To hire an offshore SDR or BDR, define the accounts they will target, the work they will own and what qualifies as a useful sales meeting. Assess candidates through a realistic work sample, structured interview and reference checks. Agree working hours, compensation and the sales manager's responsibilities before making an offer.
Somewhere helps companies recruit remote sales professionals through its Direct Hire service. This guide provides a practical way to assess a candidate and compare that hiring model with recruiting directly or engaging an outsourced sales team.
Define the role before the title
Companies use SDR and BDR titles differently. Write down whether the role covers inbound qualification, outbound prospecting, account research or a combination. Specify the target market, channels, tools and handoff to account executives.
Your brief should include:
- The customer profile and accounts the representative will work.
- What qualifies a prospect for a meeting and which contacts should be excluded.
- Whether the person researches accounts, builds lists, writes outreach, calls prospects or qualifies inbound enquiries.
- Required working hours and live overlap with prospects and the sales team.
- CRM requirements, reporting expectations and the manager responsible for coaching.
- Base compensation, any variable component and the conditions for earning it.
Do not expect one new hire to create the target market, messaging, data process and sales strategy without support. Identify which parts of the sales process already work and which need management attention.
Choose between an individual hire and an outsourced service
Direct recruitment and recruiter-led hiring both add an individual to a process your team manages. An outsourced sales provider may also supply supervision, systems or campaign execution, depending on the agreement.
Compare those responsibilities explicitly. An individual recruit's salary and a managed team's monthly invoice are not equivalent prices. Somewhere's Direct Hire service covers recruitment; your team handles onboarding, tools, administration and daily performance management.
Use a work sample that reflects your market
Give shortlisted candidates the same fictional account brief. Ask them to select two priority accounts, explain the relevant buyer, draft an opening email and prepare a short call introduction. Include a simulated objection and ask them to record the outcome in a sample CRM entry.
Review one piece of feedback together and allow a revision. This reveals how the candidate responds to coaching as well as how they perform on a first attempt. Keep the exercise short, pay candidates for substantive work and avoid using the assessment as unpaid prospecting.
Interview scorecard
Score each dimension from 1 to 5 and record evidence from the exercise or interview. Use 1 for material gaps, 3 for meeting the role's requirements and 5 for strong, relevant evidence. Scores of 2 and 4 represent the positions between those anchors.
| Dimension | Evidence to assess |
|---|---|
| Account and buyer judgment | Selects relevant accounts and explains why the contact could benefit from a conversation |
| Outreach quality | Writes a clear, specific message and handles the opening of a call without unsupported claims |
| Qualification and handoff | Asks useful questions, recognises poor fit and records the information an account executive needs |
| Working habits and CRM discipline | Documents activity accurately, prioritises follow-up and communicates blockers |
| Coachability | Understands feedback and makes a useful revision |
The maximum is 25 points. Use the total to organise discussion, not as a validated predictor of sales performance. Set essential requirements before interviews, review any material gap independently and avoid allowing a high total to conceal a missing requirement.
Check references for the kind of work this person actually performed. Separate personal results from team results, and ask how accounts, tools and management support contributed.
Budget for compensation and recruitment
Include agreed compensation, any commission or bonus, recruitment fees, sales tools, data, calling systems and management. Ask for compensation guidance matched to your market, role and working hours.
Somewhere publishes a Direct Hire fee of 25–35% of first-year salary. Confirm how any variable compensation is treated in the fee calculation; do not assume the definition from another provider's quote. A refundable deposit is credited towards the final invoice, with the amount and conditions set out in the proposal.
As an illustration only, an assumed fee basis of US$24,000 in first-year salary produces a one-time placement fee of US$6,000–US$8,400. Salary plus that fee totals US$30,000–US$32,400, before variable pay outside the assumed salary basis, employer costs, tools or administration. This is arithmetic, not an SDR salary benchmark or complete sales budget. Current pricing.
Match sourcing and support to your requirements
Somewhere recruits across markets including Latin America, the Philippines and South Africa. Assess individual experience, communication and availability for your required prospecting hours; do not use location as a substitute for the work sample.
Its Direct Hire offering publishes a six-month replacement guarantee; the pricing comparison lists one free replacement. Confirm the terms and eligibility in writing. The guarantee concerns replacement of a hire, not a guaranteed number of meetings or revenue result.
Plan the first 30 days
In the first week, teach the customer profile, qualification criteria, approved messaging and CRM process. Review practice calls and sample account research before expanding activity.
During the next two weeks, review a small batch of work with the sales manager. Track message quality, qualification accuracy and the usefulness of handoffs alongside activity. Confirm that the representative has the data, tools and feedback needed to improve.
At the end of the month, assess progress against the role brief. Keep booked meetings, held meetings, accepted opportunities and closed revenue separate. These are different stages, and meeting volume alone does not establish sales quality.
Start with a clear sales hiring brief
Bring your target customer, channels, working hours and compensation structure to Somewhere's Direct Hire team. Ask for candidates assessed against those requirements, then use the same scorecard to compare the shortlist.
Related reading: Compare the full cost of domestic and offshore hiring.
