What Is a BDR (Business Development Representative)?

A Business Development Representative (BDR) is a sales role focused on qualifying inbound leads, nurturing prospects, and generating new business opportunities for the sales team. While the exact definition varies by company, BDRs are typically responsible for the early stages of the buyer journey — determining whether a lead is a fit before passing them to an Account Executive.

What Does a BDR Do?

BDRs spend their time on inbound lead qualification, responding to demo requests, following up on marketing-qualified leads (MQLs), and researching target accounts. Unlike SDRs, who focus on cold outbound, BDRs often work warmer leads — but the role still requires persistence, strong communication skills, and CRM discipline.

Key metrics include: qualified leads passed, response time to inbound leads, conversion rate from MQL to SQL (Sales Qualified Lead), and meetings booked.

BDR Salary & Career Growth

BDR base salaries in the US range from $45,000 to $60,000, with OTE of $65,000–$90,000. Because BDRs work warmer leads, quota attainment can be more predictable than outbound SDR roles. Career progression mirrors the SDR path: 12–18 months to AE, or lateral moves into customer success, marketing, or partnerships.

BDR vs. SDR: Which Do You Need?

If your pipeline is primarily inbound (content marketing, SEO, paid ads), you need BDRs. If you're building outbound pipeline from scratch, you need SDRs. Most scaling B2B companies need both. See our full SDR vs. BDR breakdown.

How to Hire BDRs Fast

The best BDRs are in demand — average time-to-hire is 30+ days through traditional channels. Shortlist uses AI to match, score, and deliver pre-vetted BDR candidates in 48 hours, so you can fill seats before pipeline slows down.