What drives sales agents to meet and exceed quotas? For a long time, industry experts have argued that incentives are the encouraging force,. but now people are noticing other ways to motivate their sales forces.
One strategy that has become popular as of late is gamification – turning sales into games and competitions. By keeping track of who is selling the most and making a game out of it, many businesses have noted an increase in revenue driven and leads converted.
Now, the vendors of sales performance management (SPM) software are also beginning to account for gamification. For example, CallidusCloud recently launched MySalesGame, one of the first SPM solutions built around the concept of gamification. Many more are expected to continue in this trend, with one report from Gartner suggesting that 60 percent of midsize and large companies will gamify at least some part of sales activity by 2014.
The rise of gamification shouldn’t completely revolutionize the sales department – a study conducted by CallidusCloud found that financial compensation was still the leading sales motivator. However, there are other factors that may drive positive changes in sales teams’ behavior and results. By integrating gamification and the solutions that facilitate it, businesses can maximize their chances of achieving success in the sales department.
“With MySalesGame, CallidusCloud has rewritten the rulebook for SPM,” said Giles House, vice president of marketing communications and products at CallidusCloud. “Traditional cash-only incentives influence general selling behavior, but fall short when it comes to driving adoption of the tools and training used by the top performers.”
As economic conditions improve, many businesses are leaning on their sales departments to facilitate further growth. By using innovative new approaches combined with SPM, companies can ensure their sales departments are performing at the highest levels possible.
