Sales Development Representative (SDR)
About The Position
As a Sales Development Representative (SDR), you will turn interest generated by marketing campaigns into qualified sales conversations by understanding prospective clients’ business needs. You will collaborate with marketing and sales colleagues to improve outreach and provide account executives with the context needed to continue prospect conversations. The role also offers opportunities to build product knowledge and sales skills through prospect research, outreach, and feedback. The position requires working in Morningstar’s Chicago office four days per week and is an immediate hire role. It is part of the Business Development & Sales group, which helps financial professionals build their businesses and provide better outcomes for investors.
Requirements
- Internship to 2 years of experience in customer-facing roles, sales, or business development.
- Bachelor’s degree required.
- Clear written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to listen closely and ask questions that uncover prospect needs.
- Ability to manage multiple prospect conversations, prioritize follow-ups, and meet agreed response times.
- Familiarity with CRM tools such as Salesforce and sales engagement platforms.
- Ability to use lead and outreach data to improve the sales approach.
Nice To Haves
- Experience in business-to-business (B2B) or software-as-a-service (SaaS) settings is preferred.
- A degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, or a related field is preferred.
Responsibilities
- Handle and qualify Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) from the marketing team within predetermined Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
- Conduct proactive outbound prospecting, including cold calling, to identify business opportunities and generate interest in Morningstar solutions.
- Engage with leads by phone, email, and LinkedIn to understand their needs and pain points.
- Develop early-stage opportunities through follow-up conversations.
- Arrange meetings and product demonstrations with account executives or sales managers, sharing prospects’ needs and conversation histories.
- Keep prospect records and next steps current in the CRM so sales colleagues can continue conversations with context.
- Support outbound sales campaigns and adapt outreach to prospects’ business challenges.
- Track calls, emails, meetings, and opportunities; review conversion rates, outreach results, and pipeline growth to identify improvements to the qualification process.
- Share feedback with marketing on lead quality and campaign results.
- Use knowledge of Morningstar products, industry trends, and competitor offerings to make prospect conversations more useful.
Benefits
- 100% 401(k) match up to 6% of salary.
- Stock ownership potential.
- Company-provided life insurance equal to 1x salary plus commission.
- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits, including potential premium discounts and company-provided HSA contributions for specific plans and coverages.
- Additional medical wellness incentives.
- Company-provided long- and short-term disability insurance.
- Trust-Based Time Off.
- Six-week paid sabbatical program.
- Six-week paid family caregiving leave.
- Paid parental leave of 8 to 24 weeks.
- Adoption assistance.
- Leadership coaching and formal mentorship opportunities.
- Annual flex stipend of $1,000 for personal education and well-being expenses.
- Tuition reimbursement.
- Charitable matching gifts program.
- Dollars for Doers volunteer program.
- Paid volunteering days.
- Employee resource and affinity groups.
- Hybrid work environment with four days in-office each week in most locations.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
