Mastering the SDR Role: Essential Skills and Success Tips

In this post, I'll explain what SDR sales are and clarify the role of an SDR. Then, I'll explore the essential skills every sales development representative should master, and conclude with tips on how to excel as an SDR.

An SDR sales team fuels business growth for companies in sectors like SaaS by identifying and cultivating potential leads. Companies can optimize their lead generation processes by concentrating on SDR sales strategies and enhance overall sales performance.

A sales development representative is a member of the sales or marketing team responsible for reaching out to prospects and qualifying leads related to inbound marketing campaigns. They are often mistaken for business development representatives (BDRs), who generate leads through outbound prospecting within a specific territory or industry. As part of the inside sales team, an SDR focuses on inbound prospecting, advancing leads through the pipeline, and qualifying the leads they engage with. Although SDRs don’t finalize deals, they assist sales reps by assessing whether a lead is a suitable customer fit.

What does an SDR do?

According to Orum’s 2024 State of Sales Development, which surveyed 1,000 sales leaders, 70% plan to expand their SDR teams in the coming year. The field seems to be on the rise, but what exactly does the role involve? SDRs are evaluated based on their ability to advance leads through the sales pipeline. They concentrate on qualifying, contacting, and nurturing high-quality leads, enhancing relationships with key individuals by providing value. Yechiel Gartenhaus, co-founder at Clavaa, states, “SDRs are the true driving force behind any company’s pipeline — they determine who is truly worth the sales team’s attention. Their methods? Persistently making cold calls, sending emails, and engaging on LinkedIn.” Gartenhaus notes that SDRs require strong research skills, resilience to rejection, and the ability to converse with strangers “without sounding robotic.” “Ultimately, their income relies on arranging meetings and forming lasting connections,” Gartenhaus says. He emphasizes that he’s not interested in hiring order-takers or script-readers at his company. “The SDRs who excel aren’t just playing the numbers game — they’re analyzing their data, crafting personalized messages, and continuously refining their approach based on what truly works,” he elaborates. So, what does a typical day for an SDR look like? Marty Bauer, director of sales and partnerships at Omnisend, describes a typical day for an SDR at his organization.

• 9-10 a.m. Reviewing emails and responses from prospects, and following up while leads are still warm. On Mondays, the company-wide all-hands meeting occurs.
• 10 a.m.–12 p.m. Actively reaching out to potential customers (via cold-calling, email, WhatsApp, pre-scheduled meetings, or any preferred channel). If it’s Monday, the weekly sales team meeting is held before lunch.
• At 12 p.m., there’s a lunch break.
• 1 p.m.–5 p.m. More meetings and follow-ups. Any pre-planned team meetings usually occur around this time. Depending on the day, a weekly one-on-one meeting takes place between an SDR and their manager.
• At the end of the day, planning for the next day or week is encouraged to ensure a smooth start. On Fridays, the sales team reviews their weekly metrics and quarterly OKRs, and prepares for the upcoming week.

While SDRs focus on qualifying and nurturing leads, sales reps are assessed on their ability to close deals that meet or exceed their quotas within a specific timeframe. Although these roles differ, they depend on each other to achieve their individual and business objectives. The inside sales team structure operates as follows:

The marketing team provides lead information to the SDRs.
SDRs are tasked with qualifying and nurturing leads until they are ready to buy.
Sales reps or account executives then step in to offer the right products at the right time to close the deal.

This workflow is straightforward and forms the basis for most sales operations. There are eleven key skills that will help you thrive as an SDR. If you’re an SDR, save this list for future reference. If you’re a manager, consider sharing this list with your team in your next sales meeting.

Eleven Essential SDR Skills

1. Video Prospecting

Video prospecting has become increasingly popular in recent years, and for good reason. Essentially, it involves reaching out with a personalized video clip, typically under two minutes long. This method allows prospects to connect with you on a more personal level without the need to schedule a Zoom call. You don't have to be a tech expert or a movie star to make effective videos—just be comfortable on camera.

At HubSpot, SDR team uses Vidyard, a user-friendly tool that enables quick video creation using your webcam and screen sharing. You can embed these video clips in emails, LinkedIn posts, Google Slides, and it integrates seamlessly with HubSpot.

If you're dealing with camera fatigue or shyness, or if you want to refine your video delivery on a larger scale, you can even create an AI avatar that mimics your appearance and voice, as per Vidyard's capabilities.

Several other software options for video prospecting exist, such as Loom and Wistia. Use these tools for guided demo tours and recorded presentations, and they add a personal touch to emails and LinkedIn posts.

2. Highly Customized Outreach

As an SDR, balancing quantity and quality when prospecting can be challenging. You want to build a strong pipeline for your sales reps, but you realize that connecting with qualified leads requires time.

Brandon Kirsch, a sales manager at HubSpot, successfully balanced quality and quantity in his outreach efforts. His emails were personalized and timely for the prospect, and it would be great if there was any immediate need.

Here’s an example he shared with:

3. Active Listening

How can SDRs continue to contribute value to a sales process that is increasingly automated, particularly during the prospecting phase? The most effective way for an SDR to showcase their value is by employing active listening techniques. While a chatbot might qualify a lead, it cannot ask nuanced sales questions or listen as effectively as a human (at least not yet). The interaction between a prospect and an SDR should be authentic and supportive, not mechanical and forced.

Regardless of your company's offerings, you must be highly sensitive to cues that suggest a prospect might be a good match for your company’s products or services. This is where active listening plays a crucial role. A flexible and empathetic SDR focuses on collecting valuable insights that help advance a prospect through the pipeline, rather than merely ticking off lead qualification boxes.

For instance, a sales team had a weekly SDR “film club” where we reviewed recorded calls from experienced SDRs. In one session, an SDR learned that the prospect’s company provided a freemium version of its product. The prospect confirmed the annual value of an average new customer, but the SDR quickly moved on to the next topic.

Missed opportunity. The SDR could have delved into questions like:

Answers to these questions would have been vital in addressing a significant pain point for the prospect. Generally, these questions can reveal a wealth of information about any business offering a free or discounted trial of their product. These inquiries help an SDR identify opportunities within the prospect’s company. Additionally, the prospect might reflect on issues they had postponed simply because no solution was available yet.

Active listening involves knowing when to speak and when to simply listen. As an active listener, you engage with the prospect and gather the critical information needed before advancing them further down the sales pipeline.

4. Strong Follow-Up

According to sales experts, the most effective sales channels are face-to-face meetings and phone calls. Ideally, SDRs aim to speak directly with a prospect over the phone, but sometimes leaving a voicemail is the next best alternative. Crafting an effective voicemail is more challenging than it appears. In a brief message, you must persuade a prospect you've never spoken to before to return your call.

Some prefer to keep it simple:

“Hi, I’m [Salesperson] from [Company]. I’d like to discuss X strategy with you. Please call me back at XXX-XXX-XXXX.”

Why now include a bit of value?

“I noticed you’re building a new manufacturing facility in X. I’d love to share how we assisted our client, Dunder Mifflin, in managing their production and distribution growth.”

Mastering the art of leaving a compelling voicemail is crucial for an SDR and requires practice. What other channels are available? According to the Orum report, which surveyed 1,000 sales leaders on the KPIs their SDRs are measured by, the findings were:

• 75% calls
• 70% emails
• 41% LinkedIn messages
• 40% texts

5. Coachability

Being coachable is a vital quality for an SDR.

While confidence is key, an SDR's ego can sometimes hinder their ability to accept and apply constructive feedback. The most successful SDRs actively seek guidance from top-performing colleagues and value honest feedback from their managers.

Real-time feedback is ideal, but you can also compile a list of questions or challenges you encountered during the week and discuss them with your manager in a one-on-one meeting. Feedback is essential as it provides an external perspective on your performance and areas for improvement.

People often have biases that affect their self-perception, and an outside viewpoint offers a more objective assessment, helping counter these biases.

6. Self-Awareness

As an SDR, it's important to recognize your strengths and weaknesses and use them to determine the focus of your calls, whether technical or broad in scope. This approach helps prospects feel they are engaging with an advisor who genuinely wants to understand their business challenges, rather than just a telemarketer. By knowing what you excel at and where you need improvement, you can develop strategies to handle difficult calls or rejections.

For instance:

An SDR who struggles with organization might benefit from creating a physical checklist to ensure no steps are missed during calls. An SDR skilled at building rapport might set a timer for each call to avoid spending too much time with one prospect and losing focus. An SDR who tends to interrupt prospects might place a sticky note on their desk as a reminder to pause briefly before responding.

7. Organization

Sales processes differ from one individual to another, but it's essential to adopt and adhere to them to maintain organization. Effective schedule management enables SDRs to structure their days and prioritize crucial activities like email outreach, calls, and meetings. Being organized simplifies tracking leads, qualifying your pipeline, and creating a workflow that fosters important relationships, ultimately leading to successful deals.

8. Curiosity

Effective SDRs are naturally inquisitive and keen to expand their knowledge. This curiosity about new products, industries, or organizational insights not only benefits them in their current roles but also aids their career advancement. Initially, SDRs should have a strong grasp of their company's offerings and a clear understanding of their target audience and the common challenges these prospects face. This knowledge enables them to effectively align their company's strengths and solutions with the needs of prospects and competitive offerings in the market. However, they should be mindful of how deeply they delve into customer needs and solution specifics before handing over an opportunity to a more experienced salesperson.

Acquiring new information is relatively straightforward and often free through resources available within your organization, online research through blogs (like HubSpot), training sessions from sales experts, industry events, and discussions with colleagues. Continuous learning is a priority for successful SDRs.

9. Relationship-Building

82% of sales professionals believe that forming relationships and connecting with people is the most crucial aspect of selling. Effective SDRs excel at establishing genuine, trustworthy relationships with prospects. They should prepare these prospects for your company’s layered sales process before handing them over to an account manager to close the deal.

The best way to build relationships with prospects is by helping them understand the role and responsibilities of an SDR and assuring them that SDR would be their advocate. To succeed in relationship-building, you must be adept at communicating with a diverse range of people across various channels. Whether you're emailing a contact, presenting to a prospect in a virtual meeting, or sending a pre-recorded video, it's essential to clearly convey your points and ideas to keep them engaged. Additionally, SDRs need to possess enough emotional intelligence to connect with and empathize with prospects, understanding their goals and needs.

10. Resilience

There's no denying that being an SDR is a challenging role. Unlike sales reps, who are primarily focused on closing deals and often receive recognition for it, most SDRs don't experience that same level of acclaim. I recall the tough days during my time as an SDR when it was hard to get prospects to answer calls or respond to voicemails and emails. I was experimenting with different voicemail scripts, icebreaker lines, and emails, essentially doing A/B testing before I even knew what it was.

Beyond the technical skills we've discussed, maintaining a positive mindset is a crucial soft skill that many find difficult to learn from a book. Building resilience requires practice. If you're feeling down or discouraged, it can come across in your voice, and prospects might perceive your low energy as a warning sign about your company.

Bad calls are inevitable, even for the best of us. Recovering from them and learning is tough but essential for advancing in your sales career. Whether a prospect was rude or you made an error, it's natural to feel frustrated. However, letting those feelings derail your motivation for the rest of the day can negatively affect your subsequent calls.

Don't let these temporary setbacks ruin your day—or the prospect's. Resilience is key to staying focused. Developing this skill now will be invaluable in the future when you need to bounce back from losing a significant deal without missing a beat.

11. Overcoming Objections

This final skill is crucial for the success of a sales development representative: handling objections. While 35% of sales reps identify overcoming price objections as their biggest hurdle, it doesn't have to be yours. Mastering objection handling is a skill that most reps develop over time. They become familiar with their company's solutions, understand their value, and learn how they function. By effectively positioning these solutions to address a prospect's pain points, you begin to build trust—a key factor in influencing their buying decision.

I found that my most successful discovery calls occurred when I started with open-ended questions, allowing prospects to fully explain their current situation and challenges. I would patiently listen to their needs and priorities before explaining how my company could meet those needs. Gaining a comprehensive understanding of the broader context enabled me to effectively address objections and demonstrate how my company (and potentially its partners) could assist in resolving their business challenges. Jumping into product features and functions too soon could derail the conversation and waste both the prospect's and my time.

How to Succeed as a Sales Development Rep

When we consulted former SDRs and sales and marketing leaders for advice on succeeding as a sales development representative, here’s what they suggested:

1. Prioritize the prospect over yourself.

Scott Ramey, a former Fortune 500 executive now aiding sales leaders in authentic selling, believes fear is a major barrier in business development. He suggests that overcoming this fear involves focusing on the prospect, their needs, and how you can assist them, rather than on yourself.
"It manifests as sales reluctance, even in seasoned reps. We often internalize our experiences too well, both positive and negative. Negative experiences make us hesitant, while positive ones can lead to complacency. The secret to long-term success is fully committing to outcomes that genuinely benefit your client or prospect," Ramey explains.
He further notes that by shifting your focus outward, fear diminishes, and genuine connections lead to results. "When it's not about you, the pressure is off," Ramey clarifies.

2. Perfect the art of effective follow-ups.

Chris Sorensen, CEO of PhoneBurner, a sales SaaS platform with a background in enterprise sales, states, "It's common for sales reps to concentrate on the initial contact but fail to consistently engage prospects afterward. Reps who establish a structured follow-up routine (calls, emails, even SMS) tend to achieve better outcomes."
He has observed that persistence distinguishes top SDRs in his company. For instance, one rep recently closed a high-value deal after seven touchpoints over two weeks—something that wouldn't have happened if they had stopped after one or two attempts.
"The key is to add value at each interaction rather than just 'checking in.' Whether it's sharing a relevant case study or addressing an objection, every touchpoint should advance the conversation," he notes.

3. Stay adaptable and flexible.

"Adaptability is crucial for a successful SDR. Every prospect and deal is unique, so relying solely on one script, no matter how well-crafted, isn't always effective. Read the situation and adjust your approach accordingly," advises Marty Bauer from Omnisend, who specializes in tech sales in SaaS companies.
He shares that his adaptability has shaped his career. For example, when he joined his current company, he initially aimed for a partnership role. However, after discussions with the team, Bauer realized that sales was a better fit.
He also suggests that sticking to the basics of your company’s onboarding plan might only yield average results.
"But if you're curious enough to find answers to questions and customer pains yourself, you'll achieve more and progress faster because you'll naturally seek out-of-the-box solutions. This won't just set you apart—it will also enable you to quickly adapt to different prospects, situations, and the ever-changing market," Bauer says.

4. Gain buyer-side insight from the start to truly understand the other perspective.

Peter Lewis, CEO at Strategic Pete, an agency specializing in growth strategy, SDR acceleration, and marketing systems that drive pipeline, says, "Ask any sales manager about their SDR onboarding process, and you'll hear the same responses: cold call scripts, email cadences, CRM training. The issue? None of these teach how to sell."

His agency approached the process differently for a client. Instead of immediately placing new SDRs in outbound roles, they had them reverse-engineer the sales process first. How?

• Listening to real sales calls.
• Analyzing objections.
• Rewriting email pitches from lost deals.

They learned sales from the buyer’s perspective first, then began prospecting.
"SDR ramp time decreased from six months to 45 days. Their initial cold calls were warm because they already understood the conversations buyers were having," he adds.

5. The right mindset is crucial.

Patrick Hutchinson, a former SDR manager, entered the tech field without any experience in cold calling, sending cold emails, or using a CRM. Seven months later, he had surpassed the senior SDR role and was promoted to SDR manager over a team of 12-13 SDRs.

How did Hutchinson achieve this?
He attributes his success to positive self-talk and vivid imagery. "I truly convinced myself that becoming a top rep and making a significant impact was inevitable, and that's exactly what happened," Hutchinson says.
His main advice for anyone aiming to excel as an SDR and achieve long-term success (not just in software sales but in life) is to learn to "see" and "feel" the end from the beginning. But what does that mean?

"It means your perception truly shapes your reality. If, on day one as an SDR, you vividly imagine yourself as a top SDR manager or account executive, whatever path you choose, your actions naturally align with those thought patterns, and what you once considered a dream begins to materialize into your reality," he explains.

Improve Your SDR Skills

Consistent practice is vital for honing SDR skills. Like Rome, which wasn't built in a day, continuous learning and proactive efforts are key to advancing your career. In my view, self-awareness is the most important skill. By recognizing your strengths and weaknesses, you'll be more open to feedback and improvement, allowing you to better meet the needs of your prospects.