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Kong is hiring a Sales Development Representative (SDR) for their Bangalore office. This is a hybrid role focused on identifying and qualifying new sales opportunities for Kong's enterprise sales organization.
About Kong: Kong is an AI Connectivity Company building the connectivity layer for AI. The platform enables organizations to secure, manage, accelerate, govern, and monetize API and AI traffic. Kong is Series D funded, recognized as a leader in API management (Gartner Magic Quadrant 2023), and was named to the Forbes Cloud 100 list. The company has 250M+ downloads of its open-source API gateway and 40K+ GitHub stars.
Role Overview:
You will work closely with Sales and Marketing teams to build customer enthusiasm around Kong's products. Key responsibilities include:
- Developing inbound and outbound sales campaigns from conception through qualified calls
- Prospecting and cold-calling to identify new opportunities
- Interacting with IT and business decision-makers via phone, video, LinkedIn, and email
- Setting qualified introductory meetings for the Account Executive team
- Nurturing early-stage opportunities for future pipeline potential
- Maintaining accurate lead and prospect activity in Salesforce
- Exceeding monthly and quarterly opportunity quotas
- Building strong relationships with Marketing and Account Executive teams
- Investing in self-development and applying feedback to improve performance
First 90 Days:
Month 1: Onboard with team, complete 2-week sales bootcamp, learn Kong's product offerings and how Sales Development, Marketing, and Account Executive teams collaborate.
Month 2: Become comfortable with client conversations, work with Account Executives on first opportunities, shadow calls, practice role-plays, begin delivering ramp quota.
Month 3: Master the sales funnel, demonstrate sales methodologies, provide insights to improve processes, deliver against ramp quota.
Kong invests heavily in SDR development through a 2-week sales bootcamp, weekly 1-on-1 mentorship, and global virtual group trainings. The company views the SDR program as a launchpad for long-term sales careers and promotes a culture of meritocracy, diversity, and growth.
Requirements:
- 1+ year of strong sales or customer-facing experience
- Self-starter with proven track record of hitting and exceeding goals
- Hunter mentality: comfortable prospecting, cold-calling, and following up on leads
- Strong desire to win and ability to learn from feedback
- Outstanding communication skills (phone, written, active listening)
- Demonstrated time management and ability to work independently and with coaching
- Passion for cutting-edge technology and ability to quickly learn new IT software products
- Ability to understand business-critical solutions rapidly
- Comfortable working in a driven, fast-paced environment
