Episode 125: Disconnecting from Outcomes and Doing the Work with Workstream’s Chris Horton

Chris Horton is the top Key Account Executive at Workstream, a text recruiting and hiring tool for local businesses, especially restaurants. Chris is also the first rep in Workstream’s history to close more than one million dollars, and he did it in just six months! His keys to success include turning ideas into action, bringing a vision of a bright future, and doing big things to change the world. Chris is a passionate sales professional who truly looks to provide meaningful and lasting value to his customers.

In this episode, Chris expounds on his extensive background in the restaurant industry and how his journey has led him to Workstream. He shares his favorite sales story, one that taught him a valuable lesson of what not to do as a sales professional. Chris lists the three main things he attributes his success to, which include getting rid of the ‘commission breath,’ avoiding the trap of becoming obsessed with the leaderboard, and understanding your product and your industry better than anyone else. Chris also shares his proudest accomplishment, how he structures his work week, and his philosophy on investing.

Chris takes the audience through a typical day in the life, from daily habits that have become critical to his success, to how he approaches his role. Finally, Chris provides some sage advice and poses an actionable challenge to the audience. He urges them to identify one or top performers within your organization, schedule thirty minutes to talk with them, pick their brains and learn as much as you possibly can!

What We Covered:

00:01 – Scott thanks the sponsors of today’s episode: Outreach, Vidyard, and Skipio
00:39 – Scott welcomes today’s guest, Chris Horton
01:08 – The top three attributes that Chris attributes to his success
01:17 – Number 1: Getting rid of the ‘commission breath’
01:50 – Number 2: Avoiding the trap of becoming obsessed with the leaderboard
02:28 – Number 3: Understanding your product and your industry better than anyone else
03:08 – The importance of disconnecting with outcomes
05:06 – The Three C’s of Sales Failure and what metrics Chris tracks
07:51 – Scott takes a moment to thank one of today’s sponsors, Outreach
08:29 – How Chris is working to develop his industry expertise
10:07 – Chris expounds on his role at Workstream
11:34 – Chris’ sales origin story
15:50 – Chris’s average deal size
18:04 – How Chris built an insane referral network
20:04 – Scott takes a moment to thank another one of today’s sponsors, Vidyard
22:40 – Scott reflects back on Episode 9 of the Sales Success Stories podcast
24:42 – Chris discusses what it’s like working with vendors
26:51 – Scott gives a quick shout out to his show notes writer, Kevin
27:48 – What Chris would do differently in his career if given the chance
30:15 – The experience Chris believes is necessary before an SDR becomes an AE
35:54 – Chris’ favorite sales story
39:28 – Chris’ proudest accomplishment
43:02 – How Chris measures satisfaction, happiness, and success
45:29 – Scott teases some of the guest speakers at the 2021 Sales Success Summit
55:46 – Scott takes a moment to thank the final sponsor of today’s sponsors, Skipio
57:56 – Chris takes the audience through a typical day in the life
1:01:35 – How Chris structures his workday
1:05:46 – The books, news, podcasts, and trade information that Patrick consumes
1:07:45 – Tools and apps that Chris utilizes throughout his daily routine
1:12:05 – Chris’ sales style and philosophy
1:15:07 – What motivates and drives Chris
1:17:00 – Chris’ high-level approach to investing and his thoughts on Tesla
1:23:01 – Chris’ approach to cryptocurrency
1:26:42 – One of Chris’ beliefs that the average sales professional would think is crazy
1:27:48 – An average sales professional’s belief that Chris thinks is crazy
1:29:24 – Advice Chris would give to an upstart sales professional
1:30:24 – Advice Chris would give to a middle-of-the-pack struggling sales professional
1:31:22 – Chris’ actionable challenge to the audience

Tweetables:

“SDR work is hard and not necessarily the most fun thing, but I tried to learn as much as I could from people around me. I tried to be aggressive in that learning piece of it and showing the hard work.” (13:03)

“I think, in the last two years of my sales experience, I would say focus has been this overall theme. Focus on a region, focus on an industry, focus on your company and how to better it, focus on your product, and how to become an expert in it. So, try not to lose that focus that you should have that will actually lead to sales.” (29:48)

“In my opinion, it [sales] is all about trust. It’s all about transparency. It’s all about loving your product and your customer.” (39:15)

“I always found it really interesting that people say, ‘Master your calendar.’ And I didn’t really understand, in the beginning, what that meant and how you could master a calendar. But I feel like, after a lot of trial and error, I have figured out how best to manage a calendar and really use it to my advantage.” (1:10:01)

Links Mentioned:

[email protected]
2021 Sales Success Summit
Chris Horton on LinkedIn
Workstream Website
Chris Voss’ Masterclass

What We Covered:

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