What Is a BDR? How Business Development Representatives Accelerate Sales & ROI

Looking for a quick way to maximize your marketing spend? Perhaps adding a Business Development Representative (BDR) or a Sales Development Representative (SDR) to your marketing strategy is in order.

A high-performance marketing team can only accomplish so much with automation; in our opinion, it needs a human touch and persistent follow-up to truly maximize your marketing efforts.

That human element is found in the role of a BDR and/or SDR—positions that bridge the gap between marketing and sales. If you are currently driving solid web traffic and/or generating marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) but struggling to convert those leads into sales opportunities, read on.

This post explores how adding a BDR or SDR to your marketing strategy can help take your marketing program to the next level.

What Is a BDR? How Business Development Representatives Drive Growth

Business Development Representatives (BDRs) are sales professionals focused on generating new leads for their company's sales team. They are responsible for identifying and researching potential prospects and ultimately securing meetings for your Sales Account Executives.

BDRs work closely with Sales Managers and Account Executives to ensure their activities align with the company's overall sales strategy. While some BDRs are entry-level roles, others require several years of experience—especially in industries where sales cycles are long and products or services are highly complex.

Regardless of experience level, all BDRs must be excellent communicators and have a strong understanding of the sales process. They play a vital role in the success of any organization that relies on sales to generate revenue. In fact, studies show that companies using dedicated sales development teams generate 208% more pipeline revenue compared to those without one.

At their best, BDRs can identify the right prospect, engage the right contacts, and reach out at the right time. However, to do this consistently, they require a solid digital marketing program and a significant investment in modern sales and marketing tools.

For example, a BDR leveraging buyer intent data from providers like Bombora or sales intelligence tools such as ZoomInfo can prioritize outreach to high-intent leads, ensuring their messaging is timely and compelling. This proactive approach can significantly improve conversion rates and generate additional sales opportunities.

At their worst, BDRs are handed a list of companies and contacts with little strategy or insight—relying on sheer volume and luck to generate meetings. This outdated "spray and pray" approach generally does not yield the type of consistent results sales leaders expect, which is why many turn to structured BDR programs like those offered by SmithDigital.

BDR Use Case: Turning Data into Sales Opportunities

The BDR use case we're about to describe is not easy to pull off, nor is it cheap—but if you sell large, complex products or services, keep reading to see how you can build or leverage a team like SmithDigital to execute this strategy successfully.

This starts with having two critical components in place:

1. Real-time intent data

2. Solid web traffic with bottom-of-the-funnel visitors

Say, for example, you are a sales or marketing leader for a SaaS ERP software company that sells software and professional services. Your typical sale ranges from $50K to $250K, with a sales cycle of 3-6 months.

Since ERP selection is a high-consideration process, buyers conduct extensive research before engaging with vendors. Most prospects will:

• Look up customer reviews on G2 Crowd and other software comparison sites.

• Visit product and pricing pages, downloading brochures and whitepapers.

• Read reports from industry analysts (e.g., Gartner) to compare ERP solutions.

A smart BDR, armed with the right tools and data, can follow the digital breadcrumbs left behind by potential buyers. Instead of passively waiting for a prospect to fill out a form, engage in chat, or make an inbound phone call, a BDR can take a proactive approach—engaging prospects with helpful and timely information that aids the buying process and influences the sales cycle.

This is the type of value a BDR can bring to the table.

What Is a Sales Development Representative (SDR) and How Do They Differ?

A Sales Development Representative (SDR) works on qualifying and prioritizing inbound marketing leads—these are leads that have already expressed interest in your products or services by filling out a form, engaging in chat, or downloading a resource from your website.

SDRs serve as the first point of contact for prospects who have engaged with your brand. Their primary goal is to assess whether an inbound lead is a good fit for your business by evaluating key factors such as company size, industry, budget, and level of interest.

Neither a BDR nor an SDR is responsible for running sales cycles and closing deals. That’s the role of a Sales Rep or Account Executive. Instead, BDRs and SDRs focus on feeding high-quality leads into the sales pipeline.

SDRs play a critical role in ensuring that sales teams spend their time on the right prospects. By identifying sales-ready leads and filtering out those that are not yet qualified, SDRs help shorten the sales cycle and improve conversion rates.

SDR Use Case: Converting Inbound Leads into Sales-Ready Prospects

Let’s assume you're an ERP reseller (VAR) generating several lead conversions per month from various marketing offers such as:

• Pricing requests

• Software demos

• Free software trials

• Competitive whitepapers

While you're seeing high engagement, you're struggling to turn these leads into sales opportunities. Many prospects don't return calls or emails, and they miss scheduled meetings.

Adding an SDR to your marketing-to-sales handoff process can help prioritize leads based on their level of urgency, activity type, and engagement. By maintaining consistent touchpoints, an SDR ensures that prospects who engaged with your marketing efforts stay top-of-mind and convert at a higher rate.

One of the biggest challenges in this situation is getting uninterrupted time from busy decision-makers. It’s not that they don’t need your solution—it’s just that they have limited time.

A persistent SDR with a multi-touch approach over a defined period can help close the gap between lead conversions and sales opportunity creation. With 80% of sales requiring five or more follow-ups, but 44% of reps giving up after just one, an SDR ensures your company stays engaged with potential buyers (Invesp).

Hiring a BDR/SDR Team: In-House vs. Outsourcing – What’s Best for You?

More and more businesses are considering outsourcing their BDR and SDR functions. While these roles are crucial, they can be expensive to keep in-house. Before deciding, consider:

1. What is the cost of hiring a BDR/SDR team?

2. How essential is the BDR/SDR function to your business growth?

3. Do you have the internal resources to support and train a BDR/SDR team?

4. Are you willing to invest in the right sales intelligence tools?

Before committing to full-time hires, many companies prototype their BDR/SDR strategy through outsourcing. This allows them to test the impact of a structured sales development process without the long-term overhead of hiring, training, and managing full-time employees.

Whether you hire internally or outsource, having strong marketing and sales alignment is key to making your BDR/SDR investment worthwhile.

Getting Started with BDR and SDR Services: Next Steps to Scale Your Sales Pipeline

BDR services can be an invaluable asset to any business, helping to drive sales and growth.

When selecting a BDR service provider, it is important to choose a company that has experience working with businesses in your industry.

The best BDR providers will have a deep understanding of your target market and will be able to customize their services to your specific needs.

In addition, you should look for a provider that offers a comprehensive suite of services, including lead generation, appointment setting, market research, and more. By working with a top-rated BDR service provider, you can take your business to the next level.