Use this Sales Development Representative job description template to attract candidates who can identify relevant prospects, qualify their needs, and create useful conversations for the sales team. Specify whether the role handles inbound inquiries, outbound prospecting, or both, together with target customer segments and qualification expectations.

A Sales Development Representative starts relevant conversations with prospective customers, qualifies early interest, and creates well-documented handoffs to account executives. Unlike a closing salesperson, the SDR usually owns initial outreach and qualification rather than proposals, negotiation, or contract signature.

A Sales Development Representative creates relevant sales conversations through account research, respectful outreach, and useful qualification. Their key responsibilities include:

• Researching accounts and identifying relevant business contacts.

• Writing outreach tied to a prospect's likely priorities.

• Qualifying initial needs and readiness for further discussion.

• Scheduling useful meetings with complete handoff notes.

• Maintaining accurate prospect records and follow-up commitments.

Sales Development Representative Job Description Template

We are looking for a Sales Development Representative to build a dependable source of qualified sales conversations through careful research, useful outreach, and respectful follow-through.

In this role, you will test assumptions about account fit, learn why prospects might change their current approach, and distinguish a genuinely relevant meeting from a calendar booking without substance. Success depends on useful qualification and clean handoffs, not simply the number of messages sent.

Sales Development Representative Roles and Responsibilities

A Sales Development Representative identifies potential customers and starts relevant conversations. Daily work includes researching accounts, personalizing outreach, qualifying initial interest, and handing useful context to sales colleagues.

The key roles and responsibilities of a Sales Development Representative include:

• Research target accounts using approved sources, checking business context and customer fit before adding contacts to an outreach sequence.

• Identify appropriate stakeholders and personalize messaging around plausible business problems rather than inventing familiarity or claiming unsupported results.

• Respond to inbound inquiries with timely, relevant questions that establish the request, company context, and appropriate next step.

• Conduct introductory conversations to understand needs, current approaches, stakeholder involvement, and whether a deeper sales discussion would be useful.

• Explain the product's basic relevance accurately and refer detailed technical, contractual, or security questions to qualified colleagues.

• Apply documented qualification criteria consistently while recording uncertainty rather than overstating a prospect's budget, authority, or purchasing intent.

• Arrange meetings with account executives and share clear notes covering business context, questions, participants, and any promised follow-up.

• Maintain CRM records with current contact details, outreach history, qualification status, and the next action agreed with each prospect.

• Coordinate outreach with marketing and account owners to avoid conflicting messages, duplicate contact, or inappropriate pursuit of existing customers.

• Respect communication preferences and internal outreach policies, escalating questions about permitted contact practices instead of bypassing controls.

• Review response patterns and meeting outcomes to improve account selection, messaging relevance, and the quality of qualification conversations.

• Share recurring objections and market feedback with sales and marketing while distinguishing individual anecdotes from broader patterns.

Sales Development Representative Requirements and Qualifications

Look for evidence that outreach is relevant to the account and qualification produces a useful handoff rather than an unsupported meeting booking.

Common Sales Development Representative qualifications and requirements include:

• Clear written communication that makes the reason for contacting a prospect understandable without exaggerated claims.

• Active listening and confidence asking concise questions about business needs, current processes, and next steps.

• Ability to research organizations and distinguish credible evidence of fit from superficial personalization.

• Organized follow-up habits and careful recording of customer conversations in shared systems.

• Resilience when handling rejection without becoming intrusive, defensive, or careless about communication preferences.

• Willingness to use feedback, practice conversations, and revise an approach based on demonstrated results.

• Sound judgment about when to qualify out an opportunity or involve a more experienced colleague.

• A relevant degree or equivalent practical experience demonstrating the judgment, communication, and applied skills needed for this position.

• Experience in prospecting, customer-facing work, fundraising, or another role involving relevant introductory conversations.

• Familiarity with CRM software, approved sales engagement tools, or the customers and industry served.

Who Does a Sales Development Representative Report To?

A Sales Development Representative may report to different leaders depending on the team structure. Common reporting lines include:

• Sales Development Manager

• Head of Sales Development

• Sales team leader

Account executives often provide feedback on handoff quality but may not be the direct supervisor.

Specify the actual supervisor and approval boundaries.

How to Assess Sales Development Representative Skills Effectively

Present a fictional target account and a prospect response with uncertain fit. Ask candidates to draft relevant outreach, qualify the situation, and prepare a handoff that states what is known and unknown. Use fictional scenarios, consistent instructions, and shared scoring criteria. Assess reasoning without requesting confidential information or unpaid work on live business problems.

A structured evaluation process helps recruiters assess candidates across the following areas:

• Account Research: Supply a fictional account brief and ask which facts suggest fit, which are missing, and how they would verify their assumptions.

• Outreach Writing: Request a short first-contact email tied to the brief; score relevance, clarity, accuracy, and the ease of responding.

• Qualification: Role-play an interested prospect with uncertain needs and assess listening, follow-up questions, and willingness to avoid premature conclusions.

• Objection Handling: Present a prospect who already uses another solution and evaluate curiosity and respect rather than persistence at any cost.

• Handoff Quality: Ask for CRM notes and a meeting introduction that clearly separate confirmed information, open questions, and promised actions.

• Prioritization: Give several inbound and outbound leads and ask for an ordered plan with reasons based on fit, intent, and urgency.

How to Detect AI Cheating When Hiring a Sales Development Representative

Hiring a Sales Development Representative requires evaluating candidates on prospect research, outbound messaging, lead qualification, objection handling, and meeting generation. During remote interviews, candidates may use AI tools to generate answers or receive real-time assistance, making it harder for recruiters to determine whether they genuinely possess these skills.

Sherlock AI helps recruiters detect AI-assisted cheating during Sales Development Representative interviews. It can identify potential use of AI answering tools, deepfakes, candidate impersonation, and suspicious screen activity during remote interviews.

When hiring a Sales Development Representative, recruiters can combine Sherlock AI with practical interview exercises, such as researching a sample prospect, writing a personalized outreach message, or role-playing a qualification call. These exercises help evaluate a candidate's sales development skills, while Sherlock AI helps identify potential signs of cheating during the interview.

Screen Sales Development Representative Interviews for AI-Assisted Cheating

Hiring a Sales Development Representative requires confidence in a candidate's ability to identify relevant prospects, ask useful questions, and handle objections independently. Sherlock AI helps hiring teams identify potential AI-assisted cheating and impersonation during remote interviews, supporting a more reliable candidate evaluation process.

Explore Sherlock AI to learn how you can detect AI-assisted cheating during remote interviews and make more informed hiring decisions.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a Sales Development Representative do?

An SDR identifies potential customers and establishes whether a deeper sales conversation is worthwhile. The role develops early pipeline and normally hands qualified opportunities to an account executive rather than negotiating the final purchase.

What are the duties and responsibilities of a Sales Development Representative?

Duties include account research, introductory outreach, lead qualification, meeting coordination, CRM updates, and follow-up. Employers should define what makes a qualified meeting and how feedback from closing teams improves the prospecting process.

What makes a good Sales Development Representative?

A good SDR is curious, organized, and respectful of a prospect's time. They explain relevance clearly, learn from rejection, and are comfortable disqualifying a poor fit instead of creating misleading pipeline records.

Who does a Sales Development Representative work with?

SDRs work with account executives, sales development leaders, marketing, and revenue operations. They also speak with prospective users and business stakeholders, connecting the right people without presenting themselves as technical or contractual authorities.

What skills should a Sales Development Representative have?

Key skills are research, concise writing, active listening, introductory discovery, prioritization, and CRM hygiene. Product knowledge helps explain relevance, but the ability to uncover and document a real need matters more than memorized scripts.

What qualifications are required for a Sales Development Representative?

Relevant customer-facing experience and a degree or equivalent practical experience can demonstrate readiness. Entry-level roles should distinguish teachable sales tools from essential communication and learning skills rather than requiring an established closing record.

How do you assess a Sales Development Representative candidate?

Use a research brief, outreach-writing task, and qualification role-play. Assess the quality of questions and handoff notes as well as the message itself, then ask candidates what would make them stop pursuing the prospect.