Hiring a Sales Development Representative should help your company create a more predictable sales pipeline.
But that only happens when you hire the right type of SDR, give them a clear market to pursue, evaluate them using realistic sales tasks and provide a process they can actually execute.
A poor SDR hire can leave you with months of high activity, low-quality meetings and little new pipeline. A strong SDR can take prospecting work away from founders and Account Executives, create more qualified conversations and turn outbound sales into a repeatable process.
This guide explains how to hire an SDR from start to finish, including:
To hire a good SDR, first define whether you need inbound qualification, outbound prospecting or a combination of both.
Then:
Companies that want to reduce the sourcing and screening workload can hire a pre-vetted SDR through LatHire and receive a shortlist of Latin American sales professionals matched to their requirements.
A Sales Development Representative, or SDR, works at the beginning of the sales process.
The SDR identifies potential customers, starts conversations, qualifies whether those prospects are a good fit and schedules meetings for an Account Executive or another sales closer.
An SDR will commonly handle:
The SDR’s main responsibility is normally to create qualified pipeline, not to negotiate contracts or close deals.
Companies looking specifically for experienced remote talent can explore LatHire’s broader pool of LATAM sales and customer-service professionals, including SDRs, BDRs and other revenue-support roles.
Sales titles are not used consistently across companies.
Some businesses use SDR and BDR interchangeably. Others use SDR for inbound qualification and BDR for outbound prospecting.
The title matters less than the work the person will perform.
| Role | Main responsibility | Typical activities |
| Inbound SDR | Qualify existing demand | Responding to demo requests, qualifying leads and routing opportunities |
| Outbound SDR | Create new demand | Prospect research, cold calling, cold email and LinkedIn outreach |
| BDR | Generate new business opportunities | Outbound prospecting, account research, qualification and meeting booking |
| Appointment setter | Schedule qualified conversations | High-volume calls, follow-ups and calendar booking |
| Account Executive | Convert pipeline into revenue | Discovery, demonstrations, proposals, negotiation and closing |
| Lead-generation specialist | Build prospect databases | List building, data enrichment and contact research |
A company that needs strategic account research and outbound pipeline creation may need to hire a BDR.
A company that already has closers and primarily needs more calls placed on their calendars may be better suited to hiring an appointment setter.
Before opening the position, write down exactly what the person will do during a normal working day.
The right time to hire an SDR is not simply when the founder becomes tired of prospecting.
An SDR scales a sales motion that has already shown some evidence of working. They should not be expected to discover your entire market, create your positioning, define your sales process and generate pipeline without guidance.
The strongest signal is repeatability.
You do not need a perfect sales playbook. You should, however, be able to show a new SDR:
Hiring an SDR into an undefined sales process usually creates confusion.
The SDR begins testing random industries, contacting poorly matched prospects and booking meetings that Account Executives do not want. The company then mistakes a strategy problem for an employee-performance problem.
“Hire SDR” is not a complete hiring brief.
The right candidate depends on the sales motion they will run.
An inbound SDR handles prospects who have already interacted with your company.
These leads may have:
Inbound SDRs need to be organized, responsive and capable of identifying buying intent.
Prioritize:
An outbound SDR contacts companies that have not requested information from your business.
The SDR may be responsible for:
Prioritize:
A hybrid SDR manages both inbound and outbound activity.
This can work for a smaller company with moderate lead volume. However, the priorities need to be clear.
Inbound leads often require fast responses. Outbound campaigns require focused prospecting time. When both are placed into one role without clear rules, outbound work is frequently postponed whenever inbound activity increases.
Define:
Your first SDR requires a different profile from the tenth SDR joining an established team.
A mature sales organization may already have:
Your first SDR may need to operate without many of those resources.
Look for someone who can:
Do not advertise an entry-level SDR position while expecting the candidate to build your complete outbound engine.
That is closer to a senior SDR, founding BDR or outbound sales specialist.
Experience can reduce training time, but it should not be the only deciding factor.
However, investigate the environment in which the candidate succeeded.
A person who performed well at a large software company may have benefited from:
Those advantages may not exist at your company.
Candidates from recruitment, hospitality, fundraising, customer support, retail and other communication-heavy roles may have highly transferable skills.
Compare how much support each candidate will need before becoming productive. Do not compare resumes alone.
Successful SDRs do not all have the same personality.
Some are highly energetic and social. Others are calm, analytical and consultative.
Avoid choosing a candidate simply because they are charismatic during an interview. Sales candidates are generally comfortable talking to new people. That does not automatically mean they can prospect, listen, write or manage a sales process.
Evaluate the following competencies.
An SDR must explain your offer without turning every conversation into a feature list.
Look for someone who can:
Weak SDRs wait for their opportunity to deliver the pitch.
Strong SDRs listen for:
Listening is especially important during qualification and objection handling.
Do not assess coachability by asking, “Are you open to feedback?”
Almost every candidate will answer yes.
Give the candidate feedback during a practical exercise and ask them to repeat part of the task.
For example:
The improvement between the first and second attempt may be more valuable than the quality of the initial performance.
SDRs regularly experience rejection, unanswered messages, missed targets and canceled meetings.
Resilience does not mean pretending that rejection has no effect. It means being able to recover, learn and continue working consistently.
Evidence may come from:
Curious SDRs ask better questions.
They want to understand:
A curious SDR is less likely to repeat the same ineffective script for three months without questioning it.
Finding someone with the correct job title is not enough.
A strong SDR should be able to explain:
This is one of the easiest abilities to evaluate through a practical assignment.
Sales development includes a large amount of routine work.
SDRs must:
A candidate can be creative and persuasive while still failing because they are unreliable.
The candidate does not need to be an industry expert on day one.
They should understand that businesses generally purchase products and services to:
Look for candidates who can connect product capabilities to business consequences.
Depending on your process, useful experience may include:
Do not reject an otherwise strong candidate simply because they have not used your exact software.
Most sales platforms can be learned. Communication, coachability and prospecting judgment are more difficult to teach.
SDR compensation commonly contains two components:
The total amount earned at 100% of quota is known as on-target earnings, or OTE.
According to RepVue’s SDR compensation data, the median US SDR base salary was $60,000 and median OTE was $85,000 as of January 2026. RepVue also reported that approximately 56.7% of SDRs were attaining quota.
The actual cost depends on:
Companies can also review HireSDR’s detailed guide to Sales Development Representative salaries when building a compensation range.
Your real SDR budget may also include:
Calculate the cost of the complete sales-development system, not only the salary.
A US-based SDR may provide local market familiarity, native time-zone alignment and simpler domestic employment administration.
The primary limitation is cost.
A remote SDR based in Latin America may provide:
LatHire advertises pre-vetted SDRs starting from approximately $6–$8 per hour, with shortlists delivered in as little as 24 hours. Companies can review the current hiring model on the LatHire SDR page or compare broader options on the LatHire pricing page.
Organizations planning to build more than one remote department can also review LatHire’s guide to hiring Latin American talent.
A simple compensation structure is normally easier for SDRs and managers to understand.
Common starting points include:
The correct split depends on how much control the SDR has over the result.
An outbound SDR who controls account selection, prospecting and qualification may reasonably have more variable compensation than an inbound SDR whose lead volume depends heavily on marketing.
Possible commission metrics include:
Avoid paying only for meetings booked.
That can encourage representatives to place poorly qualified prospects on the calendar.
A stronger structure may include:
The SDR must understand exactly what qualifies for payment.
Document the rules before the person starts. HireSDR’s guide to designing sales compensation plans provides additional examples for structuring SDR and AE incentives.
Do not assign a quota because another company expects 15 meetings per month.
Work backward from your own revenue model.
Suppose you want one SDR to generate $300,000 in qualified pipeline per quarter.
That equals approximately eight or nine booked meetings per month.
This target reflects your funnel rather than a generic industry benchmark.
The best place to hire an SDR depends on your budget, market, hiring timeline and ability to screen candidates.
A specialist marketplace reduces screening work, while general job platforms provide a larger but less-filtered applicant pool.
| Platform | Best for | Hiring model | Screening required |
| LatHire | US companies hiring LATAM SDRs | Pre-vetted remote talent marketplace | Low |
| HireSDR.io | Companies hiring specialized global sales talent | Dedicated sales-talent marketplace | Low |
| Direct sourcing and passive candidates | Professional network and job platform | High | |
| Wellfound | Early-stage and startup SDR hiring | Startup-focused recruitment platform | Moderate to high |
| Indeed | High applicant volume | General job board | High |
| Upwork | Freelance, part-time or short-term SDR projects | Freelance marketplace | High |
| Toptal | Experienced project-based sales professionals | Curated freelance network | Moderate |
LatHire is the strongest overall option for US companies that want to hire experienced SDRs in Latin America.
It is particularly suitable for companies looking for:
LatHire screens candidates before presenting them to employers. Companies receive profiles that can include resumes, introductory videos and skills information, reducing the amount of initial applicant screening required.
The platform can also support companies that need adjacent sales roles, including BDRs, appointment setters and other LATAM sales professionals.
LatHire is best for:
LatHire has also published a case study explaining how Dribbble built an SDR team with LatHire.
HireSDR.io is a specialist marketplace focused on sales professionals.
Unlike broad freelance and job platforms, its talent pool is centered on roles such as:
Companies can browse the HireSDR talent pool or explore dedicated options for hiring BDRs.
HireSDR is best for:
For companies specifically evaluating distributed roles, HireSDR also provides a detailed guide to hiring remote Sales Development Representatives.
LinkedIn Talent Solutions gives employers access to a large professional network of active and passive candidates.
Companies can:
LinkedIn is useful when you have a recruiter or hiring manager who can actively source candidates.
Its main limitation is screening volume. A broad remote SDR job may attract hundreds of applications, many of which will not match your requirements.
LinkedIn is best for:
Wellfound, formerly AngelList Talent, focuses on startup recruitment.
It is useful for finding candidates who actively want to work in:
Wellfound may be particularly relevant when hiring a founding SDR who is comfortable working without a fully developed sales operation.
The limitation is that employers still need to evaluate whether a candidate has real prospecting skills. Interest in startup work does not automatically translate into sales-development ability.
Wellfound is best for:
Indeed for Employers can generate substantial applicant volume.
It is useful when:
Indeed also provides employer resources for hiring sales representatives and developing sales job descriptions.
Its primary disadvantage is applicant quality variation. A job board provides access to candidates, but it does not replace screening.
Upwork can work well for:
However, profiles on general freelance platforms vary widely.
Some candidates describe themselves as SDRs when their experience is primarily:
Review the candidate’s actual responsibilities, performance and process rather than relying on the profile title.
Upwork is best for companies that already know how to manage SDR work and need temporary execution support.
Toptal’s SDR network provides access to experienced freelance sales professionals for hourly, part-time or full-time engagements.
Toptal may be appropriate when:
The main consideration is cost. Toptal is generally positioned toward premium freelance talent rather than low-cost SDR hiring.
Choose LatHire when you want pre-vetted Latin American SDRs, US time-zone overlap and support with cross-border employment.
Choose HireSDR when you want a dedicated global sales-talent marketplace with access to multiple sales roles.
Choose LinkedIn when you have the time and internal capacity to source and screen candidates directly.
Choose Wellfound when you want candidates who specifically prefer startup environments.
Choose Indeed when applicant volume and broad reach are priorities.
Choose Upwork for freelance or short-term sales-development projects.
Choose Toptal for experienced, premium project-based sales talent.
A strong SDR job description should explain the real job.
Avoid generic phrases such as:
Candidates need practical information.
Include:
HireSDR’s guide to business-development job descriptions provides additional examples covering SDRs, BDRs, AEs and adjacent revenue roles.
We are hiring a Sales Development Representative to generate qualified sales opportunities for our Account Executive team.
You will research target accounts, contact decision-makers through phone, email and LinkedIn, qualify potential customers and schedule discovery calls.
Successful SDRs may progress into positions such as Senior SDR, BDR, Account Executive, Account Manager, Customer Success Manager or Sales Operations Specialist based on performance and business requirements.
A scorecard prevents interviewers from choosing candidates based primarily on confidence, similarity or personality.
Select the competencies before interviews begin and use the same core criteria for every candidate.
| Competency | Weight | What strong evidence looks like |
| Communication | 15% | Clear, concise and adjusted to the audience |
| Coachability | 15% | Applies feedback immediately |
| Prospecting judgment | 15% | Selects relevant accounts and explains why |
| Resilience | 15% | Provides specific examples of recovering from setbacks |
| Research ability | 10% | Finds commercially useful information |
| Objection handling | 10% | Remains calm, listens and asks follow-up questions |
| Process discipline | 10% | Demonstrates organization and consistent follow-up |
| Motivation | 5% | Has a credible reason for choosing the role |
| Tool readiness | 5% | Understands CRM and prospecting workflows |
Require interviewers to write evidence beside each score.
“Good energy” is not evidence.
“Researched the interviewer, identified two relevant customers and improved the cold-call opening after feedback” is evidence.
A good process should be structured without becoming unnecessarily long.
Look for:
Do not automatically reject candidates without an SDR title.
Treat these as areas to investigate rather than universal reasons for rejection.
The first call should normally take 20 to 30 minutes.
Confirm:
Useful questions include:
Pay attention to the questions the candidate asks.
Candidates who research the company, interviewer, product and market before the conversation demonstrate preparation.
Use behavioral questions that require specific examples.
Do not accept statements such as:
Ask follow-up questions.
When a candidate claims to have achieved 120% of quota, ask:
Specific experience usually produces specific answers.
HireSDR’s list of SDR interview questions provides additional questions, follow-ups, scoring criteria and warning signs.
The assessment should resemble the actual job.
Avoid asking candidates to complete several hours of unpaid work or create a complete campaign that your company plans to use.
A focused 45- to 90-minute assessment is usually sufficient.
Provide:
Ask the candidate to complete four tasks.
Choose five companies they would prioritize.
For each company, explain:
Write one cold email to a selected prospect.
Set a reasonable limit, such as 120 words.
Evaluate:
Ask the candidate to write a short connection request or follow-up message.
Evaluate whether they adjust the message for the channel rather than copying the email.
Ask the candidate to prepare an opening for a call to the same prospect.
The goal is not a perfect script. It is to test whether they can create enough interest to continue the conversation.
Evaluate:
Grade the reasoning, not only the polished output.
AI tools can help almost any candidate produce a professional email. Asking why they chose the account, contact and message reveals whether they understand the work.
Run a 10- to 15-minute mock cold call.
Use realistic objections:
Look for:
After the first attempt, give feedback and repeat part of the call.
This creates a live coachability test.
References are most useful when you ask specific questions.
Ask the former manager:
Do not rely only on basic employment confirmation.
Complete scorecards before the hiring team discusses candidates.
This prevents one person’s opinion from influencing everyone else’s original evaluation.
Ask:
The offer should clearly explain:
Expect strong sales candidates to ask questions or negotiate. Evaluate the reasoning and professionalism behind the request rather than treating negotiation itself as a problem.
Potential warning signs include:
One weak answer should not automatically eliminate a candidate. Look for repeated patterns across the process.
Hiring is only the beginning.
Even a strong SDR will struggle without product knowledge, account context, coaching and clear expectations.
The first month should focus on understanding and practice.
Cover:
Activities may include:
Do not expect full quota immediately.
During the second month, the SDR should begin owning real activity.
They may:
Review:
By the third month, the SDR should be moving toward the expected activity and outcome targets.
They should be able to:
Ramp time will vary according to product complexity, market, management quality and the candidate’s previous experience.
A useful SDR dashboard includes activity, quality and outcome metrics.
These show whether the work is taking place.
Examples:
Activity is diagnostic. It is not the final result.
These show whether the work is appropriate.
Examples:
Quality metrics prevent teams from rewarding empty volume.
These show whether the SDR is creating commercial value.
Examples:
Do not evaluate an SDR solely by closed revenue when the Account Executive controls discovery, demonstrations, proposals and negotiation.
Use metrics that reasonably fall within the SDR’s influence.
An SDR cannot permanently compensate for unclear positioning, poor product-market fit or an undefined customer profile.
Avoid expecting one person to:
That is not a single SDR role.
Confidence does not prove that someone can research, listen, write, organize or perform repetitive work.
A well-known company name does not explain what the candidate personally contributed.
Investigate the process behind the results.
Conversational interviews primarily test interview ability.
A practical assessment tests the work.
Quota should reflect your market, contract value, conversion rates, lead sources and available closing capacity.
This can reward low-quality calendar activity.
Connect compensation to held, accepted or qualified opportunities.
The SDR and Account Executive must agree on what constitutes a qualified meeting.
Otherwise, every rejected meeting becomes an argument.
Bad contact information can make a skilled SDR appear ineffective.
Track data quality separately from rep performance.
Review:
A dashboard full of calls and emails can create the appearance of productivity without producing pipeline.
Track activity, quality and outcomes together.
Career progression matters, but promotion should depend on sustained performance and available opportunities.
Be transparent about what advancement requires.
Hiring one SDR may be appropriate when:
Hiring two SDRs provides better comparative data.
With only one SDR, it can be difficult to determine whether poor results come from:
However, hiring several people into an unproven sales motion multiplies the cost of every mistake.
For many early-stage teams, the safer process is:
Companies that are ready to expand can review how LatHire’s hiring process works before building a larger LATAM sales team.
The best method depends on your internal hiring capacity.
LinkedIn, Indeed and Wellfound can work when you have time to source and screen candidates. Specialist platforms such as LatHire and HireSDR are more suitable when speed, pre-screening and cross-border hiring support are priorities.
Prioritize:
Previous sales experience helps, but practical ability and fit with your sales environment are more important than titles alone.
RepVue reported a median US SDR base salary of $60,000 and median OTE of $85,000 in January 2026.
The complete cost may also include:
Remote international SDRs can have significantly different compensation requirements.
Yes.
Candidates from customer service, recruitment, hospitality, retail, fundraising and other communication-heavy fields can become strong SDRs when they demonstrate resilience, coachability, curiosity and clear communication.
Hire an SDR when your company can already close deals but needs more prospecting capacity.
Hire an Account Executive when opportunities already exist but the founder or current team lacks the time or expertise to run discovery, demonstrations and closing.
One SDR can handle both in a smaller company, but priorities and separate targets should be defined.
Inbound-response requirements can otherwise disrupt planned outbound work.
Use a practical assessment involving:
Ask the candidate to explain each decision.
A structured screen, hiring-manager interview, practical assessment and final decision are usually sufficient.
Additional interviews should have a specific purpose rather than repeating the same conversation.
Track a combination of:
Ramp time depends on the product, market, previous experience, sales cycle and onboarding quality.
Use a structured 30-, 60- and 90-day plan rather than expecting full productivity immediately.
Most SDR compensation includes variable pay.
The plan should reward outcomes the SDR can influence, such as qualified meetings held, accepted opportunities and pipeline created.
Remote SDRs can be effective when they have:
Before opening the role, confirm that you have:
The goal is not simply to hire an SDR.
The goal is to build an environment in which the right SDR can succeed.
A talented representative cannot compensate indefinitely for unclear positioning, poor data, weak management or unrealistic expectations. But when the sales motion is defined, the assessment reflects the real job and the new hire receives structured coaching, an SDR can turn inconsistent founder-led prospecting into a repeatable pipeline engine.
LatHire helps US companies hire pre-vetted SDRs from Latin America with professional English, relevant sales experience and US working-hour overlap.
You can review candidate options, interview the professionals who match your requirements and build your sales team while LatHire supports international HR, payroll and compliance.
Start hiring an SDR with LatHire.