Sales Development Rep

Screening notes

Experience

3 years as an SDR and then a senior SDR, the last 18 months at a US B2B SaaS company (project management for construction, $8M ARR). I worked US Eastern hours from Medellín. Quota was 8 qualified opportunities a month. I hit quota in 9 of 12 months in my first year and 11 of 12 in my second. Best month was 14 qualified opps. I ran email and LinkedIn sequences exclusively — no cold calling except on warm inbound, which the company did not consider SDR work. My open rate on first-touch emails was 54%, against a 33% team average. The difference was almost entirely the research step — I spent 10 minutes per prospect reading their recent posts, their company news, and their job postings before writing a single line.

Tools

Apollo for sequencing and prospecting, HubSpot CRM, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Loom for personalised video touches, Google Sheets for my own tracking

Scenario answer

Asked: A prospect replies to your third email with: 'We already use a competitor and we're happy.' You believe you're genuinely a better fit for their situation. Write your actual reply, then explain what you'd do if they don't respond.

When a prospect says 'We already use a competitor and we're happy' on the third email, I do not argue with 'happy'. Happy is true and arguing with it is the fastest way to end the conversation. My actual reply: --- Subject: Re: Re: Re: [subject] That is completely fair. Happy customers should stay — moving a tool that works is a real cost. I will be direct: I reached out because [specific thing I noticed about their situation — a job posting for a project manager, a recent LinkedIn post about scaling ops, a company announcement]. That context made me think there might be a specific scenario where what we do differently is actually relevant — not broadly, but for that particular thing. If I am wrong about the fit, 30 seconds to tell me and I will close the thread. If I am right, worth five minutes to find out. Either way you have not lost anything. --- What I am doing: I am not asking them to switch. I am asking for a conversation about one specific scenario I identified in my research. The 'competitor and happy' objection is usually a catch-all that means 'your first three emails didn't give me a reason to engage.' A reply that names the specific reason I reached out — not just 'I think we can add value' but something I observed about their situation — is the only thing that opens that back up. If they do not respond: one more touch in 8–10 days, different angle, same quality. Something specific they posted or a piece of news about their company. After that, I mark them as a longer-term nurture and move on. Three touches with a fourth targeted follow-up is the ceiling — after that persistence is spam.

Work sample

Asked: Write a 3-email outbound sequence for a product you know (state which). Include the subject lines, and say what specific research you'd do on each prospect before sending the first one.

3-EMAIL OUTBOUND SEQUENCE — for Apollo (the prospecting and sales engagement platform) Product: Apollo.io (B2B prospecting and outbound sequencing) Target prospect: Head of Sales or VP of Sales at a Series A or B SaaS company with a 4–8 person sales team RESEARCH I WOULD DO BEFORE EMAIL 1: For each prospect I would spend 8–12 minutes on: (1) their LinkedIn activity in the last 30 days — do they post about pipeline, hiring, RevOps? (2) their company job postings — are they hiring SDRs? A new SDR hire is a person who will need a prospecting tool. (3) their tech stack via Apollo or BuiltWith — are they on Outreach/Salesloft already, or running sequences from Gmail? (4) their funding news — recent raise often means scaling the team. EMAIL 1 Subject: SDR headcount at [Company] Saw you posted a role for a second SDR last week — that usually means the current tool setup is about to get stretched. A lot of teams at your stage end up on a mix of tools that made sense at 2 reps and start to show the seams at 5. Apollo consolidates the prospecting database, the sequencer, and the CRM sync into one seat — so your new SDR is fully operational in under a day, not a week. Worth a 15-minute look at how the current setup handles the scale-up? [first name] EMAIL 2 — 5 days later Subject: [Company] + Apollo Quick follow-up. Your team is at the stage where the prospecting database is usually the biggest variable — who you can find, how fresh the data is, how fast the new hire can build a list. Most teams at [4-8 rep stage] are cobbling together ZoomInfo or LinkedIn exports with a separate tool for the sequence. Apollo runs both in one place and the new hire writes their first sequence the same day they get a seat. If you are evaluating tools ahead of the hire, happy to show you what the list-building looks like on a live account — 20 minutes. EMAIL 3 — 7 days later Subject: Closing this out Closing the thread on this — I do not want to keep sending if the timing isn't right. One thing I didn't mention: we offer a free prospecting audit for sales leaders — I pull 200 contacts matching your ICP, show you the data quality and coverage gap vs. your current source, and you keep the list either way. No call required. Worth a yes or a no if you have 30 seconds. [first name]

Availability

Full-time, 9am–6pm ET from Medellín. Two weeks' notice.

Screening notes

Experience

2 years as an SDR for a US-based software company, working from Manila on US Pacific hours. I handle outbound email and LinkedIn prospecting for mid-market accounts (50–500 employees). My quota is 6 qualified meetings a month. I consistently hit between 5 and 7. I do not cold call — the team's motion is email-first with LinkedIn connection requests as the second touch. I spend about 15 minutes on research per prospect: I read their LinkedIn profile, check their company's website for recent news or product launches, and look for any mutual connections I can reference.

Tools

Salesloft, Salesforce, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Apollo for data enrichment

Scenario answer

Asked: A prospect replies to your third email with: 'We already use a competitor and we're happy.' You believe you're genuinely a better fit for their situation. Write your actual reply, then explain what you'd do if they don't respond.

When a prospect says they already use a competitor and they are happy, I would not argue or immediately go into a features comparison. That rarely works. My reply would be: --- Hi [name], Totally understand — if what you have is working well, a switch is a real disruption and probably not worth it right now. I'll be quick: the reason I reached out to you specifically was [specific thing I noticed — maybe a recent role they posted, something from their LinkedIn, a company milestone]. I thought there might be a scenario where what we offer fills a gap that your current tool might not address — but I could be wrong about that. If you have two minutes to tell me whether [specific pain point I identified] is actually a challenge for your team, I promise I won't pitch you if it isn't. [name] --- The key is being specific about why I reached out and making a very small ask. A 'two-minute conversation to see if it's relevant' is much easier to say yes to than 'can I show you a demo'. If they do not respond, I would send one more email in about a week with a different angle — maybe a relevant case study or a piece of content related to the challenge I identified. After that I would stop and mark them for follow-up in 90 days. I do not believe in sending more than 4 touches total without any engagement.

Work sample

Asked: Write a 3-email outbound sequence for a product you know (state which). Include the subject lines, and say what specific research you'd do on each prospect before sending the first one.

3-EMAIL SEQUENCE — for a B2B HR software product (example: Rippling) Product: Rippling (HR, payroll, and IT management platform) Target: HR Manager or HR Director at a company of 50–200 employees currently using separate tools for HR and payroll RESEARCH BEFORE EMAIL 1: For each prospect I would check: (1) their LinkedIn profile for their current tools (often listed or referenced in posts), (2) their company's job postings — are they hiring HR coordinators? That signals manual HR work. (3) recent company news — new funding, rapid headcount growth, new office. Growth companies outpace their current HR tooling fastest. EMAIL 1 Subject: HR + payroll at [Company] — a quick question I noticed [Company] recently [specific thing — opened a new office / posted for a 3rd HR coordinator / announced X new hires]. Growth like that usually puts a lot of pressure on the tools HR is using. Rippling combines payroll, benefits, and device management in one platform — so when you hire someone, their payroll, their laptop, and their app access are all set up at the same time, not one at a time across three systems. Is syncing HR and IT currently a friction point for your team? EMAIL 2 — 5 days later Subject: Quick follow up Following up from my email last week. I know you are busy. One thing I hear from HR teams at your stage is that the real time cost is not the big tasks — it is the small ones that happen every time someone joins, changes roles, or leaves. Rippling automates most of those. If you are spending more than 30 minutes per hire on the admin side, it might be worth a quick look. Happy to share a 3-minute product overview. EMAIL 3 — 8 days later Subject: Last one from me Last check-in before I let this one go. If the timing is not right or it's simply not a fit, completely fine. If anything I mentioned resonated, I am happy to set up a 15-minute call. If not — completely understood and I'll close this out. [name]

Availability

Full-time, 11pm–8am PHT to cover 8am–5pm US Pacific (midnight to 9am PHT in the US winter). Two weeks' notice.

Screening notes

Experience

1 year as a sales development rep for a BPO company that handles outbound campaigns for US clients. I make outbound calls and send emails to leads for a SaaS product. I also do LinkedIn outreach. My target is 5 booked calls a week and I usually hit around 4 to 5. I am comfortable talking to gatekeepers and I am good at following scripts. I am eager to grow in sales and I have been listening to sales podcasts and reading books about SDR best practices in my own time.

Tools

Zoho CRM, LinkedIn basic, email, phone

Scenario answer

Asked: A prospect replies to your third email with: 'We already use a competitor and we're happy.' You believe you're genuinely a better fit for their situation. Write your actual reply, then explain what you'd do if they don't respond.

When a prospect says they are happy with a competitor, I would stay positive and not get defensive. I would acknowledge their situation and then try to keep the conversation going. My reply would be something like: --- Hi [name], That is great to hear that your current solution is working for you. I completely understand. I would just love the opportunity to share how we are helping similar companies with [specific benefit]. Sometimes businesses find it valuable to see what else is available, even if they end up staying with their current provider. It only takes 15 minutes. Would you be open to a quick call this week? [name] --- If they do not respond to this, I would follow up one more time after a few days with a similar message. If there is still no response, I would wait a month and then try again with a different approach, perhaps sharing a relevant case study or industry report. I believe persistence and staying positive are the most important things in sales. Even if someone says no today, the right timing and a consistent approach can eventually open the door.

Work sample

Asked: Write a 3-email outbound sequence for a product you know (state which). Include the subject lines, and say what specific research you'd do on each prospect before sending the first one.

3-EMAIL OUTBOUND SEQUENCE — for a CRM software product Product: A CRM for small businesses Target: Small business owners or sales managers RESEARCH BEFORE EMAIL 1: I would look at their LinkedIn profile and their company website to understand their business and see if they mention any tools they use. I would also check if they have any recent updates or news that I can reference. EMAIL 1 Subject: Quick question about your sales process Hi [name], I came across your profile and I was impressed by [company name]'s work. I wanted to reach out because I believe our CRM could help your team manage your pipeline more effectively. Our clients typically see a 20% improvement in their close rate after implementing our tool. Would you be open to a quick 15-minute call to see if it could be a fit for your team? Best regards, [name] EMAIL 2 — 3 days later Subject: Following up Hi [name], I just wanted to follow up on my previous email. I know you are busy, but I really believe our CRM can make a difference for your team. We have helped many businesses similar to yours streamline their sales process and close more deals. I would love to show you how. Do you have 15 minutes this week for a quick call? Best, [name] EMAIL 3 — 5 days later Subject: Last try Hi [name], I know I have been persistent but I genuinely believe this could be valuable for you. If now is not the right time, I completely understand. Just let me know if you would like to connect in the future and I will reach out again then. Thank you for your time. [name]

Availability

Full-time, night shift PHT to cover US hours. Available immediately.