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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Outbound Sales Representative

💰 $45,000 - $90,000

SalesBusiness DevelopmentOutbound SalesB2BSaaS

🎯 Role Definition

The Outbound Sales Representative (also called Outbound SDR/BDR) is responsible for proactively identifying, engaging, and qualifying new business opportunities through cold calling, email campaigns, social outreach, and targeted account-based prospecting. This role drives top-of-funnel growth by building a predictable pipeline, booking qualified meetings for Account Executives, and continually improving outreach tactics. Success requires disciplined CRM usage, effective objection handling, strong research skills, and consistent quota achievement.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Sales Development Representative (SDR) / Inside Sales Associate
  • Customer Success or Account Coordinator moving into sales
  • Telemarketing or high-volume outbound sales roles

Advancement To:

  • Account Executive (AE) / Closing Sales Representative
  • Senior Business Development Representative
  • Enterprise SDR or Territory Account Executive

Lateral Moves:

  • Sales Enablement Specialist
  • Revenue Operations / Sales Operations
  • Marketing (demand generation or growth)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Proactively prospect and generate new business opportunities through high-volume cold calling, targeted cold email sequences, and social selling on LinkedIn to create a steady, scalable top-of-funnel pipeline.
  • Conduct research on target accounts and stakeholders to craft highly personalized outreach that resonates with buyer pain points, industry drivers, and decision-making criteria.
  • Qualify inbound and outbound leads using established frameworks (BANT, CHAMP, MEDDPICC or company-specific criteria) to ensure Account Executives receive only sales-ready opportunities.
  • Book qualified discovery calls and product demos for closing teams, clearly documenting the prospect’s challenges, buying authority, budgetary constraints, and timeline.
  • Consistently meet or exceed weekly and monthly KPIs such as calls made, emails sent, replies received, meetings booked, and quota attainment, and proactively communicate progress to sales leadership.
  • Maintain accurate, timely activity and opportunity records in the CRM (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot), including detailed notes, call dispositions, and next-step tasks to support pipeline visibility and forecasting.
  • Design and execute targeted outreach cadences and account-based prospecting plans that align with territory objectives and ICP (ideal customer profile) segmentation.
  • Use sales engagement and automation platforms (Salesloft, Outreach, HubSpot Sequences) to scale personalized outreach while maintaining cadence discipline and response follow-up.
  • Handle prospect objections effectively by uncovering underlying needs, reframing value propositions, and advancing conversations toward qualification or a booked next step.
  • Collaborate closely with marketing to qualify inbound leads, provide feedback on campaigns, and leverage content or case studies that drive engagement and conversion.
  • Run A/B tests on subject lines, email copy, call scripts, and cadence timing to improve open, reply, and booking rates; document learnings in the shared outreach playbook.
  • Deliver concise product overviews and tailored value messaging during discovery calls to educate prospects and drive interest toward a demonstration or deeper technical review.
  • Build and manage a prioritized territory account list, tracking buying signals, renewal cycles, and key stakeholders to uncover cross-sell or expansion potential.
  • Escalate complex or high-value opportunities to sales leadership and coordinate with cross-functional teams (pre-sales, legal, finance) to accelerate deal progression when necessary.
  • Participate in daily stand-ups, pipeline review meetings, and coaching sessions to sharpen techniques, share best practices, and align on targets and messaging.
  • Track competitive intelligence gleaned through calls and outreach, reporting trends that inform sales strategy, objection handling, and product positioning.
  • Manage outbound campaign logistics including import/export of lists, segmentation criteria, and coordination with data providers to ensure list quality and delivery rates.
  • Prepare periodic reports on outreach KPIs, pipeline contribution, conversion metrics, and forecasted meetings to support sales planning and quota setting.
  • Ensure compliance with email and telemarketing regulations (CAN-SPAM, GDPR, CCPA) and maintain ethical standards around data privacy and opt-outs.
  • Follow up persistently on warm leads and re-engage stale prospects through customized reactivation campaigns designed to reignite interest.
  • Mentor new outbound reps on effective prospecting techniques, CRM hygiene, sequence personalization, and objection handling to accelerate team ramp-up.
  • Represent the company professionally at industry events, virtual conferences, and partner meetups to source new leads and expand brand presence.

Secondary Functions

  • Maintain CRM data hygiene by cleaning duplicates, updating contact information, and tagging accounts for accurate reporting and segmentation.
  • Contribute to the development and continuous improvement of the outbound playbook, cadences, call scripts, and email templates.
  • Support ad-hoc research projects such as TAM (total addressable market) validation, competitor mapping, and target account enrichment.
  • Collaborate with RevOps to refine lead scoring models and ensure consistent lead routing between marketing, SDRs, and AE teams.
  • Provide timely feedback to product and marketing teams on messaging gaps, feature requests, and common customer objections observed in the field.
  • Assist with preparing sales collateral, one-pagers, and case study summaries used during discovery calls to accelerate qualification.
  • Participate in cross-functional projects such as launching new verticals, piloting outreach tools, or improving data integrations between tools.
  • Help onboard and train new SDR hires by sharing proven outreach examples, recordings, and objection-handling tactics.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • High-volume outbound prospecting and cold-calling skills with demonstrated ability to convert cold leads into qualified meetings.
  • Proficient CRM usage (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive) for activity logging, pipeline management, and reporting.
  • Experience with sales engagement platforms (Outreach, Salesloft, Reply.io, HubSpot Sequences) to automate and optimize cadences.
  • Strong email prospecting and copywriting skills, including A/B testing subject lines and templates for higher open/reply rates.
  • Familiarity with LinkedIn Sales Navigator and social selling techniques to identify and engage decision-makers.
  • Competence with lead qualification frameworks (BANT, CHAMP, MEDDPICC) and translating discovery conversations into qualified criteria.
  • Basic analytics and reporting skills: tracking KPIs, building simple dashboards, and interpreting conversion metrics to inform outreach strategy.
  • Ability to use enrichment and data tools (ZoomInfo, Clearbit, Apollo) to build targeted lists and validate contact information.
  • Experience managing territory plans, account segmentation, and prioritization strategies.
  • Knowledge of compliance and privacy regulations (CAN-SPAM, GDPR, CCPA) relevant to outbound outreach.

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional verbal communication and active listening skills for persuasive cold calls and discovery conversations.
  • Resilience and persistence in handling rejection and maintaining a high level of activity and motivation.
  • Strong time management and organizational skills to juggle prospecting, follow-ups, and administrative CRM tasks.
  • Coachability and openness to feedback — ability to iterate on scripts and techniques quickly.
  • Critical thinking and problem-solving to uncover customer pain points and propose next steps that align with their needs.
  • Empathy and rapport-building ability to create trust rapidly with new contacts.
  • Results-driven mindset with focus on KPIs, accountability, and continuous improvement.
  • Collaboration skills for cross-functional coordination with marketing, AE, RevOps, and product teams.
  • Adaptability to changing strategies, new tools, and evolving product offerings.
  • Attention to detail for accurate data entry, message personalization, and maintaining professional communications.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • High school diploma or equivalent; strong performance in communication-focused coursework is a plus.

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, or a related field preferred but not required.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Business Administration
  • Marketing
  • Communications
  • Sales or Professional Selling
  • Economics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 1–4 years in outbound sales, SDR/BDR, inside sales, or high-volume phone/email sales roles.

Preferred:

  • 2+ years of B2B SaaS or technology outbound experience with a track record of meeting or exceeding quota.
  • Demonstrated experience using Salesforce or HubSpot plus sales engagement platforms.
  • Experience in account-based prospecting, territory management, and working with Account Executives on handoffs.
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