Many sales managers make the mistake of spinning up random sales contests because energy seems low or they just haven’t run one in a while.

If that’s how you’re using your sales contests — you’re not necessarily doing it wrong; you’re just selling your contests short.

A successful sales competition should generate two key results:

• Immediate impact. You should see a measurable lift in the activities that matter — i.e., the ones that drive deals down the funnel.
• Long-term ROI. Contests should drive lasting, positive behavior change that ultimately leads to more revenue.

Easier said than done, of course. If you think your contests may be missing the mark, here’s a quick goal checklist to run through before you launch your next contest.

Sales Contest Goals: A Checklist

You should structure every challenge, spiff and fantasy competition so that they do some heavy lifting. At Ambition, when we launch a sales contest, we make sure each one will do most or all of the following:

1. Drive daily activities in line with monthly objectives: Is this contest going to have an impact on the day-to-day things your reps can control — like emails, calls, InMails, etc. — that drive conversions?
2. Engage the team: This is key for buy-in. Are you making your contests fresh, exciting or fun so that your reps will get their heads in the game? 
3. Instill accountability: Again, think bigger than motivation or amping up the energy. Use your sales competitions as a means to hold reps accountable to goals by aligning them with KPI targets. 
4. Facilitate coaching: Contests can give sales managers great insights into strengths and weaknesses around specific skill sets. By tying your sales contest data into a formalized coaching program, you can turn those insights into actionable steps toward performance improvement.
5. Create visibility for reps and managers: Leveraging sales TVs and leaderboards for every contest is a great way to give reps and managers visibility into how individuals and the team as a whole are performing — and does double-duty by keeping everyone accountable and engaged. (No one likes to be at the bottom of the leaderboard!)
6. Build a culture of winning: Sales competitions bring a healthy level of competition and collaboration to your team, especially if your reps happen to be remote these days. They are also a great opportunity to publicly recognize wins — and again, if your team is remote, you can leverage Slack or email alerts to give real-time high fives.

In short, a well-structured sales contest strengthens your processes, your culture and your sales data. 

Sales Contest Templates

Need a little inspiration before you launch your next sales contest? Download our free, plug-and-play sales contest templates, created and used by brands you know and trust.