What an SDR does during a working day
An SDR does not receive a finished list with an instruction to message everyone. First, you determine whether the offer is relevant: check the company profile, the contact's role and the reason for starting a conversation. Then you prepare the contact, record the response and pass a substantive dialogue forward under the working process.
- Research target companies through public directories, registries, websites and industry lists.
- Find decision-makers and verify that a contact belongs to the right company.
- Write personalised opening lines and manage correspondence using an approved scenario.
- Classify replies: interest, refusal, referral, incorrect contact or pause.
The work follows the logic described in How B2B Outreach Launches in Russia and the CIS: hypothesis, list, contact, reply and clarification. If a commercial director asks how OT9 differs from an in-house SDR, the task is not simply to forward a presentation. You need to ask a useful next question, such as whether they are currently looking for new B2B conversations without adding headcount.
How to recognise a useful first email
| Version | Opening line | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Weak | We help businesses generate leads and increase sales. | The recipient sees neither their company nor a reason to reply. |
| Useful | We saw that you have opened an implementation direction for manufacturers; who owns the first B2B meetings? | It contains an observable fact and one simple question. |
Do not hide the lack of a reason behind phrases such as “unique offer” or “open to cooperation.” A good contact is short, verifiable and leaves the decision-maker free to say that the matter belongs elsewhere. This matters especially in Russia and the CIS, where decision-makers often read their own email and Telegram is a working business channel rather than an afterthought.
How you start work without simulated training
- Study one segment: the client's product, relevant roles, exclusion factors and sources for facts.
- Prepare several company records and explain why each belongs in the selection.
- Write opening-contact options and receive feedback on the wording.
- Handle training replies: a request for a proposal, refusal, referral and a pricing question.
- Move to campaign tasks with quality checks during the first iterations.
It helps to see the full workflow, not just a row in a spreadsheet: the target-company selection, the sequence of contacts and the handling of replies. Feedback therefore covers more than the number of contacts found; it also covers the logic behind the company choice, the accuracy of the fact and the next action after a reply.
When lead generation work is not for you
This role is not a fit if you expect a ready-made script for every situation or judge the day only by the number of messages sent. In B2B, one wrong recipient or careless opening line can close a conversation with a company, so you need to check details calmly and accept a refusal without arguing.
You should also not apply if you do not enjoy reading company websites, working with spreadsheets, recording statuses and rewriting text after feedback. There is no task to pressure someone into a response; there is disciplined work with a hypothesis and facts.
- You can express an idea in two or three clear sentences.
- You do not substitute an assumption for a fact.
- You keep company records and correspondence orderly.
- You are ready to examine mistakes rather than conceal them with volume.