Overview
You're an outbound MDR at Verkada cold calling businesses to get them interested in replacing their current security camera and access control systems. You'll talk to facilities managers, security directors, and IT leaders across retail stores, warehouses, schools, healthcare facilities, and office buildings. Most of your day is dialing, leaving voicemails, and sending follow-up emails trying to book 15-20 qualified demos per week for the AE team.
Role Snapshot
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Role Type | Outbound SDR/MDR (feeding AE pipeline) |
| Sales Motion | Outbound-heavy (80%+ cold calling/emailing) |
| Deal Complexity | Consultative (hardware + software solution) |
| Sales Cycle | 4-12 weeks (AE-owned, you book the first meeting) |
| Deal Size | $3K-50K+ initial deployment (scales with org size) |
| Quota (est.) | 15-20 qualified meetings/week, ~60-75/month |
Company Context
Stage: Late-stage (2,653 employees, 30K+ customers, likely Series D+ or pre-IPO)
Size: 2,653 employees
Growth: Rapidly expanding team (hiring "several seats" in coming months), established player in physical security
Market Position: Category challenger - competing against legacy systems (analog cameras, on-prem DVRs) and newer competitors in cloud-based security
GTM Reality
Pipeline Sources:
- 15-20% Inbound - some brand awareness generates web form fills, but it's mostly facilities managers researching after a security incident or planned upgrade
- 75-80% Outbound - cold calling, LinkedIn outreach, email sequences to target accounts
- 5% Referrals/Existing customer expansions
SDR/AE Structure: Dedicated MDR team feeds qualified meetings to AEs who run demos and close deals
SE Support: AEs typically handle demos themselves (product is fairly intuitive), but SEs available for complex technical deployments
Competitive Landscape
Main Competitors: Traditional systems (analog cameras, on-prem NVRs from Axis, Hanwha, Hikvision), newer cloud players (Rhombus, Avigilon Alta), access control competitors (Brivo, Openpath)
How They Differentiate: Single integrated cloud platform (cameras + access control + alarms + sensors), plug-and-play setup vs traditional wiring complexity, AI-powered search features
Common Objections: "We just upgraded our system 2 years ago", "Need to work with our existing infrastructure", "Price vs traditional options", "Data security concerns (cloud-based)"
Win Themes: Easy installation/management, remote access from anywhere, better analytics than legacy systems, scalability across locations
What You'll Actually Do
Time Breakdown
Cold Calling (50%) | Email/LinkedIn (25%) | Research/Prep (15%) | Internal (10%)
Key Activities
- Cold Calling: 60-80 dials per day to facilities managers, security directors, retail ops leaders. Most don't pick up. You're leaving 30-40 voicemails daily. When you connect, you've got 30 seconds to explain why they should care about upgrading their cameras before they say "send me some info" or hang up.
- Qualifying Conversations: When someone engages, you're asking about their current setup (how many locations, what cameras they use now, pain points with their system), their timeline for upgrades, and budget authority. You need to confirm they're worth an AE's time - not just someone doing research with no project.
- Email Sequences: Following up on calls with case studies, sending breakup emails when people ghost, personalizing messages based on industry (retail shrinkage problems vs school security vs warehouse safety).
- Meeting Handoffs: Scheduling demos with AEs, writing detailed notes on what the prospect cares about, their current system, decision-makers involved. If your notes are weak, the AE's demo flops and you don't get credit for the meeting.
The Honest Reality
What's Hard
- Most businesses already have cameras and aren't thinking about replacing them until something breaks or they have a security incident. You're creating urgency where it doesn't exist.
- Facilities managers and security directors are busy and don't love sales calls. Your connect rate is probably 3-5%. You'll leave hundreds of voicemails per week.
- Hardware sales mean longer consideration cycles than pure software. Even interested prospects take weeks to schedule site surveys, get quotes from competitors, involve procurement.
- You're measured on meetings booked AND meetings held (no-shows count against you). Prospects reschedule constantly.
- Your comp is heavily weighted toward hitting weekly/monthly meeting quotas. Miss your number two weeks in a row and you'll feel pressure.
What Success Looks Like
- Booking 15-20 qualified meetings per week consistently (60-75/month)
- 70%+ show rate on scheduled demos
- AEs converting 25-30% of your meetings to opportunities
- Getting promoted to AE within 12-18 months if you crush quota
Who You're Selling To
Primary Buyers:
- Facilities managers (multi-site retail, manufacturing, logistics)
- Security directors (corporate campuses, healthcare, education)
- IT directors (involved in cloud software decisions, network infrastructure)
- Operations leaders (warehouse, distribution center managers)
What They Care About:
- Can't access footage remotely with current system
- Frustrated with grainy video quality or cameras that go offline
- Tired of managing DVRs/NVRs and hard drives that fail
- Need better coverage without running new cables everywhere
- Want analytics (people counting, license plate recognition) their current system can't do
- Compliance requirements (retention policies, access logs)
Requirements
- Comfortable making 60-80+ cold calls per day and hearing "no" or getting hung up on constantly
- Competitive and metrics-driven (you'll see your numbers vs the team daily on dashboards)
- Coachable and willing to iterate on your pitch, handle objections, and take feedback from managers
- Some understanding of B2B sales preferred but not required (they'll train you on their methodology)
- Able to work in-office in San Mateo (not remote)
- Willing to cold call the hiring manager as part of the application process (shows you can handle rejection)