Treat the labels as operating labels whose meaning depends on the work. Before assigning ownership, ask which motion the person runs, how narrow the account set is, what output they owe, and what reaches the next owner at handoff. One team may split inbound work to SDRs and outbound work to BDRs when inbound volume is high.1 Another may use an SDR team for both motions.2 Senior SDR work may focus on fewer targeted accounts and ABM campaigns.3, 4, 5 A title alone does not settle the boundary.
Start with the work
Define the role by what the person must produce. The useful distinction is the work before the handoff and the outcome the next owner receives.
SDRs are usually openers for the sales organization.6 Their broader purpose is to build pipeline by acquiring or qualifying opportunities and scheduling meetings for account executives.7 Some teams stop at introductory meetings, while others expect interested prospects that qualify as opportunities.8
Titles overlap in practice: BDRs are also referred to as SDRs or MDRs.9 Write the charter around the output, so the person knows whether success means creating a conversation, passing a qualified opportunity, or supporting an account already in motion.
Separate motion from account focus
Put motion and account focus in separate fields in the role charter. That lets you describe two jobs clearly even when the company uses the same title for both.
Record whether the work begins with inbound demand, outbound targeting, or a targeted account program. Then record how broad the account pool is and whether the person owns relationship mapping, contact creation, meeting creation, or opportunity quality. The same title can cover several designs, so the charter needs to carry the detail.
For a targeted account program, define the account list and the people the role must reach before outreach begins. For a broad outbound motion, define the account pattern and the signal that makes an account worth working. This gives the person a decision rule for the queue and gives the next owner a clear reason for each meeting.
Run the work in order
Once the boundary is written, run the work from account choice through handoff. Use the question in each row to decide whether the person is ready to move on.
| Stage | What you are trying to learn | Example question |
|---|---|---|
| Motion | Which demand source and account set the person owns | Which motion does this account belong to? |
| Target | Why this account belongs in the queue | Why this account and why now? |
| Research | Which relationships and business problems matter | Who can open the account? |
| Contact | Whether the message earns a conversation | What would make this worth discussing? |
| Handoff | What the next owner needs to know | What did the prospect agree to discuss? |
| Partnership | Where another person can extend reach | Where should the next owner enter? |
The three operating frameworks are account targeting, cold calling, and emailing.10 Account targeting decides where effort goes; the other two create the contact path.
Divide account research into sections, with SDRs responsible for relationship mapping.11 Use that work to identify who knows whom, who may influence the buying process, and where an introduction could come from. SDRs also use hustle tactics to find accounts that fit particular account executives.12
Prospecting sits inside the SDR role.13 The work includes account research, sequencing prospects, writing custom emails, and handling objections.14 Move forward when the person can explain why the account belongs in the queue and what the next conversation should uncover.
The handoff needs to sell the value of taking a meeting with an account executive. That is the SDR's goal.15 The person creating the meeting needs enough context to explain why the conversation deserves time and what the prospect expects to get from it.
Build the partnership
The handoff works better when the two roles plan the account together. Give the relationship a regular place in the work, then decide how each person will appear to the prospect.
Account executives should allocate time to the SDR relationship.16 Sales development representatives and account executives can tag-team prospecting efforts.17 The account executive can participate as a third voice to the prospect,18 loop the SDR into the communication, and introduce that person as part of the account executive's team.19, 20
A BDR can join the beginning of an account executive's call and set the agenda.21 During a calling session, the account executive can tell the BDR that they will call the prospects who were not reached.22 These moves give the prospect a visible handoff and give both people a defined part to play.
When a BDR supports an account executive well, that account executive may become an advocate for the BDR.23 On selected deals, ask the operating question: "SDRs, what can you do for these deals, right?".24
Coach for account understanding
Coach the person to understand the account behind the contact. A well-written reply can still be weak if the person cannot explain the account, the people involved, and the path to a meeting.
Ask SDRs to bring a point of view on whom they contacted and how they plan to convert those contacts into meetings.25 They should learn to understand an account as if they were account executives.26 If you expect the role to develop into account executive work, the person also needs to master the difficult prospecting part of the funnel.27
Use the handoff review to test judgment. Ask what changed in the account, which contact matters next, what the prospect accepted, and where the next owner should take over. When the role does little of the selling, have the SDR meet with the account executive to develop a competitor battle card.28
What not to do
Keep these failure modes visible when you design the roles and review the work.
- Do not expect the first account executive to receive separate SDR support; that person may need to perform SDR work.29
- Keep the BDR manager close to the queue, script, emails, meeting scheduling, and data entry that make up the process.30
- Do not leave the account executive relationship to spare time; account executives need to allocate time to it.16
- Do not ask SDRs to handle objections without working with account executives on the competitor battle card.28
After writing the charter, assign a real account. Have the owner explain why it belongs in the queue, what the first conversation should learn, and what the next owner will receive. That shows whether the labels describe different jobs or two names for the same job in your team.