New Year’s Resolutions: Top Sales Reps Reveal Success Strategies for 2015

New Year’s resolutions are easy to make. Unfortunately, they’re just as easy to break. To help you stick with your sales goals in 2015, we recently asked some of the industry’s top sales reps about their resolutions to utilize social selling in 2015 and how they plan to stay on track. Read on to discover advice you can use to achieve your career goals over the course of the coming year.

Create a Strong Kickoff

For some, the path to keeping a sales New Year’s resolution starts with a reminder of past accomplishments and reinforcement of the company’s mission. Brian Groth of Xactly Corp stresses the importance of creating confidence and clarity at the kickoff. “We provide recognition for a job well done. We reinforce that we work at a great company with industry-leading products, and that our company vision is a winner to grow overall confidence in what we sell and how we help customers.”

Clear, prioritized objectives can help you focus on the right activities each day. Troy Grabel of LeanLogistics says his “#1 objective is to strengthen internal relationships that will foster individual and team growth,” and adds that “providing our sales organization a clear, cohesive product road supports our organization’s corporate growth goals.”

Utilize Communication and Collaboration

A great kickoff puts you on the road to success. But without communication and collaboration, your resolution could be as empty as a gym in July.  It’s important to make sure your vision aligns with company leaders. “If you do not collaborate with your team and department leadership on mutual goals you will not have a foundation for success,” says Ronald Fuentes of Choice Logistics. “Collaboration is key and if the department heads are not included in the plan they will work against the sales team.”

Crane Worldwide Logistics’ Ken Davis agrees. “We need to expand our consultative brand of service solutions. Hence we need to reach out to our local experts and colleagues for assistance. The solution can come from group efforts without harming the individual rewards: a team effort and a win for the company,” says Davis. Just like a gym buddy helps you keep that fitness resolution, drawing on the expertise of others in the industry can help keep your social selling resolution on track.

Using clear, metrics-based evaluation is a great way to make sure everyone is speaking the same language. Grabel encourages clearly communicated goals and specific feedback. “We emphasize that our business and sales strategies are aligned with our corporate goals and market plan,” says Grabel. “We also provide insights into the sales teams’ success and how/what we need to do to clone the success of others (i.e. Social Selling, CRM best practices, etc).”

Turn a Resolution into Lasting Change

While metrics-based feedback, regular communication, and ego-free collaboration can empower your New Year’s resolution, making sure your resolution becomes a habit will require inspiration, determination and dedication. IBM’s Edward Burgos plans to utilize “clearer messaging on our products, strategy and future roadmap to inspire the team and motivate them to invest all their energies into a fast start in 2015.”  Michael Morgen of Intergen suggests a “more focused sales strategy—who is selling what to whom—with the right measurements to know if we’re on track. “

Ultimately, the only way to turn a resolution into a habit and a habit into lasting change is to put in the work. As Justin LeVrier of Bazaarvoice observes, “Simplicity and consistency are of primary importance. Pick a strategic plan, and stick to it with consistency, relentlessly.”

So, to recap, you’ll need an enthusiastic kickoff to get going. You’ll need a clear road map to point you in the right direction each day. You’ll need to communicate and collaborate with peers and co-workers. And you’ll need to muster up the dogged determination to stay committed.

With all these pieces in place, you’ll be on track to celebrate on December 31^st, 2015.