Overview
You're a mid-level SDR at Coach with 1-2 years of experience, now handling bigger accounts and more complex prospecting. You're going after major retail chains, larger boutique groups, or strategic wholesale partnerships - accounts where there are multiple stakeholders and longer buying processes. You still book meetings for AEs, but you also mentor SDR I teammates and handle more strategic outreach.
Role Snapshot
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Role Type | Senior Outbound SDR |
| Sales Motion | Outbound-heavy with some strategic account planning |
| Deal Complexity | Consultative to Enterprise (multi-stakeholder accounts) |
| Sales Cycle | 4-9 months (enterprise retail cycles) |
| Deal Size | Unknown (likely larger accounts than SDR I) |
| Quota (est.) | 12-18 qualified meetings/month |
Company Context
Stage: Public (part of Tapestry, Inc.)
Size: 13,000+ employees
Growth: Established luxury brand, scaling GTM team (hiring SDR I and II suggests growth mode)
Market Position: Legacy leader in accessible luxury, fighting to stay relevant with younger buyers while maintaining heritage brand value
GTM Reality
Pipeline Sources:
- 70% Outbound - Multi-threaded outreach into enterprise retail accounts
- 20% Warm referrals - Existing relationships leading to new opportunities
- 10% Account expansion - Coach already has relationship, you're prospecting new divisions/locations
SDR/AE Structure: Dedicated SDRs by account tier; SDR II handles strategic/enterprise accounts
SE Support: No technical SE (physical product), but you may coordinate with merchandising specialists or visual marketing teams
Competitive Landscape
Main Competitors: Michael Kors, Kate Spade, Tory Burch, Fossil, Rebecca Minkoff in the accessible luxury space
How They Differentiate: 80+ years of brand heritage, broader product range, strong omnichannel presence, celebrity/influencer partnerships
Common Objections: "Shelf space is locked for next season," "Need better margins," "Coach doesn't resonate with our younger customer base," "Already maxed out on contemporary handbag brands"
Win Themes: Proven sell-through data, strong marketing spend, brand recognition drives traffic, flexible merchandising programs
What You'll Actually Do
Time Breakdown
Strategic Prospecting (40%) | Multi-thread Outreach (30%) | Mentoring (15%) | Meetings (15%)
Key Activities
- Multi-threaded prospecting: Mapping org charts at major retailers, identifying not just the lead buyer but also category managers, regional merchandisers, and VPs who influence decisions. Running coordinated outreach campaigns across multiple stakeholders.
- Strategic account research: Deep-diving into target accounts before outreach - understanding their current handbag mix, recent store expansions, financial performance, competitive positioning. Tailoring your pitch to their specific strategy.
- Executive-level outreach: Calling and emailing higher-level buyers and merchandising directors who don't respond to entry-level outreach. Requires sharper business acumen and more polished communication.
- Complex qualification: When you get someone engaged, you're navigating buying committees, understanding approval processes, and coordinating multiple stakeholders before handing to an AE.
- Mentoring SDR I teammates: Reviewing their call recordings, helping with objection handling, sharing what works on enterprise accounts.
- Internal coordination: Working with AEs to understand which accounts to prioritize, what messaging is working, and what the competitive landscape looks like in different retail segments.
The Honest Reality
What's Hard
- Enterprise retail accounts move slowly - you might work an account for 4-6 months before getting a real meeting
- Multi-threading is exhausting - you're trying to reach 3-5 people at the same company, all of whom are ignoring you
- You're still an SDR (not closing deals), but you're expected to think strategically like an AE without the comp or title
- Mentoring junior SDRs adds to your workload without reducing your quota
- Fashion retail is struggling in general (department stores closing, shift to e-commerce), so you're fighting macro trends
- You're probably looking to promote to AE soon, but Coach is massive so internal movement might be slow
What Success Looks Like
- Booking 12-18 qualified meetings per month with strategic accounts (higher quota than SDR I)
- 60%+ of your meetings convert to real opportunities for AEs (better qualification than junior SDRs)
- Building multi-quarter pipeline by identifying accounts entering buying seasons 6+ months out
- At least one SDR I teammate hitting quota because of your coaching
Who You're Selling To
Primary Buyers:
- VP/Director of Merchandising at major retail chains
- Category buyers at department store headquarters
- Owners/buying teams at large boutique groups (10+ locations)
- Regional merchandising managers at national chains
What They Care About:
- Strategic brand mix and how Coach fits their customer demographic
- Margin structure and promotional support
- Sell-through data and inventory turn benchmarks
- Marketing/co-op dollars and visual merchandising support
- Exclusivity agreements or limited distribution in their region
- How Coach plans to stay relevant with Gen Z/younger consumers
Requirements
- 1-2 years SDR or BDR experience (ideally in retail, wholesale, or B2B partnerships)
- Proven track record hitting/exceeding quota
- Experience with multi-threaded prospecting and complex accounts
- Ability to have business-level conversations with senior buyers
- Comfortable mentoring and coaching junior teammates
- Strong organizational skills (managing long sales cycles across multiple accounts)
- Retail/fashion industry knowledge helpful but not required