2014 was the year we focused on sharing the lessons we've learned from building and scaling sales for more than 200 venture-backed startups.

We've published 179 blog posts over the past 12 months, recorded almost as many videos, written a couple dozen guestposts, held a lot of webinars, spoke at conferences, attended workshops, spread the sales gospel on some awesome podcasts and magazines, published three books, really began engaging on social media, spoke with thousands of founders, sales directors and reps—and we're just getting started.

There's so much more we want to share with you to help you make more sales and close more deals.

But today, let's look at Close's ten most popular blog post of 2014.

10. How to sell to "nonbelievers": Turning doubt into trust

You could be talking to the right prospect, have the right product at the right price—yet, they still won't buy. Why? Because you failed to build trust!

9. Enterprise sales lessons: How I almost closed Google, Intuit & Oracle

Enterprise sales is hard, no matter how rosy or awesome it looks. If you're having an easy ride selling to enterprises, you're probably in for a surprise ...

8. The most important lesson I ever learned in sales

Selling ain't telling. Use your ears more than your mouth. Lead conversations by asking questions.

7. How to charge money for things that don't exist yet

Develop your own Minimum Viable Pitch and start selling. That's my lean sales approach. Get customers before you even have a first version of your product to validate your idea.

6. Engineers vs. salespeople: How to respond when you lack a feature the prospect requests

An attempt to bridge the divide between technical people and salespeople. There's so much we can learn from each other.

5. Sales kung fu: How to "virtually" close every single customer by asking this powerful question!

Always, always, always do a virtual close. It's a simple way to draw a roadmap for the purchase, so you're prepared and aware of all the steps involved.

4. Conflict resolution 101 for startups

One of the most important posts for startup founders, and people leading teams. I can't stress enough how much the practices I shared in this post helped us to grow and succeed as a company.

3. The B2B referral sales system: The magical outbound growth engine most startups never use!

If you want to close more high-quality deals, tap into the (often underutilized) power of your existing customer base.

2. The ultimate sales hiring guide for B2B startup founders!

If you're a founder and think about hiring salespeople or sales leadership ... READ THIS FIRST!

1. Startup sales negotiations 101: How to respond to discount inquiries

Ever had a prospect ask you for a discount before they even try out your product? Here's how to respond ...

Thank you!

We couldn't have done this without you. All the emails, comments, tweets, words of encouragement and questions you've asked us helped us to share our insights with you, and (hopefully) help you become a better salesperson.

We're excited about the awesome things to come in 2015, and invite you to make it your best year ever!