Fractional SDR - What is it + Advantages

Lead generation is the foundation of any business's success. Finding and engaging potential clients is a time-consuming enterprise. Resourcefulness and creativity will lead you to success, and that takes time.

At the heart of this strategy lies the Sales Development Representative (SDR), a key player in sales development, bridging the gap between success and setbacks.

However, hiring a full-time SDR can be a time-consuming task with little gain: the hiring process takes time and money to set up, then there is SDR onboarding and the ramp-up period of 4-6 months, and SDRs tend to jump ship quite fast.

For these reasons, many companies hesitate or drag their feet when hiring an SDR. Even though it is an incredibly important role.

No problem - enter the Fractional SDR.

"Fractional SDR" is an effective solution for companies looking to improve their sales without breaking the bank. But what advantages does this model offer, and how might it transform your sales operations?

We'll cover it all!

A fractional SDR is a salesperson who works part-time and specializes in generating qualified leads for your business and passing them on to the sales team.

They work with companies that require help increasing their sales and expanding their client base but cannot afford to hire a full-time SDR or choose not to.

They perform all the same tasks and work with your existing team, helping you generate more leads or all of them depending on your needs. Fractional SDRs tend to be experts in their field, which is just one of the many advantages of getting one.

Fractional work has become more popular recently, especially at the executive or consultant level. However, entry-level positions such as SDRs becoming fractional have benefited both companies and the SDRs.

As we explained above, a fractional SDR is a professional who works part-time for multiple companies, usually on an hourly basis. However, that can also sometimes be a set monthly amount. The main responsibility of an SDR is to generate leads and qualify them before passing them on to the sales team.

They may work freelance via sales outsourcing platforms, such as SalesPipe. When hired, the goal is for them to smoothly fit into their client's sales strategy and help them cover any bases they need to be covered specifically in their sales funnel and process.

They typically work directly with the VP of sales or head of sales for the strategy and then an AE to whom they send the calls. Sometimes, depending on the company's needs, they may even conduct the qualifying call themselves.

It’s a very flexible agreement tailored to what their client requires. This flexibility is part of what makes them so effective.

Tech startups often have limited budgets and resources, making it hard to hire a full-time SDR. This is where fractional SDRs can be extremely beneficial.

Fractional SDRs offer tech startups access to experienced professionals who can help them generate leads and grow their sales pipeline without the high cost of a full-time employee.

Moreover, these reps are often well-versed in the latest sales technologies and practices, making them a valuable asset in a competitive market.

So, in short, yes, they are especially effective for tech startups.

The most basic job of any SDR is lead generation: finding qualified prospects to connect with and sell to. A fractional SDR must complete many tasks.

• Improve sales strategies

Using a fractional SDR can help businesses improve their sales strategies. By working closely with the sales and marketing teams, SDRs can collect valuable insights about target customers and their pain points.

This information can then be used to create targeted and effective sales campaigns that resonate with potential customers.

• Identify high-quality leads

SDRs are trained to identify high-quality leads. Utilizing a fractional SDR can simplify efforts to convert promising leads into customers, ensuring optimal efficiency and boosting the sales team's success rate.

• Nurture leads

Fractional SDRs can also assist with lead nurturing. To maintain a strong connection with potential customers, SDRs engage and keep them interested in the business's offerings. This builds trust and rapport with leads, increasing the likelihood of conversion to paying customers.

• Qualify leads

SDRs are trained to qualify leads by asking the right questions and gathering necessary information. This saves time for the sales team as they do not have to spend time and effort on leads that are not a good fit for the business.

With a fractional SDR, companies can ensure that their sales team focuses on leads with a higher chance of converting.

An inbound lead is a lead that comes to you instead of you going out to find them. They tend to be low-hanging fruit and have shown up via marketing efforts such as SEO, paid ads, or similar.

Despite how easy this may sound, a fractional SDR has quite a bit of work to do here.

• Qualify inbound leads

Similar to outbound leads, fractional SDRs can also assist with qualifying and nurturing inbound leads. Companies can ensure their sales team focuses on the most promising prospects by collecting information and identifying high-quality leads.

• Convert inbound leads into customers

In addition to lead generation and lead qualification, fractional SDRs can help convert inbound leads into customers. To address these leads' needs and pain points, SDRs can adjust their approach and messaging to seal deals effectively and convert leads into paying customers.

• Maximize ROI on inbound sales campaigns

Fractional SDRs work closely with the marketing team to ensure inbound marketing efforts reach the right audience and generate quality leads. This maximizes ROI for businesses using inbound sales strategies.

• Improve customer retention

Fractional SDRs can also play a crucial role in customer retention. To maintain good communication with current customers, SDRs can quickly pinpoint and address any issues, improving customer satisfaction and loyalty. This boosts customer retention, enables positive referrals, and drives word-of-mouth marketing.

Cold emailing is the practice of emailing leads who have never expressed interest in your product or service but fit your ideal customer profile.

Fractional SDRs are in charge of all tasks related to cold emailing:

• Generate email lists via prospecting

One of an SDR's primary responsibilities is prospecting and finding new leads. Fractional SDRs can assist with this task by generating targeted email lists based on specific criteria, such as industry, job title, or company size.

• Craft irresistible cold emails

Cold emailing can be a highly effective way to generate leads but requires a well-composed and persuasive message. With their sales expertise, fractional SDRs can help companies create effective cold email templates that resonate with potential customers and lead to higher response rates.

Fractional SDRs also have the expertise to effectively use social proof on cold emails to book more meetings.

• Personalized outreach

Personalization is key when it comes to cold emailing. Using data collected by fractional SDRs, businesses can personalize their outreach campaigns and increase the chances of receiving a response from potential customers and starting a conversation.

• Track and analyze cold email metrics

Fractional SDRs can also assist with tracking and analyzing email metrics, such as open and click-through rates. This data can provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of cold email campaigns and help businesses make data-driven decisions for future outreach campaigns.

Cold calling specifically is the practice of calling prospects who have never heard of your business but fit your customer profile and thus should benefit from your product or service.

Typical tasks are:

• Generate targeted call lists

Similar to email lists, fractional SDRs can also assist with generating targeted call lists for cold-calling campaigns. By using specific criteria and data, companies can ensure they reach out to potential customers who are most likely to be interested in their product or service.

• Produce effective scripts

Engaging with potential customers effectively requires a well-made cold-calling script. With their sales experience, fractional SDRs can help businesses develop effective scripts that address common objections and highlight the product or service's benefits.

• Conduct market research

Fractional SDRs can also help conduct market research through cold-calling campaigns. Businesses should collect insights from potential customers to improve their understanding of the target market and future sales and marketing decisions.

• Identify opportunities for upselling

Fractional SDRs can also identify opportunities for upselling or cross-selling to existing customers through cold-calling campaigns. By understanding the ICP's needs and pain points, SDRs can recommend additional products or services that could benefit the customer and increase revenue for the business.

The key to any strategy involving an SDR of any kind is the need to build a pipeline. Particularly at the top of the sales funnel.

Here is how a fractional SDR helps:

• Identify prospects

Fractional SDRs can help identify potential prospects and expand the business's target audience. With their research skills and understanding of the ideal customer profile, SDRs can identify new leads that align with the company's goals and values.

• Qualify leads

Once prospects have been identified, fractional SDRs can assist with qualifying these leads to determine their level of interest and potential fit for the business. This helps ensure that the sales team focuses on leads with a higher chance of conversion.

• Create and maintain a database

SDRs can also help create and maintain a database of prospects, making it easier for companies to stay organized and track their interactions with potential customers. This allows for more efficient communication and follow-up efforts. Most fractional SDRs are familiar with various CRMs and can adapt to their client’s needs.

• Engage in targeted outreach

Fractional SDRs can also engage in targeted cold outreach efforts to connect with potential prospects and promote the business's products or services. By tailoring their messaging to specific leads, SDRs can increase the chances of conversion and build a strong pipeline for the sales team.

For your logistic problem-solvers and fractional SDRs, one goal is to get those appointment sets. No more constant back and forth for weeks before the email thread dies down or calls that are duds.

Here are some tasks your fractional SDR can take care of for you:

• Qualify leads

As we’ve continuously seen, fractional SDRs can assist with qualifying leads for appointments by collecting information and determining their level of interest. This helps businesses save time and resources by focusing on high-quality leads.

• Appointment-setting

Once they’ve determined they’re high-quality, the fractional SDR’s job is to schedule appointments with qualified leads. By handling the logistics and coordinating with the sales team and potential customers, SDRs ensure that appointments are set up efficiently and effectively. This also frees up the rest of your team from chasing down leads and ensuring they agree to an appointment.

• Follow-up with appointments

Fractional SDRs can also provide support by following up with leads, and to find sales triggers after scheduled appointments. This helps keep the business at the forefront of mind and increases the chances of conversion.

• Provide information and resources

During the appointment-setting process, fractional SDRs can also provide potential customers with valuable information and resources to showcase the business's products or services. This helps build rapport and establish trust with potential leads.

If there’s one thing we know, a prospect typically replies during a follow-up. It takes about 6-8 touches for them to pay attention. However, follow-ups can be difficult to track in your regular day-to-day tasks.

The fractional SDR will:

• Personalize follow-ups

Fractional SDRs can personalize email follow-ups based on the interactions and information collected from previous communication with potential leads. This helps create a more personalized and effective approach to nurturing these leads.

• Provide relevant information

Follow-up emails can also provide potential customers with relevant information or resources, such as case studies or product demos, to address their pain points and showcase the value of the startup's offerings.

• Continuously engage

Fractional SDRs can continuously engage with potential leads through follow-up after no response emails, keeping the company top of mind and increasing the chances of conversion. This helps move potential customers through the sales funnel and ultimately towards becoming a customer.

We mentioned it before, but the expense of a full-time SDR can be hard for startups and small businesses. One of the most significant advantages of hiring a fractional SDR is that it minimizes recruitment and hiring costs. With a fractional SDR, you can save on salaries, benefits, bonuses, and more.

A fractional SDR enables companies to access the essential skill sets of selling and lead generation while aligning the costs directly with their needs. Companies can change service hours to ensure a more predictable budget and redirect savings to fuel growth.

This 'plug-and-play' solution offers expertise at a fraction of the cost of a full-time employee, making high-quality sales support more accessible.

Specializing in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) sales, fractional SDRs bring invaluable industry-specific know-how to the table. Having worked with numerous clients, they boast a breadth of experience directly translating into improved sales strategies and better results.

This expertise is a significant competitive edge for companies in the tech industry.
They'll guide you through the best sales development playbooks and practices, and help you customize your sales strategies to align with your goals.

Due to the specialized nature of the fractional SDRs work, you'll soon have improved productivity in lead generation and sales development.

These specialists often bring insights and best practices from varied industries and can innovate and incorporate new strategies into your company's cold outreach approach.

Fractional SDRs allow companies to do more targeted outreach, greatly benefiting companies looking to expand their market reach.

This particularly benefits companies looking to enter new markets or tap into untapped segments. With a fractional SDR, businesses can align their sales and marketing strategies to the needs and preferences of different market segments, increasing their chances of success.

Moreover, fractional SDRs also allow for more personalized outreach, as they can be trained on specific messaging and tactics that resonate with their target audience.


This can help build stronger connections with potential customers and improve conversion rates.

Another advantage of fractional SDRs is their ability to provide flexible sales support on-demand.

Companies can scale their sales efforts up or down as needed without investing in a full-time SDR team. This flexibility is especially useful for smaller businesses or startups that may not have the resources to hire and maintain a full-time SDR team.

Fractional SDRs can be brought in as needed, allowing businesses to save on overhead costs and focus on other areas of their operations. This flexibility also allows for more efficient resource use.

Companies can assign their budget towards fractional SDRs during peak sales seasons or when launching new products and scaling back during slower periods.

Research shows that sales roles have a higher turnover rate than other job functions. This leads to disruptive and costly recruitment cycles.

When a full-time SDR leaves, you must start the recruitment and SDR onboarding process all over again, which is both time-consuming and costly. With a fractional SDR, you don't have to worry about replacing them if they decide to leave.

If the individual decides to move on, the transition will be smooth and impact your business operations minimally. It's a strategic protection against the volatility that torments sales departments.

One of the main advantages of using a fractional SDR model is that it can greatly improve the efficiency of your sales funnel.

With traditional SDR models, each representative is responsible for handling many leads and trying to qualify them for the sales team. This can lead to burnout, lower productivity, and potential missed opportunities.

Using a fractional SDR model, you can distribute the workload among multiple representatives and increase the number of effectively qualified leads. This can lead to a smoother and more efficient sales funnel, as each representative can focus on fewer leads and provide better quality interactions.

One of the main concerns is that the fractional SDR may not integrate well with your company's existing culture and processes.

In a traditional SDR model, the entire team is focused solely on generating leads and passing them off to Account Executives (AEs).

However, with a fractional SDR model, some team members may have additional responsibilities or different goals, which could create friction or confusion within the team.

To avoid this issue, it is important to carefully consider your company's existing culture and processes before implementing a fractional SDR model. It may be helpful to involve key members of your team in the decision-making process and clearly communicate any changes that will be taking place.

Addressing any potential cultural conflicts early on can help ensure a smoother transition and increased buy-in from your team.

Another potential disadvantage of a fractional SDR model is that it may lead to a less cohesive brand representation. In a traditional SDR model, the entire team is focused on promoting your company's brand and delivering consistent messaging to potential leads.

However, with a fractional SDR model, each individual may have their own style or approach when interacting with leads, potentially creating confusion or conflicting messaging.

To mitigate this risk, it is important to establish clear branding and messaging guidelines for all team members to follow. This will help ensure a consistent and cohesive representation of your brand, regardless of which team member a lead may interact with.

A fractional SDR model can also lead to potential communication gaps within the team. As each team member may have different responsibilities and tasks, it is important to establish clear lines of communication and ensure that everyone is kept in the loop.

Implementing tools such as a dedicated Slack channel for the fractional SDR team or regular check-ins can help bridge any potential communication gaps and keep the team aligned toward its goals.

It is also important to establish clear processes for sharing updates and progress within the team so that everyone is aware of each other's responsibilities and contributions.

Cultivating open communication and transparency can help overcome any potential communication challenges in a fractional SDR model.

When working with a fractional SDR, aligning goals and objectives with the company's overall sales strategy is important.

This means providing the SDR with the target market, ideal customer profile, and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) set by the organization.

To maximize efficiency, fractional SDRs should participate in regular meetings or check-ins with their team or manager to ensure they are on track and aligned with the company's objectives. This will also allow for any necessary adjustments or realignment of goals.

Fractional SDRs should work closely with their clients' marketing and sales teams to ensure they have all the necessary materials and knowledge to present and a product demo the product or service effectively.

This will also help build a strong relationship between the SDR and other departments and maintain goal alignment.

It is similar to an onboarding but does not need to be as comprehensive.

It is almost like a sales pitch or demo to a client, as the SDR needs to understand the product or service just enough to compel a prospect to book a call for more information.

To maximize efficiency, companies should integrate fractional SDRs with other tools they use daily into their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.

These could include email, calendar, and task management platforms. By integrating all of these tools, fractional SDRs can simplify their workflow and reduce the time spent switching between different systems. This will also help ensure that all important information is captured and tracked in one place.

Additionally, fractional SDRs can provide pointers or suggest tools that may make certain tasks simpler or automated, given their experience.

Companies and fractional SDRs should prioritize creating a collaborative and supportive environment within their team. This includes sharing best practices, providing feedback and support to team members, and celebrating successes.

When you encourage a positive team culture, fractional SDRs can increase efficiency and motivation among team members.

You want to avoid resentment and instead celebrate how much time your fractional SDR is saving the rest of your team, ensuring they understand how beneficial this model is.

Companies and fractional SDRs should also review their progress and recognize achievements in addition to regular check-ins with their team or manager.

This keeps everyone motivated and focused on their goals and allows continued growth and improvement. It also gives space for brainstorming or suggestions from an expert in lead funnel sales.

Furthermore, recognizing individual and team achievements can boost morale and create a sense of camaraderie within the team. This can also increase productivity and efficiency, as team members feel motivated to continue achieving success.

You rarely get to work with an expert at their craft, so make the most of the fractional SDR. To continuously improve and maximize efficiency, companies should establish a feedback loop with their SDR and their team regarding sales efforts.

Not only do fractional SDRs get constant feedback from prospects regarding your sales efforts, thus allowing you to correct your course as needed, but they also have the expertise they bring with them.

Allow flexibility in your sales strategies to account for the need to make changes and try new things.

A successful fractional SDR and client relationship will be:

• Align goals and objectives with the company's overall sales strategy
• Support and resources provided in a loop
• Integrated into team tech and sales enablement tools for maximum efficiency
• Integrated with relevant team members, such as managers or AEs
• A collaborative environment open to experimentation
• Progress review with recognition of achievements
• Trusted feedback loop for strategy, allowing for space to try new things

Fractional SDRs can effectively contribute to the sales team and drive the organization's success. They do this best when left to their own devices: provide them with a general list of tasks and allow them room to experiment.

The best ones will have many ideas ready for you as they continuously educate themselves on industry trends and best practices to stay ahead of the game.

With proper alignment, support, resources, collaboration, feedback, and self-improvement, fractional SDRs can maximize their efficiency and contribute to the success of the sales team and organization.

You may wonder if there's any difference between a fractional SDR and an outsourced SDR - the short answer is NO.

They're essentially the same thing. The only difference is the degrees of involvement and oversight.

Fractional SDRs typically work directly with your team, which allows for more control and alignment with your business culture and practices. You are in charge of payroll and the contract agreement.

On the other hand, an outsourced SDR operates under an external company, providing a more hands-off approach but with fewer internal synergies. You pay via the outsourcing company, and the contract is with them.

SalesPipe is a sales outsourcing software where you can find SDRs ready to start selling for you from anywhere in the world.

We understand that not every company has the resources or budget to hire a full-time sales team, so we offer flexible and customizable solutions to your needs.

We work closely with your team to ensure you find the right SDR for your company. Our available fractional SDRs are hand-picked to help tech companies of all sizes and industries.

We have SDRs with a lot of experience in the tech industry, and we'll ensure they utilize their background to help your business navigate and thrive.

All you have to do is sign up to access our platform, complete a few details, and our matching software will find the right SDR for your startup.

Getting a fractional SDR is a smart decision for businesses looking to scale their sales and generate leads efficiently. Fractional SDRs can provide the same level of expertise and dedication as a full-time SDR without breaking the bank.

The fractional SDRs on our software are ready to assist you in achieving your sales goals.

Get in touch with us now to learn more about how we can help your business reach its full potential.