Sales Development Representative is the second highest 'in demand' role for 2024

On January 17th 2024 LinkedIn News UK published an article which ranked the top 25 job roles based on demand. The demand was gauged by the number of roles being advertised. They have run similar research for many years. The latest list of job titles has changed 25% since 2015 and they project a 65% change by 2030! To read the full article please use the link below.

LinkedIn Jobs on the Rise 2024: 25 UK roles that are growing in demand.

"What they do: Sales development representatives focus on finding new business leads through research, prospecting and outreach and pushing them to their colleagues to close the deal. | Most common skills: Lead Generation, Cold Calling, Software as a Service (SaaS) | Most common industries: Technology, Information and Internet, IT Services and IT Consulting, Business Consulting and Services" LinkedIn

The big question is WHY are Sales Development Reps (SDR) Business Development Reps (BDR) roles still in such high demand by businesses?

As you can see, the most common industries recruiting SDR/BDRs are primarily IT based business. I can’t help but feel a certain irony in the fact that just a decade ago, advances in IT technologies and digital marketing were expected to reduce or even eliminate the need for such roles. “Cold calling is dead”, they proclaimed. “New ‘laser targeted’ auto generated email sequences will give us all the leads we need”.

That was the assumption, but the reality is that sales development roles and sales development skills, are more essential for businesses now than ever before. But why? What makes these roles and skills so valuable, and why can’t they be replaced by automated marketing and AI chatbots?

I write from experience, as I’ve been working with salespeople since the pre-internet days. It has been fascinating to watch (and be directly involved), as the profession of selling has evolved over those 40 plus years. As each decade has passed, sales skills and approaches have developed and changed.  These changes were often driven by new technology, from IT businesses and/or new sales tactics promoted by a blossoming sales training industry!

The simple reality is that the core attributes and skills of excellent Sales Development Representatives have never changed. The only things that have changed over the years are the tools they use and the pace that they work. The core attributes of a superstar SDR are a high IQ and a high EQ (back in the early 80s emotional intelligence was only talked about by academics and scientists!).

High intelligence is required as an SDR needs to take in lots of information, and very quickly. From this they need to create an instant picture from all the disparate pieces.

Imagine a jigsaw to complete but without a picture to guide you, and with only have half the pieces you need! This is what great SDRs do time and time again, and on a daily basis.

They don’t just understand their product, they understand their wider industry, and how their industry is working with others. They know what’s going on in the world, and most of all, in the eyes of the prospect, they get to understand THEIR business. But IQ alone is not enough!

I’ve met lots of great reps over the years that have the IQ. They were as sharp as a tack and had all the ‘patter’. Very few however, had the high EQ to match. Those that did were truly exceptional salespeople. The same is equally true today, and in my view, those skills will still be in demand in the decades to come.

Why am I so sure? With the upsurge in the use of AI, people will ever increasingly crave and seek out authentic human interaction. We all have gut instincts, and usually our gut is right. When we buy things of significant value, the amount of trust we need to proceed is huge. We want to look someone right in the eye and say, “Is this the right thing for me to do?”

If you are looking to recruit a Sales Development Representative or Business Development Representative in 2025, then please start by dropping the term ‘Representative’. This outdated sales term refers to a time in history when businesses rarely employed their own salespeople. Instead, they outsourced such things to freelance travelling representatives. These guys would have a dozen different business cards and an estate car full of samples. They had no real affinity to any business and were only interested in making commission.

In the UK, we are especially squeamish about certain job titles. Those that contain ‘sales’ are pretty high on the taboo list. So ‘Sales Development Representative’ has TWO clear issues. For me the title Business Engagement Executive sounds so much better. What do you think?

On a final note, just like me, many business owners/entrepreneurs started their careers as Business Development Reps. The skills, experience and confidence you get as a BDR are excellent grounding for launching your own start-up! For me, Business Development is THE BEST JOB in the WORLD!

Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this item then please do follow or connect with me. I'd also love to get feedback and comments.

Stuart Allen

The Sales Performance Company Ltd

B2B sales training, sales coaching, sales strategy and consulting services. Based in Worcestershire UK, working with clients across the globe.