Overview
You're Glean's first French-speaking SDR, prospecting into IT leaders at French companies (and French-speaking Belgium/Switzerland/North Africa markets) to book qualified demos. You'll cold call and email in French, targeting mid-market to enterprise accounts. You're based in London but covering French-speaking EMEA territories.
Role Snapshot
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Role Type | Outbound SDR (multilingual) |
| Sales Motion | Outbound-heavy |
| Deal Complexity | Consultative |
| Sales Cycle | N/A - you book meetings, not close deals |
| Deal Size | N/A |
| Quota (est.) | 10-15 qualified meetings/month (lower than US given market maturity) |
Company Context
Stage: Late-stage (1531 employees)
Size: 1,500+ employees
Growth: First international SDR expansion into EMEA - you're a founding member of the region
Market Position: Likely less known in France than in the US - more market education required
GTM Reality
Pipeline Sources:
- 20-30% Inbound - website traffic from French companies, some conference/event leads
- 70-80% Outbound - you're building the market from scratch with cold outreach
- Minimal referrals initially
SDR/AE Structure: You're one of the first EMEA SDRs. You'll hand off to AEs who may be UK-based initially.
SE Support: SEs will support demos but may be stretched thin given EMEA is new.
Time Zone Reality: You're in London covering France (GMT/GMT+1), so timing works well for calls.
Competitive Landscape
Main Competitors: European enterprise search vendors, Microsoft's built-in tools, potentially different local competitors than in the US
How They Differentiate: AI capabilities, modern UX, cross-platform integration
Common Objections: "We haven't heard of you," GDPR/data residency concerns, preference for European vendors, budget allocated elsewhere
Win Themes: Same as US but with extra emphasis on data security and European data hosting
What You'll Actually Do
Time Breakdown
Cold Calling (40%) | Email/LinkedIn (30%) | Market Research (15%) | Internal Sync (15%)
Key Activities
- Cold calling in French: 40-60 dials per day to French companies. You're often the first person from Glean they've heard from, so lots of "Who are you?" conversations.
- Localized messaging: Adapting US-based email templates and scripts to work for French business culture (more formal, less aggressive than American SDR tactics).
- Account research: Building target lists of French enterprises that fit the ICP, researching org charts on LinkedIn, finding the right contacts.
- Educating the market: Many prospects won't know Glean exists, so your pitch includes more "what we do" education than a mature market would require.
- Syncing with global teams: You're bridging US leadership (Emily's team) with EMEA execution - expect some timezone-awkward meetings.
The Honest Reality
What's Hard
- Building pipeline from zero in a market where Glean has low brand awareness
- French business culture can be more formal and skeptical of cold outreach than US/UK
- GDPR compliance concerns come up immediately in every conversation
- You're figuring out what messaging works in France with less proven playbook than the US team has
- Hybrid requirement (3-4 days in London office) when you're covering France remotely anyway
- Potential loneliness - you're the only French SDR initially, less peer support than NYC team
What Success Looks Like
- Booking 12+ qualified meetings per month once you're ramped (first 2-3 months will be slower)
- Identifying which industries and company sizes respond best in France
- Building a repeatable outreach motion that can be copied for the next French SDR hire
- 30%+ of your meetings convert to qualified opportunities
Who You're Selling To
Primary Buyers:
- Directeur des Systèmes d'Information (CIO)
- Directeur Technique (CTO)
- Responsable IT at mid-market companies
What They Care About:
- GDPR compliance and data sovereignty ("Where is our data stored?")
- Integration with European tools and workflows
- French language support for the product
- ROI and productivity gains (same as US but need French case studies)
Requirements
- Native or fluent French speaker with business-level proficiency
- Business-level English for internal communication with UK/US teams
- Comfortable with cold calling in French business contexts
- Can work hybrid from London office 3-4 days/week
- Self-starter mentality - you're building the playbook, not just executing one
- Interest in being part of an early EMEA expansion (ambiguity tolerance required)