Can Gamification Close Your Sales Performance Gaps?
Today, the salesperson’s job has become increasingly tricky. The global pandemic, supply chain issues, and skyrocketing inflation have created complexities that were not there before. Therefore, fixing performance issues is paramount. But how do you do that in a way that makes learning and behaviors stick? Gamification may be the answer.
Gamification And Sales Team Development
Gamification is a powerful teaching tool that can effectively close sales performance gaps—here’s why:
Gamification Increases Motivation And Engagement
Once a sales team loses motivation and disengages, productivity comes to a screeching halt. Gamification effectively motivates because it relies on positive reinforcement. For example, when participants earn badges and are awarded top positions on leader boards, this triggers a positive chemical reaction in the brain, motivating them to perform an otherwise mundane activity.
Gamification Allows You To Track Success
With gamification, key performance indicators (KPIs) are easier to track. While participants consume content and earn rewards, leaders can easily track their progress. Leaders can see which reps are the most engaged by following the points, badges, and leader boards. These data points will also indicate which activities appear to be the most and least engaging, which helps to improve the program further.
Gamification Creates Healthy Competition
People are competitive by nature. Gamification provides a positive outlet to feed competition. Reps can encourage each other to perform better and achieve higher results. Consequently, individuals feel more effective and accomplished since they experience consistent growth.
Gamification Is Fun
Introducing an element of fun to an otherwise routine task is extremely important. Gamification adds an element of lightness and joy to otherwise mundane tasks. Gamification makes the work environment more relaxed, positive, and considerably more productive.
How Gamification helps close sales performance gaps.
Sales performance gaps can’t be fixed overnight, but gamification is a terrific tool for chipping away at them over time.
Spaced Practice
Spaced practice is all about spreading out the learning process so that desired behaviors are practiced little and often. Duolingo is a great example of this. Instead of spending two hours in a Spanish class, the user engages in five minutes of practice every day, with gamification techniques (such as maintaining a streak, earning points, and climbing a leader board) designed to keep users coming back each day.
Learning On The Go
For busy salespeople, a full-day workshop just means a full day not selling. Gamification is an effective way to respect their time and allow them to engage with learning material when it suits them. This might be learning about cultural differences in the car before they meet a new client or brushing up on their presentation skills just before they go into a big pitch. This is a great example of just-in-time performance support, as it gives reps the exact information they need at the exact point of need.
Personalized Learning Opportunities
The very nature of gamification means that it will personalize the learning experience for each salesperson. If they are already a skilled presenter, they will fly through these “levels,” but if they struggle with finding new sales opportunities, they will naturally take longer to get through these tasks in the game, ensuring they spend more time on the skills that will make the biggest difference.
In Sum
Sales performance is critical to the overall health of an organization. As sales leaders look to improve the performance of their teams, gamification is a helpful tool to close skills gaps. Gamification techniques engage, encourage, and motivate participants in powerful ways. Sales leaders will do well in incorporating gamification into their developmental programs.
Download the eBook Closing Sales Performance Gaps Using Gamification to identify and address pain points that prevent your sales teams from achieving their goals. You can also join the webinar to learn how to close gaps for good and help sales reps who struggle to meet their quotas.
