Episode 110: Stephen Chase (Top SDR/Sales Weasel) on Mentors and Detachment from Outcomes

Stephen Chase is the top Senior sales development representative (SDR) at Findem, an organization that envisions a world in which every people decision is equipped with people intelligence, empowering HR and talent leaders to drive a new era of business growth and productivity. Stephen is a passionate sales professional who has dubbed himself the ‘sales weasel,’ but not for the reasons you may think! Stephen recalls some of his favorite sales success stories from his career, including one that amounted to multi-million dollar deals for the same client in a single quarter. He provides insights on how to navigate and understand the SDR role from the perspective of someone who has truly mastered that role.

In this episode, Stephen opens up about his background in sales, from early roles at Operatix to his current role at Findem. Stephen explains the impetus behind the ‘Sales Weasel’ brand he’s curated for himself. He also goes into great detail discussing the Rapid Ramp process, his own SDR playbook, and the OCEAN acronym. Stephen identifies and analyzes his three keys to success. These include mentors such as Amy Quick, Dale Dupree, Justin Michael, and Patrick Downs, among others. He also credits detaching himself from the emotions that are associated with chasing outcomes and trying new systems and approaches. Stephen is a true skeptic in the best sense of the word. He never takes anything at face value and is constantly challenging the status quo. Stephen is an incredibly unique, creative, and humble sales professional who is forever striving to be the best he can be.

Stephen continues by breaking down a typical day in the life. He wakes up consistently around six in the morning to make himself and his girlfriend coffee and to spend time with his son. From there he checks emails from overnight and sets up two-hour call blocks for his sales prospecting. He then repeats this call blocking process for Central and Pacific Time zones. Work doesn’t fully consume Stephen’s day, however. He exclusively stops working after five o’clock to focus on cooking, gaming, and spending time with his family. Finally, Stephen charges the audience with an actionable challenge. He suggests checking out new data tools, develops an opener that uses your own personality, and work on your tonality.

What We Covered:

00:01 – Scott thanks the sponsors of today’s episode, Proposify, Alyce and Vidyard
00:35 – Scott welcomes today’s guest, Stephen Chase
01:02 – The top three attributes that Stephen attributes to his success
01:12 – Number 1: Stephen’s mentors
01:54 – Number 2: Detachment from the outcomes
02:40 – Number 3: Testing or trying everything
05:32 – Stephen talks about his sales background and his role at Findem
08:46 – Scott takes a moment to thank one of today’s sponsors, Proposify
09:29 – Stephen explains the ‘Sales Weasel’ persona and the brand he’s cultivated
14:07 – Stephen provides his thoughts on outsourcing the SDR function and what to look for to be successful in this endeavor
17:36 – Stephen speaks to the many roles he performed at Operatix
19:02 – Stephen discusses the ‘Rapid Ramp’ process and how to navigate this process within the SDR playbook
23:30 – Stephen’s thoughts on mastery and reflects on his own path to mastery
26:25 – How Stephen is planning his year ahead to continue his pursuit of professional and personal development
28:04 – What Stephen would do differently if given the chance
29:30 – Stephen reflects on how long it took for him to become successful as a new SDR at Operatix
32:13 – Stephen’s favorite sales success story
36:34 – Stephen defines his call guide and how he builds it
39:48 – Stephen’s prospecting routine and approach
43:13 – Scott takes a moment to thank another sponsor of today’s episode, Vidyard
43:55 – What metrics Stephen focuses on and how Stephen decides who he reaches out to
47:22 – Stephen quantifies his sales results
53:02 – Stephen’s proudest accomplishment
54:19 – Stephen takes the audience through a typical day in the life
57:53 – Scott takes a moment to thank the final sponsor of today’s episode, Alyce
58:33 – Other habits and routines that are core to Stephen’s success
59:21 – The books, news, podcasts, and trade information that Stephen consumes
1:03:03 – Other tools and apps that are critical to Stephen’s success
1:06:11 – Stephen provides his thoughts on motivation and creating lasting habits
1:09:05 – One of Stephen’s beliefs that the average sales professional would think is crazy
1:12:35 – Why Stephen tends to believe the opposite of what others think
1:13:58 – Stephen’s sales style and breaks down the acronym OCEAN
1:17:23 – How Stephen approaches planning for outcomes
1:23:13 – Advice Stephen would give to an upstart sales professional
1:23:48 – Scott takes a quick moment to promote the Sales Success Stories Encore Series
1:24:51 – Advice Stephen would give to struggling SDRs
1:28:14 – Stephen provides his thoughts on the value of mentors
1:29:28 – What Stephen would want to know about top performers in other industries
1:31:02 – Stephen provides final words of wisdom to fellow SDRs
1:32:33 – Stephen’s actionable challenge to the audience

Tweetables:

“I think that’s what sets apart the top-performing reps from the average is being overly intentional about your inputs for the day.” (04:57)

“While I think mastery exists, I think people who embrace the fact that they’re masters limit their learning capabilities after that moment.” (23:49)

“The less you say with more value ultimately shortens the conversation and the amount of time you talk to give the prospect more time. But it also makes what you’re saying easier to understand.” (36:00)

“In my personal opinion, I think SDRs should be comped on total pipeline generated” (50:15)

“Really one of the things I’m going to focus on is being really intentional about what I’m putting in my body.” (59:14)

“It takes twenty-one days to make a habit. But it’s what you do on day twenty-two that matters.” (1:07:47)

“I don’t take anything anybody says at face value. I am a true skeptic at heart.” (1:13:47)

“I think about the outcomes for every possible situation that I’m putting myself in and how to generate a process that gets me the most desirable outcome, while also planning for the least desirable outcome.” (1:17:11)

What We Covered:

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