How to Gamify Sales Training Programs

With today’s options for sales training, there’s no excuse for not having a fun and engaging sales training program that reinforces training and offers significantly better results in a shorter amount of time while keeping sales professionals engaged and enthusiastic.

The key to this is gamification.

This means incorporating elements from gaming (e.g., leaderboards, different levels, points, and rewards) into non-game contexts like sales training.

It leads to better knowledge retention, more engagement, a personalized experience, and a dynamic and motivating environment.

Read on to learn more about how gamification can be effortlessly implemented into your sales training programs to improve performance and achieve measurable outcomes.

Understanding Gamification

What about games and gaming has turned the industry into a giant success story? For example, the gaming industry generated around $184.4bn in revenue in 2022.

Compare that to the recording industry, which netted $26.2bn and the global movie industry with $26bn, and you can see that there’s something very special about gaming.

Whether it’s the thrill of the challenge, the competition, the social aspect, the “stickiness,” the adrenalin rush, the feeling of being on a journey, or of achieving something, gaming offers powerful influences that can be harnessed for different purposes.

Implementing gamification into workflows is a powerful way of tapping the magic of gaming in a business context.

By offering these same elements – for example, competition or achievement – organizations and employees stand to benefit.

The Benefits of Gamification in Sales Training

So what are the benefits of gamification in sales training? There are almost too many to list here, but the major benefits include:

Increased Engagement

Your team members will feel part of a journey, part of something bigger than themselves, and will be eager to advance within the game environment – and by extension in terms of their skillset and value to the company

Higher Retention

Just like games keep people coming back for more, with gamification in sales training programs, there is now additional context, rewards, and immediate growth, all of which are key when it comes to employee retention, as well as the retention of critical knowledge

Motivation Boost

Mix fun with competition in a learning environment, and you’re bound to see motivation levels go through the roof

Real-World Application

The beauty of gamifying sales training is that it’s not just theoretical – the lessons are practical and can be implemented immediately

Performance Tracking

Gamification is a crucial part of performance tracking, both from the organization’s perspective and from the individual’s, who will want to know where they stand and how they can improve

Strategies for Integrating Gamification Into Sales Training

To effectively integrate gamification into sales training, choosing a strategy that should guide your entire implementation effort is important. The following should be carefully considered when crafting your strategy:

Define Clear Objectives

Ensure your game mechanics are aligned with your business objectives

Incorporate Relevant Game Mechanics

Go beyond the leaderboard and implement game elements that are meaningful and relevant both to the individual and the task

Leverage Technology

Running effective gamification without technology is almost impossible; choose a partner like Centrical to handle your sales training gamification from beginning to end

Foster Healthy Competition

Get the competitive juices flowing with healthy competition to drive high-achievers to new heights

Provide Meaningful Rewards

Rewards can be virtual or real, but in either case they need to be meaningful to be effective

Continuous Feedback and Adaptation

Gamification is not a “fire and forget” type of implementation; garner feedback, look to constantly improve, and your employees will ultimately thank you for it

Case Study: Successful Gamification in Sales Training

Swiss Life Select, part of Switzerland’s largest life insurance company, turned to Centrical to implement sales training gamification among other areas.

The Company’s Challenges

Challenges included:

• Swiss Life Select’s sales branches relied on physical leaderboards for tracking sales performance, which was cumbersome and less engaging for sales agents
• The existing system did not effectively tap into the emotional engagement of sales consultants or facilitate a personal connection with the tracking process

Implementing Centrical, Swiss Life Select was able to:

• Allow sales agents to view lead reports directly on their mobile phones, enhancing accessibility and excitement
• Introduce incentives and performance tracking features within the app, enabling individual progress monitoring and maintaining a competitive spirit
• Increase motivation among sales teams, pushing them to achieve more and contributing to a rise in Swiss Life Select’s business

The post-implementation metrics were super impressive: 10.4% more sales per agent, and 12.5% growth in sales for its best month ever.

As David Windlin, Head of Sales Coordination for Swiss Life Select, put it, “This is the behavioral change that we were aiming for.

“And we were able to achieve this without changing our compensation plan. The amazing thing is, we could really see an increase of our cross-selling all over our product selection.” 

Conclusion

Gamification offers a powerful way to supercharge sales training programs, creating an environment for success for company leaders and employees alike. Below are a few key takeaways:

• Games, and the concept of gamifying the sales training experience, have grown dramatically in popularity in recent years
• Gamification in sales training offers many benefits, which include increased engagement and retention rates, higher motivation, and performance tracking
• Strategies for gamifying sales training involve steps such as defining objectives, incorporating the right game mechanics, and creating an environment of healthy competition, and providing meaningful rewards