An SDR is the outbound hunter on your sales team — their job is to generate qualified meetings, not close deals. They run cold email sequences, make cold calls, and work LinkedIn to book discovery calls for Account Executives. At early-stage startups, the founder often plays SDR before hiring one; this is actually good practice because nobody knows the pitch like the founder.
For example, an SDR at a B2B SaaS company might run 3–5 multi-touch sequences per week, targeting 50–100 new prospects and aiming for 10–15 booked meetings per month.
We build and run AI-augmented SDR motions for our clients — combining Clay enrichment, personalized sequences, and human review to scale outbound without sacrificing quality.
Related Terms
Relevant Cactus Services
We implement Sales Development Representative (SDR) strategies for B2B tech startups every day. Book a free 30-minute call to get a concrete plan for your situation.
Book a free strategy call →Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
Your ICP is the precise description of the company most likely to buy, stay, and expand.
Business Development Representative (BDR)
A BDR is similar to an SDR but often focuses on larger, more strategic accounts or outbound into new markets rather than a defined territory.
Total Addressable Market (TAM)
TAM is the total revenue opportunity if you captured 100% of your target market.
Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM)
SAM is the portion of TAM you can actually reach with your current GTM motion.
Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM)
SOM is the slice of SAM you can realistically capture in the next 12–24 months given your resources, competition, and execution capacity.
Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)
An MQL is a lead that marketing has flagged as sales-ready based on behavior or firmographic fit.