BDR vs. SDR: What's the difference and which sales role is right for you?

How well do you know your sales acronyms?

Two of the most common salesperson acronyms refer to two of the most important roles in the sales process: BDR (Business Development Representative) and SDR (Sales Development Representative).

But what’s the difference? And how can you figure out which role would best suit you? 

Let's look into the nuances of each role and uncover the pros, cons, and other distinctions that set them apart so you can understand how salees teams are structured and make more informed decisions on potential roles!

What is a BDR (Business Development Representative)?

BDRs are the foundation of your sales team. It’s their job to identify new business opportunities and nurture relationships with potential clients.

BDRs excel in prospecting, utilizing strategies like hyper-specific outbound lead generation, cold-calling, emailing, and social selling to connect with prospects. 

BDRs will often work closely with marketing teams because they are both responsible for fuelling the top of the sales funnel with highly-qualified leads. The best BDRs will be capable of sourcing large numbers of qualified leads and capturing their attention to start the buying journey.

What is an SDR (Sales Development Representative)?

SDRs are responsible for the next stage down the funnel in engaging with potential customers and qualifying actual sales opportunities.

SDRs will generally specialize in inbound activities, responding to inquiries from marketing campaigns or following up on positive responses from the BDRs’ outbound.

Since they’ll be handling more qualified (and less cold) leads than BDRs, SDRs will start to have more in-depth conversations with customers about their current buying priorities and pain points. Like BDRs, they’ll work closely with marketing teams to help generate useful resources to share with prospects and to refine the lead scoring process.

Key differences between BDRs and SDRs

In a nutshell, BDRs and SDRs share the goal of generating leads and fostering those initial customer relationships, but their focus areas and skill sets differ significantly:

• BDRs primarily engage in outbound prospecting, targeting cold leads and starting conversations.
• SDRs specialize in inbound activities, handling warm leads and qualifying which opportunities are ready to move forward in the buying process.

With that said, you shouldn’t be surprised to see some overlap in the job descriptions for BDRs SDRs. Different companies organize their sales teams in different ways, and whilst we’re covering the traditional definitions of the job roles in this blog, you might see the roles merged or altered slightly - especially in smaller businesses where manpower is limited.

Pros and cons of being a BDR

Becoming a BDR requires you to be strategic, consistent, and incredibly patient. 

Traditionally viewed as the entry-level position for a sales career, business development has become a specialized realm of its own and demands a unique mindset. BDRs don’t have time to agonize over individual prospect engagements; instead, they have to be capable of moving fast and pivoting quickly to keep leads flowing into the sales funnel. 

To be a BDR, you have to be resilient enough to deal with having the phone hung up on you or getting negative replies. At the same time, you have to be capable of thinking strategically, always looking for ways to refine your outreach tactics to lay the foundations for long-lasting customer relationships.

• Pros: BDRs have the opportunity to be creative and innovative in their outreach whilst directly contributing to long-term business growth.
• Cons: The role requires patience and persistence in cold outreach, often facing rejection and having to find large numbers of leads. There’s also less immediate satisfaction of seeing prospects progress towards a deal because BDRs are only involved at the start of the buying journey.

Pros and cons of being an SDR

Being an SDR requires a similarly resilient mindset, especially since you’ll having more in-depth conversations with prospects. 

On top of this, SDRs have to be quick on their feet and comfortable handling tough questions to win prospects’ trust. The role suits people who are energetic and scrappy, not afraid to take risks and able to perform under pressure. SDRs will need to start developing more of the key interpersonal and psychological skills that are needed in sales to win prospects’ trust and convince them to move along in the buying journey.

• Pros: SDRs get the excitement of focusing on immediate sales opportunities and leveraging inbound leads to drive revenue for the organization.
• Cons: There’s a lot of pressure to make the most inbound inquiries in a fast-paced environment, make on-the-spot decisions, and handle difficult prospects.

Skills transferability between BDRs and SDRs

Despite their differences, the best BDRs and SDRs share a lot of valuable skills that makes transitioning between the roles - and on to other sales roles - extremely fulfilling!

These include:

• Strategic planning: The ability to identify market opportunities and crafting strategic approaches to penetrate new territories. 
• Outbound prospecting: Being comfortable with initiating contact with potential clients through various channels, including cold calling and email outreach. 
• Relationship building: Nurturing long-term relationships with clients, fostering trust and loyalty over time. This skill is not only useful in sales; it also translates well into roles that prioritize client management and retention, such as customer success or account management.
• Leadership potential: By demonstrating initiative and resilience in pursuing new opportunities, BDRs and SDRs showcase their potential for leadership roles within the organization. 
• Effective communication: The art of communicating product value propositions and qualifying leads efficiently. 
• Lead qualification: Having a keen eye for identifying qualified leads and prioritizing them based on their potential value.
• Collaboration with marketing: Being proactive and innovative in cross-functional collaboration and alignment in pursuit of shared company goals.
• Career advancement preparation: All sales reps learn the importance of setting long-term career goals and seeking mentorship and training opportunities to achieve them. 

BDR or SDR: Which role would suit you best?

If you’re new to the world of sales, make sure you do your research into the BDR or SDR positions you’re considering so you understand the exact expectations of the role. Take into account the various pressures and challenges tied to each role and make sure you look for roles you think would suit your personality and professional interest.

Nevertheless, you shouldn’t forget that there is a lot of skill overlap between the roles, and whether you choose to transition between them or on to Account Executive (AE) or Customer Success Roles, you’ll be well set for a range of exciting career opportunities!

If you’re interested in learning more about being a BDR, SDR, or building a sales career, check out our blog with Molly - Amplemarket’s first rep to transition from BDR to SDR to AE! 

The best tools for BDRs and SDRs

Succeeding as a BDR or an SDR is a whole lot easier when you have the right technology on your side. In Amplemarket, you’ll find everything you need to hit quota and maximize your productivity with integrated prospecting, social selling, engagement, dialing, and deliverability support tools. It’s every sales rep’s best friend - request a demo to see it in action!