An SDR, or sales development representative, is the salesperson who makes first contact with new leads, checks whether they are a fit and books a meeting for an account executive. Closing stays with the account executive. The SDR's job is to turn raw leads into qualified conversations, quickly and at volume.
Guide · Updated Oct 2026 · GRX10 team
SDR stands for sales development representative. The role sits at the top of the sales funnel, between marketing, which generates leads, and the account executive (AE), who runs the sales process and closes the deal.
An SDR's output is a qualified meeting. The SDR contacts the lead, confirms need, budget, authority and timing (or whichever qualification framework the company uses), and puts a meeting on the AE's calendar. Splitting the work this way lets AEs spend their time on deals that are likely to close.
In India, SDR work is often called inside sales or telesales. In consumer sectors such as education, real estate and financial services, the same function books site visits, counseling sessions or demos in place of meetings.
Most of an SDR's day is spent on the phone, with email and LinkedIn as supporting channels. The work falls into a few repeating blocks.
SDR teams are measured on both activity and outcomes. These are the metrics most sales managers review every week.
When GRX10 runs sales operations for a client, it agrees operating targets per engagement, such as speed-to-lead under 30 seconds and a contact rate above 65%. These targets are set with each client and are not guarantees. A Mumbai residential developer working with GRX10 cut its callback time from more than 14 hours to 90 seconds.
Companies use these titles in different ways. The most common split is by lead source and by stage of the sale, as shown below.
In many smaller companies, one person does both SDR and BDR work and the titles are used interchangeably. A common career path runs from SDR or BDR to AE.
| SDR | BDR | AE | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full form | Sales development representative | Business development representative | Account executive |
| Main focus | Inbound leads and first contact | Outbound prospecting into target accounts | Running the sales process and closing |
| Main output | Qualified meetings | Qualified meetings from new accounts | Closed revenue |
| Typical activities | Fast follow-up, qualification, booking | Account research, cold outreach, sequences | Demos, proposals, negotiation |
| Measured on | Speed-to-lead, contact rate, meetings booked | Meetings and pipeline from outbound | Revenue, win rate, deal size |
An AI SDR is a voice agent that handles the repetitive first-touch work. It calls new leads within seconds, asks the qualification questions, books the meeting and writes the outcome to the CRM. Human SDRs and AEs then pick up the conversations that need them.
Teams using GRX10 Voice AI for this work have published results. An EdTech tele-sales team runs 10,000 outbound calls a day at 32% conversion, and a rooftop solar company saw 4.2x site-visit conversion. The AI SDR use case shows how the flow is set up.
GRX10 Voice AI responds with its first word in under 700 ms on real phone calls and works in 22+ Indian languages, including Hinglish. In India, outbound calls stay within TRAI's 9 am to 9 pm window and DND rules. Teams that keep their existing CRM can run AI calls, email and SMS follow-ups through Nudge.
Most teams use a mix. The AI covers volume and speed, and people stay on the conversations where trust and judgment decide the sale.
A practical setup has the AI make the first call and every follow-up, then pass warm, qualified leads to a human. If you would rather not build the team yourself, GRX10 SalesOps and VoiceOps run AI and human calling for you. Book a demo to see an AI SDR working on your own lead flow.
| Situation | Better fit |
|---|---|
| High volume of inbound leads from ads or forms | AI SDR |
| Leads arriving in the evening or on weekends | AI SDR, within permitted calling hours |
| Simple, repeatable qualification questions | AI SDR |
| Leads who speak many different languages | AI SDR |
| Reminders and confirmations before meetings | AI SDR |
| Complex B2B accounts with several decision-makers | Human SDR |
| Senior buyers who expect a personal relationship | Human SDR |
| Objections that need pricing or negotiation judgment | Human SDR or AE |
An SDR (sales development representative) makes first contact with new leads, qualifies them and books meetings for account executives. The role focuses on speed and volume at the top of the sales funnel.
In most companies, SDRs work inbound leads and BDRs prospect outbound into new accounts. Many smaller teams use the two titles interchangeably.
The SDR qualifies leads and books meetings. The account executive runs the meeting, manages the deal and closes it.
Common SDR metrics are speed-to-lead, contact rate, qualification rate, meetings booked, meeting show rate and pipeline created.
An AI SDR can take over first-touch calling, qualification, booking and reminders, which is most of the repetitive work. Human SDRs and AEs remain the better choice for complex accounts, senior buyers and negotiation.
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