Lead research and list building
Account and contact research with Apollo, ZoomInfo, Sales Navigator or Clay, matched to your ideal customer and kept clean in the CRM.
Roles · Sales
Sales development reps who fill your calendar with qualified meetings
Researched lists, outreach that sounds human, and calls made at the hours your buyers pick up. Your SDR books the meetings and your closers take them from there.
More first meetings, without pulling your closers off deals
Prospecting is the work that slips when account executives get busy, and pipeline dries up a quarter later. A sales development representative does it every day: researching accounts, finding the right contacts, writing and calling, following up, and handing over meetings with notes your closers can use.
What they do for you
- Research target accounts and build contact lists that match your ideal customer
- Write personalized cold email sequences and keep them updated
- Make cold calls and leave voicemails that earn callbacks
- Reach prospects on LinkedIn alongside email and phone
- Qualify interest against your criteria before booking a meeting
- Book meetings into your closers' calendars with context attached
- Log every touch in the CRM and keep records clean
How to tell a strong SDR in the first interview
Tools they work in
HubSpotSalesforcePipedriveApolloZoomInfoLinkedIn Sales NavigatorOutreachSalesloftLemlistInstantlyClayAircallJustCallGongCalendlyMany more
A good fit if:
- Your account executives spend their mornings prospecting instead of selling
- You know your ideal customer but nobody contacts them consistently
- You want outbound running before you hire a full sales team
- Inbound leads wait too long for a first reply
Not the right fit if:
- You need partnerships and bigger new-market deals; see Business Development Manager
- You need someone to close deals and manage accounts; that's Account Executive, a page added after launch
- You need support for existing customers; see Customer Success Manager
Interview questions
01
"Here's our ideal customer (sample). Find me five accounts and the right person at each."
Strong answer: accounts that match the brief, the reason each fits, and contacts chosen by role and likely pain, with sources.
02
"Write a first cold email to one of them."
Strong answer: short, specific to the prospect, one clear problem and one easy ask, with no hype.
03
"Let's role-play a cold call. I'm busy and not interested."
Strong answer: they stay calm, earn a few seconds with a relevant reason for calling, ask a question, and accept a no politely.
04
"What makes a meeting qualified?"
Strong answer: it matches the criteria you agreed, such as fit, need, timing and the right person, and the notes show it.
05
"How do you handle a week with no meetings booked?"
Strong answer: review the numbers by step, test a new angle or list, ask for call feedback, and keep the activity going.
Signs of a strong SDR:
- Researches before reaching out
- Writes short, specific messages
- Follows up steadily without becoming a nuisance
- Takes rejection in stride and learns from it
- Hands over meetings with useful notes
Signs of a weak SDR:
- Sends the same template to everyone
- Books meetings that don't fit, to hit a number
- Leaves the CRM half updated
Cold email
Personalized sequences, deliverability-aware sending and steady testing of subject lines, angles and follow-ups.
Cold calling
Outbound calls with a dialer, call scripts and objection handling. When your outreach requires it, your SDR follows your calling-compliance rules, such as TCPA consent and Do Not Call (DNC) lists.
Appointment setting
Qualifying replies and inbound leads, booking meetings for your closers and confirming them so fewer no-shows happen.
Getting your SDR prospecting
- 1
Talk it through
We agree the work, the tools, the hours you share and who they report to. For this role: who you sell to, your average deal, your CRM and outreach tools, and what counts as a qualified meeting.
- 2
Meet a shortlist and choose
We screen a wide pool for every role and introduce only the few who fit your brief. We source, screen and test candidates against your brief, and run background and reference checks. You interview and decide.
- 3
Start with support in place
They start on the work in the brief, and we stay in contact once they've begun.
SDRs are among the quicker roles to fill. If you need calls in a specific time zone or language, the search may take slightly longer. The search opens in South Africa.
How pricing works
SDRs can be hired through any model listed, and the decision is in your hands. Any commission or bonus plan is agreed with you separately. Compare the arrangements on ways to hire.
Who does what
Swipe to see more →
| Task | You | JiveTalent |
|---|---|---|
| Target market, messaging and what counts as qualified | Own | – |
| Research, outreach, calls and meeting bookings | Review | Done by your SDR; we follow up on activity and how handovers to your closers are going |
SDR hiring questions
Can they call during US business hours?
Yes. The role is set up as a full-time position on hours that match your buyers. Name the time zones you sell into.
Will they work during our business hours?
The brief sets the hours and the overlap with your team before the search starts, so every candidate is hired for them.
Do they use our tools or bring their own?
Your tools. Outreach runs from your CRM, domains and dialer, so the data and the history stay with you.
Do they follow TCPA and Do Not Call rules?
Yes, when your outreach requires it. Share your compliance rules, consent records and DNC lists, and your SDR calls within them and logs opt-outs in the CRM.
Who writes the scripts and email copy?
Your SDR drafts them from your messaging and you approve. Over time they test and improve them based on replies.
What if it isn't working out?
Talk to your account lead. We go through it with you and agree a way forward.
Can they work leads in other languages?
Yes. We can look for SDRs who speak the languages of your markets, so list them in your brief.
How do we see what our SDR is working on?
Their hours are tracked in the client app and reported there for you to see.
Fill next month's sales calendar
Book a call. We'll agree the brief for your SDR and talk you through the ways to hire.