✦Article — sales development
SDR vs BDR: what is the difference?
The titles are used interchangeably in most job ads, but the work is not the same. One role qualifies leads that already raised their hand. The other goes out and finds accounts that do not yet know you. Mixing them up is one of the most common reasons B2B pipelines underperform.
SDR stands for Sales Development Representative. BDR stands for Business Development Representative. Different companies use the titles differently — some call all sales developers SDRs, others reserve BDR for outbound. The substance, not the acronym, is what matters.
The clearest split: SDR is inbound, BDR is outbound.
SDR
What an SDR does.
An SDR works inbound. They handle the leads your marketing already generated — webinar signups, demo requests, content downloads, event scans, inbound calls. Their job is to qualify quickly, book the right meetings and hand them off to account executives before the lead goes cold.
A good SDR responds in minutes, not days. They run human conversations on phone and email, ask the questions that separate buyers from browsers, and protect the AEs' calendar from low-fit meetings.
BDR
What a BDR does.
A BDR works outbound. They go after accounts that have never heard of you — cold calling, well-written cold email, account research. Their job is to create pipeline that would not exist on its own.
The skill set is different. A BDR has to open a conversation from nothing, hold attention on a cold call, and earn a meeting on the strength of a single sentence. It is harder than inbound — and it is the only way to grow on net-new accounts.
Side by side
SDR vs BDR at a glance.
| SDR — inbound | BDR — outbound | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Inbound qualification | Outbound prospecting |
| Lead source | Marketing, website, events, content | Cold lists, target accounts, net-new |
| Main activities | Qualify inbound leads, book meetings, route to AEs | Research accounts, cold call and email, open new conversations |
| Best for | Companies with steady inbound flow that risk going cold | Companies that need to create pipeline on net-new accounts |
Which do you need?
Most B2B companies need both.
Outbound creates pipeline on accounts that would never have come to you on their own. Inbound makes sure the leads marketing worked hard to generate do not go to waste. Companies that only do one of the two usually end up either starved of pipeline or quietly losing inbound interest to silence.
The honest answer to "SDR or BDR?" is almost always: both — sized to your stage, your ICP and how much inbound you actually receive.
Outsourcing
Outsourcing SDR and BDR.
Informa delivers both as a service — per hour, with native speakers in 11+ languages. You get a trained team on inbound qualification, on outbound prospecting, or both, without hiring, training or managing the reps in-house.
We keep the two functions separate by design. Inbound SDR work and outbound BDR work are run by different people, with different rhythms and different metrics — so neither one cannibalises the other.
FAQ
Common questions.
Want to talk through SDR or BDR?
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