SDR (Sales Development Representative)

Overview

You prospect into finance departments at mid-market and enterprise companies, reaching out to CFOs, Controllers, and AP Directors to book qualified meetings for Account Executives. You're selling Stampli's AP automation platform - software that handles invoice processing, approvals, and payments, now with an AI component called Billy.

Role Snapshot

Company Context

Stage: Growth stage (306 employees suggests Series B/C)

Size: 306 employees

Growth: Actively hiring SDRs in Nashville, suggesting expansion

Market Position: Challenger in AP automation - competing in a mature category (Coupa, SAP Concur, Bill.com) with an AI differentiation angle

GTM Reality

Pipeline Sources:

• 20-30% Inbound - Some marketing-generated leads from content and demo requests, but AP automation isn't a high-intent search category
• 70-80% Outbound - Cold calling, email sequences, LinkedIn outreach to target accounts
• Minimal Partner/Referral flow at SDR level

SDR/AE Structure: Dedicated SDR team feeding AEs (standard enterprise SaaS model)

SE Support: Not relevant at SDR stage

Competitive Landscape

Main Competitors: Bill.com, Coupa, AvidXchange, SAP Concur, Tipalti, and dozens of other AP automation tools

How They Differentiate: Billy the AI employee (automates AP tasks), ERP-agnostic approach, and workflow flexibility

Common Objections: "We already use [Bill.com/NetSuite/our ERP's AP module]", "Our current process works fine", "We're not ready to change systems", "What's your AI actually do that others don't?"

Win Themes: Flexibility for complex approval workflows, AI automation saves manual work, integrates with existing ERPs without replacing them

What You'll Actually Do

Time Breakdown

Cold Calling (40%) | Email/LinkedIn (30%) | Research/List Building (15%) | Internal Meetings (15%)

Key Activities

• Cold Calling: You make 50-70 calls per day to CFOs, Controllers, and AP Directors. Most go to voicemail. You're trying to get 2-3 conversations daily where you can pitch a 15-minute discovery call. Gatekeepers are common - executive admins who screen calls.
• Email Sequences: You send personalized outreach emails (8-12 per day for new targets, plus follow-ups) highlighting AP pain points like manual invoice entry, approval bottlenecks, or lack of spend visibility. You reference their ERP system and company size to show you've done research.
• LinkedIn Outreach: You send connection requests and InMails to prospects, often as a follow-up to calls or emails. Finance people are less active on LinkedIn than sales/marketing folks, so response rates are lower.
• List Building & Research: You spend time identifying target companies (right size, right ERP system, industries that process lots of invoices), finding the right contacts, and researching their current AP setup before outreach.

The Honest Reality

What's Hard

• AP automation is a "nice to have" until it becomes urgent - most companies don't wake up thinking about their invoice process. You're often creating demand, not capturing it.
• Getting past gatekeepers to reach CFOs and Controllers is difficult. They're busy, not actively looking for your solution, and get a lot of vendor calls.
• The market is crowded. Prospects have heard of Bill.com, might already use something, or are locked into their ERP's AP module. You'll hear "we're all set" constantly.
• Proving AI value is fuzzy - everyone claims AI now. You need to articulate what Billy actually does differently in 30 seconds on a cold call.
• Nashville office suggests in-person requirement or hybrid setup, which limits flexibility compared to remote SDR roles.

What Success Looks Like

• Booking 15-25 qualified meetings per month (qualified = right title, right company size, willing to take a demo)
• 40-50% of your meetings show up and convert to opportunities for AEs
• Building a pipeline of warm prospects who aren't ready now but will be in 3-6 months

Who You're Selling To

Primary Buyers:

• CFOs at 200-2,000 person companies
• Controllers and VP Finance
• AP Directors and AP Managers (users/influencers, rarely decision-makers)

What They Care About:

• Reducing manual AP work and month-end close time
• Visibility into spend and cash flow
• Audit trails and compliance (SOX, internal controls)
• Whether it integrates with their ERP without ripping and replacing
• ROI - will this save enough time to justify the cost and change management?

Requirements

• Comfortable making 50+ cold calls per day and hearing "no" or getting hung up on regularly
• Ability to understand finance workflows enough to have credible conversations (you'll learn AP, procurement, and ERP terminology)
• Coachable and willing to iterate on messaging - what works to book meetings changes as the market and competition evolve
• Located in Nashville or willing to relocate (posting implies local role)
• Hunger to hit quota and move into closing roles (SDR is typically a 12-18 month stepping stone)