small_breakthroughNow that the 2015 is underway, there’s no better time to focus on your sales goals for this year. Use these ten tips to crush your sales number.

1. Remember the Connected Buyer

The connected buyer is savvy, educated, and has done more research than buyers of any previous generation. They’ve done their homework and will be able to quickly tell if you haven’t. Know how to speak to the connected buyer, and remember them in every interaction.

2. Be Social

Social media helps your sales organization drive pipeline by giving you the ability to engage with buyers early in the sales cycle, maintain relationships with current customers, and demonstrate valuable market insight. Don’t make the mistake of forgetting to integrate social media into your sales process.

3. Prepare

Before your sellers dive head first into their sales calls, it’s important that they first earn the right to ask the tough questions that lie ahead. Being prepared for the sales discovery call is the key to unlocking a powerful discovery process.

4. Execute Effective Discovery

In order to effectively map your organization’s value to their business problems, you need a method for uncovering their business needs. Knowing which discovery questions to ask, and when to ask them is a vital part of the sales conversation.

5. Highlight Value In Your Sales Conversations

So you’ve done all the work to get on the phone with a decision-maker and have uncovered their business needs. Now what? You have to be able to articulate the value you bring to the table. Without an effective process for highlighting your value, you’ll quickly lose these big opportunities.

6. Be Ready For Multiple Buyers

As time goes on, more and more B2B sales require the sign-off of more than one person. The process for speaking to multiple decision makers is quite different than speaking to only one. Knowing how to properly engage with multiple decision makers is a powerful tool for increasing your wins.

7. Differentiate Against “Do Nothing” And “Do It Internally”

Two of a sales organization’s greatest competitors are the buyer’s option to simply “do nothing,” or “do it internally.” There are ways to effectively differentiate yourself from these silent competitors, but in order to do so, you must know the right questions to ask and how to respond to a buyer’s reservations.

8. Use Customer Testimonials

Customer testimonials are often the nudge that a buyer needs to move forward in the sales process. They provide proof and reassurance that you can deliver what you say you can. By including testimonials into your sales process, you put the buyer’s reservations to rest and increase your chance of making the sale.

9. Give Better Feedback

Your salespeople are on the front lines every day working to deliver the results you look for. As their leader, they expect you to set them up for success by providing resources, guidance, and knowledge. Build trust by setting up a system to provide important feedback.

10. Remember The “Big Rocks”

The “big rocks” are the critical activities that need to be executed in your sales organization each day. It’s easy, however, to let the smaller, less critical, activities eat away at your time. Help your team avoid misdirected focus by improving their sales planning discipline.