How to use gamification in your next sales incentive program

Even the most talented sales teams need great coaching to maintain focus on the goal, refine sales techniques and motivate ideal behaviors in order to drive the very best results. One way to provide real-time coaching, consistent feedback and fun in your sales incentive programs is to add gamification. Gamification applies game mechanics to non-game situations in order to inspire action. Here’s how to leverage gamification to deliver a winning sales contest for your team:

Home field advantage

It’s best to add gamification into a system that your sales team already uses - like your sales force automation tool or CRM. The game mechanics become a fun and engaging enhancement to a digital experience that your employees are already accustomed to using. Leveraging your home base, along with data from sources that you already have, you can create a multi-dimensional sales contest that drives immediate and ongoing action.

Winning plays to move the ball forward

Compensation plans create a bell curve of performance among sales reps as they practice income targeting ─ becoming satisfied with their compensation based on a comfortable level of performance. Well-designed sales contests and incentives are a flexible way to push them outside of their comfort zones and move the middle, while keeping them focused on your specific business objectives.

A winning football playbook combines both basic and elaborate strategies. Likewise, a mission strategy for your sales contest or incentive is essential to getting more wins for your sales teams. A mission is a game mechanic that encourages your salespeople to complete high value activities that lead to completion of long term goals. Gamification allows you to reward straightforward, result-based activities like closing profitable business. You can also layer in missions like “Complete three win-loss reports” to reinforce CRM usage or “The region with the most units sold by November 30^th will earn 500 points per person and a fast start badge” to motivate team collaboration. Missions eliminate any guesswork for your sales team by showing them the right play to make at the right time.

You can also call plays on the fly by adding missions to your incentive at any time. Because you’ll have insight into the actions your reps are taking, you can adjust your missions as needed to maximize the motivation in your sales incentive.

Check the scoreboard

Salespeople, like athletes, are focused on the goal – winning! But a sound gamification strategy can help them fine tune their performance for the behaviors and results you want them to accomplish. Incorporating gamification into your SFA and sales contest strategy will allow you to provide quick visuals on progress toward goals, motivate collaboration, showcase achievements, celebrate top point earners and create friendly competition between individuals and teams. This sustains engagement and builds frequency of the right behaviors along the way.

Sometimes winning IS everything

Your sales team already has their salary and commission plan to cover their compensation. So a great sales incentive needs to inspire them with something more. When they earn points for their performance in the sales incentive, they can redeem for amazing merchandise and experiences, allowing them to indulge in a reward that they would not normally justify out of their own budget, as well as giving them bragging rights with their family and friends.

By bringing gamification into your next sales incentive program, you’ll have a powerful tool to amp up your team’s motivation and drive measurable results.