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7 Game-Changing Sales Gamification Ideas to Amplify your Sales

Blog - 6 Sales Gamification Ideas

From fitness apps, loyalty programs, even LinkedIn and Reddit 鈥 gamification is everywhere! Incorporating game-like elements into non-gaming situations has become part of our daily lives, and with good reason. Gamification sparks people鈥檚 desire to meet the specified goals and is scientifically proven to improve performance and engagement.

It鈥檚 easy to get caught up in the monotony of everyday work tasks...
Re-energize your sales team and generate excitement about pipeline activities with these tried-and-tested sales gamification ideas. Watch your team鈥檚 motivation skyrocket as they race to outperform sales goals!

In this article, you鈥檒l learn the benefits and psychology behind sales gamification, and some ready-to-use gamification examples you can implement into your organization to achieve sales success!

But first, let鈥檚 go back to basics and start by understanding what exactly sales gamification is and why it works.


What is Sales Gamification?

Gamification involves using game-like techniques 鈥 such as competitions, leaderboards, points, badges, and instant notifications 鈥 to positively reinforce behavior in typically nongame circumstances. The basic gamification formula is based on providing real-time feedback to recognize and reward success.

In a sales environment, these kinds of concepts are the key to engaging and igniting your reps鈥 competitive nature, and accelerating your team鈥檚 sales performance! Sales gamification tools are a welcome change of pace amongst the sometimes tedious nature of cold calls, pitches, follow-ups, and chasing potential leads.

Blog - 6 Sales Gamification Ideas - Sales Gamification Contest Trophy

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Gamification Psychology: Why does sales gamification work?

Sales gamification psychology is rooted in a principle called . The concept involves using learned associations to determine the likelihood of a behavior occurring. Simply put, people are more likely to repeat behaviors that yield positive reinforcement 鈥 and avoid those that result in negative consequences. Such is that when you reward your sales reps for performing tasks that contribute to your organization鈥檚 success, they鈥檙e more likely to repeat them.

Autonomy, mastery, empowerment, and social influence are powerful currencies 鈥 and sales gamification activates all of these. Our brains are hardwired to crave the 鈥榬eward chemicals鈥 that we release when we succeed. Serotonin 鈥 known as the 鈥榟appy chemical鈥 鈥 is one of these mood-regulating chemicals that鈥檚 released when we feel proud or important. Using instant notifications and gamification elements like badges and points can trigger the release of serotonin, boosting employees鈥 moods and motivation 鈥 and ultimately, their performance.

"Friendly competitions are a great way to drive sales teams to reach the next level."

Jens Oberbeck

VP of Sales 鈥 Pipedrive

that sales gamification provides a sense of belonging, makes employees feel more productive at work, and improves job satisfaction. Sales reps who work in gamified environments finish their tasks more quickly and feel happier at work. Jens Oberbeck, VP of Sales at Pipedrive, nods to the impact of gamification as he notes, "Sales are usually considered serious business, but highly motivated sales teams with unbreakable team bonds also tend to have fun at work. Friendly competitions are a great way to drive sales teams to reach the next level." With endorsements like that, the positive impact of adding these gamification ideas to your management toolbox is hard to ignore.


5 Best Benefits of Sales Gamification

1. Improved Motivation

Salespeople are competitive by nature 鈥 it鈥檚 just about pinpointing what motivates them. Sales gamification is extremely effective because it taps into some of our most primal instincts and desires like community, status, competition, feedback, and rewards 鈥 in a fun and rewarding way. By targeting these basic needs, gamification is the magnet that keeps people engaged as they try to level up and receive recognition or rewards for their achievements.

2. Improved Collaboration

Social influence is a powerful motivator in gamified environments, and your high-performers will love sharing their knowledge and expertise! Contests ignite a friendly sense of competition amongst your team, while instant notifications are a fantastic way to get everybody involved 鈥 to celebrate each other鈥檚 wins or drive them to up their game and go for that top spot. Salespeople love to be the best at what they do 鈥 and revel in the sense of pride and praise they receive when the whole team joins in on celebrating their success.

3. Instant Feedback

With gamification, employees don鈥檛 have to wait for one-on-ones to find out how they鈥檙e performing. Feedback is immediate and consistent 鈥 so they always know where they stand and can act accordingly. Instant notifications, for example, have proven particularly effective in driving activity-based performance by giving immediate recognition whenever someone books a meeting, saves a customer from churning, makes an upsell, closes a sale, meets a goal, or achieves some other small win.

4. Save Time

Most sales gamification tools make it easy to automate your incentive programs because they continuously track progress and send out notifications. Your days of manually tracking sales contests will be a thing of the past!

5. Better Performance

Often, it isn鈥檛 the prize that motivates sales reps, it鈥檚 their innate desire to see how they stack up against their peers and wanting to see their name at the top of the leaderboard. Whether it鈥檚 driven by extrinsic or intrinsic motivation, positive reinforcement from gamification techniques leads to a greater sense of belonging, improved engagement, and in turn, improved sales performance.



6 Sales Gamification聽Ideas

Employees are motivated in different ways 鈥 and this doesn鈥檛 always involve prizes. Some of your sales reps will be content with just knowing that they鈥檙e doing a good job. Others thrive on recognition from their peers. Using a variety of the following six sales gamification ideas will help you craft a gamification strategy that will motivate everyone on your team and drive the results you want.

1. Contests

The most common form of gamification, sales contests are a fun and engaging way to boost morale and encourage participation from all team members 鈥 and not just reward your top performers. Have you ever run a sales contest that didn鈥檛 achieve the results you were hoping for? This happens more often than you would expect. Consider building sales contests around top-of-funnel activity or metrics other than 鈥榟ighest revenue鈥. This way, you avoid alienating new and middle-performing sales reps who stop trying as they feel like they have no chance of winning.

For more information, check out our guide on creating engaging and fun contests.

Contests like the one above where team members are competing to create the most leads, reward hard work, and celebrate quick wins. This can be just the motivation underperforming reps need to outperform targets 鈥 and win. They can also prompt your top performers 鈥 who might have been relying on a strong pipeline 鈥 to go back to basics.

馃憖 Looking for contest inspiration?
Here are 4 sports-themed contests to engage your sales team.


2. Leaderboards

Leaderboards are an excellent next step in gamification because they鈥檙e easy to implement and people immediately understand them. As a sales gamification tool, leaderboards work perfectly alongside contests! Run a sales competition based on the KPI you want to achieve and display the leaders on a podium. Make sure to display your leaderboards where everyone can see them 鈥 flat-screen TVs around the office are ideal.

Don鈥檛 limit your metrics to revenue-based goals. Use leaderboards to boost enthusiasm around tiresome top-of-funnel activities, like the number of outbound calls made or emails sent. Take a look at the following leaderboard example where teams are competing to achieve the highest value of sales across countries. When agents can see their progress 鈥 and how close they are to the frontrunner 鈥 they will be even more motivated to perform and secure that top spot.

Blog - 6 Sales Gamification Ideas - Leaderboard Gamification

3. Points

Like contests, points are an excellent way to encourage top-of-funnel activities. To get the most out of a points system, make sure they encourage desirable activities 鈥 not just keep score. Awarding points proportionally for sales tasks such as making a call, booking a demo, moving a prospect through a new stage of the pipeline, or closing a deal encourages sales reps to engage in these activities 鈥 which will pay off later!


4. Badges

Here鈥檚 your chance to use a little gamification psychology. People want what they can鈥檛 have and they love recognition! Badges tap into both of these core drives. To be effective, only award badges in recognition of mastery or progress. Think of these as the adult version of scouting badges, and award them accordingly.

Blog - How Sales Leaderboards Help Your Team Perform Even Better - Badges Gamification

This example uses 51黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 gamification software to display a star badge for any team member who reaches their monthly meetings target, a dollar icon when a rep hits their value of won deals target, and a champions cup badge for any rep who hits their performance agreement goal.

For 3 top tips check out our article on using badges to reward individual or team achievements.


5. Instant Notifications

This is one of the best ways to create excitement throughout the workday! Give immediate kudos by displaying instant notifications on your reps鈥 computers whenever someone reaches a milestone, registers activity in the CRM, or completes a high-yield sales activity. Be careful not to set too many notifications 鈥 too many will ruin their impact and they鈥檒l fade into the background.

To keep your outbound reps engaged, choose sales gamification software, like 51黑料吃瓜网, which allows you to send notifications to their smartphones. Who isn鈥檛 excited to receive some recognition for their efforts 鈥 especially in the form of an alert that everyone in your team receives, too, so you can celebrate achievements together!

Blog - 6 Sales Gamification Ideas - Instant Notifications Gamification

6. Challenges

Less intense than sales contests, challenges are a fun way to drive immediate action. Keep it small and simple. Is energy lagging on a Thursday? Announce a flash challenge 鈥 for example, whoever makes the most outbound calls or sends the most emails by the end of the day gets Friday afternoon off. Are demos down? Announce a weekly challenge where any rep who books a certain amount of demos in a day wins a prize 鈥 allow multiple wins by the same rep and watch their numbers soar!

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7. Reward Store

Looking for a way to connect work activities with the real world? Then the Reward Store is just what you need. With the Reward Store, employees earn virtual coins that can be redeemed for real-world prizes of their choosing. Cinema tickets? Bottle of wine? It's completely up to your team what prizes they want. What sets the Reward Store apart from the other ideas listed here is that it is perfect for fostering long-term engagement. With the promise of a prize at the end, employees will be more motivated to work towards longer-term goals.

Reward Store 1 Pager 1.png


7 Fun and Unexpected Sales Gamification Prizes

Unlike traditional quarterly sales incentives, gamification prizes don鈥檛 have to be grand 鈥 in fact, they don鈥檛 even have to be material. Gamification is supposed to be fun, so let the prizes reflect that.

Here are seven unexpected prizes to keep your sales gamification engaging:

1Permission to leave early or come in late
This minimal-cost incentive is a big reward for the recipient. Make it a half-day Friday or a few hours each day for a week!

2A reserved parking space
Invest in a 鈥淲inners-Only鈥 sign, and award this prize weekly or monthly.

3Workday cinema tickets
Treat the winner and a guest to a matinee 鈥 and some time off to enjoy it.

4Lottery tickets
This low-cost incentive is exciting and has the potential for a big payday!

5In-office massages
Book an on-site masseuse and treat multiple winners to a relaxing massage.

6Paid lunch in the cafeteria or a gift card to a local takeaway
Who doesn鈥檛 enjoy a free lunch?

7Boss fetches first coffee of the day for a week
Making the boss do something 鈥渦nboss-like鈥 always builds camaraderie. Ham it up and let everyone have some fun at your expense!


Try gamification out for yourself with 51黑料吃瓜网!

If you鈥檙e still curious about sales gamification, try 51黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 gamification software! Our is a low-risk way to test the waters. You鈥檒l be up and running in no time with leaderboards, instant notifications, points, badges, and more. Click below to start your trial and outperform today!

SAGE CRAWFORD

Content Manager

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