5 Ways to Improve Sales Contests

Sales contests are an effective motivational tool for increasing activity, performance and revenue, when conducted correctly. They are also great for incentivising good performance and making work more fun and engaging for your employees. However, contests can actually become demotivating when you always track the same metrics and the same few people tend to win every time. This can leave middle and lower performers feeling frustrated and disengaged.

Luckily, it is not difficult to improve your sale contests and cultivate a more positive work atmosphere–along with increasing company profits. Here are 3 tips for doing so.

Track different metrics

Tracking metrics other than just sales is a great way to give a more holistic overview of company performance. It also allows other people–rather than only perpetual top performers–a chance to excel and win some contests. This can help to improve company morale and re-engage employees that may have been frustrated by watching the same people win over and over.

Yes, you should absolutely focus only on metrics that are important to overall business success… but try to mix it up some. Instead of only focusing on sales revenue or quantity sold, focus on the KPIs that lead to sales such as calls, emails, first time meetings, follow-up meetings, customer satisfaction score and other activities.

So, in addition to tracking sales consider measuring other activities that can lead to sales–such as setting a meeting or obtaining a qualifying lead. Not only will this lead to higher employee engagement from all levels, but it will also encourage a pattern of behavior that will positively affect your company bottom line.

A poll by Gallup revealed that “highly engaged business teams result in 21% greater profitability.”

Change up the prizes

Instead of offering a standard prize for each contest, why not change it up? Let’s face it, not everyone wants a set of steak knives. And even if everyone likes wine, some may drink red, others only white wine. The more specific you can be with finding prizes that resonate with your salespeople, the more effective they will be in delivering results for you.

Ask your employees what they want to see as prizes and make it more personalized. They will be significantly more motivated to perform well if the contest prizes are actually meaningful and relevant to them. Check out this blog for some great ideas!

Consider also offering experience-based prizes such as tickets to sports events or weekend trips. Studies show that employees get more satisfaction from experiences than material items.

Run team competitions

“39% of surveyed employees believe that people in their own organization don’t collaborate enough.”

Team competitions are an excellent way to encourage collaboration and bonding amongst your employees. Working towards a common goal together can improve teamwork and also lead to better company culture in the office.

In addition, team competitions provide an additional opportunity for core performers and rookies to benefit from mentorship and collaboration. So, be sure to mix it up with both individual and team-based contests.

Have a theme

Adding a theme to your sales contests can help to reignite excitement and boost motivation. We recommend coordinating the theme with the season and/or current events–for example, a sports-related theme like March Madness or Super Bowl. For a festive Christmas sales contests, check this out!

Whatever you do, make it fun!

Get feedback

Lastly, be sure to get feedback from your employees. Find out what they liked and disliked about previous contests so that you can adjust accordingly. Take a poll to see what contests and prizes they would enjoy in the future.

Remember that your people are the ones actually competing in these sales contests, so there is no use running contests that are not fun and motivational for them. According to Salesforce, “employees are 4.6 times more likely to feel empowered to perform their best work” if they “feel their voice is heard.”