BDRBusiness Development Representative

By Federico Donatone · Updated October 15, 2026

Definition

A BDR (business development representative) is a B2B salesperson who creates new sales opportunities, mostly through outbound prospecting. The BDR picks target accounts, contacts decision makers who have not asked to hear from the company, qualifies them and books a meeting for an account executive. Many companies use BDR and SDR as two names for one role.

What is a BDR expected to do?

A BDR starts conversations with people who did not raise their hand. That makes the job mostly outbound: the BDR has to earn the first reply from a stranger, then decide quickly whether a meeting is worth everyone's time. A typical week runs on a simple loop.

Choose accounts that match the ideal customer profile (the type of company most likely to buy).
Find the person who owns the problem the product solves, and a backup contact in the same account.
Look for a reason to reach out now, such as a new executive, a funding round or a hiring push.
Run a short sequence across phone, email and LinkedIn, with a new idea in every touch.
Answer replies, handle objections and qualify fit.
Book the meeting and hand the account executive a brief on the buyer.

In some companies, especially larger ones, BDR also names a partnership role that builds deals with resellers or channel partners. Read the job description before you compare titles.

BDR vs SDR: what is the difference?

In most job posts the two titles describe the same work. Where a company does split them, the line usually runs between outbound and inbound.

	BDR	SDR
Typical focus	Outbound: cold target accounts	Inbound: people who already showed interest
Who makes first contact	The BDR	The prospect, through a form or sign-up
Hardest part	Earning a reply from a stranger	Responding fast and qualifying well
Output	Qualified meeting	Qualified meeting

Whatever the title, the person who books a meeting should not be the person who closes it on large deals. Splitting the roles keeps account executives selling.

How to measure a BDR

Activity counts such as dials, emails and connection requests help spot problems early, but they do not prove pipeline. Judge a BDR on what happens after the booking: meetings held, how many matched the target profile and how many your sales team accepted as real opportunities. The stage definitions are in our B2B Outbound Evidence Standard.

FormulaMeeting-to-opportunity rate = Opportunities accepted by sales ÷ Meetings held × 100As an illustration, if a BDR holds 20 meetings in a quarter and sales accepts 8 of them as real opportunities, the rate is 40%.

Meetings held, shown next to meetings booked.
The share of held meetings that matched the target profile.
Opportunities accepted by sales and the pipeline they opened.
Results by channel, so you know whether phone, email or LinkedIn is doing the work.

What makes a good BDR

The best BDRs research before they write, keep messages about the buyer's problem rather than the product, and stay calm on the phone when a prospect pushes back. They also protect their account executives' time by saying no to meetings that do not fit.

When you hire, test those skills directly. Ask candidates to research one of your target accounts, write the first message and then role-play the call with an objection you hear often. The exercise shows more than a resume does.

From our workConfirm every meeting with a senior executive the day before. In the Growth Cab show rate study of 1,380 meetings booked by cold calling, C-level prospects missed 19% of meetings, against 14% for managers. Our meeting show rate calculator shows how your numbers compare.

BDR FAQ

What does BDR stand for?

BDR stands for business development representative. In sales teams it usually means the person who prospects new accounts and books meetings for account executives. In some companies it also names a role that builds partner and channel deals.

Is a BDR the same as an SDR?

Often, yes. Many companies use the two titles for the same job. Where they differ, the BDR focuses on outbound prospecting and the SDR on qualifying inbound interest.

What comes after a BDR role?

The most common next step is account executive, where the person runs deals through to the signed contract. Other BDRs move into sales management, revenue operations or partnerships. Time spent as a BDR teaches research, objection handling and pipeline discipline, which every later role uses.

Related terms

SDRAn SDR (sales development representative) is a B2B salesperson who opens new conversations with potential buyers. The SDR researches target accounts, contacts decision makers by phone, email or LinkedIn, checks whether each one fits, and books a qualified meeting for an account executive, who then runs the sales process and closes the deal. Account ExecutiveAn account executive (AE) is the salesperson who owns a deal from the first qualified meeting to the signed contract. In B2B sales, the account executive runs discovery, builds the business case with the buyer, brings in every stakeholder, negotiates terms and closes. Most AEs are measured on revenue closed against a quota, a target for a set period. Outbound SalesOutbound sales is a sales approach in which the seller starts the conversation, contacting potential buyers who have not asked to hear from the company. In B2B, outbound sales teams choose target accounts, find the decision makers, reach them by phone, email or LinkedIn, and turn the ones who fit into qualified meetings and pipeline. Cold CallingCold calling is the practice of phoning a potential customer who has had no earlier contact with the seller, to start a sales conversation. In B2B, cold calling usually targets a named decision maker at a company that fits the ideal customer profile, and the goal of the call is a qualified meeting, not a sale on the spot. Cold EmailCold email is a first, unrequested email sent to a business contact who has no earlier relationship with the sender, usually to start a sales conversation. A good B2B cold email is written for one person: it names a fact about their company, links it to a likely problem and asks for one small next step. Buying SignalsBuying signals are observable clues that a prospect or account is moving toward a purchase. They range from company events, such as a new executive or a funding round, to research behavior, engagement with your outreach and questions asked on a sales call. Sellers use them to decide who to contact, when, and with what message.