Gamification is becoming a popular sales performance management (SPM) tactic in many industries. The more products that representatives sell, the more rewards they earn. The strategy helps agents track their numbers so they're motivated to earn sales incentives. Additionally, games can motivate employees when financial rewards aren't sufficient, according to Time Magazine.

While some companies use gamification for everyday business, other vendors are using their games to streamline sales on-boarding. The training process can be arduous and new hires can struggle to match their established coworkers' sales figures. Gamification encourages representatives to work through the initial stages of their positions and gradually increase productivity.

Business News Daily recently reported that Stella & Dot, a jewelry company, reached unprecedented levels of success once it introduced gamification into its on-boarding procedure, which is referred to as "Stella & Dot University." The program is a series of ongoing courses that teach the vendor's 10,000 independent representatives effective sales techniques. Stella & Dot sought to improve the performance of its sales team by making the training process interactive.

According to the news source, the company used its gamification software to write quizzes that follow every lesson. The multiple choice tests are about Stella & Dot's products and sales strategies. Employees are given virtual rewards once they correctly answer a certain number of questions. The digital trophies are included in agents' profiles so that their associates and managers can watch their progress.

Stella & Dot added videos notifications for special achievements in its quizzes. The videos were personalized for each representative. Company officials said that the clips helped keep agents engaged with their training.

Achievements during training
For Stella & Dot, the primary goal of turning on-boarding into a game was giving representatives a sense of accomplishment as they completed the courses. The company also wanted to ensure that its training process was engaging. Stephen McCurry, the jewelry retailer's platform director, told Business News Daily that the gamification process was successful on both fronts.

"The addition of quizzes, badges and video notifications increased engagement levels amongst our stylists by adding a sense of progress and achievement to our online training program," McCurry said.

Vendors can replicate Stella & Dot's success by making gamification a part of their SPM practices. Quizzes can ensure that trainees are closely following lessons and developing the necessary skills to be effective sales agents.