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10 Sales Contest Incentive Ideas to Motivate Your Team

It is a proven fact that if you truly want your employees to perform at their peak, then you must be ready to motivate them to do so. Much more than the salaries they earn and the commissions they get from time to time, you just have to put structures in place that will keep them motivated to attain the organization’s common goal.

One of the key departments in an organization that needs to be constantly motivated is the sales team. As a matter of fact, they are the people in the fore front of selling the company’s products and services. Therefore, if you want peak performance from your sales team, then you must be willing to motivate them and part of what you need to do to motivate them is by introducing contest incentive.

There are several contest incentive ideas that you can introduce to motivate your sales team and they might not necessarily be expensive – the bottom line is to ensure that it creates healthy competition amongst your sales team and also the overall aim is to increase sales and income for the organization. As a matter of fact, if your sales team is not motivated, it will negatively impact on the income and growth of your organization.

Now let us quickly go through 10 sales contest incentive ideas that you can introduce in your organization to motivate your sales team;

10 Sales Contest Incentive Ideas to Motivate Your Sales Team

1. Organize Team Bonding Event

One of the ways of motivating your sales team to achieve the sales goals you’ve set for them is to organize team bonding event away from the office. Team bonding event will help your sales team know one another beyond the office setting and it will create the rapport needed for them to work together to achieve the organization’s common goal.

Team bonding event could mean taking your sales team to go see the movies, visit museums or any place where they can be relaxed and catch some fun. The potential that lies within a team that works together cannot be over emphasized – Together Everyone Achieves More!

2. Introduce Fantasy Sports

Fantasy sports is a means of allowing your sales team to compete and earn points for every thing they do right; it could be closing a deal or earning the company accolades from professional bodies.

In fantasy sports, a sales team can equally lose points for every thing they do that affects the sale performance. The sports can be played by individual in your sales team or as a team – you can group your sales staff into different team. The bottom line is that at the end of the game; which might span for a period of time (monthly or quarterly) the winners are adequately rewarded.

3. Reward Exceptional Sales Performance

Another very important way to create healthy competition amongst your sales team is to reward any saleswoman or salesman that put up exceptional performance; exceptional performance could be breaking the company’s sales record or maintaining first class sales performance for a period of time.

The reward should not just be restricted to promotion alone; incentives should be attached to it. The incentive could be awarding the recipient a shopping coupon or a night out with his / her spouse in a luxurious hotel et al.

4. Create an Event Where the Best Salesman / Saleswoman Will Be Crowned Annually

In the bid to motivate your sales team via incentive, you can introduce an event where the most outstanding salesman or saleswoman is crowned as the sales person of the year for your organization. You could merge the event with your organization’s annual end of year part. Just ensure that enough hype and recognition is given to the winner.

5. Organize Fun Trips for Your Sales Team and Their Spouse

Part of what you need to do to motivate your sales team to achieve the organizations common goal is to organize fun trips for your sales team and their spouses. The essence of fun trips is to take away stress from your sales team so that they will be well refreshed to continue pursuing the organization’s goal. If you have enough cash, you can invite their spouse to be part of the fun trip.

6. Organize Mini Singing Contest for Your Sales Team

Of course your sales team might not be talented when it comes to singing, but the essence of organizing a mini singing contest for them is to create an avenue where they will make fun of themselves, and also an avenue for those who are gifted singers to exhibit their skills. You can do it in such a way that they will be the judges as well and the winner of the contest will be reward – it is a way of creating harmony in your sales department.

7. Organize Mini Soccer Tournament for Your Sales Team

Organizing mini soccer tourney for your sales team is yet another way to get them motivated to achieve the organization’s common goal. This approach can only be suitable if you have a big sales department.

8. Celebrate Your Salesman or Saleswoman on Their Special Days

Another thing you need to do to keep your sales team motivated and fired up to meet their targets is to celebrate any of your salesman or saleswoman on their special day. Their special day must not be restricted to only their birthdays. It should also include their wedding anniversary and their employment anniversary in your organization. It will give them a sense of belonging once they are celebrated on their special days.

9. You Can Organize Quick Quiz around Your Products (Products Knowledge)

You can also organize quick quiz around your products and anyone that comes first should be rewarded. Quick quiz around your products is one of the ways to keep your sales team adequately knowledgeable about your products and services.

10. Set Goals and Rewards for Each Sales Goals Met

Lastly, you can set goals and create modalities for rewarding anyone who meet his or her target. Much more than the salaries they will earn or the commission they stand to get, the incentive will be part of what will get them motivated and geared up to meet the targets.

There you have it; 10 sales contest incentive ideas to motivate your team.