Sales Development Representative Job Chicago area,Illinois USA,Sales

We are looking for a highly motivated, resilient, and competitive Sales Development Representative (SDR) to join our growing sales team. As the first point of contact for potential clients, your primary mission is to identify new business opportunities, initiate meaningful conversations, and qualify leads to build a healthy sales pipeline. This role is perfect for a proactive communicator who thrives in a high-activity environment and is eager to kickstart a successful career in sales.

Core Responsibilities

Outbound Prospecting & Lead Generation:
Conduct high-volume outbound outreach daily via cold calling, personalized email sequencing, and social selling. Utilize advanced prospecting tools to research companies, identify key decision-makers, and map out target accounts. Craft persuasive, concise copy for email campaigns and utilize video prospecting to stand out in prospects' inboxes.

Qualification & Discovery:
Engage inbound leads and outbound prospects through active listening and strategic discovery questions to uncover pain points. Effectively manage and pivot through complex objections to determine if a prospect matches our ideal customer profile. Successfully book qualified introductory meetings and discovery calls for Account Executives (AEs).

Pipeline Hygiene & Tech Stack Utilization:
Maintain strict data entry standards and pipeline hygiene inside the CRM to ensure accurate tracking of all sales interactions. Manage daily tasks, follow-ups, and automated cadences using sales engagement and dialer platforms.

Skills & Requirements
Hard & Technical Skills

CRM Platforms:
Experience or fast adaptability with Salesforce, Hub Spot, or Zoho.
Sales Engagement & Databases:
Familiarity with Outreach, Salesloft, Zoom Info, Seamless.

AI, or Lusha.
Social Selling:
Proficiency using Linked In Sales Navigator for lead sourcing.
Outreach Tech:
Comfort with cold calling/phone dialer technology (Aircall, Ring Central) and video prospecting software (Loom, Vidyard).
Core Productivity:
Strong fundamentals in Google Workspace and Microsoft Office 365.

Soft & Behavioral Skills

Resilience & Drive:
High intrinsic motivation with the emotional stamina to handle rejection and maintain a positive attitude.
Communication & Presence:
Exceptional verbal articulation, conversational pacing, and empathetic rapport building.
Execution:
Excellent time management skills to structure high-volume daily outreach tasks efficiently.
Coachability:
Curiosity, strong investigative instincts, and a desire to implement feedback rapidly to improve performance.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Activity Volume:
Meeting daily/weekly targets for cold calls, emails, and social touches.
Conversion Rates:
Percentage of outreach attempts that turn into live conversations.
Pipeline Contribution:
Number of qualified meetings booked and opportunities accepted by the AE team.