SDR (Sales Development Rep): Role, Salary, and Tools"
description: "What an SDR (sales development rep) does, SDR vs BDR, daily work and metrics, salary from public data, SDR to AE ratios, the tech stack, and how AI changes it."
url: https://getaob.com/sdr
---

# SDR (sales development rep): what the role does, SDR vs BDR, pay, and tools

An **SDR**, or **sales development representative**, is the salesperson who opens conversations with new prospects and books qualified meetings for account executives (AEs). The SDR finds and researches accounts, reaches the right people by phone, email and LinkedIn, checks that there is a real fit, and hands the meeting to an AE who runs the deal. In SDR sales teams, success is measured in meetings held and pipeline sourced, while closed revenue counts toward the AE. A **BDR** (business development rep) does nearly the same job, usually with a heavier outbound focus.

This guide covers the role itself. If you want to rent the function instead of hiring it, the [SDR and appointment setting agencies](https://getaob.com/sdr-agencies) list compares outsourced options with published prices.

By [Garrett Wolfe](https://garrettawolfe.com), founder of OneGTM. Updated November 8, 2026.

Key takeaways

- An SDR creates first meetings and qualified pipeline. The AE closes.
- SDR and BDR are often the same job. Where companies split them, SDRs work inbound leads and BDRs prospect outbound.
- Median SDR on-target earnings were $80K in the Bridge Group's 2025 survey of 351 B2B companies, with a $55K base.
- The same survey found one SDR for every 2.4 AEs, and only 60% of SDRs hitting quota, the lowest it has recorded.
- AI now handles much of the research and list building. The people who build those systems are often former SDRs who became GTM engineers.

## What an SDR does

Sales development exists because closing deals and finding new ones are different jobs. An AE who spends half the week prospecting has less time for discovery calls, demos, and negotiation. So the company splits the funnel: SDRs work the top, from a cold account to a first meeting, and AEs take it from the meeting to a signed contract.

The work of an SDR breaks into a few stages. They pick accounts from a target list or from inbound leads, research the company and the person, and reach out across channels until someone responds. When a prospect engages, the SDR qualifies them against the team's criteria (budget, need, timing, or whatever framework the team uses), books the meeting, and writes a handoff note so the AE does not start from zero.

It is usually an entry-level sales role, and for many people it is the first job in tech sales. The usual next step is a promotion to AE, often after a year or two, though some SDRs move into SDR management, sales operations, or [GTM engineering](https://getaob.com/gtm-engineer).

## SDR vs BDR

Plenty of companies use the two titles for one job, and a job post titled BDR at one company may describe exactly what an SDR does at another. Where a company does split them, the line is usually inbound versus outbound.

|  | SDR (sales development rep) | BDR (business development rep) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Typical lead source | Inbound: demo requests, trials, content downloads, event lists | Outbound: target accounts that have not raised their hand |
| Main skill | Fast response and sharp qualification | Prospecting, research, and cold outreach that gets a reply |
| Biggest lever | Speed to lead | List quality and timing (who you contact, and when) |
| Hands off to | An AE, with qualification notes | An AE, with account research and the reason for reaching out |

Some companies flip the definitions, and others use BDR for reps who prospect into partners or new markets. The job description tells you more than the title does.

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## A day in the life of an SDR

- **Morning research and list work:** pick the accounts for the day, check for recent triggers such as funding, hiring, or a new leader, and find the right people and their contact details.
- **Call blocks:** one or two focused blocks of [cold calling](https://getaob.com/cold-calling), usually in the late morning and mid-afternoon, often on a [power or parallel dialer](https://getaob.com/power-dialers).
- **Email and LinkedIn steps:** work the sequence tasks that are due, personalize the ones worth personalizing, and send connection requests and messages.
- **Replies and inbound:** answer replies the same day, follow up on new inbound leads within minutes, and book meetings.
- **CRM hygiene and handoffs:** log activity, update contact data, and write the handoff note for every meeting booked.

## SDR metrics: meetings booked and pipeline sourced

Activity numbers are easy to count, so they are what most dashboards show first. The ones that matter are further down the funnel. A good SDR scorecard has a few activity inputs to coach on, and is paid on outcomes.

| Metric | What it tells you |
| --- | --- |
| Dials, emails, and touches | Effort. Useful for coaching a new rep, misleading as a goal on its own. |
| Connect and reply rates | Whether the data and the messaging are any good. |
| Meetings booked | Output, but it counts meetings that never happen. |
| Meetings held | The most common quota. The Bridge Group's 2025 survey reports a global median quota of 10 held meetings a month. |
| Qualified opportunities | Meetings the AE accepted as real pipeline. Keeps SDRs from booking anyone with a pulse. |
| Pipeline sourced | Dollar value of opportunities the SDR created. The number leadership cares about. |
| Pipeline to closed-won | Whether the meetings turn into revenue. Usually tracked at team level, since it depends on the AE too. |

## SDR salary and compensation

The most cited source on SDR pay is the Bridge Group's SDR Metrics report. Its [2025 edition](https://www.bridgegroupinc.com/research/2025-sdr-models-metrics-report-the-bridge-group) (published February 6, 2025, surveying 351 B2B companies, mostly North American SaaS) reports these medians:

| Figure | 2025 Bridge Group report |
| --- | --- |
| SDR on-target earnings (OTE) | $80K median, flat since 2022 |
| Base and variable | 68:32, about $55K base and $25K variable |
| SDRs at quota | 60%, the lowest in the study's history |
| Ramp time | 3.0 months on average |
| Average tenure | 1.9 years |
| SDR manager OTE | $146K |

Variable pay is usually tied to meetings held or opportunities accepted, sometimes with a kicker when those opportunities close. Paying on booked meetings alone tends to fill AE calendars with no-shows. Expect pay above these medians in New York and the Bay Area, and for SDRs selling into enterprise accounts.

## SDR to AE ratio and team structure

The Bridge Group's 2025 survey found a median of one SDR for every 2.4 AEs, a ratio it says has barely moved since 2018. The right number for your team depends on how much pipeline each AE needs and how much of it comes from inbound. A team with strong inbound can run fewer SDRs. A team selling into a large outbound market, or one where AEs do no prospecting at all, often runs closer to one to one.

SDRs usually report to an SDR manager who sits in sales, and a few companies put sales development under marketing because it works so many inbound leads. Either way, the SDR team and the AEs need one written definition of a qualified meeting, or the handoff becomes an argument. The [sales operations guide](https://getaob.com/sales-operations) covers how that gets set up.

## The modern SDR tech stack

| Layer | What it does | Where to compare |
| --- | --- | --- |
| CRM | The record of every account, contact, and activity | [CRM for startups](https://getaob.com/crm-for-startups) |
| Prospect data and enrichment | Finds accounts and people, plus verified emails and mobiles | [Data enrichment tools](https://getaob.com/data-enrichment-tools), [phone number finders](https://getaob.com/phone-number-finder-tools) |
| Signals | Tells the SDR which accounts to work this week and why | [Buying signal tools](https://getaob.com/buying-signal-tools) |
| Email sequencer | Runs multi-step email outreach and tracks replies | [Cold email software](https://getaob.com/cold-email-software) |
| LinkedIn | Search, connection requests, and messages | [Sales Navigator alternatives](https://getaob.com/sales-navigator-alternatives), [LinkedIn automation tools](https://getaob.com/linkedin-automation-tools) |
| Dialer | Gets more live conversations per hour of calling | [Power dialers](https://getaob.com/power-dialers) |
| Call recording | Records and transcribes calls for coaching and handoffs | [Call recording software](https://getaob.com/call-recording-software) |
| Scheduling and routing | Books the meeting and gets inbound leads to the right rep fast | [Lead routing tools](https://getaob.com/lead-routing-tools) |

## How AI and GTM engineering change the SDR role

A lot of an SDR's week used to go to work that software now does well: building lists, finding contact data, reading a company's site and news before a call, and drafting a first email. A [GTM engineering](https://getaob.com/gtm-engineering) setup automates that layer. It pulls the accounts that match the ideal customer profile, scores them, watches for buying signals, and puts a short brief in front of the rep. The SDR spends the saved hours on conversations.

AI SDR products go a step further and try to run the outreach themselves, from prospecting to booking. They can work for simple, high-volume motions. The usual failure points are reply handling and messages that are confidently wrong about the prospect, which is why I keep a person approving anything that goes out under a real name. The [AI SDR tools](https://getaob.com/ai-sdr-tools) page compares the products with published pricing, [AI sales agents](https://getaob.com/ai-sales-agents) breaks the job down task by task, and [AI SDR alternatives](https://getaob.com/ai-sdr-alternatives) covers building your own instead.

The likely outcome is smaller SDR teams covering more accounts, each rep with better data. When OneGTM built Coastal Recruiting a scored, signal-driven outbound system with people approving the messages, accepted candidate intros went from 72 in April 2026 to 340 in August (the [Coastal Recruiting case study](https://getaob.com/coastal-recruiting-case-study) has the details). It also changes the SDR career path. Many GTM engineers started as SDRs, because they already knew which parts of the job were worth automating. The [State of GTME report](https://getaob.com/gtme-data-report) and the [GTM engineer salary calculator](https://getaob.com/gtm-engineer-salary) show what that role pays.

## Hire SDRs, outsource, or automate?

- **Hire SDRs** when you have a proven pitch, AEs with room on their calendars, and a manager who can coach. Budget for about three months of ramp. [GTM sales recruiters](https://getaob.com/gtm-sales-recruiters) place these roles.
- **Use an SDR agency** when you need meetings this quarter and can live without owning the process. When the contract ends, the pipeline does too. Options are compared in [SDR agencies](https://getaob.com/sdr-agencies).
- **Build the system first** when you are still learning who buys, or when your SDRs spend more time on research than on conversations. A GTM engineer or an [outbound agency](https://getaob.com/outbound-agency) that builds in your own accounts leaves you with the lists, signals, and sequences when the work is done.

## SDR FAQ

### What is an SDR?

An SDR, or sales development representative, is the salesperson who starts conversations with new prospects and books qualified meetings for account executives. SDRs research accounts, run calls, emails and LinkedIn outreach, qualify interest, and hand meetings to an AE, who runs the deal from there.

### What does SDR stand for in sales?

In sales, SDR stands for sales development representative, sometimes written sales development rep. The role sits at the top of the funnel: it creates first meetings and qualified pipeline, and account executives close the deals.

### What is the difference between an SDR and a BDR?

At many companies the titles mean the same job. Where they are split, an SDR usually works inbound leads such as demo requests and content downloads, while a BDR, or business development representative, prospects outbound into accounts that have not raised their hand. Both book meetings for account executives.

### What is a business development rep?

A business development rep (BDR) is an entry-level sales role focused on outbound prospecting: finding target accounts, reaching the right people by phone, email and LinkedIn, and booking first meetings for account executives. Some companies call the same role an SDR.

### How much does an SDR make?

The Bridge Group's 2025 SDR Metrics report, a survey of 351 B2B companies published in February 2025, puts median SDR on-target earnings at $80K, split about 68:32 between a $55K base and $25K variable pay. Pay runs higher in big metros and enterprise sales teams.

### How many SDRs do you need per account executive?

The Bridge Group's 2025 report found a median of one SDR for every 2.4 AEs, a ratio it says has held since 2018. Teams with heavy outbound targets or a high-volume SMB motion often run closer to one to one.

### Will AI replace SDRs?

AI already does a lot of the work around the SDR job: account research, list building, first drafts, and sorting replies. Live conversations, judgment on fit, and booking a meeting a busy buyer actually shows up for still go best with a person. The likely result is fewer SDRs covering more accounts, each with better data.

Want your SDRs working better accounts with the research already done?

## Related

- [Best SDR and appointment setting agencies](https://getaob.com/sdr-agencies): Outsourced SDR companies and appointment setting firms compared, with published prices.
- [AI SDR tools and AI sales agents](https://getaob.com/ai-sdr-tools): 11x, Artisan, AiSDR, Unify, Qualified and more with published pricing, where AI SDRs fail, and when to build your own.
- [AI sales agents](https://getaob.com/ai-sales-agents): What an AI BDR does job by job, where a person still checks the work, and when to buy or build your own.
- [What is a GTM engineer?](https://getaob.com/gtm-engineer): The role, salary ranges, skills, and tools, from the State of GTME report.
- [Cold calling guide](https://getaob.com/cold-calling): Whether B2B cold calling still works, copyable call scripts, objection handling, the best times to call, and the tools.
- [Best power dialers](https://getaob.com/power-dialers): Power and parallel dialers for SDR teams, with pricing, local presence, and compliance basics.

## Talk to OneGTM about sales development

Tell me what you're building. I reply the same day.

Book a call at [getaob.com/#contact](https://getaob.com/#contact) or email [team@getaob.com](mailto:team@getaob.com).