What is Business Development Representative?
Also known as: BDR
A Business Development Representative (BDR) is a salesperson focused on generating new pipeline, often through outbound prospecting. The BDR and SDR titles overlap heavily; some teams use BDR for outbound and SDR for inbound, but usage varies.
Like SDRs, BDRs sit at the top of the funnel and hand qualified opportunities to account executives. The distinction between the two titles is not standardized and depends on each company's definitions.
In many organizations, BDRs lean toward outbound and strategic prospecting, sometimes including partnerships, while SDRs handle a mix of inbound and outbound. In others, the terms are fully interchangeable.
Whatever the title, the core job is the same: turn cold prospects into booked meetings through consistent, personalized outreach.