What does a sales development representative do?
A sales development representative qualifies leads at the sales funnel's initial stages. Sales development representatives need to conduct research for prospective clients and qualify the leads before handing them to the sales team. They develop sales strategies to attract buyers or solicit potential customers. They need to build relationships with their customers to determine their needs and qualify the viability of interests to drive sales. Also, they collaborate with the sales executives making certain that corporate targets and goals are met.
Sales development representative responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real sales development representative resumes:
- Manage organization website and Facebook page; writing articles for websites and newsletters.
- Develop social media strategies for Facebook, LinkedIn, and emerging social networks, generating leads.
- Manage individual sales activities by developing highly effective, communications focuse relationship with multiple sales channels.
- supply chain management and procurement software (SaaS).
- Handle customer service inquiries, returns, and RMA exchanges.
- Develop a strong knowledge of SaaS sales techniques and lead management/generation.
- Handle customer billing issues while upselling base on customer's needs.
- Surpass monthly quota of 25 DSL sales and 100 telephone service upgrades monthly.
- Gain complete knowledge of all healthcare specialties to target prospective customers with the correct messaging.
- Incorporate various upselling techniques to enhance company profit.
- Create networking relationships through LinkedIn and initiate conversations with prospects.
- Prepare and utilize PowerPoint presentations to communicate information during sales meetings.
- Assist upper management by creating PowerPoint presentations and gathering materials for customers and sales meetings.
- Operate as inside sales consultant, primarily in areas of customer relations, sales/service support, coordinating production and transportation scheduling
- Perform inside sales, including telemarketing, prospecting, account penetration and product application, consulting and delivery of customer service.
Sales development representative skills and personality traits
We calculated that 11% of Sales Development Representatives are proficient in SDR, Lead Generation, and Customer Service. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Interpersonal skills, and Physical stamina.
We break down the percentage of Sales Development Representatives that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- SDR, 11%
Developed an understanding of the responsibilities and expectations associated with being a successful SDR.
- Lead Generation, 6%
Supported development of process improvement initiatives to boost effectiveness of sales and lead generation and represented company at trade shows.
- Customer Service, 6%
Solved customer service issues by using advanced listening and communication skills achieving outcomes beneficial to both parties.
- Account Executives, 5%
Scheduled online product demonstrations for Account Executives by qualifying outbound opportunities and developing a strong pipeline via phone/email communications.
- Linkedin, 5%
Identified Key Decision makers through LinkedIn Sales Navigator key word searches, Boolean, CRM data, and account mapping.
- Outbound Calls, 4%
Generated new business opportunities by sending email communications and making outbound calls to qualified prospects.
Most sales development representatives use their skills in "sdr," "lead generation," and "customer service" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential sales development representative responsibilities here:
Customer-service skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a sales development representative to have is customer-service skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be able to listen to the customer’s needs and concerns before and after the sale." Sales development representatives often use customer-service skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "orchestrated webinar demonstrations to aide customers and increase the pipeline. "
Interpersonal skills. Many sales development representative duties rely on interpersonal skills. "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be able to work well with many types of people," so a sales development representative will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways sales development representative responsibilities rely on interpersonal skills: "maintain, grow and expand account base by keeping up with product knowledge, prompt responsiveness and superior interpersonal skills. "
Physical stamina. sales development representatives are also known for physical stamina, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to sales development representative responsibilities, because "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives are often on their feet for a long time and may carry heavy sample products." A sales development representative resume example shows how physical stamina is used in the workplace: "inventory control and physical inventory management of ice warehouse. "
Self-confidence. A big part of what sales development representatives do relies on "self-confidence." You can see how essential it is to sales development representative responsibilities because "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be confident and persuasive when making sales presentations." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical sales development representative tasks: "input confidential information into the customer relations management system. "
The three companies that hire the most sales development representatives are:
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Compare different sales development representatives
Sales development representative vs. Telemarketing sales representative
In a sales representative internship, an intern's duties depend on the directives of a supervising staff or manager. Typically, they are responsible for gaining industry insights while performing clerical tasks such as preparing and processing documents, greeting visitors, disseminating and organizing files, and running errands as needed. They may also participate in communicating with clients through calls and appointments to offer products and services, ensuring client satisfaction. Furthermore, as an intern, it is essential to familiarize and abide by the company's policies and regulations, including its vision and mission.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a sales development representative are more likely to require skills like "sdr," "lead generation," "account executives," and "linkedin." On the other hand, a job as a telemarketing sales representative requires skills like "telephone calls," "computer system," "inbound calls," and "schedule appointments." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
On average, telemarketing sales representatives reach similar levels of education than sales development representatives. Telemarketing sales representatives are 1.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Sales development representative vs. Sales representative internship
The duties of an associate sales representative depend on one's line of work or industry of employment. Their responsibilities typically revolve around reaching out to clients through calls or door-to-door visits, offering products and services, collecting payments, addressing issues and concerns, and performing corrective measures when necessary. An associate sales representative often has a quota and deadline to reach; therefore, it is essential to be sales driven and goal-oriented. Furthermore, one must adhere to the policies and regulations of the company.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, sales development representative responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "sdr," "lead generation," "account executives," and "linkedin." Meanwhile, a sales representative internship has duties that require skills in areas such as "kids," "powerpoint," "salesforce," and "inbound calls." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Sales representative interns tend to reach similar levels of education than sales development representatives. In fact, they're 1.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Sales development representative vs. Associate sales representative
The job of marketing/sales representatives is to pitch a company's products and services to potential customers. They work to drive brand awareness through face-to-face consumer interaction. They are often considered as a liaison between sellers and buyers, providing information about products and services. They promote human relationships through marketing collateral distribution and communication. Other responsibilities include planning and implementing marketing campaigns, maintaining good relationships with vendors and venues, and promoting business expansion opportunities. This role requires a bachelor's degree in business administration, communications and marketing experience, excellent communication skills, and time management skills.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from sales development representative resumes include skills like "sdr," "lead generation," "account executives," and "linkedin," whereas an associate sales representative is more likely to list skills in "work ethic," "patients," "excellent organizational," and "sales techniques. "
Associate sales representatives make a very good living in the health care industry with an average annual salary of $56,246. On the other hand, sales development representatives are paid the highest salary in the start-up industry, with average annual pay of $54,512.When it comes to education, associate sales representatives tend to earn similar degree levels compared to sales development representatives. In fact, they're 1.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.5% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Sales development representative vs. Marketing/sales representative
Types of sales development representative
Updated January 8, 2025
