To be effective, a sales challenge must be clear and understandable to everyone. However, to achieve a simple and effective result, one must first thoroughly understand the complex mechanics of a sales challenge. The goal is to be strategic and keep the purpose of the sales challenge in mind throughout the development and deployment of actions.
What do you aim to accomplish with your sales challenge? Do you want to highlight the expertise of your sales representatives, increase their performance, develop team spirit, or boost competitiveness?
Simple Solutions for your Sales Strategy
Your strategy can be reflected in different sales challenge mechanisms. Highlight the intermediate steps to achieve key objectives. For example:
- Encourage CRM adoption : by implementing a significant scoring system for its completion.
- Create a sense of belonging : by establishing an internal social network for employees. This will promote information flow and goodwill.
- Foster mutual aid and collaboration : by sharing best practices among your sales representatives.
- Develop your teams’ expertise : by supporting your sales challenge with quizzes and/or an e-learning system.
- Re-energize and motivate your sales representatives for prospecting: by implementing a point system that rewards visits and calls made.
- Increase the conversion rate from Meeting 1 to Meeting 2 : by offering bonus points to reward the best pitch.
For example, a client in the banking sector wanted to simplify their sales challenges. They also wanted to digitize their sales techniques. To do this, the sales director decided to reward each digital signature obtained by a sales representative with 10 points. Thus, the goal was to popularize the use of electronic tablets for contract signing. This also fostered the company’s internal digital transformation.
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Challenge Objectives
The purpose of a sales challenge is to link desired behaviors to sales performance objectives. This allows for combining quantifiable results and improved working methods. Therefore, it is essential that the objectives are simple and the challenges accessible.
- Simple and Consistent Objectives : for example, in 2010, the game Farmville achieved astonishing success, attracting 250 million users. Its objective was simple: plant, cultivate, harvest vegetables, then repeat. The simplicity and clarity of such an objective are essential. When combined with stimulating and accessible challenges, they create a form of addiction that leads to strong user participation.
- Accessible and Fair Challenges : Challenges must also be fair to strengthen the motivation of sales representatives. Indeed, the gamification of sales objectives increases the participation and engagement of the sales force. This improves sales performance. However, it is crucial that performance comparison mechanisms are equitable. For example, Newrest Wagons-Lits, an onboard catering service for trains, implemented a sales analysis system that took into account the time of year, the duration of the journey, and the number of passengers on board. This system aimed to ensure a fairer allocation of points based on circumstances.
Conclusion
The creation of a sales challenge goes hand in hand with a clarification of sales representatives’ performance objectives. It is important to adapt the challenge mechanisms according to the goal to be achieved. Ensure that the objective is clear to sales representatives and that the tasks are accessible and fair.