Do Sales Competitions Boost Morale?
Motivating a sales team is a notoriously tricky challenge. After all, wouldn’t they be selling more on their own if they had the ability? Managers have tried countless strategies to motivate and invigorate their sales teams, and the results have been spotty at best, and almost always temporary. But one strategy that has proven more effective than most is to host a sales competition – a contest to see who can sell the most with some kind of prize for the winner. To help you get the most out of your competition, in terms of both boosted sales and boosted morale, we have put together a list of helpful tips.
Keep the Details Simple
Sales contests often get bogged down by complications. That’s entirely unnecessary. Keep the details as simple as possible – sell the most of A, win prize B. Figure out what your primary goals for the contest are and make those the focus. That way you can motivate certain behaviors without throwing off your sales team’s normal routine.
Make the Results Available in Real Time
Sales contests work as both a morale booster and a sales motivator because they promote a healthy spirit of competition among your team members. That spirit is a lot stronger when sales figures are made available in real time. Luckily, there are a number of automated reporting tools available that make this relatively easy.
Limit the Duration of Your Contest
Sales contests that drag on over many months rarely produce the results you desire. People simply lose interest and lose their sense of urgency. You can prevent this from happening by making the duration of the contest relatively short, no more than a month or two. That way individuals have some time to jockey back and forth for first place but don’t grow weary of the process.
Help Your Team Stay Focused on the Contest
If you want your sales contest to actually change behaviors, you need to keep it at the top of your team’s mind. Too often a manager will announce a contest, people will get excited for a day or two, then they will forget about it until the results are announced. Essentially, it runs in the background without producing any results. Give your team a daily reminder of the contest, regularly announce the standings, point out the prizes, and consider throwing in an occasional one-day contest to spark a selling frenzy.
Run your sales contest in a conscientious way and it will produce the results you’re looking for. Learn about other ways to optimize your sales team by contacting the experts at Artemis Consultants.
