In a market that increasingly demands customized solutions, sales development representatives (SDRs) now carry greater responsibility to move beyond the traditionally generic nature of their role and prioritize building meaningful relationships with potential customers. As organizations seek SDRs with more specialized skill sets, partnering with an experienced recruiting agency can be an invaluable step toward securing candidates who directly contribute to your company’s success.
SDRs are entry-level, pre-sales professionals who build sales pipelines by prospecting potential customers and qualifying leads. Their outbound responsibilities typically involve identifying companies that match an ideal buyer persona and contacting them through cold calls, emails, and LinkedIn messages to understand their needs, budgets, and goals. They also follow up with inbound, marketing-qualified leads generated from content such as social media, blog posts, or website form fills.
These professionals also research how well the product’s capabilities align with a customer’s needs, nurturing promising leads through personalized outreach to provide additional product information and maintain engagement. Prospects who demonstrate a genuine interest in learning more about the product are then passed on to an account executive, who guides them through the rest of the sales process.
An SDR’s success depends largely on their communication and relationship-building skills, given their responsibility to serve as a prospect’s first point of contact and explain the product’s capability to deliver value to their business. Many companies also prioritize candidates who demonstrate a strong culture fit, commonly looking for coachability, emotional intelligence, and even prior athletic experience.
In addition to these soft skills, top SDRs bring the technical proficiency needed to leverage automation, CRM, sales engagement, and data analysis tools. An increasing number of organizations, especially AI companies, are also seeking SDRs with more advanced technical expertise than entry-level roles have traditionally required, enabling them to demonstrate deeper product knowledge.
Below are the top ten recruiting agencies for SDRs in tech. These firms leverage deep role expertise, extensive talent networks, and a consultative approach to match you with candidates who bring the exact qualities and backgrounds needed to drive your revenue growth.
1. Betts Recruiting
Founded in 2009, Betts Recruiting is the top trusted partner for high-growth tech companies seeking exceptional GTM talent. Known for combining proprietary sourcing technology and an extensive talent network to deliver customized solutions, Betts has helped numerous innovative organizations recruit top SDRs, including Zendesk, Splashtop, Better Mortgage, Electric, Staffbase, and many more.
The firm is powered by Betts Connect, an in-house talent marketplace that enables fast, precise candidate sourcing using filters such as quota attainment, deal size, and industries sold to. Built for both recruiters and hiring managers, Betts Connect accelerates the search process whether you opt for traditional or self-sourcing talent solutions.
Zendesk, a SaaS-based customer service platform provider, leveraged Betts Connect to dramatically accelerate its sourcing process. After spending 20 hours per hire on LinkedIn Recruiter and expected to fall short of its hiring goals by 50%, Zendesk used Betts Connect to decrease that time to just one hour of sourcing per hire, positioning it to hire 50 SDRs and AEs that year.
Splashtop, a remote access and support software provider, chose the firm’s subscription-based Recruitment-as-a-Service (RaaS) model when seeking SDRs to receive access to Betts Connect and personalized support from verticalized recruiters, all while avoiding the high costs of a traditional partnership model.
Prioritizing candidates with grit, coachability, and an ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment, Splashtop turned to Betts for help conducting thorough screening processes that went beyond the resume and achieved impressive results. By combining the speed of Betts Connect with the recruiters’ deep role expertise, Splashtop made four SDR hires in a month, with an average time-to-hire of two just weeks.
2. Treeline, Inc.
Founded in 2001, Treeline, Inc. is a sales recruiting specialist that leverages proprietary resume and AI-powered sourcing technology to quickly deliver candidates through flexible hiring models.
The firm’s self-sourcing solution gives companies access to an AI-powered candidate platform during a thirty day period. Featuring 200,000 candidates and proprietary resume technology that provides insights into career history, sales stats, and compensation expectations, this tool provides a cost-effective solution for rapid hiring at scale.
This platform also accelerate the hiring process for companies using the contingency service, enabling recruiters to deliver the first candidate within three days and fill your roles within a month. The firm implements a performance-based fee structure to reduce risk without compromising speed.
3. Sales Talent Inc.
Sales Talent Inc. has specialized in sales recruiting since 1999, with deep experience placing talent for high-growth tech and SaaS startups across diverse domains such as AI, FinTech, cybersecurity, HealthTech, Retail Tech, and more.
The firm distinguishes itself from competitors by dedicating around 62 hours per search, almost three times the industry average. Recruiters target passive salespeople and interview each candidate twice to ensure that they are a strong culture fit.
4. TheLIONS
Founded in 2010 by a sales leader from a $100+ million startup, TheLIONS is a deeply values-driven firm that exclusively recruits revenue-generating talent across diverse tech sectors, with particular success in enterprise SaaS and AI, Internet of Things, FinTech, and HealthTech.
TheLIONS is committed to building a talent network of candidates who demonstrate leadership, self-sufficiency, accountability, humility, and drive. The firm applies its core beliefs in truth, honor, and ethos to forge partnerships founded on trust, open-mindedness, and objectivity.
The firm aims to triple your talent pool, leveraging deep California roots, a nationwide reach, and strong relationships with venture capitalists and CEOs to match your company with candidates who make a lasting impact.
5. Sloane Staffing
Founded in 2017, Sloane Staffing places sales, marketing, and technical talent across diverse industries, leveraging a deep SDR recruiting focus to accurately vet candidates for the hard and soft skills that predict long-term success.
Recruiters take the time to understand your business and role requirements to identify qualified, committed candidates. Drawing on their SDR expertise, they evaluate each candidate’s prospecting skills, lead qualification process, and fluency with sales tools, placing a particularly strong emphasis on traits such as organization, communication, active listening, and persistence.
6. salestalent.com
Founded in 2021 by a 6x sales executive with experience leading large SDR teams, salestalent.com exclusively recruits permanent sales talent for organizations across the tech, SaaS, industrial, and medical industries. Each recruiter has at least three years of experience leading a sales team or organization, giving them deep, credible expertise in identifying top SDR candidates.
Recruiters begin the hiring process by developing a customized search strategy and candidate scorecard. They target 100 to 300 passive candidates through seven-point, multi-channel outreach campaigns to present you with three to five interested prospects within two weeks.
As SDR experts, recruiters also consider which “category” of candidate aligns best with your needs, whether it’s a recent college graduate, an early or second career professional, or an experienced SDR, underscoring the level of attention dedicated to your search.
7. InsideScale
Founded in 2016, InsideScale is a sales development consulting firm that specializes in helping SaaS startups build high-performing SDR teams. The firm’s hyper-focus on the SDR function gives it valuable insights into the evolving responsibilities of this role, especially in the age of AI.
InsideScale adopts a high-touch approach to build or optimize your SDR team in only one to two months, with deep experience delivering scale-ready SDRs, senior SDRs, and SDR leaders. The firm also provides additional services such as SDR coaching and sales stack design.
8. CulverCareers
Founded in 1979, CulverCareers recruits sales, marketing, and information technology talent across the tech and SaaS industries for companies of all sizes. The firm combines a dedicated SDR recruiting focus with personalized candidate outreach and to identify professionals who align with your current stage of growth.
Recruiters target active and passive candidates through personalized outreach, including an introductory call where they “sell” your opportunity to assess basic fit and level of interest. Candidates who pass this initial call undergo a more in-depth, role-specific screening that evaluates their motivations, achievements, compensation expectations, and overall alignment with the position.
9. Hirewell
Founded in 2001, Hirewell provides recruitment and advisory services across diverse domains, with specific focuses in sales and SaaS recruiting. The global firm pairs a sales-exclusive talent marketplace with a consultative approach to conduct fast and targeted searches.
Hiring managers and recruiters can use Rainmakers, a platform that serves as a job board and a sourcing tool, to quickly connect with pre-vetted sales talent. A 93% response rate from candidates accelerates the search process by making it easier to engage interested professionals.
Recruiters design tailored hiring strategies that support your long-term goals by gaining a deep understanding of your business and leveraging market insights into compensation benchmarks and available talent.
10. Captivate Talent
Founded in 2017, Captivate Talent partners exclusively with early- to growth-stage SaaS startups to place permanent GTM and RevOps talent. The firm takes a consultative, human-centered approach to conduct thorough vetting processes that deliver well-matched candidates.
Recruiters implement interviews and assessments to evaluate each candidate’s technical fluency, communication skills, cultural fit, and ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment. The firm also draws on its startup expertise to consider how well candidates align with your current stage of growth.
Compensation Trends for Sales Development Representatives
Young professionals face fierce competition nationwide for limited entry-level SDR positions as organizations prioritize candidates who require minimal training. Companies seeking less experienced candidates are increasingly sourcing them from emerging tech markets such as Huntsville, Colorado Springs, and Dayton, where salary rates are typically 10% to 15% lower than in traditional tech hubs.
Entry-level SDRs in traditional tech hubs earn comparable average base salaries, particularly as the ranges in New York, San Francisco, and the East Coast begin to align with those in other regions of the country. However, entry-level SDRs working in New York, San Francisco, the Pacific time zone, or remotely generally maintain higher on-target earnings (OTE) potential.
NY/SF-based SDR (Entry-level)
Base + OTE: $50K–$70K | $80K–$90K
Pacific-based SDR (Entry-level)
Base + OTE: $55K–$70K | $80K–$90K
Mountain/Central-based SDR (Entry-level)
Base + OTE: $55K–$70K | $70K–$85K
Eastern-based SDR (Entry-level)
Base + OTE: $55K–$65K | $75K–$90K
Remote SDR (Entry-level)
Base + OTE: $50K–$70K | $70K–$95K
SDRs with six months of experience or more can expect to earn at least $60K in average base salaries, though the higher end of the ranges varies depending on location. OTE generally ranges between $80K and $100K across the country.
NY/SF-based SDR (6+ Months Experience)
Base + OTE: $60K–$80K | $80K–$100K
Pacific-based SDR (6+ Months Experience)
Base + OTE: $60K–$75K | $85K–$100K
Mountain-based SDR (6+ Months Experience)
Base + OTE: $60K–$70K | $85K–$100K
Central-based SDR (6+ Months Experience)
Base + OTE: $60K–$75K | $80K–$100K
Eastern-based SDR (6+ Months Experience)
Base + OTE: $65K–$80K | $85K–$100K
Remote SDR (6+ Months Experience)
Base + OTE: $60K–$80K | $85K–$100K
Check out the 2025 Compensation Guide and the 2025 Enterprise Compensation Guide for more insights into competitive salary ranges and evolving market trends. Our data-driven Comp Engine also provides real-time benchmarks based on our recent placements across all GTM roles.
Looking for ambitious, lead-generating talent? Contact Betts here to get started today.