Petter Johansson

Sales Representative (Hybrid SDR/AE)

Clarisent AI

Generalist / FoundingOutbound HeavyConsultativeRemote📍 Remote
Deal Size: $10-50K ACV (estimated)
Sales Cycle: 2-6 weeks
Posted by Petter Johansson

Overview

You're doing two jobs: booking qualified meetings and closing them. Clarisent sells AI-powered quoting software to companies that deal with complex pricing (think enterprise software companies, distributors, manufacturers). You'll cold call, follow up on inbound leads, run demos, and close deals. The founders (Petter and Andreas) will coach you daily.


Role Snapshot

AspectDetails
Role TypeHybrid SDR/AE (full-cycle sales)
Sales MotionOutbound-heavy with some inbound follow-up
Deal ComplexityConsultative (they need to understand their quoting pain)
Sales Cycle2-6 weeks (estimated)
Deal SizeUnknown - likely $10-50K ACV based on product complexity
Quota (est.)Unclear - early-stage, likely measured on meetings booked + deals closed

Company Context

Stage: Pre-seed/bootstrap (2 employees, founder-led)

Size: 2 people

Growth: Actively hiring first sales reps - this is ground zero

Market Position: Unknown player in sales/quoting automation space (competing with CPQ tools, manual processes, spreadsheets)


GTM Reality

Pipeline Sources:

  • 70-80% Outbound - You're making cold calls, sending LinkedIn messages, and working email sequences to companies that rely on quotes (software companies with complex pricing, B2B distributors, manufacturers)
  • 20-30% Inbound - Following up on website demos, inbound inquiries from marketing efforts
  • Partners/Referrals: Minimal (too early)

SDR/AE Structure: You ARE the SDR and AE. No handoffs.

SE Support: None. Founders might jump on complex calls, but you're doing demos yourself.


Competitive Landscape

Main Competitors: CPQ tools (Salesforce CPQ, DealHub, PandaDoc), homegrown quoting systems, spreadsheets, manual processes

How They Differentiate: AI-powered quote generation (faster, more accurate than manual). Likely cheaper/simpler than enterprise CPQ tools.

Common Objections: "We already have a process," "Our pricing is too complex for software," "We need to see it work with our data," "What if the AI makes a mistake?"

Win Themes: Speed (quotes in seconds vs hours/days), consistency (no pricing errors), scalability (handle more volume without hiring)


What You'll Actually Do

Time Breakdown

Prospecting (45%) | Active Deals (35%) | Internal/Admin (20%)

Key Activities

  • Cold Calling: 40-60 calls/day to RevOps leaders, sales ops managers, or heads of sales at companies with complex pricing. Most don't pick up. You're trying to book 10-15 discovery calls per week.
  • Demo Delivery: You walk prospects through how Clarisent generates quotes, applies pricing rules, and tracks follow-ups. These are 30-45 minute Zoom calls. You'll do 5-10 per week if you're hitting your prospecting numbers.
  • Deal Management: Following up after demos, answering questions about implementation, negotiating pricing, getting contracts signed. Deals take 2-6 weeks - you're chasing stakeholders, waiting on approvals, handling objections about "trying it with our data first."
  • Daily Sync with Founders: 15-30 minutes reviewing pipeline, getting coaching on objections, refining pitch. You're building the sales process together.

The Honest Reality

What's Hard

  • You're Doing Two Jobs: Most companies separate prospecting and closing. You're doing both. That means half your day is rejection (cold calls) and half is deal management (waiting on prospects to move).
  • No Brand Recognition: You're calling people who've never heard of Clarisent. You need to educate them on why AI quoting matters before you can even demo.
  • Early-Stage Chaos: There's no formal onboarding, no established playbook, no CS team to handle implementation questions. You figure things out with the founders in real-time.
  • Unclear Compensation Structure: "$4-6K/month" doesn't specify base vs commission. You need to clarify this in the interview - is it $4K base + commission, or $4-6K all-in depending on performance?
  • Working US Hours from Anywhere: If you're overseas, you're working evenings/nights to match US business hours.

What Success Looks Like

  • Booking 10-15 qualified meetings per week (prospects who actually have quoting pain and budget)
  • Closing 2-4 deals per month once you ramp (estimated)
  • Building repeatable scripts and processes that the next reps can use

Who You're Selling To

Primary Buyers:

  • RevOps/Sales Ops leaders at B2B companies with complex pricing
  • Heads of Sales at software companies, manufacturers, or distributors
  • VPs of Sales tired of deals stalling because quotes take too long

What They Care About:

  • Speed: How fast can we get quotes out the door?
  • Accuracy: Will this prevent pricing errors that cost us margin?
  • Scalability: Can we handle more volume without hiring?
  • Integration: Does this work with our CRM/ERP?
  • Risk: What happens if the AI screws up a quote?

Requirements

  • Must work US business hours (9am-6pm ET or PT)
  • Fluent English (you're calling US prospects daily)
  • Comfortable with rejection (most cold calls fail)
  • Coachable (founders train you daily - you need to implement feedback fast)
  • Self-motivated (no manager watching you - you own your numbers)
  • Previous sales experience helpful but not required (they care more about hunger and resilience)