We always say it. What we do isn’t about “gamification.” It’s about tapping into the competitive nature of salespeople to drive businesses forward. Our CEO, Bob Marsh, describes what that means in his recent Inc. contribution, “Gamification Trend: Salespeople Thrive off Competition, so Up Their Game.”
Here’s an excerpt:
Do you love to win, or hate to lose?
As a sales manager turned entrepreneur, it’s a question I’ve always asked my employees – especially sales reps. So, I was surprised to hear that very same question posed to tennis superstar Serena Williams in a recent interview. Her answer? The same as the hundreds of sales professionals I’ve asked over the past few years: “Hate to lose.”
The desire to succeed that we see in professional athletes, and that we learn growing up playing sports and games, is essential to sales. Are salespeople and professional athletes fueled by the same competitive spirit? Definitely. A sale is a game. To succeed at that game, and more to the point to avoid losing, you have to fight your way into a win. If you’re in sales, you’ve probably heard the line, “The sale starts when the prospects says no.” That’s when the competitive fire kicks in.
Gamification: Work it or lose it.
Sometimes that competitive spirit gets lost. After nearly 10 years of building a strong sales team within ePrize, a large digital engagement provider, I realized something was missing. It wasn’t just our own sales team. Other VPs of Sales at other companies agreed that the competitive spirit was lagging.
I had an idea. Sales professionals are hypercompetitive people who get revved up by dynamic, real-time competition. Why not create contests and high-impact leaderboards to motivate them? I’m not talking whiteboards, spreadsheets, or CRM reports that are considered longtime motivational pillars in sales. (Frankly, they’re a giant pain in the butt to administer.)
I’m talking real-time digital leaderboards–the kind that offer options for personalization. That includes employee photo displays and engagement tools, such as audio splashes that demand attention when someone makes a big move in a competition. Whether on flat-screen monitors in central locations around the office, or on each employee’s iPhone, these leaderboards would surround entire sales teams, keeping individuals cognizant of where they, and their colleagues, stand in competitions–and motivating them to see their face move to the top. Some call it gamification. I just call it making things happen so you can hit your number.
Read the rest of the story here.
