Sales Development Representative (Cold Calling)

Built by Upstart 13 is seeking a full-time, fully remote, phone-first Sales Development Representative to support a U.S.-based AI startup that helps brands, distributors, and retailers improve the accuracy and completeness of product data for online selling channels.

You will cold call eCommerce, merchandising, product content/PIM, and digital leaders at U.S. manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to qualify opportunities and book meetings for Account Executives. This is primarily a cold calling role, with email and LinkedIn used to support your outreach. Priority industries include Business & Industrial, Furniture, Apparel, Electronics, Dental & Medical, and Food & Grocery.

Key Responsibilities

• Make a high volume of outbound cold calls each day (typically 60–100 dials) to prospects at brands, distributors, and retailers.
• Get past gatekeepers, handle objections live, and earn a conversation in the first 30 seconds.
• Identify and qualify challenges related to product data quality, marketplace listings, and catalog scale.
• Book qualified discovery meetings and Data Quality Assessments for Account Executives, including clear handoff notes.
• Follow up on no-shows and reschedules to help ensure meetings take place.
• Use coordinated calls, voicemails, email, and LinkedIn follow-ups to support call blocks.
• Log all outreach and outcomes in the CRM and meet weekly goals for dials, conversations, and meetings held.
• Share calling insights, common objections, responsive job titles, and vertical-level trends to improve messaging.

Required Skills

• 2+ years of experience as an SDR or BDR, with proven, measurable cold calling results selling to U.S. companies.
• Demonstrated success booking meetings for Account Executives, supported by metrics such as dials per day, connect rates, and meetings per month.
• Advanced or native-level spoken English (C1+) and the confidence to speak naturally with U.S. executives.
• Resilience in the face of rejection and consistent discipline in high-volume outbound work.
• Familiarity with CRM platforms (HubSpot or Salesforce), dialers (Nooks, Orum, Aircall, or similar), Apollo/ZoomInfo, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
• Curiosity and ability to learn a technical product and explain it in simple, relevant language.

Nice-to-Have Skills

• B2B SaaS sales experience.
• Exposure to eCommerce, retail, manufacturing, distribution, PIM/ERP, or data platform sales.
• Familiarity with marketplaces such as Amazon, Walmart, or Wayfair, or with product content teams.
• Experience working in a startup environment.