Leaders in the sales industry are constantly on the lookout for ways to motivate sales teams. Even the top performers in your team need help from time to time to stay focused on the goal, improve sales techniques and keep their spirits high to deliver the best results.
Motivated teams drive sales and contribute to the success of any business. There are many techniques and methods that industry leaders have employed over the years to motivate sales. One strategy that has worked wonders is the addition of gamification to sales incentive plans.
Gamification is being applied across a wide range of industries and departments and an increasing number of companies are now looking to include it in their incentive programs.
The global gamification market is worth more than $10 billion and is projected to touch $30.7 billion in 2025. This industry is showing no signs of stopping!
Gamification is no longer a buzzword that’s confined to apps and games, but it has found its way into the business world. Today, gamification is being widely used as a tool to improve employee engagement, boost morale, build team loyalty and motivate sales.
Gamification is also a great way to enhance engagement among your remote workers.
If we have got you wondering what gamification is all about and how you can successfully incorporate it into your incentive programs, stay tuned as we will cover all that and more in this post.
So, what exactly is gamification in sales?
Gamification is the process of applying ‘game thinking’ and ‘game mechanics’ (with game-based features such as points, rewards, levels, badges, and other incentives) to workplace settings, in an attempt to boost employee engagement.
Gamification in sales is based on the popular psychological principle of ‘operant conditioning.
According to this principle, the consequence of a type of behavior will determine the possibility of it being repeated. In other words, behaviors that get positive reinforcement in the form of rewards or praise are more likely to be repeated.
When sales reps are recognized and rewarded for their behavior that brought forth success in sales, they are motivated to repeat the same behavior in the future.
Gamification means that everyone on your team is rewarded in a fun way for all the hard work they put in. Research indicates that while people are motivated by tangible rewards, what truly drives their motivation is a sense of recognition.
Gamification does just that, it adds in an element of fun while actively recognizing the achievements of employees – an absolute win-win strategy!
It’s no surprise then that top companies such as Nike, Nissan, Ford, and Coca-Cola have all incorporated gamification in their incentive programs to effectively improve employee engagement.
When deployed correctly, gamification can take your sales incentive plan to the next level.
Still, need convincing? Check out these statistics:
- 89% of people are of the opinion that gamification improves their productivity at work.
- Having implemented a sales gamification tool, Kenco saw a 45% rise in bottom-line sales margins.
The numbers speak for themselves. If done right, incentive gamification can raise employee productivity and engagement to new heights.
How does incentive gamification work?
The concept of gamification has two major components, namely ‘game mechanics’ and ‘game play’.
Game mechanics are control mechanisms that turn an activity into a fun and engaging user experience. Levels, points, leaderboard, challenges, gifts, and charity fall under this bucket.
On the other hand, game play is the motivational component that brings about the desired results. Rewards, status, achievement & competition belong to this category.
Here are 3 ways you can make the most of incentive gamification.
a) When new reps get on board
Start with a simple leaderboard to help new sales reps get off to a great start. Ensure the product or service is easy to understand and is valued by your customers. This way, new sales executives can get familiar with your team and business workflow faster.
b) When a new product or service hits the market
If you notice that a new product or service that you introduced has not gotten the kind of attention it deserved from your sales team, it’s about time to add an element of gamification to encourage them to learn everything about the offering and motivate sales.
c) When you have a complex CRM in place
If you have a CRM system in place that’s complex and you want your sales reps to learn it and start using it regularly, introduce a game-based learning program. This way, reps will be rewarded as they pass each learning level and as they get familiar with more of its features.
Benefits of adding gamification to your incentive plan
Let’s take a look at why you shouldn’t miss integrating gamification into your incentive plan. Gamification helps you:
a) Achieve targets in a fun and exciting way
Games are fun and exciting and everyone loves a good game. Salespeople are competitive in nature, gamification goes ahead and puts all these aspects of motivation together, making your reps focused, energized, and excited to win.
b) Reward smaller positive behavior
Most often, incentive plans tend to focus on the big picture which is rewarding the final outcome. However gamification gives you an opportunity to reward smaller positive behaviors that your reps display as they head towards achieving the final outcome.
These could be:
- Contacting a certain number of clients every day
- Updating the CRM on a daily basis
- Obtaining positive feedback from clients
c) Incentivize at different levels of performance
Gamification allows you to track the performance of each rep, identify where they are lagging and devise strategies to help them get to the next level. Gamification helps you and your reps understand what they must do to improve their performance and progress in their career.
By using incentive gamification, everybody gets a fair chance to prove themselves.
Best practices to incorporate gamification into your incentive program
We have put together a list of 5 best practices to follow while integrating an incentive gamification strategy to motivate sales teams
- Know your team: Every team plays with a unique dynamic. What might work for a certain team, might not work for another. Know who your team members are and what works best for them and design games accordingly.
- Keep your games simple: Create simple games to strike a good balance between learning, performance, and fun.
- Use digitized leaderboards: Gone are the days of using a whiteboard to rank your reps. Keep up with the times and use digitized leaderboards where your reps can view the stats wherever they are and whenever they wish to access it.
- Track progress regularly: Track progress on a regular basis at the individual and team levels and if you notice any gaps, attend to them immediately.
- Encourage interactions: Sales managers should take time out to speak to each team member to see if they are comfortable with the game and are motivated to achieve their target.
Your turn
So by now, you’re sold that incentive gamification is a great strategy to enhance job performance among sales employees.
Need help to get your game on? Unomok is a popular platform known for turning routine tasks into fun, rewarding activities. Sign up today and learn how you can use the power of incentive gamification to motivate sales teams!
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