Definition
What is Sales Development Representative (SDR)?
The short answer
A sales development representative is a sales professional who focuses on the top of the funnel: prospecting target accounts, running outreach and qualifying interest into booked meetings for account executives. SDRs are measured on activity, qualified meetings and pipeline created rather than on closed revenue.
Key figure
40%
Why it matters
Outsourcing the SDR function is how many B2B companies add pipeline without building the role internally.
Put it to work
Where sales development representative matters on a program.
- SDR outsourcingOutsourcing the SDR function is how many B2B companies add pipeline without building the role internally.Read more
- Build more B2B pipeline without hiring more SDRsOutreach Engine builds and operates a multi channel outbound engine that generates qualified sales conversations for your team.Read more
Research
What the research says
40%
The average seller spends 40% of their time actually selling; for Gen Z reps it is 35%.
Salesforce, State of Sales 2026, Feb 2026. 4,050 sales professionals, surveyed August to September 2025.
1.7x
Top performing sellers are 1.7x more likely to use prospecting AI agents, and 54% of sellers have already used agents.
Salesforce, State of Sales 2026, Feb 2026. 4,050 sales professionals, surveyed August to September 2025.
3.0 mo
Average SDR ramp time is 3.0 months, the lowest since 2010, and average SDR tenure is 1.9 years.
The Bridge Group, SDR Models, Motions & Metrics 2025, Feb 2025. 351 B2B companies.
Related terms
Further reading
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