Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Lead Development Representative (LDR)

🎯 Role Definition

The Lead Development Representative (LDR) is a senior individual contributor on the sales development team whose primary mission is to generate and accelerate qualified pipeline through strategic outbound prospecting, inbound lead qualification, and close collaboration with account executives and marketing. The LDR blends advanced prospecting techniques (cold calling, cadenced email and LinkedIn outreach), consultative discovery, and data-driven lead prioritization to consistently hit KPIs and increase conversion rates. This role is ideal for an experienced SDR/BDR who can coach junior reps, optimize playbooks, and drive measurable improvements in pipeline velocity and lead quality.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior SDR / Senior BDR with consistent quota attainment
Inside Sales Representative with proven pipeline generation
Account Development Representative (ADR) or Market Development Rep (MDR)

Advancement To:

Account Executive / Senior Account Executive
Sales Manager / SDR Team Lead
Director of Sales Development or Head of Growth
Revenue Operations or Sales Enablement leadership roles

Lateral Moves:

Customer Success Manager (CSM) for customer expansion focus
Demand Generation or Growth Marketing (campaign strategy)
Sales Enablement or RevOps roles focused on process optimization

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Own end-to-end lead generation and qualification for a designated territory or vertical: develop outbound sequences, prioritize accounts, and manage a personal pipeline that feeds Account Executives with qualified opportunities.
Execute high-volume, high-quality outbound outreach across channels (cold calls, targeted email cadences, LinkedIn InMail, social selling) and customize messaging to buyer personas and industry-specific pain points.
Qualify inbound marketing leads and MQLs using MEDDIC/MEDDPICC, BANT, or company-specific qualification frameworks, ensuring only sales-ready leads are passed to AEs.
Conduct consultative discovery calls to uncover business challenges, buying intent, budget, timeline, and decision-making criteria, producing detailed opportunity notes in the CRM.
Book qualified demos and discovery meetings for Account Executives with clear handoff notes and agreed-upon next steps, improving AE conversion and shortening sales cycles.
Develop and iterate target account lists and ideal customer profiles (ICP) based on historical win patterns, firmographic and technographic signals, and account scoring models.
Collaborate with marketing to design and test outbound campaigns, sequence cadences, and content offers that increase response rates and reduce lead-to-opportunity drop-off.
Manage CRM hygiene: keep contact records, activities, dispositions, and opportunity stages accurate; create reports and dashboards for pipeline health and forecast inputs.
Use data and analytics to continuously refine outreach (A/B testing subject lines, call scripts, cadence timing) and report on KPIs such as meetings booked, SQL conversion rate, pipeline value, and CAC metrics.
Mentor and coach junior SDRs/BDRs on best practices for messaging, objection handling, demo booking techniques, and role-playing cold call scenarios.
Lead weekly pipeline reviews with AEs and sales leadership to triage stalled leads, prioritize follow-up actions, and prevent leakage between stages.
Partner with the product and solutions engineering teams to stay current on product updates, integrations, and use cases so that outreach and qualification are technically accurate and value-driven.
Drive account-based selling initiatives by coordinating with account executives and marketing on ABM plays, event follow-ups, and executive outreach sequences tailored to named accounts.
Maintain consistent quota attainment for meetings booked, SQLs created, and pipeline influenced; proactively escalate risks and propose mitigations to hit monthly/quarterly targets.
Leverage intent data, technographic signals, and third-party leads to identify in-market accounts, increase hit rates, and prioritize outreach to high-propensity buyers.
Create and maintain a library of high-performing templates, scripts, and objection responses to scale repeatable success across the sales development organization.
Navigate complex buying committees by mapping stakeholders, identifying champions and blockers, and equipping AEs with contextual intelligence for follow-up.
Facilitate short sales cycles by coordinating immediate follow-up after product demos, addressing preliminary technical questions, and ensuring the AE handoff includes agreed next steps and evaluation criteria.
Participate in regular call recording reviews and provide feedback loops to sales enablement on skill gaps, training needs, and new playbook ideas.
Drive cross-sell and upsell lead identification by monitoring existing customer signals, renewal intents, and product usage data, and coordinating with CSMs for expansion opportunities.
Maintain professional knowledge of competitors’ offerings and differentiation points; incorporate positioning into outreach to improve win probability.
Implement and enforce lead routing rules and SLAs with RevOps to ensure timely follow-ups and equitable distribution of high-priority leads.
Own cross-functional projects related to process improvements, tooling upgrades (e.g., outreach platforms, sequencing tools, SalesLoft, Outreach.io), and data enrichment initiatives to scale the SDR function.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc reporting requests for pipeline and lead quality metrics and contribute to weekly sales development performance reviews.
Contribute to the organization's lead qualification playbook, sales enablement materials, and onboarding curriculum for new SDR hires.
Collaborate with revenue operations to translate CRM and enrichment data requirements into implementation tasks and maintain data integrity.
Participate in sprint planning for outreach optimization experiments and support A/B testing of email templates, call scripts, and outreach timing.
Represent sales development at cross-functional meetings with marketing, product, and customer success to align on messaging and handoff processes.
Assist in organizing and staffing virtual events, webinars, and industry conferences to capture and qualify new inbound leads.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Advanced cold calling and outbound prospecting techniques with a documented track record of meetings booked and quota attainment.
Expert-level CRM proficiency (Salesforce preferred) including reports, dashboards, lead/account assignment rules, and activity logging.
Experience with sales engagement platforms (SalesLoft, Outreach.io, Groove) to design and run multi-touch cadences.
Familiarity with ABM tools and intent data providers (6sense, Bombora, ZoomInfo, Clearbit) to prioritize in-market accounts.
Strong competency in using LinkedIn Sales Navigator for persona targeting, social selling, and advanced boolean search.
Metrics-driven mindset: ability to create and interpret pipeline reports, conversion funnels, and performance KPIs.
Practical knowledge of qualification frameworks (MEDDIC/MEDDPICC, BANT) and how to apply them in discovery conversations.
Experience with sequence A/B testing, email deliverability best practices, and copy optimization to maximize reply rates.
Comfort with outreach automation and enrichment tools, including Zapier or native integrations that streamline workflow.
Basic understanding of SaaS product economics, customer lifecycle, and metrics (ARR, MRR, churn) to align qualification to revenue impact.
Experience documenting playbooks, creating templates, and training materials for SDR teams.
Proficiency in using calendar scheduling and meeting routing tools (Calendly, Chili Piper) to reduce friction in booking meetings.

Soft Skills

Exceptional communication and persuasive writing tailored to executive and technical buyer personas.
Strong consultative selling and active listening skills to uncover explicit and implicit buying signals.
High emotional intelligence and resilience: handles rejection, iterates quickly, and maintains consistent outbound activity.
Coaching and mentoring skills with an aptitude for developing junior team members and scaling best practices.
Organizational excellence and time management: balances high-volume outreach with thoughtful personalization.
Critical thinking and problem solving: uses data to diagnose process gaps and propose targeted improvements.
Collaborative teamwork: works cross-functionally with marketing, product, AE, and RevOps to align tactics and goals.
Adaptability and curiosity: rapid learner who stays current on market trends, competitive moves, and product updates.
Accountability and ownership mentality: meets and reports against KPIs, follows through on commitments, and escalates gaps proactively.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical sales experience. Degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, or related field preferred but not required.

Preferred Education:

Bachelor’s in Business Administration, Marketing, Communications, or a technical field for product-led environments.
Professional certifications in sales methodologies (e.g., Challenger, Sandler) or tools (Salesforce Admin basics) are a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Business Administration
Marketing
Communications
Computer Science or Information Systems (for technical/enterprise GTM)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

3–6+ years in Sales Development, Business Development, or Inside Sales with progressive responsibility; at least 1–2 years in a senior/lead SDR role preferred.

Preferred:

Demonstrated quota attainment in a B2B SaaS or enterprise sales environment.
Proven experience mentoring or leading small SDR teams, contributing to playbooks, and optimizing multi-channel outbound.
Track record using Salesforce and sales engagement platforms to produce measurable pipeline and revenue outcomes.