BDR calling playbook for outbound teams

What this playbook covers

BDR work is routing: the right accounts into the AE calendar, the wrong ones out of the board, and a record honest enough that nobody re-works either decision. This playbook covers list tiering, block structure, cadence, dispositions, the three-line workflow, and KPI ranges against production reference points.

List building and hygiene

Build in tiers, not piles. Tier 1 matches the bullseye profile and gets the best hours; tier 2 is adjacent and gets the second block; tier 3 is early-stage and lives on voicemail-and-email arcs until something moves. Every row carries company, a title-matched contact, phone, and the segment tag the opener quotes. Rows without a phone go to a research tab, not the dialer.

Hygiene rules:

• Internal do-not-call suppression before import, every import; the stop-request log gets checked weekly, because a missed stop request in B2B is both a legal problem and a burned account.
• The business-to-business exemption in 16 CFR 310.6(b)(7) covers most calls to induce a business purchase, but it is narrow and does not touch TCPA wireless rules at 47 CFR 64.1200; personal cells on B2B lists are the reason.
• Bad numbers die on second confirmation; recycled bad numbers are the most common hidden tax on connect rates.
• Calling hours stay inside 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local at the called party’s location as standing policy even where the rule is residential-only, because principals answer cell phones at home.

Call block structure

Block 1, 8:30 to 10:00. Tier 1 cold. Decision makers answer before noon; this block is the reason the team exists.

Block 2, 10:15 to 11:45. Tier 2 cold plus no-show recycles. Recycles re-book with the same agenda and zero guilt, within five business days of the miss.

Block 3, 1:30 to 3:00. Warm callbacks, callback-requested rows, and dated nurture re-entries. Afternoon is where promised follow-ups get honored, which is why morning promises get kept.

Between blocks: edit AI summaries, send agendas, set handoff tasks. A BDR who leaves a block with unedited summaries is writing tomorrow’s no-shows today.

Attempt cadence

Five attempts over twelve business days, dayparts rotating:

1. Day 1. Live attempt, honest opener.
2. Day 2, different daypart. The catch window most first attempts miss.
3. Day 5. Voicemail, specific and short, no pitch.
4. Day 8. Live attempt; email with the agenda goes out the same hour regardless.
5. Day 12, final. Live attempt with the honest close: “I will close the file unless you tell me otherwise.”

After five, the lead moves to nurture with a trigger date or out of the board. Attempt caps in the dialer enforce the stop, and the honest close converts often enough that skipping it is malpractice.

Dispositions and what they mean

• Qualified and routed: slot confirmed, agenda attached, summary edited. The AE sees ownership, timing, tooling and the skip-this note before the meeting.
• Nurture, dated: a real future trigger (budget cycle, contract renewal, release ship) with a re-entry date. Not a maybe; a dated lane.
• Unqualified: wrong profile, verified, logged with the reason. This disposition protects AE time and teaches the list builder what to stop buying.
• Callback requested: the prospect picked the time; the board honors it to the minute.
• No-show, recycled: re-booked within five business days; two silent misses move the lead to nurture.
• Bad number / Left voicemail / Do not call: the mechanical set, stop requests honored the same day.

The three-line workflow and AI summaries

Three lines make a BDR a connect handler instead of a dialer. The working rhythm:

• Queue order is tier order; the board never lets a tier 3 row outrank a tier 1 morning slot.
• One connect at a time, four questions, one of two exits. If a second line lights mid-call, park it with a callback promise and dial it from the queue.
• Edit the AI summary before the next connect: ownership, timing, tooling, skip-this, slot. The handoff quality is the summary quality.
• Recording disclosure on in all-party consent states; a sales call crosses state lines without asking.

KPI targets

Ranges against production reference points. In production use across 3-line sessions over 90 days, the median operator ran about 85 dials per active hour and roughly 600 dials per operator day, with person connects around 17.8 percent. Planning ranges:

• Dials per active hour: 60 to 90; tier 1 mornings run lower and warmer blocks run higher.
• Person connects: 10 to 25 percent by list age; tier 1 fresh lists beat tier 3 by double.
• Meetings routed: 8 to 15 per 100 person contacts on tier 1; 3 to 7 on tier 2.
• Show rate: 60 to 80 percent with agenda invites and day-before texts.
• Unqualified share: 20 to 40 percent of contacts. Below 20 percent usually means the BDR is padding the calendar; above 40 percent means the list needs rebuilding.

These figures are measured in production use, 3-line sessions, 90 days; they are reference points, not a promise of results.

Compliance guardrails

The B2B exemption in 16 CFR 310.6(b)(7) narrows the FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule for business calls but does not waive TCPA wireless rules at 47 CFR 64.1200, state telemarketing statutes, or recording consent in all-party states. Stop requests are honored and logged regardless of context. DialBreeze applies your internal DNC list, quiet hours and attempt caps; list provenance and consent records are yours. This guide describes rules, not legal advice.