Competition is one of nature’s most basic functions. It remains a powerful instinctual drive within us and it goes without saying that competition is the driving force in a sales team. Salespeople not only compete against each other as individuals, but also as groups and sometimes, against themselves. Meeting and exceeding goals is what keeps a sales team motivated.
You mess with the bull – you get the horns!
Regardless of whether or not there’s a prize, I love being a part of sales competitions. When a sales organization has a healthy level of competition, it can foster better performance, engagement and morale. It can also help sales teams collaborate and rally together around a common goal. At LevelEleven, we have a 3 ft. horizontal set of bullhorns that we use to measure our sales team’s success. In order to earn the horns, a salesperson needs to book our latest sale. And while having these horns on their desk is a small prize, it’s a matter of pride that resonates throughout our office. All salespeople, especially ours, love to compete and love to win.
Healthy competition is a great motivator
Competitiveness is the fuel that keeps the sales engines going. Sales professionals work hard to out perform their competition because there are few things as satisfying as knowing that you are the best at what you do. For salespeople, it’s about making the extra phone call to a prospect or staying an hour later at a networking event. It’s about prepping all weekend, planning how to nail a strategic account you’ve been working on for 10 months. It’s about asking existing customers for a referral. It’s about going the extra mile. We do all of this because we are competitive by nature and above all, we want to win—plain and simple.
It’s about much more than wanting to win, though. If you simply want to win, you’re praying and hoping to win. But every sales professional has to win. Even the most competitive, polished and seasoned salesperson won’t win every deal, but he or she will die trying.
Creating a culture of competition among sales teams is something we specialize in at LevelEleven. Contact us today to schedule a 20-minute hands-on demonstration of how we can help your team. If you’d like more information about how to foster better competition in your sales team, read our blog post “Success Stories & Metrics: Making Sales Gamification Work.”
Just a brief update, Felipe from our team has just taken latest ownership of the coveted ‘bull-horns’…..time to get after it!
