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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Sales Development Manager

💰 $100,000 - $165,000+

SalesBusiness DevelopmentManagementLeadership

🎯 Role Definition

The Sales Development Manager is a critical leadership role that serves as the engine for new business growth. This individual is responsible for building, leading, and mentoring a high-performing team of Sales Development Representatives (SDRs). The manager's primary objective is to generate a consistent and high-quality pipeline of qualified opportunities for the Account Executive team. This involves a blend of strategic planning, hands-on coaching, process optimization, and cross-functional collaboration with Sales and Marketing. Success in this role means fostering a culture of achievement, developing future sales talent, and directly contributing to the company's revenue goals by mastering the top of the sales funnel.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Senior Sales Development Representative (SDR) / Business Development Representative (BDR)
  • SDR Team Lead
  • High-performing Account Executive (AE) with a passion for coaching

Advancement To:

  • Director of Sales Development / Head of Sales Development
  • Regional Sales Manager / Director of Sales
  • Head of Inside Sales

Lateral Moves:

  • Sales Operations Manager
  • Sales Enablement Manager
  • Account Executive Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Lead, mentor, and empower a high-performing team of Sales Development Representatives to achieve and exceed their individual and team-based quotas for qualified meetings and pipeline generation.
  • Recruit, hire, train, and onboard new SDRs, establishing a robust talent pipeline and a clear path for their career development within the organization.
  • Develop and execute innovative, multi-channel outbound prospecting strategies, including cold calling, email sequencing, and social selling, to effectively penetrate target accounts.
  • Establish, monitor, and rigorously analyze key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics, such as activity levels, conversion rates, and pipeline value, to drive team performance and forecast accurately.
  • Provide consistent, hands-on coaching through call shadowing, role-playing, and one-on-one feedback sessions to refine SDRs' prospecting, qualification, and communication skills.
  • Collaborate closely with Marketing leadership to ensure alignment on lead quality, campaign messaging, and a seamless feedback loop for continuous improvement of inbound lead generation efforts.
  • Partner with Sales leadership to define and refine territory assignments, Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs), and the criteria for Sales Qualified Opportunities (SQOs), ensuring tight alignment between the SDR and AE teams.
  • Continuously optimize sales cadences, scripts, email templates, and value propositions by conducting A/B testing and leveraging performance data to identify what resonates most with prospects.
  • Manage and maximize the value of the sales technology stack, including the CRM (e.g., Salesforce), sales engagement platforms (e.g., Outreach, Salesloft), and data intelligence tools.
  • Conduct regular team meetings and performance reviews to maintain a high-energy, results-oriented culture that celebrates successes and addresses challenges proactively.
  • Create and maintain a comprehensive SDR playbook that documents all processes, best practices, and training materials to ensure consistency and scalability as the team grows.
  • Analyze top-of-funnel conversion metrics to identify bottlenecks in the sales process and implement data-driven improvements to enhance efficiency and output.
  • Develop and manage incentive programs, contests, and compensation plans for the SDR team that motivate performance and reward the achievement of key objectives.
  • Stay abreast of the latest industry trends, competitive landscape, and modern sales development best practices to ensure the team's strategies remain effective and cutting-edge.
  • Guide the team in strategic account mapping and research to enable personalized and highly relevant outreach to key decision-makers.
  • Act as a key stakeholder in the evaluation and implementation of new sales tools and technologies that can improve the SDR team's productivity and effectiveness.
  • Serve as a point of escalation to help SDRs navigate complex prospect conversations and overcome objections.
  • Foster a strong team identity and a collaborative environment where knowledge sharing and peer-to-peer learning are encouraged.
  • Prepare and present regular performance reports and pipeline forecasts to senior management, providing clear insights into the team's impact on the business.
  • Champion a clear career progression framework for SDRs, actively working to prepare them for their next roles, typically as Account Executives or senior-level individual contributors.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis to uncover new market opportunities or target segments.
  • Contribute to the organization's broader go-to-market strategy and annual planning initiatives.
  • Collaborate with the Sales Enablement team to develop and deliver ongoing training programs.
  • Participate in product feedback sessions, relaying insights from the front lines to the Product and Engineering teams.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • CRM Mastery: Deep proficiency in managing and reporting within CRM platforms, particularly Salesforce or HubSpot.
  • Sales Engagement Platforms: Expert-level knowledge of tools like Outreach, Salesloft, or Apollo.io to build and optimize sequences.
  • Data Analysis & Reporting: Strong ability to analyze sales data and build insightful dashboards using Excel, Google Sheets, or BI tools (e.g., Tableau).
  • Conversational Intelligence Tools: Experience leveraging platforms like Gong or Chorus.ai for call coaching and performance analysis.
  • Lead Prospecting Tools: Proficiency with data enrichment and prospecting tools such as ZoomInfo, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, and LeadIQ.
  • Sales Methodologies: Solid understanding and ability to coach on qualification frameworks like BANT, MEDDIC, or The Challenger Sale.
  • Forecasting: Proven ability to accurately forecast key metrics, including meetings set and pipeline generated.
  • Marketing Automation Familiarity: Understanding of how Marketing Automation platforms (e.g., Marketo, Pardot) integrate with the sales process.
  • A/B Testing: Skill in designing and interpreting A/B tests for email and call scripts to drive better engagement.
  • Process Documentation: Ability to create clear, actionable sales playbooks and training materials.

Soft Skills

  • Inspirational Leadership: The ability to motivate, inspire, and lead a team to consistently high levels of performance.
  • Coaching and Mentoring: A genuine passion for developing talent and helping individuals grow their skills and careers.
  • Strategic Thinking: The capacity to see the bigger picture, plan for future growth, and align team activities with company goals.
  • Data-Driven Mindset: A commitment to making decisions based on data and performance metrics rather than intuition alone.
  • Exceptional Communication: Clear, concise, and persuasive communication skills, both written and verbal.
  • Resilience and Adaptability: The ability to thrive in a fast-paced, target-driven environment and adapt to changing priorities.
  • Problem-Solving: Proactive in identifying challenges and resourceful in finding and implementing effective solutions.
  • Empathy: The ability to understand the motivations and challenges of both your team members and potential customers.
  • Process-Oriented: A knack for building and refining scalable processes that improve efficiency and predictability.
  • Cross-Functional Collaboration: A natural ability to build strong relationships and work effectively with partners in Sales, Marketing, and Operations.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's Degree

Preferred Education:

  • Master's Degree or MBA

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Business Administration
  • Marketing & Communications

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 5-8 years of relevant professional experience.

Preferred: A strong track record that includes 2-3+ years in a people management capacity overseeing a sales or business development team. This is typically combined with prior experience as a top-performing Sales Development Representative and/or Account Executive, ideally within a B2B technology or SaaS company.

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