Entry Level (0-2 years)

Junior Sales Development Representative

This isn't just about making calls; it's your first proper step into a sales career, focusing on finding and qualifying potential customers. You'll be the initial point of contact for our business, digging up leads and making sure they're a good fit before passing them over to our Territory Sales Managers. Think of it as being the sharp end of the spear, setting up the big wins for the team.

Job ID
JD-SAMA-JRSATE-001
Department
Sales
NOS Level
Entry Level Sales Support
OFQUAL Level
Level 3-4
Experience
Entry Level (0-2 years)

Role Purpose & Context

Role Summary

The Junior Sales Development Representative is here to kickstart our sales pipeline, finding and qualifying new business opportunities that our Territory Sales Managers can then turn into deals. You'll be the voice of our company for many potential clients, making sure we're talking to the right people about the right problems. You're essentially the gatekeeper, ensuring our sales team spends their time on prospects who genuinely need what we offer. When you do this well, our sales pipeline stays full of promising leads, meaning more closed deals and happier customers. If it's not done properly, our sales team wastes time chasing dead ends, and we miss out on real opportunities. The challenge here is cutting through the noise and getting busy people to listen, but the reward is seeing your qualified leads turn into significant revenue for the business.

Reporting Structure

Key Stakeholders

Internal:

External:

Organisational Impact

Scope: Your role directly impacts the health of our sales pipeline. A strong, consistent flow of qualified leads means our Territory Sales Managers can focus on closing, which in turn drives our overall revenue growth. You're essentially the engine that keeps the sales machine moving, ensuring we're always engaging with new potential customers.

Performance Metrics

Quantitative Metrics

  1. Metric: Qualified Meetings Booked
  2. Desc: The number of meetings you successfully schedule for Territory Sales Managers with genuinely qualified prospects.
  3. Target: 10-15 meetings per month
  4. Freq: Weekly and Monthly
  5. Example: You book 12 meetings in October, with 10 of them being accepted and attended by a Territory Sales Manager.
  6. Metric: Pipeline Contribution
  7. Desc: The total estimated value of new opportunities generated from your booked meetings that progress to a certain stage (e.g., Stage 2 or 3 in the CRM).
  8. Target: £150K - £250K in new pipeline per quarter
  9. Freq: Quarterly
  10. Example: Your leads result in £200K of new pipeline value in Q1, with 5 deals moving past the initial discovery stage.
  11. Metric: Activity Volume
  12. Desc: The number of outbound activities you complete, including calls, emails, and LinkedIn messages.
  13. Target: 80-100 activities per day (mix of calls/emails)
  14. Freq: Daily and Weekly
  15. Example: You make 45 calls, send 50 emails, and 10 LinkedIn messages in a day, hitting the top end of your activity target.
  16. Metric: Conversion Rate (SDR to AE Meeting)
  17. Desc: The percentage of your outreach efforts that result in a booked and attended meeting for a Territory Sales Manager.
  18. Target: 2-3% of total activities
  19. Freq: Monthly
  20. Example: Out of 2,000 activities in a month, you book 40 meetings, and 30 are attended, giving you a 1.5% attended meeting conversion rate. We'd then look at improving that.

Qualitative Metrics

  1. Metric: Discovery Call Quality
  2. Desc: How well you uncover a prospect's pain points, budget, authority, and timeline (BANT) during initial conversations, and how effectively you articulate our value proposition.
  3. Evidence: Your Sales Development Manager will listen to recorded calls and provide feedback. We'll look for clear, open-ended questions, active listening, and a natural flow to the conversation. You'll also be able to summarise a prospect's needs accurately in your CRM notes.
  4. Metric: CRM Hygiene & Data Accuracy
  5. Desc: The completeness and accuracy of the information you log in Salesforce for each prospect and activity.
  6. Evidence: Your manager will regularly review your CRM entries. We'll expect all required fields to be filled, clear notes on conversations, accurate contact information, and correct lead statuses. Clean data is crucial for everyone else down the line.
  7. Metric: Collaboration with Territory Sales Managers
  8. Desc: How effectively you work with the Territory Sales Managers to understand their needs and tailor your prospecting efforts.
  9. Evidence: Feedback from the AEs you support – they'll tell us if the leads are well-qualified and if you're easy to work with. We'll also look for proactive communication from you, like sharing insights you've gathered on specific accounts.
  10. Metric: Learning & Development Engagement
  11. Desc: Your proactive engagement with training materials, coaching sessions, and self-improvement initiatives.
  12. Evidence: You'll be asking questions, participating actively in team training, and showing measurable improvement based on feedback. We expect you to seek out new ways to improve your craft, not just wait to be told.

Primary Traits

Supporting Traits

Primary Motivators

  1. Motivator: The Thrill of the Chase
  2. Daily: You love the feeling of uncovering a new potential client, making a connection, and getting them interested. The challenge of turning a cold lead into a warm conversation gets you out of bed.
  3. Motivator: Learning & Growth
  4. Daily: You're constantly looking for ways to improve your sales craft, whether it's through listening to call recordings, reading sales books, or asking your manager for feedback. You see every interaction as a chance to get better.
  5. Motivator: Direct Impact & Recognition
  6. Daily: You get a real buzz from seeing your qualified leads turn into actual sales for the company. You appreciate being recognised for your contribution to the team's overall success.

Potential Demotivators

Honestly, this role isn't for everyone. You'll spend a lot of your day on the phone or sending emails, often to people who aren't keen to talk. You'll get rejected, ignored, and sometimes even spoken to rudely. The 'urgent' request from a Territory Sales Manager might get deprioritised by their own workload. You'll put effort into researching a company, only for the prospect to go completely dark. If you need constant positive reinforcement or struggle with repetitive tasks, you'll find it tough here.

Common Frustrations

  1. CRM Hygiene Hell: Spending 3-5 hours a week just updating Salesforce fields, notes, and stages to satisfy management's reporting demands, rather than selling.
  2. Marketing 'Leads': Wasting time chasing a list of 'MQLs' who just downloaded a whitepaper and have no budget, authority, or real intent to buy.
  3. Resource Scarcity: Fighting for the time of a limited pool of Sales Engineers (SEs) or Solutions Consultants (SCs) to get a compelling demo for your deal.
  4. Going Dark: When a previously engaged prospect suddenly stops responding to emails and calls, leaving you in limbo.

What Role Doesn't Offer

  1. Immediate high-level strategic decision-making – that comes later.
  2. A quiet, solitary work environment; it's a buzzing, active team.
  3. Guaranteed closure on every lead you generate; many won't progress.
  4. A role where you only deal with warm, inbound enquiries – outbound is key here.

ADHD Positives

  1. The fast-paced nature of outbound sales, with constant new interactions and the 'chase' of new leads, can be highly engaging and stimulating.
  2. The clear, measurable targets (calls, emails, meetings booked) can provide a strong sense of accomplishment and immediate feedback loops.
  3. The variety of tasks—researching, calling, emailing, social selling—can prevent boredom and allow for shifting focus.

ADHD Challenges and Accommodations

  1. Maintaining focus during repetitive tasks like data entry or extensive CRM updates can be a challenge. We can offer tools for automation where possible and encourage breaking up these tasks.
  2. Managing a large volume of follow-ups and keeping track of multiple conversations might require robust organisational systems. We'll help you set up and use CRM reminders and task management tools effectively.
  3. Impulsivity during calls might lead to talking too much or not listening enough. We'll provide targeted coaching on active listening and call structure.

Dyslexia Positives

  1. Strong verbal communication skills often found in dyslexic individuals are a massive asset in sales calls and building rapport.
  2. The ability to think creatively and 'outside the box' can help in crafting unique outreach messages and overcoming objections.
  3. Focus on big-picture understanding and problem-solving, rather than getting bogged down in minute textual details, can be very beneficial.

Dyslexia Challenges and Accommodations

  1. Extensive written communication (emails, CRM notes) can be tiring. We encourage the use of grammar and spell-checking tools, and offer templates for common communications.
  2. Reading and processing large amounts of text-based research or product documentation might take longer. We can provide audio summaries or visual aids where available.
  3. Ensuring accuracy in CRM data entry can be tricky. We'll offer double-checking processes and peer review for critical information.

Autism Positives

  1. A strong ability to focus on specific tasks, like in-depth account research or mastering a particular sales script, can lead to high performance.
  2. Honesty and directness can be refreshing in sales, building trust with prospects who appreciate clear communication.
  3. The logical and systematic approach to following a sales process or sequence can be a strength.

Autism Challenges and Accommodations

  1. Navigating nuanced social cues and unexpected turns in conversation on calls might be challenging. We provide structured call guides, role-playing, and clear feedback on communication styles.
  2. The constant need for impromptu social interaction and small talk can be draining. We can schedule 'focus time' for non-call activities and provide quiet spaces.
  3. Dealing with rejection or unexpected changes in prospect behaviour can be difficult. We'll offer clear strategies for managing these situations and consistent support.

Sensory Considerations

Our sales floor is typically a lively, open-plan office environment with a moderate level of background noise from calls and team discussions. There's a fair amount of visual activity with screens and whiteboards. Social interaction is frequent, but we also have quiet zones and meeting rooms available for focused work or when you need a break from the buzz. We're happy to discuss specific needs around lighting, noise-cancelling headphones, or desk location.

Flexibility Notes

We offer some flexibility in work patterns, especially for non-call activities like research and admin. We're open to discussing adjusted start/end times or hybrid working arrangements where practical, to help you perform at your best. The core 'call block' times are usually fixed to align with prospect availability.

Key Responsibilities

Experience Levels Responsibilities

  1. Level: Entry Level (Junior Sales Development Representative)
  2. Responsibilities: Research potential client companies and contacts within your assigned territory. This means digging into LinkedIn, company websites, and news articles to find out who we should be talking to and what might be important to them.
  3. Learn and apply our outbound prospecting strategies. You'll be taught how to craft compelling cold emails, LinkedIn messages, and call scripts that actually get responses – and then you'll put them into practice.
  4. Execute daily outbound activities: making a high volume of cold calls, sending personalised emails, and reaching out on social media to generate interest. Yes, it's a numbers game, but quality matters too.
  5. Qualify inbound leads that come from marketing campaigns. This involves speaking to people who've shown some interest and figuring out if they're a good fit for our product and if they're ready to speak to a Territory Sales Manager.
  6. Book discovery meetings for our Territory Sales Managers. Your main goal here is to get a qualified prospect to agree to a follow-up conversation with a more senior salesperson.
  7. Document all your activities and prospect interactions accurately in Salesforce (our CRM). This isn't just admin; it's crucial for tracking progress, understanding what works, and ensuring smooth handovers to the sales team.
  8. Assist the Territory Sales Managers with pre-call research and account mapping for their key target accounts. You'll be their eyes and ears, helping them prepare for important client conversations.
  9. Supervision: You'll have daily check-ins with your Sales Development Manager. All your call scripts, email templates, and lead qualification summaries will be reviewed. We're here to guide you every step of the way, especially in your first few months.
  10. Decision: You won't be making independent strategic decisions. Any changes to outreach strategy, significant prospect objections, or pricing questions should be escalated to your Sales Development Manager. Your focus is on executing the agreed-upon process and learning. You can decide which specific prospects to target within your assigned list, but the overall approach will be set by your manager.
  11. Success: Success at this level means consistently hitting your targets for booked and attended qualified meetings, maintaining excellent CRM hygiene, and actively seeking and applying feedback to improve your craft. We want to see you develop a strong understanding of our product and our ideal customer profile.

Decision-Making Authority

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Benefit: Our Conversation Intelligence tools (like Gong) automatically transcribe and analyse your sales calls. It highlights key topics, talk-to-listen ratios, and even suggests areas for improvement, giving you instant coaching without a manager on every call.

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8-12 hours per week Weekly time savings potential
Starting with 2-3 core AI tools Typical tool investment
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12-15 specific tools & techniques with implementation guides

Competency Requirements

Foundation Skills (Transferable)

These are the core human skills that underpin everything you'll do. They're not just 'nice-to-haves'; they're essential for building relationships and navigating the daily challenges of sales.

Functional Skills (Role-Specific Technical)

These are the specific sales methodologies and tools you'll be using day-to-day. You don't need to be an expert coming in, but a willingness to learn and apply them is crucial.

Technical Competencies

Digital Tools

Industry Knowledge

Regulatory Compliance Regulations

Essential Prerequisites

Career Pathway Context

These prerequisites are what we'd expect someone to bring to the table to be successful in an entry-level sales role. They form the bedrock upon which we'll build your specialised sales skills. If you've got these, we can teach you the rest.

Qualifications & Credentials

Emerging Foundation Skills

Advancing Technical Skills

Future Skills Closing Note

The goal isn't to become a data scientist or an AI engineer. It's about using these tools and understanding their potential to make you a more efficient, effective, and ultimately, a more successful sales professional. Embrace the learning, and you'll be well-prepared for whatever comes next.

Education Requirements

Experience Requirements

Level: Minimum | Req: A-Levels (or equivalent Level 3 qualification) | Alts: We're open to candidates with demonstrable professional experience in a customer-facing role (e.g., retail, hospitality, customer service) or a relevant apprenticeship, even if you don't have formal A-Levels. What matters most is your drive and communication skills. | Level: Preferred | Req: A Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, or a related field | Alts: While a degree is a plus, it's certainly not a deal-breaker. Strong practical experience and a proven track record in a fast-paced environment can often be more valuable. We value real-world skills and a hunger to learn over specific academic qualifications.

Preferred Certifications

Recommended Activities

Career Progression Pathways

Entry Paths to This Role

Career Progression From This Role

Long Term Vision Potential Roles

Sector Mobility

The skills you'll gain here – communication, resilience, problem-solving, and understanding business needs – are highly transferable across almost any industry. You could move into SaaS, FinTech, healthcare, or even start your own business. Sales is a fundamental skill set that opens many doors.

How Zavmo Delivers This Role's Development

DISCOVER Phase: Skills Gap Analysis

Zavmo maps your current competencies against all requirements in this job description through conversational assessment. We evaluate your foundation skills (communication, strategic thinking), functional skills (CRM expertise, negotiation), and readiness for career progression.

Output: Personalised skills gap heat map showing strengths and priorities, estimated time to competency, neurodiversity accommodations.

DISCUSS Phase: Personalised Learning Pathway

Based on your DISCOVER results, Zavmo creates a personalised learning plan prioritised by impact: foundation skills first, then functional skills. We adapt to your learning style, pace, and neurodiversity needs (ADHD, dyslexia, autism).

Output: Week-by-week schedule, each module linked to specific job responsibilities, checkpoints and milestones.

DELIVER Phase: Conversational Learning

Learn through conversation, not boring modules. Zavmo uses 10 conversation types (Socratic dialogue, role-play, coaching, case studies) to build competence. Practice difficult QBR presentations, negotiate tough renewals, and handle churn conversations in a safe AI environment before facing real clients.

Example: "For 'Stakeholder Mapping', Zavmo will guide you through analysing a complex enterprise account, identifying key decision-makers, and building an engagement strategy."

DEMONSTRATE Phase: Competency Assessment

Zavmo automatically builds your evidence portfolio as you learn. Every conversation, practice scenario, and application example is captured and mapped to NOS performance criteria. When ready, your portfolio supports OFQUAL qualification claims and demonstrates competence to employers.

Output: Competency matrix, evidence portfolio (downloadable), qualification readiness, career progression score.

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