Torchora
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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Intern Sales Development

💰 $16 - $24 / hr

SalesInternshipsBusiness DevelopmentEntry Level

🎯 Role Definition

The Sales Development Intern (SDR Intern) supports the go‑to‑market team by generating, qualifying, and nurturing inbound and outbound leads. This role blends research, multi‑channel outreach (phone, email, social), CRM management, and cross‑functional collaboration to help build a healthy pipeline for Account Executives. The ideal candidate is coachable, metrics‑driven, comfortable with cold outreach, and eager to learn sales processes and tools.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Marketing Intern or Campus Ambassador programs transitioning to a revenue role.
  • Customer Service or Retail roles with strong communication experience.
  • Students or recent graduates in Business, Marketing, Communications, or related majors with internship experience.

Advancement To:

  • Sales Development Representative (SDR) — full time
  • Account Executive (AE) or Inside Sales Representative
  • Business Development Representative (BDR) or Enterprise SDR

Lateral Moves:

  • Marketing Coordinator (demand generation, growth)
  • Customer Success Associate or Onboarding Specialist

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Conduct high‑volume outbound prospecting via cold calls, personalized emails, and LinkedIn outreach to generate qualified meetings for Account Executives while meeting weekly and monthly activity and pipeline targets.
  • Research and identify target accounts and decision‑makers using tools such as LinkedIn Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, Clearbit, or DiscoverOrg to create accurate, targeted outreach lists.
  • Qualify inbound leads from marketing campaigns, website forms, and events by conducting discovery conversations, assessing budget, authority, need, and timeline (BANT/CHAMP frameworks) and routing qualified opportunities to Sales.
  • Build, maintain, and update lead and contact records accurately in the CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot, or similar), ensuring data hygiene, lead source attribution, and next‑step follow ups.
  • Execute multi‑touch cadences and email sequences using sales engagement platforms like Outreach, SalesLoft, or HubSpot Sequences; test subject lines and messaging to improve open and reply rates.
  • Schedule and confirm qualified sales meetings, demos, and discovery calls for Account Executives, ensuring calendar coordination and timely follow‑up with prospects.
  • Track and report daily and weekly KPIs including calls made, emails sent, meetings booked, SQLs created, conversion rates, and pipeline contribution using dashboards and spreadsheets.
  • Collaborate closely with Marketing to provide feedback on lead quality, enrichment needs, and campaign performance; suggest improvements to targeting and messaging based on frontline insight.
  • Personalize outreach by leveraging company and prospect research, mentioning business challenges, recent news, or mutual connections to increase engagement.
  • Participate in role‑playing, call reviews, and regular coaching sessions with Sales Managers to refine pitch, objection handling, and discovery skills.
  • Maintain an up‑to‑date knowledge of the company’s product, pricing, use cases, and competitive positioning to communicate value effectively in early conversations.
  • Document common prospect objections, competitor mentions, and feature requests and escalate market intel to Product and Marketing for prioritization.
  • Use conversational intelligence and call recording tools (Gong, Chorus) to review performance, adopt best practices, and share winning call examples with peers.
  • Assist with lead nurturing programs by sending targeted content, follow‑up sequences, and hand‑offs to marketing automation workflows when appropriate.
  • Support outbound campaign planning by helping to define ICPs (Ideal Customer Profiles), target lists, and prioritization criteria for ABM or vertical plays.
  • Conduct territory and account research to identify expansion potential and early signals of buyer intent, feeding insights into account scoring models.
  • Maintain streaks and routines to hit daily activity goals (call sessions, personalized emails, LinkedIn touchpoints) while balancing quality and quantity.
  • Collaborate with cross‑functional teams (Customer Success, Product, Finance) to coordinate customer references, pricing clarifications, or technical pre‑quals as needed.
  • Prepare and deliver concise handover documentation for warmed leads, including call notes, key discoveries, next steps, and stakeholders to ensure a smooth AE transition.
  • Support event and webinar follow‑up by qualifying registrants and converting interest into discovery calls and demos post‑event.
  • Help create and update sales collateral, email templates, sequences, and objection handling playbooks to standardize outreach and shorten ramp time for new hires.
  • Conduct A/B experiments on messaging and outreach channels, measure lift, and recommend scalable changes to the outreach playbook.
  • Support ad‑hoc reporting requests and maintain shared trackers (Google Sheets/Excel) for pipeline health, quota attainment, and outreach effectiveness.
  • Stay current on industry trends, buyer pain points, and regulatory changes that may affect prospect conversations and messaging.

Secondary Functions

  • Provide administrative support to the sales team, including calendar management, meeting logistics, and follow‑up coordination.
  • Participate in weekly sales standups and contribute actionable insights from prospecting activities.
  • Evaluate and recommend small process improvements or tool integrations to increase SDR efficiency.
  • Assist with lead enrichment and data cleanup projects to improve segmentation and reporting accuracy.
  • Help onboard and train future interns or new SDRs by documenting processes, creating quick reference guides, and co‑leading training sessions.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • CRM proficiency: Salesforce, HubSpot, or comparable CRM experience for logging activity and managing lead lifecycle.
  • Sales engagement platforms: hands‑on with Outreach, SalesLoft, or HubSpot Sequences to run cadences and measure engagement.
  • Prospecting tools: comfortable using LinkedIn Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, Clearbit, Apollo, or similar tools for contact discovery.
  • Cold calling and phone-based selling: demonstrated ability to conduct professional outbound calls and follow structured call scripts.
  • Sales email writing: ability to craft concise, persuasive, and personalized outreach emails that drive replies and meetings.
  • Data entry and hygiene: accurate record keeping, de‑duplication, and lead enrichment in CRM and spreadsheets.
  • Basic analytics and reporting: Google Sheets/Excel skills for tracking KPIs, building simple dashboards, and calculating conversion rates.
  • Conversational intelligence tools: familiarity with Gong or Chorus for call review and feedback (or willingness to adopt quickly).
  • Calendar and meeting tools: proficiency scheduling with Zoom, Google Meet, Calendly, and managing shared team calendars.
  • Basic understanding of sales methodologies: knowledge of qualification frameworks like BANT, MEDDIC, or ANUM and repeatable sales processes.

Soft Skills

  • Excellent verbal and written communication — able to create compelling messages and lead high‑energy phone conversations.
  • Coachability — receptive to feedback, implements coaching quickly to shorten ramp time.
  • Resilience and persistence — comfortable with rejection and able to maintain focus on outreach goals.
  • Time management and prioritization — manages high volumes of activity while maintaining personalization.
  • Curiosity and research orientation — digs into company and prospect signals to craft relevant outreach.
  • Team collaboration — works cross‑functionally and shares insights to improve overall GTM performance.
  • Problem solving — adapts scripts and cadences based on prospect responses and campaign results.
  • Attention to detail — ensures data accuracy and professional communications.
  • Empathy and active listening — understands prospect pain points and tailors follow‑up accordingly.
  • Results orientation — driven by measurable KPIs and continuous improvement.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Currently enrolled in or recently graduated from a Bachelor's program (any major), with preference for Business, Marketing, Communications, Economics, or related fields.

Preferred Education:

  • Coursework or certification in Sales, Marketing, CRM administration, or Business Communications.
  • Participation in sales clubs, entrepreneurship programs, or experiential learning projects (consulting teams, student startups).

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Business Administration / Management
  • Marketing / Digital Marketing
  • Communications / Public Relations
  • Economics / Finance
  • Computer Science or Engineering (for technical SDR roles)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 0–1 years (internship or part‑time sales/customer success/retail experience); this is an entry‑level role suitable for students and recent grads.

Preferred:

  • 1+ internship, campus sales/marketing experience, or proven track record of outbound prospecting, cold calling, or quota‑driven responsibilities.
  • Familiarity with CRM tools and sales engagement platforms, and demonstrated ability to meet activity or meeting‑booking goals.
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