Sales Challenge: What are the Benefits? (2/2)

We are seeing a drastic increase in turnover – potentially reaching up to +41% (Incenteev client cases) – following the implementation of well-managed sales challenges. The sales challenge is an undeniable sales acceleration factor and an important lever of performance for large and small businesses. How does it work? What are the essential steps for its successful deployment?

The quantitative and qualitative benefits of the sales challenge

What are the qualitative benefits of the sales challenge for sales performance?

• A more competent team : the sales challenge allows for fun and fast training of its sales force. The learning part of a challenge can take 5 to 10 minutes per day in the form of micro-learning (e.g., quizzes and sharing best practices) and last long-term, to encourage the daily development of sales knowledge and make it habitual for all sales representatives.

• A transition in company culture : performance is not the only metric rewarded during a challenge: effort and participation count just as much. Through the sales challenge, attention is focused on the steps to be taken to achieve objectives, in order to better analyze and optimize them. This cultural transition towards qualitative aspects leads to a change in mindsets within the organization towards a more methodical approach to sales. Sales performance is seen here as the result of productive behaviors and not as the origin of all virtuosity.

The Sales Challenge in 2019: The Essential Guide to Engage Your Sales Force to Download Here

• Valuing the sales profession : more than a performance tool, the sales challenge is a real management tool. There is no room for elitism in the sales challenge; the principles of recognition are accessible to all. For example, progress and effort made in achieving objectives are rewarded and highlighted just as much as final results. Thus, all teams are stimulated, not just the top performers.

• A tool for testing and analysis : a sales challenge can help pinpoint a problem and lead to an in-depth analysis of task execution. For example, in 2008, the founder of the American company Hubspot noticed that although sales representatives were able to sign contracts, they encountered difficulties with sales forecasting. To identify the source of the problem, Mark Roberge launched the following challenge for his sales representatives: the sales reps had 24 hours to determine whether a prospect could or could not be identified as a potential client. Then, the sales representative wrote on a whiteboard their assessment of the prospect’s potential to become a client, between 0 (=no chance) and 100 (=highly probable). Finally, every month, the whiteboard was examined:

• • Points allocated to prospects who had become clients were added to the participant’s score
  • Points allocated to prospects who had NOT become clients were subtracted from the participant’s score

• When participants realized that the top performer’s score for the month did not go higher than -70 points, they then had no choice but to confront this weakness that affected each of them and find solutions. Strengthened by this experience, sales representatives and sales managers were able to react, and notable changes in behavior and processes were observed within the team: a more refined purchasing process, optimized sales steps, and more effective “discovery” calls.

Conclusion

The benefits of sales challenges are numerous and easily accumulate when innovation is involved. Furthermore, the digitalization of daily tasks through gamification adds a fun touch and stimulates the motivation of sales forces.

Other Articles that might Interest You:

• Sales Challenge: Operational and Managerial Benefits (1/2)
• Sales Coaching: Mistakes to Avoid