Glossary
SDR (Sales Development Representative)
The role responsible for prospecting and booking qualified meetings for closers.
Definition
A Sales Development Representative (SDR) is a sales rep focused entirely on outbound prospecting: building lists, sending outreach across LinkedIn, email and phone, handling replies, qualifying interest, and booking qualified meetings for Account Executives. SDRs do not close deals.
Why it matters
SDRs are the engine of B2B outbound. The bottleneck for most growing companies is not closers, it is qualified meetings on the calendar — which is what SDRs produce.
Related at EngageBizDev
More terms
ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)
The exact firmographic, persona and trigger combination of the accounts most likely to buy from you.
BDR (Business Development Representative)
An outbound prospecting role, often used interchangeably with SDR.
MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead)
A lead that has shown enough interest in your marketing to be worth a sales follow-up.
SQL (Sales Qualified Lead)
A lead that sales has accepted and confirmed is worth working toward a deal.
SAL (Sales Accepted Lead)
The intermediate step between MQL and SQL where sales accepts ownership.
BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timing)
A classic four-part lead qualification framework.
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