Thinking About How to Gamify Sales Training

We would like to increase the participation in our sales training by making it  social, fun and rewarding.

I  just read, (and highly recommend), Jonah Berger's just released book , "Contagious".  There are many examples of how companies create "social currency."  We ,and I'm sure you, are looking for ways to motivate our salespeople to do the things that will make them successful.  The key areas, we believe, are: 1. connecting with people who can help them in their tasks (this is especially important in a matrix organization such as we have at IBM)  2.  Encourage them to learn about the products and solutions they sell, where we have sold them successfully and who competes with us.  3. Encourage them to learn more about the industries they sell into. So they understand key metrics and challenges of their prospects/customers and. 4. encourage them to learn about the process and tools to help them sell.

To accomplish this we have established an internal social community of all sellers who are in the training or have been in the training at some time.  This is our "Virtual Water Cooler."  This community will form the foundation for our gamification.  Along the lines of "Four Square" we will invite community members to compete to be the Mayors of each of these four aforementioned areas.  They will accumulate points by checking into various activities ( personal networks, online courses, articles recordings, forums wikis) earning one point for each activity. At the end of two weeks the person with the most points will be declared the Mayor of the area.  This person will be recognized with thier sales leader and remain the mayor for two weeks while the process is repeated.

All of this is in the planning stage at the moment. I will let you know how we make out.  I would love to hear about your efforts to gamify your sales training. Please share in the comments.

"Winning is not everything, but the will to prepare to win is!"

Just about everyone is familiar with Vince Lombardi's famous quote: "Winning is not everything it is the only thing!"  He said it. Of that, there is no doubt.  However, later on when pressed on the quote, he modified it to: "Winning is not everything  but the will to prepare to win is!" Everyone wants to win, but who is willing to make the sacrifice to do what is really required to in order to win?  What separates winners and losers is their commitment to prepare to win.  Did you ever run a marathon?  If you did you will realize that the marathon itself is difficult, but more difficult, by far, is the preparation to run the marathon.  Those countless hours running in the rain , dark and cold, the muscle aches, the injuries and, the accompanying diet and the discipline and sacrifice required to practice day after day.  The marathon is tough but if you are prepared it becomes more of a celebration of your accomplishments over the last 3-6 months.

In sales we know that winning is more than having the best product, the lowest price or the most features.  It is truly all about your preparation.  Below are the 10 most common areas of sales preparation.  Ask yourself  have you done all you can to…

1.      Really understand the solution your are selling, the challenges is solves, the value it delivers, its key competitors and its differentiation.

2.      Understand the industry challenges your prospect faces? (understanding  the industry lingo and metrics).

3.      Understand the specific challenges of your prospect ,  their key competitors where they sit against their competitors, in their industry and market.

4.       Identify the key individuals to sell (business and financial and executive) and what they want to see from the solution.

5.      Discover with each of them their specific problems issues and concerns and what your solution can do to help.

6.      Arrange for demos, ROI/business value assessment and executive visits by your extended sales team that address these specific concerns and issues.

7.      Sell your solution inside your own company? (Sell inside to client exec and to management to secure necessary selling resources and approvals to win).

8.      Anticipate and prepare for the competition

9.      Anticipate and prepare for the customer objections

10.   Anticipate the unexpected and prepare to win!

And then when the signed order comes through you like, Lombardi ,will know the “finest hour.” Which he describes as” when you lie upon the battlefield, exhausted, but victorious!”  Winning,  really,  is all about the will to prepare to win. Winning becomes the easy part if you have prepared.

Make the most out of your Sales Kickoffs

OK.  So now you all have attended your sales kickoffs/FastStarts for this year.  As a result, what are you planning to do to improve your sales game?  These remind  of a similar type event I used to attend while coaching football.  February is the month, like salespeople, that football coaches attend clinics.  Like you they are trying to improve their game.

As a coach, in the 70's I remember going to clinics where we could listen and interact with the "giants" of the game: Bear Bryant, Lou Holtz and even John Madden. You got to meet the giants in your company: the worldwide sales leaders, marketing leaders, industry experts,  key business partners and successful colleagues.  Like most of you,we would be there 3- 4 days.  And like you it was information overload!  So how can you get the most out of your recent event?

1.  Have a goal.  To me as a coach,  it was a goal, that as a result of this clinic ( Kickoff/FastStart in your case), I would find something (even just 1 thing)  that could improve my game.  You can't do everything you learn at the FastStart, so find the one thing, that if you do it, it can have the most positive effect on your sales game.  What, one thing,  did you learn, that if you practice it, it can help you improve your sales game? That can be your goal.  It is hard to focus on one thing, you heard so much but you must narrow in on what will help you the most.  In football, you heard about different offenses, defenses and  special teams.  There were individual techniques, motivation, practice plans and product demos. Really great stuff.  You too had a variety of sessions, marketing road maps, product demos, client and industry presentations, success stories from your colleagues, tools to help you, competitive update and  pricing plays.  With all of this great information,  focus on using the few key things that can have the most impact.

2. Get more information on your selected objective/goal.  This session cannot provide you everything you need to be successful.  You must follow up and  go deeper.  You may have learned about 1 solution that you believe could help some of your clients.  Follow up with the presenters, ask them where you can learn more. One of the great benefits of these events is you get to interact with your colleagues.  Find those colleagues who have experience selling these solutions and pick their brains.  In football, we would find the thing that interested us and we would contact the presenting coach and follow up with him, maybe arrange a visit to his school, look at some of his game film, even observe his team in spring practice.  Also we would find other coaches that were already running this system and pick their brains as well.

3. Make an action plan. Select your clients and prospects that would benefit from this solution.  Make plans to contact them and introduce them to the solution.  Follow up internally,  to effectively utilize your teams resources to help with an effective demo, maybe a business value/ROI assessment.

4.  Make it Happen!  Persistence and practice.  In football just having a great offensive playbook won't help you.  You must practice it, work at it relentlessly you may even lose a game, but keep at it, getting better all the time.  You too may not be successful at first.  You may even lose a sale.  But persist, continue to get better and you eventually will win