The brief.
An Indian health tech SaaS company helps healthcare providers explain test results to patients clearly, which improves patient satisfaction and repeat visits. It needed its first inside sales specialist: someone to generate and qualify leads against its Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), reach decision-makers across email, LinkedIn, WhatsApp and phone, keep the CRM accurate, and book qualified prospects into demos with Account Executives.
There was no sales development team, playbook or set of sequences to step into. The role was full-time and in the office in Hyderabad, at a location many candidates found out of the way, and the budget of ₹7–15 LPA was tight for someone expected to bring 2–5 years of SDR or BDR experience and fluency with prospecting tools.
- 2–5 years in sales or business development (SDR/BDR)
- Apollo.io, Lusha, LinkedIn Sales Navigator or equivalent
- Lead qualification against an ICP, and MQL handover
- Multichannel outreach: email, LinkedIn, WhatsApp and phone
- HubSpot, Salesforce or a similar CRM, kept accurate
- Reviewing campaign performance and improving outreach
- Working with Account Executives on sequences and handovers
- Healthcare SaaS and startup experience (good to have)
The funnel.
The problem.
Budget was the first constraint. A mid-level SDR with multichannel skills, tool fluency and CRM discipline often expects more than an early-stage company can pay, while candidates inside the budget were often earlier in their careers and had not run outreach alone. Finding someone whose experience, expectations and the offer all lined up took far more screening than a flexible budget would have.
Location was the second. Many good SDRs work remotely or hybrid and would not commute or move for an in-office role at this pay. That filter removed strong profiles late, and it is why the funnel stays wide through the first internal round (143) and then drops to 33 at the second, where location, commitment and pay were confirmed in conversation.
Being first was the third. With no team to learn from and no process to follow, the hire would decide how outreach worked and how leads reached the Account Executives. That suits a self-starter who likes building from scratch. It does not suit someone used to the structure of a large SDR team, however good they are, and only a direct conversation shows which one a candidate is.
What we did.
We told every candidate about the budget, the on-site location and the first-hire reality in the first conversation, so nobody reached the client on a misunderstanding. We sourced 400+ SDR, BDR and inside sales profiles, screened to 349, and kept 260 after checking for hands-on prospecting, qualification and CRM work.
143 reached our first internal round on outreach skills, tool fluency, ICP-based qualification and how candidates read campaign results. 33 cleared a second round, held as a live conversation, on communication, startup readiness, location and salary. Sales ability and fit were scored separately, and both had to pass.
Six candidates reached the client, two made its final round, and one was hired.
What changed.
The client hired an Inside Sales Specialist with hands-on prospecting, qualification and multichannel outreach experience, ready to be the first person in the function, work on-site, and do it within the client's budget.
Because pay, location and commitment were settled before the client met anyone, its six interviews were spent choosing between candidates who could say yes, not discovering deal-breakers. For a young company building sales from the ground up, that is founders' time back on the business.
What it was worth.
What the same engagement would mean for an early-stage company making its first hire in a new function.
The founders met six candidates and ran a final round with two. We screened the rest.
Pay, the on-site location and the first-hire reality were confirmed before any client interview.
A mid-level SDR hired inside an early-stage budget.
The hire took on outreach, qualification, CRM and demo booking with no existing team behind them.
How we ran it.
Brief and terms
Weighted the rubric to hands-on SDR work, startup readiness, location and budget, and shared the terms with candidates up front.
Source and screen
400+ profiles to 349, then 260 with real prospecting, qualification and CRM experience.
Sales round
143 tested on outreach, tools, ICP qualification and campaign analysis.
Fit and client rounds
33 cleared a live round on location, pay and startup mindset. Six reached the client, two made the final, one was hired.
What made this work.
With tight constraints, the pull is to move strong candidates forward and hope pay or commute concerns sort themselves out later. They rarely do, and when they surface in a final round the client has lost a week. Settling them at our second round cost us more conversations (143 down to 33) and saved the client from having those conversations itself.