German-speaking SDR

Overview

You're Glean's first German-speaking SDR, opening up the DACH market (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) for their AI enterprise search platform. You'll spend your day cold calling CIOs, IT directors, and knowledge management leaders at German companies, trying to book demos. You're working from Glean's London office 3-4 days per week, building this market from scratch.

Role Snapshot

Company Context

Stage: Growth stage (1,531 employees, first EMEA expansion)

Size: ~1,500 employees

Growth: You're part of their first international SDR team - this is a greenfield expansion

Market Position: Unknown in DACH - you'll be educating the market on who Glean is

GTM Reality

Pipeline Sources:

• 90%+ Outbound - you're building the DACH market from zero
• Minimal inbound (German website traffic is probably low)
• No established partner ecosystem in DACH yet

SDR/AE Structure: You'll pass meetings to AEs (likely US-based initially, then EMEA AEs as they hire). Potential timezone challenges for handoffs.

SE Support: SEs will help with demos but may not be German-speaking initially.

Competitive Landscape

Main Competitors: Microsoft SharePoint search, Google Workspace search, SAP enterprise search, local German AI/search tools

How They Differentiate: AI-powered semantic search vs. basic keyword search, unified cross-platform search

Common Objections: "We already have search," "Never heard of Glean," "Is this GDPR/DSGVO compliant?" "We prefer European vendors," "Too expensive," "We need on-premise deployment"

Win Themes: Employee productivity, AI accuracy, time savings, works across all tools

What You'll Actually Do

Time Breakdown

Cold Calling (40%) | Email/LinkedIn (25%) | Market Research (20%) | Internal Meetings (15%)

Key Activities

• Cold Calling in German: 50-70 dials per day to German IT directors, CIOs, Geschäftsführers. You're calling companies across Germany, Austria, and German-speaking Switzerland. Most have never heard of Glean, so you're doing a lot of education. German business culture is formal and skeptical of cold calls.
• Localization Work: Translating and adapting US messaging for German buyers. German business culture values thoroughness, data privacy, and technical depth more than US buyers. You'll need formal language (Sie, not du) and more structured approaches.
• Email Sequences: Building German sequences from scratch. Testing what resonates with DACH buyers vs. US playbooks. Germans typically expect more detailed, technical information upfront.
• Market Building: You're the first rep in this market, so you'll help identify which German companies to target, which industries respond (manufacturing? financial services?), what messaging works. More strategic input than typical SDR role.
• Timezone Coordination: London office hours, calling German prospects (1 hour ahead) and syncing with US leadership (6-9 hours behind). Expect early or late calls regularly.

The Honest Reality

What's Hard

• Brand unknown in DACH: No one has heard of Glean. You're starting every call with "Lassen Sie mich erklären, wer wir sind..." which makes it harder.
• German skepticism: German buyers are notably skeptical of new tech vendors, especially American ones. They want proof, references, technical depth, and data sovereignty guarantees before taking a meeting.
• DSGVO sensitivity: German companies are extremely cautious about data/AI tools due to strict privacy laws. Expect intense compliance questions you can't answer yet.
• You're alone: You're the only German SDR at launch. No peer in your language to bounce ideas off. London colleagues speak English.
• Building from zero: No German customer references, case studies, or proof points initially. Germans want to see evidence and testimonials from similar companies before trusting you.
• Formal business culture: Cold calling in Germany requires more formal approach than US. Decision cycles are longer and more consensus-driven.
• Timezone squeeze: Calling DACH in the morning, syncing with US teams in the evening.

What Success Looks Like

• Book 10-15 qualified meetings per month in first 6 months (lower than US because you're building market)
• Help establish German messaging and positioning that works
• Identify which DACH industries/segments respond best
• Potentially grow into DACH market lead as Glean scales EMEA

Who You're Selling To

Primary Buyers:

• CIOs and IT-Leiter
• Geschäftsführers (managing directors) at mid-sized companies
• Leiter IT Operations / Wissensmanagement

What They Care About:

• DSGVO (GDPR) compliance and data sovereignty (critical in Germany)
• On-premise or EU cloud hosting options
• Integration with SAP and other German enterprise systems
• Total cost of ownership and long-term vendor stability
• Technical depth and security certifications
• German language support in product
• References from similar German companies

Requirements

• Native or fluent German speaker (business fluency, formal register)
• Professional English (working language at Glean is English)
• Comfortable cold calling in German business culture (formal, structured approach)
• Available 3-4 days per week in London office
• Entrepreneurial mindset (you're building this market from scratch)
• Some B2B SaaS sales experience helpful but not required
• Interest in AI/tech space
• Thick skin for German directness and skepticism