10 SALES CONTEST IDEAS THAT WORK

Transcription

1 10 SALES CONTEST IDEAS THAT WORK Full contest outlines, down to point structures and incentive suggestions! 1

2 AS A SALES LEADER, YOU HAVE A LOT ON YOUR PLATE. We want to minimize the amount of space that sales contests take, and that starts with giving you ideas for those contests. hit numbers sales contests coach hire set goals So that s what we ll do, in the form of 10 full sales contest ideas. The great news? All of them are client inspired. We ve seen them work. Before we begin, we do want to provide a few options outside of this ebook, in case you finish reading Contest #10 and still want more: 1. Check out the contest ideas on LevelEleven s blog by clicking here. 2. Browse through LevelEleven s Sales Library, particularly in the Compete & Success category, which shares real contest ideas with significant results. 3. kristy@leveleleven.com with your sales goals, and we ll get back to you with contest ideas. Now, for the ideas. NOTE ALTHOUGH YOU CAN DEFINE WINNERS IN MANY WAYS, WITH EACH CONTEST IN THIS EBOOK THE INDIVIDUAL OR IN A TEAM-BASED CONTEST, THE TEAM WITH THE HIGHEST AMOUNT OF POINTS AT THE END WINS. 1

3 CONTEST 1 A CHAMPION S WELCOME Purpose: Quicken onboarding. Where to Start: Want to get new sales reps in the game quicker? Pick 1-2 of your main products or services that are relatively easy to understand for a new rep and also have high value for prospects. 1 point every time a rep secures an opportunity around that product or service 2 points every time a rep gets to Stage 2 in your sales process with that product or service 5 points every time a rep gets to the stage just before a close with that product or service Length: 2 weeks Incentive: Some sort of trophy the winner can place on their desk. Then, if the new rep feels overwhelmed at any point during onboarding, they ll have something positive to catch their eye from time to time. BONUS Also, as reps begin competing against one another they ll start collaborating, so you ll be fostering camaraderie along the way. Stuck on trophy ideas? Head to the toy section of a local department store and pick up the funniest figurine you can find. 2

4 CONTEST 2 A WINNING LINE-UP Purpose: Advance opportunities. Where to Start: Check out your sales process to understand win rates by sales stage. There should be a sales stage that increases your chances of winning a deal significantly once you get to it. That s the stage you ll build this contest around. EXAMPLE We at LevelEleven know that when an opportunity moves to Stage 3 of our sales process our win rate doubles. 5 points for every opportunity that hits that key stage in your sales process 10 points for each deal closed Length: 3 weeks Incentive: A pass for ½ day off of work, or a late start on 1 workday BONUS If your contest involves sales reps logging the entries in their CRM, this will help to keep their sales stage data accurate, too! Tip If you need help finding yours, check out this great tool from InsightSquared. TIP HERE YOU RE FOCUSING ON THE SALES STAGE THAT S KEY FOR YOUR SALES TEAM. WHEN DESIGNING FUTURE CONTESTS, YOU SHOULD ALSO BE FOCUSING ON THE SALES ACTIVITIES THAT ARE KEY FOR YOUR TEAM. KELLY SERVICES DID WHEN THEY RAN CONTESTS AROUND FACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS, AND THEY GENERATED $5.8 MILLION IN ADDITIONAL REVENUE AS A RESULT. CHECK OUT THE FULL STORY HERE. 3

5 CONTEST 3 PITCH THE NEWBIE Purpose: Take new products to market quicker. Where to Start: There is always some sort of a gap between the time you introduce your sales team to a new product or service and the time they start selling it, since they ll typically feel comfortable waiting until they understand how the product or service works and the market reacts. Close that gap with competition. 5 points every time a rep pitches the product Length: 2 weeks Incentive: Some sort of trophy the winner can place on their desk. Then, if the new rep feels overwhelmed at any point during onboarding, they ll have something positive right on their desk that ll catch their eye from time to time. NEW! REAL-LIFE EXAMPLE HelloWorld used this technique to obtain 2x the amount of pitches for a new mobile product and increased sales of that product by 230%! Most importantly, proactive pitching/selling of the mobile product prevailed well after the competition ended. TIP IF YOU NEED HELP TRACKING WHICH PITCHES ARE FOR YOUR NEW PRODUCT, HAVE REPS ADD A CERTAIN HASHTAG WHEN LOGGING THE EVENTS IN YOUR CRM. EX: IS IT YOUR NEW MOBILE APP? TRY #APP. 4

6 CONTEST 4 MOVE OR LOSE Purpose: Move product. Where to Start: Repeat Contest #3, only build it around 1-2 products that you need to move for other reasons, such as these: You re trying to get rid of excess inventory You just want more focus on another service that is highly profitable Team format, point structure and all other fields will remain the same as Contest #3! NOTE IT MAY SEEM NATURAL TO LENGTHEN THIS CONTEST, INSTEAD OF GOING WITH THE 2-WEEK SUGGESTION, IF YOU HAVE A LOT OF INVENTORY TO MOVE. THINK ABOUT THIS FIRST, THOUGH: IF YOU REALLY DO WANT THE PRODUCT MOVING AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, YOU WANT TO DRIVE A SENSE OF URGENCY FOR YOUR TEAM TO SELL IT. HOSTING A SHORTER CONTEST WILL DO JUST THAT. 5

7 CONTEST 5 SCOUR TO SCORE Purpose: Clean data. Where to Start: Missing some key data about your business? Maybe your CRM hosts blank industry fields, old close dates or no notes on competitive presence in opportunities. Choose 2 of those data points. Then, instead of asking your team to prioritize them and crossing your fingers, build a contest. Team Format: Teams split your sales team in 2. Each team will accumulate points collectively, so there will be a Team A and Team B on the leaderboard. 5 points every time a rep fills in either of the 2 chosen fields We re counting on you to come up with more creative names than these, though! Length: 2 days Incentive: Pay for Happy Hour at the winning team s favorite local establishment the Friday after the competition. Learn More The incentive ideas in this ebook tend to be low cost. If you have the budget to go bigger, or simply want additional lowcost ideas, check out this free ebook. NOTE IF YOU ASK INDIVIDUALS TO COMPETE AGAINST ONE ANOTHER WITH THIS ONE, YOU SET IT UP SO THAT THE PERSON WITH THE WORST DATA- LOGGING HABITS HAS THE BEST CHANCE OF WINNING. THEY HAVE THE MOST OPPORTUNITIES TO FIX THEIR DATA AND/OR FILL EMPTY FIELDS. 6

8 CONTEST 6 STAY ACTIVE Purpose: Motivate and track activity around opportunities. Where to Start: Ever look at the open opportunities in your CRM and see little (if any) activity logged within them? Some of this comes from poor logging habits; some of it is general inactivity. Design a contest with the same structure as Contest #5, but reward points for each activity logged within an opportunity, instead of around the fields you chose for that particular competition. Point structure and all other fields will remain the same as Contest #5. BONUS This should encourage your reps to do more work on opportunities and to get more qualified opportunities that give them the option of staying active. TIP IF YOU WANT TO GET SPECIFIC, YOU CAN EVEN TAILOR THE CONTEST SO THAT SALES REPS ONLY EARN POINTS AROUND CERTAIN TYPES OF OPPORTUNITIES, SUCH AS UPSELL OPPORTUNITIES, OPPORTUNITIES WITH KEY ACCOUNTS AND OPPORTUNITIES OVER A CERTAIN DEAL SIZE. 7

9 CONTEST 7 DIAL UP A DOUBLEHEADER Purpose: Strengthen prospecting. Where to Start: Get ready to host a cold-calling competition for one hour. (We like to call this a Power Hour. ) 1 point for a call logged 5 points for a demo booked during one of those calls Length: 3 hours total here s why: After the first Power Hour, you re going to buy lunch for the team. During lunch, everyone can chat about what worked best in the competition. Then, when they return to their desks, host another hour-long contest, set up the exact same way as Round I. You ll be forcing your team to use the best practices they learned, which will help those new behaviors stick! Incentive: Buy lunch for the rest of the week for the winner. TELL THE TEAM TO BLOCK OFF THEIR CALENDARS FOR THE 3 HOURS AHEAD TIP OF TIME, SO THEY WON T HAVE ANY OTHER OBLIGATIONS TO WORRY ABOUT! 8

10 CONTEST 8 KEEP IT IN MOTION Purpose: Maintain momentum after conferences or events. Where to Start: We ve all seen the research that shows how dramatically your chances of a win increase the sooner you follow up with someone after that first touch. Leverage this after your next conference. As soon as you import the leads into your CRM, get this contest rolling. 1 point for every call made with a contact from your conference list 2 points for every demo booked with a contact from your conference list Length: 2 days Incentive: Fresh milk and cookies delivered to the winner s desk 9

11 CONTEST 9 A CHANCE AT CHAMPION STATUS Purpose: Motivate even more out of top performers. Where to Start: Ever run sales contests and notice that the same reps consistently win while others consistently lag behind? Don t make wins so easy for your top performers. Set up this week-long contest. 5 points for opportunities valued at over [insert minimum dollar amount that suits your goals] 10 points for deals closed valued at over [insert same dollar amount] Length: 2 weeks total here s why: After the first contest, you ll launch a duplicate, and go Round 2. Only the top 10 performers from the first contest will make it to this second event. They ll get the chance to win the incentive. (Participants in Round 1 will simply be competing for the chance to compete in Round 2.) Incentive: 2 tickets to a local athletic event with good seats Learn More Segmenting sales contests according to performance levels can help to promote a healthy competition environment. Check out this blog post for further details. INCENTIVE ADVICE: IF YOU OFFER COMMISSION, YOUR TOP-PERFORMING SALES REPS MAKE THE MOST MONEY. DON T OFFER CASH AS INCENTIVE FOR THEIR COMPETITION. INSTEAD, OFFER AN EXPERIENCE THEY LL ENJOY AND REMEMBER. 10

12 CONTEST 10 DUEL OF THE DUOS Purpose: Motivate even more out of all reps. Where to Start: Check out closing stats for each rep, and dive into any other data that will help you to really understand what kind of performers you have. Then get ready to sort them into teams. Team Format: Teams pair up reps. Each team should consist of a toplevel performer and a bottom or middle-level performer. Ideally, you ll pair the top performer with the bottom performer, the second-from-the-top performer with the second-from-the bottom performer, etc. 1 point for logging new opportunities 5 points for taking opportunities to that key stage that makes a difference (as we discussed in Contest #2) 10 points for closing a deal Length: 3 weeks Incentive: A month s access to 2 prime parking spots (1 for each winning rep) in a place that everyone else has to walk by on their way into work Want a way to make your contests easier to manage and even more motivating? Request a demo of Compete by LevelEleven. TIP IT S DIFFICULT TO SUGGEST A GENERAL LENGTH FOR THIS CONTEST, AS WELL AS FOR ANY OTHERS IN THIS EBOOK THAT OFFER POINTS FOR DEALS CLOSED, SINCE WE DON T KNOW THE LENGTH OF YOUR SALES CYCLE. IF IT S APPROPRIATE, CHANGE IT SO THAT INDIVIDUALS EARN 10 POINTS FOR GETTING OPPORTUNITIES TO A LATER STAGE IN YOUR SALES CYCLE (RATHER THAN FOR CLOSING). BE WEARY OF KEEPING THE POINT REQUIREMENTS AS THEY ARE AND SIMPLY CHANGING CONTEST LENGTH, SINCE LONGER CONTESTS TEND TO SEE LESS ENGAGEMENT. 11

13 THANKS FOR READING! Don t forget to check out LevelEleven s Sales Library and Sales Game Blog for more resources on sales contest ideas! 7