The SDR Role in 2025: Why It’s Far from Dead

I’ve been in sales for a while—just look at my hairline!

Long enough to remember when B2C “canvassers” were dialling straight out of a phone book, trying to book meetings for the sales team. It’s exactly what today’s SDR does. Before the software-driven sales era, you had full-cycle salespeople who found their own leads, got some from marketing, booked their own meetings, and closed the deals. But let’s be honest, not everyone excels at that first step of the process and quite frankly couldn't think of anything worse. Plenty of fantastic closers can’t stand cold calling or disruptive outreach—and as a result, leads run dry, and they never hit their full potential.

Some people, mainly btec self proclaimed gurus say the SDR role is dying, but in my opinion, they most probably haven’t set things up correctly. Or maybe they’ve been trained by sales managers who have fewer brain cells than Cole Palmer (no offence mate). I’ve built outbound sales functions at companies that swore they had it all figured out, but the problem was they kept hiring the wrong salespeople. It turned out they were using bad data, applying BANT right from the start, spamming email instead of making real calls for real conversations, and ignoring the basics that actually work.

According to recent sales research:

• 59% of B2B companies now employ a specialised SDR or BDR team in their sales cycle (a figure that’s steadily rising).

• Organisations with a dedicated SDR function can generate up to 20% more sales pipeline than those with an all-in-one approach.

These numbers suggest that the role is very much alive—and in many cases, thriving.

Truth is, SDR isn’t complicated if you get the fundamentals right:

• Purchase good data (seriously, this is your strongest investment).

• Get a decent phone system that won’t drop calls or drive you nuts.

• Build lists of your ICP only (no more random people).

• Call mobiles only (landlines are very 1999).

• Uncover problems and when you do, book a meeting.

You don’t need a sales engagement tool that plugs into a flux capacitor and parallel-dials people in alternate timelines. The SDR role isn’t dead—but your techniques might be.

If you’re still struggling, click the button below for a free consultation. Let’s chat about how to get your outbound machine humming again.