A new study shows high-performing business-to-business (B2B) sales professionals are generating excellent returns by staying active on social media. The survey from KiteDesk revealed that B2B sellers who are savvy with social media are 6.7 times more likely to exceed their quotas than competitors with basic or no social experience.

In particular, 74% of B2B sellers in North America who exceeded their 2014 quotas said they are “highly effective” social media users or “better than most,” as did 56% of sales professionals who reached quota.

Furthermore, the study showed that social media’s influence on the sales process is growing. KiteDesk revealed that 64% of B2B sales pros had closed at least one deal due to social media usage in 2014, up from 54% in 2012. Meanwhile, about 25% of sellers said they closed six or more deals last year; only 11% said the same in 2012. Tellingly, about seven out of 10 reps who exceeded quota in 2014 reported that they closed at least one deal as a direct result of social, while 41% said they closed six or more.

The survey from KiteDesk is far from the only research to suggest that social media is becoming a more integral component of B2B sales. A November 2014 study from Huff Industrial Marketing and KoMarketing Associates found that nearly 60% of B2B buyers in America use social media as part of their vendor discovery process. Similarly, a worldwide poll from SAP discovered that 35% of B2B purchasers used social media and blogs to research products and vendors.