Top 10 Startup Sales Posts of 2014

Before you close the book on 2014 take a quick look back at some of the best B2B sales lessons, tips, and insights you can use to close more deals in 2015.

The end of the year is often a frantic dash to the finish line for B2B sales teams. Deals need to be closed, annual goals need to be met, and pipelines must be built to start 2015 strong. What often gets lost in that blitz, unfortunately, is the opportunity to pause and reflect on the previous year. What went well? Which trends emerged? And what do you need to improve to crush your goals next year?
We’re here to give you that opportunity. Below are the top 10 posts from our site in 2014 runing the gamut from tactical best practices (how to hire and prospect better) to helpful tools to optimize the sales process. Enjoy — and happy selling in 2015!

10) Choosing the Best Sales Compensation Plan for Your Business Sales strategy consultant Michael Hanna breaks down the keys to designing an effective sales compensation plan that keeps your team motivated and focused on the right results. photo by: StockMonkeys.com

9) Death of the Average Sales Rep Are sales professionals doomed to become irrelevant? Sales trainer John Barrows highlights three disturbing trends and shares what sets apart the select few reps who will survive and thrive. photo by: Patrik Jones

8) 3 Fatal Mistakes to Avoid When Hiring a VP Sales If there’s one hire you can’t afford to get wrong, it’s VP of Sales. Yet that’s exactly what many startups do. SaaS sales experts Jason Lemkin and Aaron Ross share three of the worst mistakes to avoid. photo by: colink.

7) The Sooner You Lose the Sale, the Better The industry-wide closing average is one or two out of 10 prospects. That’s more than enough reason to stop clogging your sales pipeline with shaky leads. Sales training expert Mike Brooks shares his favorite lead qualifying questions to disqualifying weak opportunities sooner — before you end up wasting precious time, effort, and resources. photo by: ddqhu

6) The Ultimate Guide to Startup Sales Tools Looking for a leg up to fuel your company’s early-stage customer acquisition? Sometimes you need the right tools to win. Bowery Capital is sharing the very best sales tools their founders are using to grow their businesses and transform their results. See the list. photo by: Lachlan Donald

5) 7 Steps HubSpot Used to Scale Its Channel Sales Program As of June 2014, HubSpot’s reseller program has produced over 40% of its customers. VP of Sales Pete Caputa shares the company’s playbook for making that happen.

4) 3 Things You Should Never Say During a Sales Call It can take weeks and even months to warm up a sales lead — and unfortunately only one bad phrase to lose them. Sales training expert Mike Brooks shares three unproductive statements you should avoid, and what to say instead. photo by: Steven Mileham

3) Secret Behind the Perfect 15-Second Sales Pitch Having trouble capturing your prospects’ attention or getting your foot in the door? Sales expert Jeff Hoffman says the solution is to take a less-is-more approach with your cold call sales pitch. Learn the secret now. photo by: William Warby

2) Top 25 Sales Influencers for 2014 See who made our 3rd annual list of the most influential B2B thought leaders in sales. Whether you’re looking for help with hiring, training, and managing a hyper-productive sales team, or boosting your own performance by closing more deals faster and working smarter, not harder, these industry experts represent the best of the best.

1) 20 of the Best Interview Questions for Sales Hires We asked 20 top B2B sales leaders and experts for their favorite interview question to ask new sales hires. Find out what they said. photo by: Drriss & Marrionn

Bonus Gift

Sample Sales Hiring Questions and Free Candidate Scorecards
Get a jump-start on 2015 by downloading our free sales interview benchmark guide. Inside you’ll find the necessary questions to ask to really dig into a candidate’s experience and assess them on the three key components — Drive, Selling Skills, and Personal Attributes — that ultimately separate the best sales reps from the rest.




Feature image courtesy of Markus Spiske