How to use gamification in sales

Without a doubt, one of the best ways to make sure that your sales team is always engaged and productive is by using sales gamification strategies and techniques. By turning your sales process into a game and offering valuable rewards for those who win the game, you will be able to foster an environment that breeds high-performance, high-caliber sales talent; but what exactly is sales gamification? And how can you implement this proven strategy with your own sales team today?

What does sales gamification mean?

Sales gamification is when you incentivize sales targets and reward team members who reach those targets so as to inspire them to try their best and perform at an optimal level. in practice; it’s very much like creating a game culture, which encourages everyone to participate towards a collective goal.

Why gamification is so successful

There are a number of reasons for why sales gamification is such a successful catalyst for high-performing teams. In part, this is due to human nature, whenever there is a game or contest people inherently want to win and so creating a little friendly competition in the workplace is an excellent method by which to bring out the competitive drive in your sales team members which is a core quality in any great salesperson.

How to set up an incentive program

There are a few different ways that you can approach instituting a sales incentive program for the purpose of gamifying your sales team. The first option is to use a gamification software, platform, or app to track KPIs, monitor your team member’s progress, and manage record-keeping;  good options include Centrical, Ambition, and Hoopla.

The second method is to keep track of your team’s individual progress with internal software, a spreadsheet, or an old-fashioned leaderboard. In either case, be sure to set a budget that works for the company, determine what the incentives will be, and then inform the team of how the “game” will work.

What are some good sales incentives?

Depending upon your budget, the following categories of sales incentives may be excellent options and are a good place to start. Keep in mind that if you want to sustain long-term engagement, then you will need to pick incentives that are sustainable over time.

1. Bonus pay

Over thousands of years, money has proven to be one of the best, if not the very best, motivators for people. With the possible exception of love, nothing else encourages people to work harder. Consider offering a cash bonus to team members who achieve a certain number of sales in a given week, month, or quarter, or to make things more fun, pair employees up in teams of two with a cash prize going to the team with the most sales that month. Additional options include temporarily increasing the base pay for team members who achieve a certain quota, such as an hourly bonus for the day or week, etc.

2. Tangible goods

Physical prizes are another fantastic motivator when it comes to gamifying your sales environment. Gamification is meant to incorporate the elements of modern gaming culture, and modern games include lots of little rewards and occasionally a larger prize. Electronics, appliances, gift cards, and tangible products of this nature always get team members excited and can be a fun alternative to cash bonuses while also being more in the spirit of game culture.

3. Intangible goods

Intangible goods are prizes that you can’t necessarily touch or feel, such as digital subscriptions, points towards other prizes, or virtual prizes of some sort. In this day and age, life is digital, and people are accustomed to receiving intangible rewards; in fact, many people spend lots of money on virtual items. Some good choices for sales incentives include:

• Streaming subscriptions
• Software subscriptions
• E-Books & audiobooks
• Music streaming subscriptions
• Smart home subscriptions
• Gaming subscriptions
• Google Play credits

All of these intangible goods are perceived as having a large value when, in fact, they are seldom more than $100 to $200 and much less in most cases, making intangible goods such as digital goods and services a fantastic option in many gamified sales environments.

4. Services

If you want to surprise your sales team members with an exciting incentive, then consider offering services as a sales incentive. Services such as house cleaning, grocery delivery, or spa and massage treatments are excellent options when you want to reward performance and promote engagement. One-time services are fun and inexpensive, while monthly or yearly services are big rewards that inspire your team members to give their best effort.

5. Growth

Last but not least, personal or career development opportunities make great sales incentives. This sort of incentive encourages employees to improve themselves in some way. Paying for a training course, certification, or other educational endeavor can certainly be a great motivational tool. By developing top talent, you will be able to secure your best-performing sales team members, gaining their loyalty, commitment, and revenue-earning potential for years to come.

Summary

If you want to gamify your sales team and inspire them to be committed, engaged, and productive, then remember to set a budget that works for your company, choose a gamification approach, either software-based or traditional and incentivize the environment with rewards and prizes that will entice your team members to step up their game and maintain a consistently high level of performance.