Summer can be a slow time for a sales team. Vacations, family time and warm weather impact their ability to produce – and impact their clients’ attention spans. Sales contests can help energize the group as you head into the back end of Q3, and there is no better theme to pick for August’s contest than the Summer Olympics.
An Olympic-Themed Contest That Drove Real Results
Before you write off the Olympics as too hokey of a theme, consider the results the Detroit Pistons sales team recorded during a 2012 Olympic-themed event. Managers divided the group into teams and assigned those teams a country name. Whenever a rep (dubbed an “athlete” for the contest) hit a predetermined quota, they scored points for their “country.” This promoted a team spirit, with reps on each team encouraging each other to hit their marks.
The result? An 18 percent increase for the same time frame year-over-year, making tremendous strides in a historically low time of year for basketball ticket sales.
Keeping The Excitement Going
In order to keep the group engaged, you’ll have to conduct daily check-ins for point tallies so everyone always knows where they stand. Additionally, it helps to schedule weekly opportunities to earn more points in min-contests held every day, such as:
- A cold-call power-hour blitz
- The first team to produce a signed contract over $X for the day
- The team that closes the most deals on a given day
- The team that booked the most appointments in a week
- The first team to upsell a hard-to move product or service
You get the idea. The key is to surprise them with a new “event” every day. Don’t forget to set points awards for the first, second and third team in each event to account for the gold, silver, and bronze for the Olympics.
To boost morale and bolster team spirit, you may also write in a few non-sales related contests just for fun. Consult an Office Olympics guide for ideas on engaging (and safe) events to hold when the team needs a boost of energy.
Sales contests and rewards can light a fire under a sales team experiencing summer fever, but they won’t necessarily improve sales over the long term. Only the right team can do that. If you are looking for new ways to attract and retain top salespeople, the expert recruiters at CSS can help. Contact us today to learn more about the ways in which we can help grow, build and expand your team – and your bottom line.