10 Best Sales Gamification Ideas

One of the keys to a successful and motivated sales team is eliminating routine and tedious, repetitive tasks. Behavioral psychologists who have studied motivation for decades have come up with an antidote to boredom and monotony in business: gamification. 

What is Gamification?

We all know sales can become monotonous and repetitive after a while.  Gamification is the process of mixing it up by including games, spontaneous rewards, and friendly competition in sales teams. Salespeople are often naturally competitive, and games and rewards - however trivial - have been proven to be tremendously powerful motivators. Of course, for the strategy to work, the competitive aspect of these games should always be friendly and team-building and should be tempered by an emphasis on collaboration. Gamification should take place on top of a strong foundation of camaraderie and an atmosphere where team members celebrate each other’s wins. 

Sales gamification is a powerful motivator due to the way humans naturally respond to competition and rewards. Even if the stakes are low, you get a dopamine hit when you win which will keep you coming back for more. The positive feedback of a reward and a public acknowledgment is an extremely impactful way to make your reps more engaged- research has shown that people respond far better to positive than negative feedback.

Research has shown that gamification can increase sales results by up to 50%. It can also create closer bonds between members of your team, which leads to more knowledge sharing and peer coaching. In 2021, the best sales organizations are collaborative with a dose of friendly competition. 

If you want more help training and motivating your sales team, Attention can help. Our software uses cutting-edge technology to track your team’s progress and provide real-time feedback.

Here are the top 10 ways to gamify your team!

1. Team Dinners

You can incentivize performance by taking the whole team out to a great high-end restaurant or bar if they meet certain targets collectively. This one is great because it fosters collaboration, as your reps will want each other to succeed and meet the goal. It also provides a fun opportunity to bond as a team.

2. Sales Games

There are a variety of different games and exercises you can have your reps complete during training. The most simple exercise you can do is a basic sales role-play. Have one rep play the buyer and another the seller and then have them rotate. You can pick different personalities and roles for the ‘buyer’ to act out, so your team members can get used to dealing with different types of prospects. To make the role-play more challenging, you can also pick any object in the room, give the ‘seller’ only a minute or so to prepare, and then have them field objections from the seller.

3. Hot Seat

Another popular and effective game is the ‘hot seat.’ A rep sits in a chair facing his fellow team members who ask him questions or give objections about a product he is supposed to be selling (again, this could be anything from a hypothetical product to an object in the room). When the rep falters or is unable to answer an objection quickly and effectively, he’s out of the hot seat and another team member replaces him. Whoever lasts the longest in the hot seat wins!  

4. Frequent Rewards

You should provide spontaneous rewards as often as possible. Try to mix these up and keep your team guessing so they don’t get bored of receiving the same prizes over and over again. This will keep them engaged and create a fun, playful atmosphere of competition. People love surprises, so the unexpected nature of the rewards will be an added motivator.

5. Leaderboards 

Having a leaderboard that tracks your reps’ performances and shows the achievements of standout reps can be a powerful intrinsic motivator for your team. People naturally desire public recognition, so even if there is no specific reward, they will go that extra mile just to appear on the leaderboard. It is also important for your salespeople to feel that their wins are celebrated and acknowledged. Recognition is an integral component of a thriving sales culture.

6. Friday Half-Days

Who doesn’t love to start their weekends early? Tell your team that if they meet certain weekly goals, they will all have Friday afternoon off! Again, this one incentivizes team members to help and coach each other so they can all reach the goal together.

7. Team Contests

Team up your reps in groups of two or three and make competitions and games team-based. Remember to switch up the teams often. This will encourage your reps to be both competitive and collaborative simultaneously.

8. Customer Reviews

If one of your reps gets mentioned or reviewed positively by customers, you should provide a reward- it could be something simple like a good meal, or a cash prize. 

9. Goal Setting

The goals you set should strike a sweet spot between being too easy and too demanding. You want your reps to be motivated to perform at their full potential, but the goals they pursue should also feel achievable and fun, rather than being a source of stress.

There are a lot of different ways that you can gamify your sales process, but the idea is to create an interactive experience for your reps. By making people feel like they're in a game and working towards their own goal, it's more likely that they'll work hard at completing tasks and achieving goals. Try these 10 great ideas for incorporating gamification into your coaching and sales strategy.

If you want to take your sales training to the next level with the latest AI technology, give Attention a try here!