Overview
You're an SDR making cold calls into sports media companies, content creators, and marketing agencies to book meetings for senior sales leadership. The product is Smartlinx's workforce management platform, adapted for companies managing production crews, freelance talent, and content staff. You'll spend most of your day on the phone researching targets and dialing.
Role Snapshot
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Role Type | Outbound SDR (phone-first prospecting) |
| Sales Motion | Outbound-heavy (90%+ cold outreach) |
| Deal Complexity | N/A (booking meetings, not closing) |
| Sales Cycle | N/A (focus is on meeting qualification) |
| Deal Size | N/A (upstream from deal stage) |
| Quota (est.) | 15-25 qualified meetings per month |
Company Context
Stage: Private, established (exact funding unknown)
Size: 124 employees
Growth: Expanding from senior care vertical into adjacent markets (sports media/marketing)
Market Position: Niche vertical player in workforce management - less competitive than horizontal HR tech but requires industry knowledge
GTM Reality
Pipeline Sources:
- 90% Outbound - you're building lists, researching companies, and cold calling
- 10% Warm - occasional referrals or inbound from sports media networks
SDR/AE Structure: You're the SDR feeding meetings to senior sales leadership (likely AEs or VP-level)
SE Support: Unknown - likely minimal SE involvement at SDR stage
Competitive Landscape
Main Competitors: Generic workforce management platforms (Deputy, When I Work, 7shifts) that sports companies might already use; custom scheduling solutions; spreadsheets and manual processes
How They Differentiate: Purpose-built for industries with variable staffing (originally senior care, now sports media production) - handles freelancers, union rules, multi-location shoots
Common Objections: "We're handling it fine with what we have," "Too expensive," "Not the right time," "We're in-season and can't think about this now"
Win Themes: Compliance automation, reducing scheduling headaches, visibility into labor costs across productions/events
What You'll Actually Do
Time Breakdown
Cold Calling (50%) | Research & List Building (25%) | Follow-up (15%) | Internal Meetings (10%)
Key Activities
- Cold Calling: Make 60-80+ dials per day to operations managers, HR leads, and production coordinators at sports media companies, content studios, and marketing agencies. Most calls go to voicemail. You're trying to get 2-3 conversations per hour.
- Target Research: Build lists of companies in sports media/marketing that fit your ICP. You're looking at LinkedIn, company websites, industry directories to find the right contacts and understand their staffing model (in-house vs freelance heavy, multi-location, event-based).
- Meeting Qualification: When you do get someone on the phone, you're qualifying based on company size, staffing complexity, and current pain points. You're not pitching product - you're diagnosing whether they have scheduling/compliance headaches worth a senior rep's time.
- CRM Hygiene: Log every call, update contact info, track objections, and maintain accurate pipeline data. This is tedious but non-negotiable.
The Honest Reality
What's Hard
- Most people don't pick up. You'll leave 40-50 voicemails per day and get 5-10 actual conversations if you're lucky.
- Sports media is seasonal and event-driven - you'll hear "call me after the season" or "we're in production, can't talk" constantly.
- You're selling into a new vertical for Smartlinx, so you won't have tons of case studies or references in sports media initially. You're adapting senior care stories.
- Remote role means self-discipline is critical - no one's watching you dial, and it's easy to avoid the phone.
- Rejection is constant. You need thick skin and the ability to reset after back-to-back brush-offs.
What Success Looks Like
- Booking 15-25 qualified meetings per month that show up and convert to opportunities
- Maintaining 60-80 call activity per day consistently
- Getting better at pattern recognition - understanding which companies have real pain vs which are time-wasters
- Building a pipeline of companies that aren't ready now but might be in 3-6 months
Who You're Selling To
Primary Buyers:
- Operations Directors at sports media companies (managing production crews and freelancers)
- HR Managers at marketing agencies (handling variable staffing across campaigns/events)
- Production Coordinators at content studios (scheduling crews for shoots)
What They Care About:
- Reducing time spent on scheduling (they're doing it manually or in basic tools)
- Staying compliant with union rules and labor regulations
- Visibility into labor costs across multiple productions or locations
- Managing freelancer onboarding and timesheets efficiently
Requirements
- Genuine passion for sports media and content (you follow the industry, understand production workflows, can speak the language)
- High phone call volume tolerance - this is 60-80+ dials per day, mostly cold
- Self-directed work ethic for remote role - you own your activity and results
- Competitive mindset - you're motivated by metrics and improving week-over-week
- Coachable - willing to iterate on messaging, take feedback, and refine your approach
- Strong communication skills - can articulate pain points clearly and qualify effectively
- No previous SDR experience required, but this isn't a "try sales" role - commitment to building a sales career is expected