Should we hire an SDR?
Not first. An SDR multiplies an outbound motion that already works; they are not hired to build one. Hire an SDR once the buyer, the list, the message and the follow-up are proven. Until then, Forte Growth builds and runs that motion, so the SDR you hire later inherits something that works.
What does an SDR need in place to succeed?
A defined buyer, a list with a reason to reach out now, a message that has already produced replies, a CRM that shows what happened last time and a clean handover to whoever runs the sales call. An SDR executes that system. Asked to invent it as well, an SDR spends the ramp-up guessing.
Why do founders hire an SDR before anything else?
Because it is the most junior role on a revenue team and the one most directly tied to meetings. It feels like buying pipeline.
The salary is only part of the cost. Recruiting, onboarding and ramp-up come before the first meeting, and if the motion underneath is not ready, the search starts again with the same gap. A complete UK marketing function is five hires and around £250,000 a year in salary; the SDR is one of the five.
When is hiring an SDR the right call?
When outbound already produces meetings without the founder in the middle, the message has held for a few months and there are more good accounts than one person can work. At that point an SDR adds capacity to something proven, which is what the role is for.
What is the alternative to hiring an SDR now?
Build the motion first. Forte Growth sets up segments, lists, messaging, sequences and follow-up, and puts outbound live in week three. OMMA reached £500K of qualified pipeline in eight weeks and went from nothing to fifteen demos a month, with positioning, founder content and outbound working as one system.
What does an SDR inherit if we build the system first?
A working system: tested messages, signal-based lists, a CRM with real stages and documentation of what the market has taught. The hire starts producing instead of building.
Forte Growth takes over your go to market and marketing, builds it, improves it and runs it to get you results. You take it in-house or keep Forte running it.
ALPER YURDER · FORTE GROWTH
Why five separate hires, the SDR among them, take months to become one working team.
What should we do first?
Take the diagnostic. Ten focused questions show where the commercial constraint sits and the best next move, with an instant result and no email gate.