Episode 85: Casey Rials – Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
Quality over quantity is the name of the game. 20 dials a day may seem dramatically low, but Casey Rials curated a list building strategy that has her connecting with 15 prospects a day.
Now Inside Sales Team Lead at Stem, Casey recounts her low daily dials as her signature for quality prospecting. Prioritizing product, prospect, and industry specifics is her secret to booking over a third of her conversations and logging at least one occur each day.
In this episode of Tech Sales is for Hustlers, Casey discusses leveraging your knowledge to move a prospect further along in the sales cycle and experimenting with different approaches to discover your sales superpower.
Guest-At-A-Glance
💡 Name: Casey Rials
💡 What she does: Casey is the Inside Sales Team Lead at Stem.
💡 Company: Stem
💡 Noteworthy: Casey is a technical sales leader in the renewable energy industry and is responsible for both inbound and outbound activity. She did the Army JRTC throughout high school, and in college, Casey was a part of the ICSC sales team.
💡 Where to find Casey: LinkedIn | Website
Key Insights
⚡ Sales provides an opportunity to make things more efficient. Casey has a degree in accounting, but her core passion is improving things. As she says, she is attracted to areas where you can learn something new constantly and you can progress. Those expectations led her to a sales program at UCF. “I saw a lot of people go through the PSP — which is a professional selling program — and I saw how much they grew from it and how much experience they got. And so, that’s what attracted me in the first place. And then, as I started going through the interview process for that program and learning more about it, I came to a realization that sales is essentially about having a product that will help a company, presenting it to them, and then implementing it.”
⚡ Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Every start is difficult. Young people are often reluctant to ask what interests them or what is not clear to them because they think that they are disturbing and boring their leaders. Casey points out that this is the biggest mistake and advises that if you are a new employee, feel free to ask questions, take notes, and absorb everything you are told. “I always say, ‘Don’t be afraid to bother me, and don’t feel like you’re bothering me because my role is to help you succeed. And I can’t help you succeed if I don’t know what you need.’ So, if we didn’t cover something enough for you, or you need to go over something again, please tell me because I would much rather spend that time going through that with you than for you to struggle to do it.”
⚡ Getting out of your comfort zone leads to success. Some people do not readily accept feedback on the way they work, even if their work does not bring the desired results. According to Casey, that kind of behavior prevents success. As she explains, you have to be open to change and new ideas if you want to progress. “I’ve run into this where something’s not working, you’re not meeting your numbers, and we have to look at what you’re currently doing. ‘Okay, what isn’t working, and how can we try to change this up to test something new out?’ And if someone isn’t willing to do that, they’re at a plateau. If they’re not willing to change how they’re doing something, then they probably are not going to change the outcome.”
Episode Highlights
Casey Rials – A Salesperson With an Accounting Degree
“I had an accounting internship. It was my sophomore year of college, and it was a part of the university — one of their departments. And I quickly realized that as attractive as having the same thing (basically) to do every day sounded, in reality, I was bored out of my mind. And I could just not picture myself doing this — becoming a CPA and doing this day in and day out. So I spent probably about six to nine months after that trying to find niche accounting career paths. […]
My dad was essentially the vice president of sales for the wholesale The Palm Tree company, and during high school, he’d also started his own business. And so I witnessed how my parents would be gone every weekend, knocking door to door; they had a pest control business, so they were trying to sell the pest control services. So I saw how much work it was, but I also saw the payoffs. My dad was able to retire from his full-time job and have a lot more freedom. Now they have sold their house and live full-time in an RV, traveling all around the country, and that was really attractive to me. They’re living their dream, and I think that owning a business and being in sales and having that sales background allowed them to do that.”
Office Work vs. Remote Work
“In-office was definitely, in the beginning, preferable to working from home. I just had so many questions, and I just wanted to feel like I was in the office and working — just being there and having others around me and being invited to go out to lunch. This helped me acclimate more than if I’d been 100% working from home. The first week I was in the office, and then I actually requested to come into the office the following week as well, just so I could be there, even though my immediate team wasn’t going to be in the office. I felt like being there would just help me focus and I wanted to be able to go to someone and say, ‘Can you help me with this? Do you have some advice on how I can do this?’ And just trying to absorb as much as I could from other people was really helpful for me.
And then, on the flip side, once I got more comfortable working from home, it was nice because I was working for a company that was in California. So a lot of times, I would have calls at six or seven o’clock my time. So being able to work from home and adjust my schedule for that was nice and something I definitely appreciate.”
Casey’s Superpower in Professional Sales
“I was really good at identifying the people that I needed to call. And once I got them on the phone, I was very knowledgeable about Stem and knew the questions to ask them.
And I was lucky in this industry. I feel like it has a higher pickup rate than most. I don’t think it’s an industry where there are a lot of people calling on them. And a lot of people at this time knew what energy storage was. So I didn’t necessarily have to educate them on that. I just educated them on how Stem makes energy storage better and easier for them to implement because two years ago, this kind of product was new to the market.
And a lot of these solar developers were scared off. They didn’t want to deal with trying to spec it in and all the technical things that come along with it. So I was able to tell them, ‘Well, Stem is your partner on this, and we’ll do it all for you.’ And that — being able to frame it in that way and be super knowledgeable about the product — gave me a lot of credibility in their eyes. ”
Transcript:
F6345105_85 – memoryBlue – Tech Sales is for Hustlers – Casey Rials
[00:00:00] Casey Rials: If they ask me a question and I know it’s something they could maybe figure out on their own, I say, “Well, what do you think you should do, on this?” Because I think everyone learns by doing, yes, you know, I can absolutely tell you how to, how to get it done or do it myself. But like, “Where’s the value in that?”
[00:00:35] Marc Gonyea: Casey Rials, coming to us from Buffalo, New York, Corcoran.
[00:00:40] Chris Corcoran: I wonder how much snow is on the ground here, in late May?
[00:00:43] Casey Rials: Thankfully, none.
[00:00:44] Marc Gonyea: Casey. Thank you for joining us.
[00:00:47] Casey Rials: Thank you for having me.
[00:00:49] Marc Gonyea: This is going to be a good one. Uh, we were talking about the system, in the green room per se. Well, let’s get into it and we’ll talk about all those great things we were talking about.
[00:00:57] So, Casey, first thing we want to do, we want the audience to get to know you a little bit.
[00:01:01] And Chris and I, ’cause you had the pleasure of being the first person that we’ve done a podcast that Chris and I didn’t really directly work with. Which is, you know, it’s always great to be a first in that regard and you just spectacular that very, very well, which gives me even more confidence in Jeremy Wood and all that crew up there in Boston that was running the office and in the game you were part of.
[00:01:21] Casey Rials: Absolutely.
[00:01:22] Marc Gonyea: Well, let’s go. So, tell us a little bit, where are you from, what you liked growing up, just give us a little bit insight.
[00:01:27] Casey Rials: Sure. So, I was born in California. My mom’s originally from there and my dad was in Marine Corps and he, that’s how they met. He was stationed out there and he’s originally from Florida. And, I, you know, he got out of Marine Corps, soon after I was born. And we eventually made our way to Southwest Florida where I grew up on a wholesale Palm tree farm.
[00:01:48] So, about five acres of rows of palms. And so, my childhood was really interesting, I, we lived on a Island that, you know, it was mostly snowbirds and people that were retired. And most of my friends from school lived off island and so, you know, it, wasn’t an easy walk across the street to go visit my friends.
[00:02:12] And that made me very independent and self-reliant and, you know, had to entertain myself a lot because my best friend in High School, she lived on the other end of the school district. So, to go and visit her, it was a 40 minute drive. So, even though we went to the same High School, she lived on the opposite end of the territory for that school that I did.
[00:02:34] And I’d say, you know, High School was really where I came out of my shell. I did army JRTC all four years of High School and that was an amazing experience for me. And going into college, I wanted to find something like that again, that was essentially, you know, my, my family.
[00:02:53] Marc Gonyea: Casey, tell us about that. ‘Cause I don’t know, not to my knowledge, we’ve had one on the podcast who did JRTC in High School and obviously it was very influential. Why was it? Tell us about that because a lot of people don’t even know what that is, Chris and I are familiar with it.
[00:03:06] We’re military brats, but you, break it down for us. What is it and why was it so influential? Because you spoke so powerfully about it.
[00:03:13] Casey Rials: Yes. So, I’m going to make this wrong, but JROTC stands for Junior Reserve Officer’s Training Corps. And it’s essentially, it’s a non-binding organization, you know, you don’t have to go into the military after you do JRTC. ROTC, which is in college, is organization or the program that gives, you know, full ride scholarships to, you know, people that are able to
[00:03:42] qualify for that program. And then, after they graduate, they go into the military as an officer. Whereas the High School version of that is really just an extracurricular activity. So, you know, army retired enlists and guys who were enlisted or women who are enlisted, if they would like to become a teacher after their 20 years in the service, they can then start or join a JRTC program.
[00:04:08] So, mine was an army JRTC program. So, we had three to four instructors throughout my four years who, you know, you really just, it was a leadership training course, essentially. And you had teams that you could join, as well. So, all four years I did marksmanship, which is where you competitively shoot rifles at a target and, you know, the closer you can get to the center, obviously the higher points you get.
[00:04:35] But really, you know, it just gave me a lot of confidence and helped me learn who I am and what I like to do. I got a lot of opportunities to be in leadership and it was, you know, like its own mini army, essentially, you know, you had a brigade commander, a company commander, you had battalion commanders and then their staff, which each staff member had their own specific job. So, that really allowed me to realize that, you know, I loved being able to join something and look at what you know is going great, you know what systems are in place and then what could be improved. So, in my time there, I did, I mean, this is almost eight or nine years ago, at this point. So, I can’t really remember exactly, but, you know, I was a very organized and I loved helping that program, you know, organize the events and, you know, we were very active.
[00:05:34] Casey Rials: We had over a hundred events, in a year, that we kept track of over all the different extracurricular teams that were part of it. So, I just really enjoyed, you know, being busy with that and keeping track of all those different events. And then, in addition, I did student government. But I’d say, you know, that program was really the core of my High School experience.
[00:05:55] Marc Gonyea: The core. No, no pun intended. My question for you, you were talking about that, you were looking for something similar when you went to the college.
[00:06:03] So, it could take, can you leave at that point?
[00:06:05] Casey Rials: Yes. So, I had found my family in High School and, you know, the organization that really made me feel at home. So, I went into college kind of searching for that. And I’ve always been a very decisive person. You know, when I was looking at colleges, my mom and I went on a college road trip, we probably toured eight to ten colleges.
[00:06:24] And I just knew when I stepped on UCS campus that that was the place for me. So, you know, it was easy, even though I had people telling me, “Oh, it’s so big, you know, you’re never, you’re just going to be a number.” Like, I didn’t really, that didn’t matter to me. I just knew that it was where I should be. So, my first few years, you know, I was kind of searching for this organization that felt right to me.
[00:06:48] And eventually I stumbled upon Delta Sigma PI and I just.
[00:06:53] Marc Gonyea: What’s that?
[00:06:54] Casey Rials: So, it’s a professional business fraternity, co-ed and I just knew from the first time I talked to them and kind of went through recruitment, that it was right for me. And it was funny because I had come across them my sophomore year and actually gone out to one recruitment event.
[00:07:13] But I didn’t get invited to become a pledge that first time. And so, that kind of scared me off for another semester. And then, I saw them again and they kind of came up and I was like, you know, “This is something that I really want to do. I got rejected the first time, but, you know, if I’m going to do this, I’m going to give it my all.”
[00:07:33] Casey Rials: So, that semester I went to every single recruitment event that I could. I talked to every single brother that I could. So, I knew that they knew who I was and that I wanted to be a part of this and that, you know, I was very confident that this would be a good organization for me. And that time, you know, I got invited to become a pledge and, you know, my friends from college, to this day are from that program.
[00:07:58] It was amazing. I had an amazing last two years because of that organization. And that organization also led me to the professional selling program, which, you know, was a year long, two semester program.
[00:08:12] When you were in High School, I’m, just give me your quick and dirty answer on this and in college, well, what’d you major in, in college, first of all?
[00:08:20] Casey Rials: So, I was an accounting major, in college. Um.
[00:08:23] Marc Gonyea: An accounting major and you knew or you thought you were going do accounting, obviously. Did sales ever creep up before that?
[00:08:31] So, you’ve already get into that, but the sales, like, was that ever a thing or some consideration or someone in your family, your dad was in the Marines, maybe, maybe not?
[00:08:40] Casey Rials: Yeah. So, I knew my last two years of high school that I wanted to do something in business, but I wasn’t really sure. I think I thought about, you know, maybe, like, consulting, um, as I mentioned before, like, I loved coming into an organization and learning about all the processes and identifying, you know, what’s working, what’s not working, coming up with new ways to do things that make it more efficient.
[00:09:01] So, you know, I thought about starting my own business, trying to do some kind of consultant job. But I wasn’t really sure. And the great thing about the UCF business program is, in your first two years, you have to take essentially one class that is the four or five majors that they offer. So, they
[00:09:21] have accounting, finance, real estate management, marketing. I think those are the five.
[00:09:28] And so, I took those five classes and accounting just made sense to me, of the five. It was easy, quote-unquote easy for me. And I kind of looked around and I saw these other people that were struggling so hard. And I was like, “Hey,
[00:09:41] Marc Gonyea: That was me.
[00:09:42] Casey Rials: seems like I’m pretty good at this.
[00:09:44] Why not major in this?” So, that’s what I did.
[00:09:48] Marc Gonyea: Excellent. Okay. And then, let’s go back. So, you’re in Delta Sigma PI. And tell us about the sales program at UCF. And this is where Chris is going to definitely get, get interested.
[00:09:57] Casey Rials: Awesome. So, I saw a lot of people go through the PSP, which is professional selling program through, when I was in, uh, Delta Sigma PI and I saw how much they grew from it and how much experience they got. And so, really, that’s what attracted me in the first place. And then, as I started going through the interview process for that program and learning more about it, came to a realization that sales is essentially
[00:10:21] having a product that you know will help a company and then, you know, presenting it to them and then implementing it. So, that kind of corresponded with what my core passion is with, you know, making things more efficient and improving things. So, I went into
[00:10:40] it knowing I wanted to s, to find something that I was passionate about and that improved, you know, the something, you know, whether that be the environment or an organization or made things more efficient.
[00:10:54] So, I knew I wanted something highly technical just because I kind of thrive on things that you never stop learning new things about it. And I went into the program and it provided me, again, with another kind of family and we went through role-plays and I just got a lot of confidence, again, from that program and into sales.
[00:11:17] Casey Rials: And I didn’t really know exactly what I wanted at that point. I got into the end of my first semester, which was the December before I graduated and I was a part of the ICSE sales team. So, this is how I got introduced to memoryBlue.
[00:11:34] Chris Corcoran: Tell the listeners what ICSE is.
[00:11:36] Casey Rials: It’s the International Collegiate Sales Competition and it was in Orlando, Florida, that year. Which, uh, wasn’t that exciting because I went to school in Orlando. So, unlike all these other teams that got to travel from all across the country, we just had to drive, like, 30 minutes. So, but it was good.
[00:11:54] And, you know, I had a great experience there and I went to the sales fair or the career fair and I had looked at all the companies. And I think I had initially skipped over memoryBlue. I can’t remember why. I think I didn’t realize that they had a Boston office and I wanted to work in Boston.
[00:12:13] That’s what my goal was, to find a job in Boston. And so, they were right there as I walked into the conference hall and, you know, all these tips and tricks that you hear about job fairs, it says to find a company that you’re, not necessarily is on your target list, but that, you know, you can kind of practice with. And so,
[00:12:36] Marc Gonyea: You’re saying we’re the practice, practice dummies.
[00:12:38] Casey Rials: So, I went and, um, Ellie was there and Libby was there and I went and talked to both of them and basically was like, “You’re the exact type of people that I want to work with, that I want to be.” And that was kind of it. I mean, I went and talked to some other companies, but I just really loved the idea of working for kind of trying out a bunch of different companies.
[00:13:07] That’s not the way it worked out for me, but that idea was something that was really attractive to me. So, I went through the interview process with Libby and then we got to the final interview and I was pretty insistent with Jeremy that I wanted to visit the Boston office for the final interview.
[00:13:25] That was really important to me. And I could tell he, you know, he wanted to just do it over the phone. ‘Cause, you know, I don’t know if he understood that I really wanted to be there and that was something important to me. So I, I flew up to Boston and I tried to cram as many interviews into one week as possible, which was not.
[00:13:44] Marc Gonyea: Wait, wait, hold on. You were told on us yet if you’re still out interviewing when you’re in Boston.
[00:13:48] Casey Rials: Well, I mean, I had to, you know, you have to be confident that you’re picking the right
[00:13:53] ones. So.
[00:13:54] Marc Gonyea: Yes, you do.
[00:13:55] Casey Rials: I had three interviews and it was kind of crazy because I had, the first interview I had was with a company I won’t name, but they had never even talked to me in person. And I’d only done a recorded interview. And they were like, “Oh, we’ll fly you up here and you can interview in person.” And that was just so strange to me. ‘Cause I was like, I’ve never even talked to a recruiter and they’re going to pay for me to fly up there and for, like, a day long interview. And so, I kind of made a whole trip out of it and I stayed from, like, a Sunday to a Friday. And so, it started out with that, knew right off the bat, through the super intense interview process, it wasn’t for me, went interviewed somewhere else and that was, you know, I didn’t really have a structure for, you know, someone like me out of college coming in and joining. So, that kind of wasn’t an option either.
[00:14:51] And I ended with, with memoryBlue, save the best for last. But I didn’t realize, even though I’d spaced out my three interviews, how exhausted I would be. ‘Cause it was so mentally taxing, having to do these interviews and then prep for the next one. And so, I walked in to the memoryBlue Boston office and I was like, “I don’t even know what to think.
[00:15:14] My brain is just not even functioning.” But, you know, luckily I’d talked to Jeremy a lot before. So, you know, he knew me and I was able to function enough to, you know, have a good interview with him and it went great. And I remember being in the airport and calling my parents and saying, you know, “This is it.
[00:15:35] Casey Rials: I’m, you know, they offered me the job, I’m going to take it.” And that’s it. And that was February of 2020.
[00:15:43] Chris Corcoran: Oh, wow. That’s
[00:15:46] Casey Rials: I made the decision way before most of my classmates did. But it was turned out to be very comforting. As we all know, in March, 2020 everything went sideways. So, it was, I was really happy that, you know, I kind of made it happen the semester before and had already come up to Boston and felt really confident in my decision.
[00:16:07] Chris Corcoran: That’s, so, there’s to unpack there. The ICSE, just for the listeners, is College Sales Competition where there’s professional sales students from 75 to a hundred across the country that all fly into Orlando and they have a competition and it’s really elite sales professionals.
[00:16:29] All, all the students that participate are going to have multiple job offers and they can, they have pick litter, which is great, is obviously, Casey, you had your pick of the litter in of sales opportunities, but what I find fascinating, I to understand this, is unlike most salespeople
[00:16:48] you actually have employable skills, meaning, meaning, meaning you studied accounting and I’m sure that could have had job offers accountant, whether that be with the big four or other firms. So, you, at some point you had to have a crossroads because, you you spent four years
[00:17:06] building up the skillset that’s difficult for most people and you found it easy amd highly employable, right? Accountants can make good money coming out of college. At some point you hit crossroads of, “Hey, do I want to be accountant or do I want to be a And I’m interested in understanding how you thought through that, as well what your parents thought that.
[00:17:26] Please share that with the listeners.
[00:17:27] Casey Rials: Yes, absolutely. So, I had an accounting internship. It was my sophomore year of college and it was on with, like a, on, like part of the university, one of their departments. And I quickly realized that as attractive as had, having the same thing, basically, to do every day sounded, in reality I was bored out of my mind.
[00:17:54] And I could just not picture myself doing this, like becoming a CPA and doing this day in and day out. So, I spent probably about six to nine months after that, trying to find like niche accounting career paths.
[00:18:11] I actually went through the entire process of becoming a FBI intern. I went through a polygraph, intense background checks
[00:18:21] and then, in the end within, like, the last sprint it didn’t work out for various reasons. Now, I’m kind of thankful for that because I don’t think that would have been the right path for me, either. Because in that intense interview process I realized that maybe I didn’t want to work for the government because of all the intense red tape and scrutiny that you’re always under.
[00:18:41] So, after that, you know, I, I spent some time maybe thinking, “Oh, I’ll be, I’ll get my real estate license and become a realtor.” But, you know, I just didn’t feel confident in that either because I feel like, you know, to be really successful in that you have to have a really strong network of relationships starting out.
[00:19:04] Casey Rials: And I just, I didn’t want to stay in Florida. And I felt like it would be really difficult to make that happen if I was to up and move to Boston. And, you know, at that point I’d been thinking about, “Okay, well, what do I do?” And I had talked to a lot of friends and a lot of people had always told me, “You should do the professional selling, selling program.
[00:19:25] It’s, it’s great, you know, it helped me so much.” And so, I was like, “What the heck? You know, this sounds like something that would be great for me.” And so, I decided to do it. My parents have always been very supportive and my dad was essentially the Vice President of sales for the Wholesale Palm tree company.
[00:19:45] And during High School, he’d also started his own business. And so, I, I witnessed, my parents would be gone every weekend knocking door to door, they had a pest control business, so they were trying to sell
[00:19:58] the pest control services. So, I saw much work it was, but I also saw the payoffs. My dad was able to retire from his full-time job and, you know, have a lot more freedom.
[00:20:11] They now, they sold their house and live full-time in an RV, traveling all around the country and that was really attractive to me. So, I think
[00:20:20] those, all those things combined. Yeah. So, they’re living their dream and I think, you know, owning your business and being in sales and having that sales background allowed him to do that.
[00:20:31] Chris Corcoran: That’s great. So, smart enough to be an accountant, savvy enough to not be an accountant.
[00:20:39] Casey Rials: I also was kind of put off by the prospect of having to go through two more years of schooling and then having to go through additional schooling every year to keep the CPA license. I wasn’t excited about that. So, I kind of just decided, you know, like you said, I was already so far into my accounting degree and not many people in sales have a degree like that.
[00:21:04] And so, I figured I’d keep it and it would definitely come into use in my personal life and probably come into use sometimes in professional life. And I definitely think it has, in some ways, I can speak to like retirement funds and how taxes affect those things more than the typical person. But I’d say, you know, the college experience for me was way more about the organizations I was a part of.
[00:21:28] And I think I gained much more from those than any degree could have ever given me.
[00:21:34] Chris Corcoran: Right. Well, the accounting degree, what it does do is it transmits a signal that you’re smart and that you pay attention to details and th, that’s and, and that you’re technical. And so, those are all things that play really well in tech sales. So, you had a phenomenal foundation, I mean, I just, the accounting coupled with the sales program is kind of exactly what tech companies are looking for.
[00:21:58] Marc Gonyea: You know, it’s crazy. We’re not talking about somebody who would just kind of just made the team. Right, right. I mean, you did really well in the sales competitions. Didn’t you?
[00:22:07] Casey Rials: Yes. So, I did really well, ICSE, I actually didn’t do the sales competition. I did the management case study, which was very interesting. Basically you were running, it was like you were running your own little company in an online simulation and you had to make decisions and see how those decisions affected employee retention, revenue, supply chain, all this stuff.
[00:22:34] That was fun. That was so fun for me. I loved that, that competition and we placed, I believe first in our division and that’s what allowed us to go and compete in ICSE. And it was more of a presentation about, they’d given us a case study and we had 24 hours to come up with a potential solution for management of that company.
[00:22:56] So we, we didn’t make it past the first round but, you know, just being there and getting there and going through that preparation, for that case study, I learned so much from that. And then, the year after I was going to do, I believe it’s NCSE, the one that’s close to the Virginia office,
[00:23:15] Casey Rials: but I got canceled because of COVID.
[00:23:18] Chris Corcoran: Wow.
[00:23:19] Casey Rials: I felt really confident in that one. We were selling a Purdue, chicken nuggets and I think I would have done really well in that competition. I, we were so prepared and I was super bummed out when we couldn’t do it. But, like I said before, I believe that the preparation for it, I learned so much more from that than I think I would’ve learned doing the actual competition. So.
[00:23:40] Chris Corcoran: Right. Yeah. Just those sales pro, so, I mean, I can’t speak highly enough of and I’m so jealous ’cause this is what I wanted to do when I was in college and they didn’t exist back then was be part of or have a sales program, be part of it, go take on other schools and try to outsell them. And then, when you go to the job fair, it’s literally like you’re shopping because all those companies will offer you.
[00:24:03] Casey Rials: Well, go back to college. You can, uh…
[00:24:05] Chris Corcoran: Well, Chris, I think, I think the train left the station. 21 jump street. So, let’s talk a little bit about, so you ended up coming out of college and then you ended up moving to Boston. Did you know anyone up there? Talk about what that was like and why you wanted to move there and kind of how you became part of the community up there?
[00:24:24] Casey Rials: So, everyone thought I was crazy, like with UCF, everyone and whenever I would say, “Oh, I’m moving to Boston.” The first thing out of 90% of people’s mouth was, “Oh my gosh, it’s so cold.” And I would, or “It’s so expensive.” And, you know, I was like, “Yes. Yes, I know it’s cold and I know it’s expensive. It’s a big city.” But I’d visited here and liked UCF, I just fell in love with it.
[00:24:49] And I was like, “I want to live here.” So, that’s what I did. And looking back, it’s kind of crazy that that’s what I decided to do. But, I had no family. I had no friends. I was moving up here, all alone. And it was really scary when my parents, we drove up in the RV and my parents dropped me off and they drove away.
[00:25:09] And that was one of the scariest moments of my life. I was like,” What am I doing?” You know, “I’m starting this job on Monday.” And like, “What if, what if it doesn’t work out?” Like, “What if, you know, I get fired and I don’t make it?” And all those, all those things were running through my mind and I just thought it was crazy.
[00:25:26] But, you know, I took a deep breath and I said, you know, “It’ll be fine. I’ve, you know, I put in the work to make sure that this was the right decision and I’m confident in that.” So, I just settled into my new apartment and I started the job on Monday and, you know, that, that was kind of it, the rest was history.
[00:25:45] And so, I can go into, you know,
[00:25:47] Chris Corcoran: Yeah. Were you living, like, were you living by yourself or did you have a roommate or talk, talk to us a little bit about that.
[00:25:52] Casey Rials: Yes. So, I had a roommate. I found roommate on Facebook marketplace and it was two guys, actually. So, a lot of people too, like my grandparents were like “What? You’re going to live with two guys?” And I was like, “You know, I’ve lived with girls. And so, you know, that, that didn’t work out sometimes. So, in a way I think living with guys will be easier.”
[00:26:14] And luckily it was great, you know, it was really just me and one other guy, the other, the third roommate had been traveling and then he decided not to move back. And so, he actually ended up subleasing his apartment to the other roommates’ girlfriend. So, I really, it was just me and a couple and they lived upstairs and they kept to themselves.
[00:26:33] And I decided to live only 15 minutes from the office. So, I had a very quick commute and it was a little, more outside the city than maybe ideal, but it was, it was a really great neighborhood, really safe. And in my entire two years in Boston, you know, I only went downtown, probably, less than 15 times.
[00:26:53] Casey Rials: And so, that was kind of part of the reason why I was like, you know, I’m paying all this money to live somewhere where I’m not really taking advantage of the thing that so many people want to be here for. So, that’s part of the reason I decided not to live there anymore.
[00:27:07] Chris Corcoran: Very good. Well, talk about starting at memoryBlue and what that was like.
[00:27:12] Casey Rials: Sure. So, I got lucky and when I was starting, it was the end of, gosh, I joined in July, so it was, like, the end of the April, May, June quarter. So, the Friday before I started, I actually got to go to a first Friday. And that was great because it made me realize, “Hey, this is a bunch of, you know, younger adults that are my age. That are going through the exact same thing that I’m going through.” And it made Monday much less intimidating, than it was before. So, I got to see
[00:27:47] Chris Corcoran: Talk to the listeners about what’s the first Friday.
[00:27:49] Casey Rials: Sure. So, first Friday is the first Friday after the end of each quarter. So, four times a year, each office, essentially, throws a celebration. So, there’s food and drinks and games and you’re really just, you know, getting together and celebrating the close of a quarter.
[00:28:07] And it’s very casual And this, it was lucky because it was summertime. So, it was in the back of the Boston office. And so, we got to enjoy the nice weather and I believe Jeremy had just gotten his golden retriever puppy. So she came and, and that was, I remember, you know, seeing her and be like, “Oh, I want to get a dog so bad.”
[00:28:26] And it was just, I don’t know, it just made me feel so comfortable and excited for Monday.
[00:28:34] Chris Corcoran: And then, let’s talk about Monday.
[00:28:36] Casey Rials: So, Monday came and it was unique in that I started and my first two days were not academy. It was going to be the
[00:28:43] Chris Corcoran: Yeah.
[00:28:43] Casey Rials: following week. So, I had a full week before I started memoryBlue Academy. And I remember the first one or two days were a lot of technical, learning about Stem, which is, was my first client.
[00:28:58] And, you know, just trying to wrap my head around it. And that first week was really a blur, but I remember the first Friday, you always, they always try to get you to make, make a phone call. So, you don’t go into the weekend, like scared of, of, you know, dialing. So, my first, my first Friday I dialed and I think I booked,
[00:29:21] I definitely booked one meeting, but I think I might’ve booked two. And so, that was a great confidence booster. And I was just, you know, excited going into the weekend and I really enjoyed my client. It was kind of exactly what I was looking for, in the technical sales. It’s a very technical product that I’ve only recently gotten really good at explaining what they do in, like, one sentence, as opposed to 30 sentences.
[00:29:46] It’s taken me two years to do that, so.
[00:29:49] Chris Corcoran: So, for the listeners, right? So, I think this is an important point, right? I, um, probably had never heard of Stem.
[00:29:55] Casey Rials: Right. Yes.
[00:29:56] Chris Corcoran: Stem, Stem, Stem is not going to the college sales programs and they’re not going to UCF and recruiting on campus.
[00:30:01] So, you never would’ve heard of them. The only way you would have heard of them would have been through working at memoryBlue, but for the listeners, explain what does Stem do.
[00:30:10] Casey Rials: Sure. So, Stem does not stand for science, technology, engineering and math. Stem is a software company that provides artificial intelligence for large scale battery storage. So, if you think about large containers like that are on container ships, size of a parking space, those are essentially very large batteries that charge and discharge energy from a utility and Stem sells
[00:30:36] the software, provides a software to control when that battery system charges and discharges in order to, either maximize revenue from selling that energy back to the utility or minimize costs associated with buying that energy from the utility or a combination of the two.
[00:30:56] Does that make sense?
[00:32:00] Marc Gonyea: That’s great. I mean, I remember that’s really great definition. When they were a client in Virginia, before Jeremy moved to Boston, I remember being ridiculously fascinated with what they did and how they did it. And it’s changed a little bit, in some ways, but you described it much more safely than I could ever do.
[00:32:17] Is it green, and would you classify it as green tech?
[00:32:19] Casey Rials: Yes. So, it also optimizes solar energy and is that you’re able to, you know, use the inner, the energy storage to get more use out of solar energy instead of solar being kind of a finite asset where, you know, it charges during daylight hours and that’s it. In places like California energy is more expensive in the evening.
[00:32:42] So, that solar doesn’t do you much good when energy is the most expensive. So, the battery storage will charge from the solar and store that energy and then deploy it when energy is more expensive, in the evening. And that’s, you know, the most common use case of the storage, but in order to know all of those different factors, as well as, there’s a million other things that the software can do as well, but in order to best optimize that charging and discharging, you have to have a very intelligent software that is able to analyze many different inputs and then decide when and how much energy to discharge at different points in the day.
[00:33:21] Chris Corcoran: That’s super cool. And so, who do you sell that to or who were you selling that to? Who were you prospecting?
[00:33:26] Casey Rials: Sure. So, Stem sells through the channel primarily and what that means is we sell to solar developers who then combine energy storage with their solar project and sell it to a customer. So, we don’t typically go and target a Mom and Pop grocery store, in California to sell our system to. We target the solar developer that is developing projects in that region so that we can say, you know, “Energy storage is going to increase the profitability and economics of your project.
[00:33:59] And it’s an, we’re going to be your end-end partner in specking this out and helping you do the engineering and everything that’s involved even after, you know, it’s installed because we have the software that’s controlling it. And just make it, quote unquote, easy for you to add energy storage and, you know, satisfy more of your customer’s needs.”
[00:34:19] Chris Corcoran: Very interesting. Okay. So, this is very sophisticated, right? In terms of not only the technology, but in terms of how they sell that technology, through the channel, to the sales and you knew none of this stuff when you first started, right?
[00:34:30] Casey Rials: Correct.
[00:34:31] Chris Corcoran: So, so, share with the listeners, what that was like, I mean, was it an intimidating or, it sounds like you kind of liked that kind of stuff, but talk about kind of being able to learn as you go and how your manager helped you, if at all or just kind of talk about that whole experience.
[00:34:47] Casey Rials: Sure. It was really challenging, but, you know, at that point, I didn’t know what I didn’t know, which was comforting. I think if I knew how much I didn’t know, I would have been very anxious and panicky because I always want to be the best representation of, you know, whatever I’m doing. And it was also challenging because, I can’t remember the exact timeline, but within, like, two weeks to a month of me joining the point of contact from memoryBlue left and someone else was brought in. So, a new director of marketing was brought in and then a few weeks after that some another SDR started. So, for about a month or two, when I first started with Stem, I was the only SDR.
[00:35:29] They didn’t have another SDR internally. They didn’t have an inside sales team. So, I was actually catching up on all the inbound increase that they’d had for the past, I think it was like four or five months. So, it was a lot of different things coming at me, all at one time. I got super lucky that the, the VP of marketing that they brought in, Garrett, was, you know, a wonderful manager, but we were kind of learning together.
[00:35:54] You know, obviously he had some experience, but he focuses a lot more on the marketing side. And so, I was lucky that I kind of had a mentor more on the sales side, but I had to take kind of everything I learned from the both of them and try to combine it into what I was doing. So, it was a lot of learn as you go.
[00:36:14] And, you know, I had to use, they wanted me to use their dialer software. So, I had to learn a new software. I had to use their Salesforce to track meetings and throughout this whole time, if I had a question, you know, I could ask, you know, my manager either at memoryBlue or through Stem or someone at Stem, but a lot of it, I figured it out on my own.
[00:36:36] And that was great in now, because now I’m managing a team of SDRs and I know how to do pretty much everything. And I’m very self-reliant and just confident in my ability to do all these different things because I had to kind of learn it the hard way. But it was great. And I’d say it took me probably six months to really know the product or the service that we were offering.
[00:37:01] Chris Corcoran: Very interesting. So, talk about what it was like the environment. So, you started in July of 2020?
[00:37:07] Casey Rials: Yes.
[00:37:08] Chris Corcoran: So it was, that was probably, it was kind of working from home, talk a little bit about the environment of, of being in the office versus working remotely.
[00:37:18] Casey Rials: Sure. So, in the office was definitely, in the beginning preferable to working from home.
[00:37:25] Chris Corcoran: And why? Talk about why.
[00:37:26] Casey Rials: I just had so many questions and I just wanted to kind of feel like I was in the office and working and just being there and having others around me and being invited to go out to lunch. This helped me acclimate more than if I’d been 100% work from home.
[00:37:43] So, I actually, you know, the first week I was in the office and then I actually requested to come into the office the following week, as well, just so I could be there even though, I think Jeremy was there at that time, but even though my immediate team wasn’t going to be in the office, I just felt like being there would just help me focus and being able to go to someone and say, “You know, can you help me with this?”
[00:38:05] Like, “Do you have some advice on how I can do this?” And just trying to absorb as much as I could from other people was really helpful, for me. And then, on the flip side, once I got more comfortable and was working from home, it was nice because I was working for a company that was in California. So, a lot of times I would have calls at six or seven o’clock, my time.
[00:38:25] So, being able to work from home and kind of adjust my schedule for that was, was nice and something I definitely, you know, appreciated.
[00:38:34] Marc Gonyea: Very good. Who did you start with? Like, who else would come some of your COVID COVID chums are a memoryBlue.
[00:38:42] Casey Rials: Sure, I’d say Emmy. Emmy Maura was definitely one. She started out as a coworker and then became my delivery manager. A couple months, I can’t remember the timeline, but I think it was six months halfway through, she became the delivery manager. Ben Haas was also on my team. Goodness, trying to remember, Jeremy, I’d say was definitely, you know, a good friend and someone who was more of a mentor to me. Kaylee started, she was my mentee. She’s now a DM.
[00:39:11] Marc Gonyea: Well.
[00:39:12] Casey Rials: So, once she started, that was, that was really fun for me to have a mentee and, and be able to mentor them. Tyson was my mentor. And he was working, he was working for a very similar company that’s actually a Stem competitor. So, having him kind of in the same industry was really helpful and he was on a different team. So, that was also part of the reason I would come into the office on our off weeks is because he was there and I could ask him these more industry specific questions.
[00:39:41] Chris Corcoran: You had a, you were working with some all-stars, Casey.
[00:39:44] Casey Rials: Although, I think everyone I just named is still there. And then, of course, Emmy has been promoted to the overall Boston director. And, I mean, that was amazing to see she killed it as a DM and was, you know, always there to help us and always going above and beyond to make sure that we succeeded.
[00:40:06] So, seeing that was, was awesome. And also, seeing Jeremy’s promotion was too, I think he’s delivery manager of the east or VP, I can’t remember the exact title, but that was awesome. Well deserved, for both of them.
[00:40:19] Chris Corcoran: In life people anticipate things being a certain way and very rarely is it exactly how you think it’s going to be. So, what was the biggest surprise about being an SDR?
[00:40:31] Casey Rials: Sure. I think it was more a surprise of what I thought being at memoryBlue would be like versus what it ended up being like. I think I had a very unique client and that I wasn’t one of many SDRs, I was the only SDR. So, I was handling a lot of inbound as well as outbound. And I wasn’t necessarily the same as everyone else in that, I was making, you know, a lot of outbound calls per day.
[00:40:57] I would make less outbound calls because I had a lot more, you know, emails to get back to. Or, you know, I would have what I call intro calls, where I would have, like schedule a 15 minute call with someone that had reached out to Stem through the website to explain what Stem did and essentially act as like a mini account executive, in a lot of ways.
[00:41:17] And that kind of threw me into the fire because I was on the phone with a customer, trying to explain what Stem did, when I was only, you know, I didn’t, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. And so, that was interesting and a lot different than from what I expected. And that, it was more kind of focused and I wasn’t, you know, reaching out to a lot of people during the day, it was more strategy-based.
[00:41:41] It was more account-based outreach where, you know, I would be given a list of, “These are the solar developers that we want you to get in contact with.” And, you know, it was a limited list, but I really had to go at that list from a bunch of different angles to try and accomplish my goal of getting a meeting with them, for the account reps at Stem.
[00:42:00] Marc Gonyea: It’s interesting. Lot of people work with emerging technology companies and a lot of times they have a very defined market and you’re given this list and little what some people will do is “Well, I already went through the list.” Or “I can’t, no one else for me to call. Can you give me more?” That’s not an acceptable answer
[00:42:21] Casey Rials: Right.
[00:42:21] Marc Gonyea: in lots of cases.
[00:42:23] So, it sounds like you were able to be resourceful and kind of come up with some creative ways to approach, maybe the same people a different way or approaching other people, certain angles,
[00:42:32] which leads me to my question, I’m dying to know your answer. When you did the outreach, when you were on the phone, right, ’cause we’re, the world of professional selling, we do all sorts of things to book meetings and acquire relationships and learn more, but at the end of the day, talking to people is how you really qualify someone and increase your own skills as a professional sales person, what were you good at?
[00:42:51] What became, like, your kind of signature move or your superpower? I’m curious what the accounting major who potentially might have been a forensic accountant for the FBI, who obviously was good at selling and now you’re a manager, like I’m curious to hear what, what was your kind of signature move or moves?
[00:43:07] Casey Rials: I think I was known as, in the office as having, you know, lower dials, but a very high conversion to conversation with prospects and into books and then occurs. I was really good at identifying the people that I needed to call. And once I got them on the phone, I was very knowledgeable on Stem and, and knew the questions to ask them.
[00:43:32] And I was lucky in that, this industry, I feel like it has a higher pickup rate than most. I don’t think it’s a, it’s an industry that there’s a lot of people calling on them. And a lot of people at this time knew what energy storage was. So, I didn’t necessarily have to educate them on that. I just educated them on how Stem makes energy storage better and easier for them to implement because, you know, two years ago this kind of product was new to the market.
[00:43:58] And a lot of these solar developers were kind of scared off. They didn’t want to deal with the, with trying to spec it in and all the technical things that come along with it. So, I was able to tell them, “Well, stem is your partner on this and we’ll do it all for you.” And that, being able to kind of frame it in that way and be super knowledgeable about the product gave me a lot of credibility, I think, in their eyes.
[00:44:22] So, I think I was known, number one, for having crazy numbers, you know, I would make, like, 20 dials a day and have, like, 15C webs and have, you know, four or five books in a day as well as, like, an occur. And that was not usual at all. I think a lot of people wondered what I did all day because I wasn’t making, you know, the typical amount of calls, but I was very busy.
[00:44:45] I mean, every second of my day, I had to be responding back to emails or, you know, doing some prospecting on LinkedIn. It was, it was a lot more involved then I think the typical SDR role at memoryBlue.
[00:44:59] Chris Corcoran: What’s the hardest part about being an SDR?
[00:45:02] Casey Rials: I think for me, it was the rejection, sometimes, I think, but I think it was only really in the beginning. I think by the end I could kind of discern before even calling someone when maybe it wasn’t going to be the best fit. So, I think that was difficult. I think also it was really difficult for me was not knowing the answer to every question that I was asked and I got really good at and it’s something I really pushed with.
[00:45:33] My SDR team is being able to say, “That’s a great question. Why don’t I, you know I caught you out of the blue today, why don’t I schedule some time next week and we can discuss this further.” I think, in the beginning, I tried a lot of times to explain the answer to something that I wasn’t really confident in the answer to.
[00:45:53] And I tell my SDRs, you know, “It’s, it’s up to you if you want to try to explain it. But I personally think it’s a lot better too because, you know, the goal of this call is to get them on the call with someone that’s much more educated than we are. So, you know, you can try to answer that if you want to, but I think it’s a lot better to use that as a reason to book another call.” You know, “Great question. Let’s talk about that next week.” And I think that’s one of my most powerful tools and something I really push with my SDRs because you don’t want to tell them the wrong thing, but you also don’t want to kind of ramble on and try to explain something you’re not really that familiar with. Like, I, I think it’s just better to use that phrase and book time with someone that does know the answer and get that booked meeting and that occur, hopefully
[00:46:44] Chris Corcoran: That’s great. What’s the biggest misconception have about the sales development function?
[00:46:50] Casey Rials: think it’s that, you know, you’re selling something that’s like a gimmick or that doesn’t really help people and that’s not true. I mean, of course there’s going to be companies like that out there, you know, you kind of can choose and memoryBlue helps us choose and find the companies that are legit and are actually, you know, providing something to an industry that is helpful.
[00:47:15] And that is, you know, going to make a difference and I think that’s also why I chose memoryBlue, as opposed to, you know, some big company out there is I trusted memoryBlue to help me meet companies that were that, you know, were willing to help me with my career. And something that scared me off from, you know, a big company that hires hundreds of SDRs a year for, you know, one singular role that’s the same across the whole organization was, you know, I’d heard horror stories of people that couldn’t, you know, weren’t getting it and weren’t progressing as they should.
[00:47:57] And they just, they just let them go instead of really investing in their growth. And I wanted a company that I knew cared about me and my growth and that would help me succeed.
[00:48:08] Chris Corcoran: Very good. So, now you’re an SDR leader.
[00:48:10] Casey Rials: Yeah.
[00:48:10] Marc Gonyea: Well, let’s talk, before we get to that, talk about the journey a little bit. So, when you were doing this and you’re working with these ballers, right? What did you think you wanted to do, like where did you want to go? What did, what were things that you considered before you got to where you are?
[00:48:24] Casey Rials: Sure. So, within, I’d say the first three to four months, I was still kind of unsure what I wanted to do, if I wanted to go and work for Stem or if I wanted to become a DM or whatever it may be, to work in another role at memoryBlue, but once my boss Garrett really got up and running, I worked really well with him.
[00:48:44] I feel like we got along great and it was kind of the perfect relationship and it quickly became pretty obvious to me that I really love Stem. And I had an opportunity to join a team that was very young and help shape its future, which is something, again, I love to do. I love to know what’s going on, everything that’s going on and decide how to make it better or develop new things.
[00:49:12] And I was excited at the prospect of, you know, helping to expand the team and, and really help Stem kind of take off, again, with, with the inside sales team.
[00:49:23] Marc Gonyea: And then, you said, “Oh, I’m going to go work for Stem.” And you did. And as, what Chris asked, when did you become the manager, the leader? When did you take that next step?
[00:49:32] Casey Rials: Sure. So, I made the switch over to Stem March 1st, 2021. And I believe my official, I first, I think I started or was promoted within the first two months to SDR lead. And then, that’s kind of what I am now. But, I mean, within my first couple of months, I hired someone and was training them. And now we’re a team of three plus myself. And then, also, we’ve hired someone to oversee kind of my team in between, you know, who I directly reported to, at the beginning at memoryBlue. So, the team has kind of exploded. I think it started out, the whole marketing function was five and now I think we’re 12 or 13. So, just being a part of it and seeing how it’s expanded and helping, you know, everyone I’ve hired has been, essentially, you know, like a recent grad.
[00:50:29] So, providing the same experience that I got to them has been really valuable and rewarding to me.
[00:50:35] Chris Corcoran: So, what do you look for when you hire an SDR with no experience?
[00:50:38] Casey Rials: So, I look for someone who, I think the number one thing is, because Stem is a very technical product, it needs to be someone that can learn a technical product, but it’s also always hungry to learn more, you know, with Stem and with our team being as young as it is, you have the opportunity to kind of make your own role.
[00:51:02] You know, if you want to pursue marketing you can definitely do that and make it known, “Hey, I am really passionate about it.” And you can take on other projects outside of, you know, the typical SDR scope or if you want to go into full cycle sales, like you have the opportunity to, to interact with all of these different divisions of Stem. And I want someone that I know is going to be asking questions and getting curious and really invested in their own growth to try to identify, you know, “What do I want to do next?” Because I’m very upfront that, you know, this SDR role is only for a few years. You know, typically people don’t stay as an SDR their entire lives.
[00:51:40] And I’m, I want to help you figure out what you want to do. So, expose you to all these different things, but there’s only so much I can really push someone. So, I want someone that’s going to go after things themselves and make it known what they want and then make it happen because we don’t have, you know, you have to be in this role for two years and then you’re going to do this.
[00:51:59] Casey Rials: It’s, it’s very flexible and that is great for some people, but for other people, you know, they prefer the structure. So, I always try to make sure that they understand that, you know, this is something they have to go after themselves. It’s not going to be necessarily handed to them. And I think all SDRs kind of have to have that, a certain degree of that, you know, going after what they want.
[00:52:20] But I think I, I have to take it to another level because it’s not, you know, a structure, like they don’t know what’s coming. They have to kind of decide what they want and then make it happen.
[00:52:31] Chris Corcoran: So, it sounds like you’re looking for people who are curious and ambitious.
[00:52:34] Casey Rials: Yes.
[00:52:35] Marc Gonyea: So, how do you find, how do you screen for that? Like, that’s not on so much resume.
[00:52:39] We have a kind of a three-part interview process. Number one is I kind of do like a phone screening, you know, basic questions. And then, either second or third, we will do a role-play where I will give them a bare bones kind of a sheet music, sheet and say, you know, “These are the things that you need and we’re going to do this role-play.” And basically they have to go out and go do some research on Stem’s website and try to come up with their own explanation of what Stem does.
[00:53:09] Casey Rials: And I kind of give them, like, qualification questions and some other basic, basic things, but I want to see what they come up with on their own. And, through doing that, I think a lot of people should have questions because it’s not, it’s not something that’s super easy to understand what Stem does. So, you know, someone comes into that and we do the role-play and they don’t have a lot of questions.
[00:53:33] That’s kind of a sign to me, but, then also, you know, sometimes it depends on the person, I tend to customize it. I’ll sometimes do the role-play twice. If I have a lot of feedback for them or I want to them to do it again, I will give them the feedback, see what questions they ask of that feedback and then see how that, they take that feedback in.
[00:53:55] I think that’s another thing is, is coachability. And I know that’s something memoryBlue also looks for a lot, is the ability to take that feedback and implement it. And so, that’s kind of a, a real way to test that is giving them that feedback and seeing how they make those changes. Because you know, you can have a lot of personal touches and, and how you do things, but there are some things in an SDR role that, you know, you have to ask and you have to, you know, there’s internal processes that, that you can’t, you know, do a different way.
[00:54:27] They have to be this way. So, I want to make sure they will take those changes and, and make them. And respect that this is what you know, your possible employer is asking you to do.
[00:54:40] Marc Gonyea: So, let’s say you’re hiring a new SDR. And it’s the day before this SDR starts. What advice would you give to that SDR to, to really make sure that they maximize the experience and their contribution to Stem.
[00:54:52] Casey Rials: I think and this is something I do with the first day, the first call I have with any SDR I’m onboarding is the, you know, “The expectations for this week are for you to just absorb as much as you can. I would take notes because it’s like drinking from a fire hose. You’re not going to absorb everything that I’m going over with you, but, you know, just try to absorb as much as possible, but take notes so that you can, you know, couple weeks from now, maybe you have a question and you can remember that we talked about it, but you don’t remember exactly what the answer was.
[00:55:24] And you can always go back to those notes and make your life easier that way.” And then, just asking questions and not being afraid to, I always say, “Don’t be afraid to bother me and don’t feel like you’re bothering me because my role is to help you succeed. And I can’t help you succeed if I don’t know what you need.
[00:55:42] So, if, you know, we didn’t cover something enough for you or you, you need to go over something again, please tell me because I would much rather spend that time going through that with you than for you to struggle to, to do it.” So, that’s always my main ask, the first couple of weeks. It’s just, you know, “Don’t, don’t be afraid to ask questions, take as many notes as you can, absorb as much as you can.
[00:56:08] But my main expectation is really just for you to, you know, give it an attempt and, and make sure that you’re learning as much as possible.”
[00:56:18] Marc Gonyea: Casey. I got a question for you. What’s the number one way you think your SDRs improve of what motion do they have to execute, for them to get better at their role?
[00:56:28] Casey Rials: Actually, doing whatever it is they’re trying to improve on. So, I also take the same kind of tactic where I do my absolute best to make sure that they make a phone call, even if it’s just one phone call, their first week. Because I know that that’s something a lot of people are nervous about and I just know that the more you practice at it, the better you’re going to get at it.
[00:56:53] So, that’s, that’s kind of what I always have them do, is actually do it. And also, if they ask me a question and I know it’s something they could maybe figure out on their own, I say, “Well, what do you think you should do, on this?” Because I think everyone learns by doing, “Yes, you know, I can absolutely tell you how to, how to get it done or do it myself.”
[00:57:14] But like, “Where’s, where’s the value in that?” I learned the most during my first couple of months because I had to learn how to do it. There wasn’t, you know, a structured training program for me to go through at Stem. It was, if I ask, you know, of the couple people that I have at my fingertips and they don’t know, well, I’ve got to figure out how to get it done.
[00:57:34] This is something that I need to do. So, I try to also push that with the SDRs on my team, is empowering them to do it themselves because it’ll make them feel more con, confident, more independent and, you know, one day if I’m not there to, for them to ask a question, I want them to feel like they know who they can go to to ask if they still don’t know or use, you know, their
[00:57:54] teammates, the other SDRs, someone’s got to know how to do it.
[00:57:58] So, I want them to feel confident to ask that question.
[00:58:03] Chris Corcoran: So, I’ve got a question, the, so, the SDR job is challenging role and you’ve been around it. When you see SDRs who aren’t finding success, why do you think that is? W, what do you think is the biggest issue there?
[00:58:19] Casey Rials: I think, honestly, it comes down to coachability or the willingness and this is kind of a part of coachability, the willingness to try something new. You know, I run into this where, you know, something’s not working, you’re not meeting your numbers and we have to look back at what you’re currently doing.
[00:58:37] Okay,” Well, what isn’t working and how can we try to change this up to test something new out?” And if someone isn’t willing to do that, they’re at a plateau. If they’re not willing to change how they’re doing something, then it’s probably not going to change the outcome. So, you know, whenever someone isn’t succeeding at something I have to look at, “Okay, well, what can we change to make this better?”
[00:59:05] Because I recognize the way I do things isn’t always going to work for someone else. So, I brainstorm with them,” Okay, what are your other ideas on how you can accomplish this?” Or, “What can we change up here and kind of do, like, an AB test of, ‘Does this work better or does this work better?'” And just kinda go from there.
[00:59:24] But I think what will prevent someone from progressing is if they have kind of just don’t want to come up with new ideas, they are set in how they’re doing things and they’re just not able to make the connection of, ” Hey, what you’re doing isn’t working. How can we change that?” And they just are kind of stuck in their way and, and won’t evolve.
[00:59:49] Chris Corcoran: How do you stay sharp?
[00:59:50] think it’s always putting myself in uncomfortable situations. You know, I’ve been blessed where I’ve kind of been in a role where I can kind of choose what I’m doing and then, you know, teach someone else to do something. I tend to do something until I’ve mastered it. So, you know, we talked about the channel sales, that’s kind of what I started doing at Stem, selling to solar developers.
[01:00:16] Casey Rials: And then, I changed that to be selling into public power companies. So, utilities that are owned, that are, that are not-for-profit and are owned by their customers or they call them their members. So, I did that for about six to nine months and I’ve essentially mastered that space to the best of, I believe I’ve mastered that space.
[01:00:38] So, now I’m looking at, “Okay, well, I want to teach the new SDR that we onboarded, in the last couple of weeks, this public power space. So, I’m going to teach them how to do that. And I’m going to go on to the next thing.” Which for me is immobility, you know, EV chargers and how Stem can, can work with those types of companies.
[01:00:56] So, I think that’s how I keep myself sharp.
[01:00:58] I don’t stay with something that I feel like I know how to do it. I kind of, the way I structure my team is I learned to do something first. And then, once I feel like I’ve really learned it,you know, whenever a new SDR is being onboarded, I’m like, “Okay, well this is an established space
[01:01:14] now. I understand how we can sell this, how to find the customers.” And so, I relay that knowledge onto the SDR and I go on to whatever new segment Stem is focusing, focusing on.
[01:01:26] Marc Gonyea: Casey. Speaking of don’t moving on. Where do you, as we kind of wrap up, w, w, where do you see yourself going?
[01:01:35] Casey Rials: Honestly, I, I love Stem and I would not be surprised if I spent the next 15 years here just growing with the company. But I also wouldn’t be surprised, I’m really passionate about kind of real estate passive income and the property that I just bought is a two unit property. So, I will be kind of a landlord to the upper unit and that’s going to help pay for my mortgage.
[01:02:00] So, I wouldn’t be surprised if, you know, 10 years from now, I have a portfolio of, you know, five to six rental properties and that’s enough passive income for me to live off of. And I can do what my parents do and sell and, and get an RV and travel around the world with them. So, I don’t really know.
[01:02:16] And, you know, I think I’m comfortable not knowing, at this point, you know, I’m really happy where I am and feel like Stem is a wonderful company. You know, my first couple of weeks starting with them, they had, it was March, which was, I believe it’s like women’s empowerment month is what it’s called
[01:02:33] and they had an event where they had a a bunch of female employees speak. So, we have a couple of women on our board of directors, as well as some women who are in very high positions at Stem. And they kind of spoke about their experience in, in this industry. And I just thought it was kind of crazy because I was working for this company that took an hour out of everyone’s day to talk about,
[01:02:59] you know, being a women, a woman in the workplace and how to balance family and work and, and all these things that I just never really thought about. And I’d never been exposed to and that kind of culture and that promotion of diversity is something that I love. And I just can’t ever see that going away here.
[01:03:21] And so, that in combination with how much I love learning new things and how this position in this company, you know, fosters that within its employees, it just makes me hard, it makes it hard for me to imagine going anywhere else. So, think I’ll be here for, for quite awhile.
[01:03:38] Chris Corcoran: Well, they’re lucky to have you Casey, for sure.
[01:03:41] Casey Rials: Thank you.
[01:03:42] Marc Gonyea: We were lucky to have you, for as long as we did. Yeah, absolutely. Very fortunate. I’m grateful. You decided to work with us.
[01:03:49] Casey Rials: Yeah, I’m very grateful. I say it all the time that, you know, I got very, the timing and the stars just aligned that, you know, this is when I started at memoryBlue and Stem was coming back as a client and that they were my first client. Like, I feel so incredibly lucky and so incredibly grateful that I was introduced to memoryBlue and that things worked out this way.
[01:04:12] ‘Cause I could have never imagined, in a million years, that is where I would be.
[01:04:18] Chris Corcoran: That says most about you, though, Casey.
[01:04:21] Marc Gonyea: Well, Casey, thanks for catching up with us.
[01:04:24] Casey Rials: Thank you so much for inviting me.
[01:04:26] Chris Corcoran: Yeah, absolutely. Thanks, Casey.
[01:04:27] Marc Gonyea: We’ll do this again when you continue to grow your career and, you know, you own half of the community, which you live in.
[01:04:33] Casey Rials: Absolutely. Well, next time, hopefully, it’ll be in person.
[01:04:36] Chris Corcoran: Yes. Very good. Thanks Casey.
[01:04:38] Casey Rials: Thank you.
[01:04:39]