Incentives work. I have been trying monthly sales contests ideas lately and they are working - even if only to light some fires and charge up the team a little. Try some version of them with your sales team if you don't already. Notice some of these sales contest ideas are designed for group rewards for total sales while others are designed for rewarding individual achievement. Also, the contests are designed for various goals that should be kept in mind throughout the year anyway so another function of these contests is to remind salespeople what is important.
The prize does not need to be giant; just something interesting and worthwhile. You might even offer a list of rewards (or a grab bag) they can choose from. I also listed some sales contest reward ideas at the bottom.
Creative
In case you were wondering, "why twelve?" it's because (A) I resent even-numbered lists where the last two were obviously forced and (B) for my case I am using monthly contests and years happen to be broken down into 12 fairly equal parts.
12 Sales Contests Ideas - Reward Given to...
#1: All if total sales are above $X at a minimum of X% margin.
#2: Salesperson with greatest month to month sales increase.
#3: Salesperson with highest sales volume from NEW customers.
#4: Salesperson who revives the most PAST customers. I love this one.
#5: All if each salesperson on the team meets or exceeds sales goals.
#6: Salesperson with highest single sale or shipment (choose and be clear).
#7: Salesperson who sells the highest PRE-PAID order.
#8: Salesperson with largest sale in a region.
#9: Salesperson with the highest total Gross Margin (regardless of dollar value).
#10: Salesperson with highest margin on NEW customer.
#11: Salesperson with the highest average margin on an EXISTING customers.
#12: Salesperson with the highest sales in a certain product line/category.
These sales contest ideas might not all apply to your business for a variety of reasons from the type of products or services you sell to how your sales force is structured but hopefully they will spur some ideas for you. I love these ideas for what makes a good sales contest from Simplenomics.
Sales Contest Rewards Ideas
Sales Reward #1: Day(s) off.
Sales Reward #2: Gift certificate for two at a NICE restaurant.
Sales Reward #3: 1 month of 1 free lunch per week.
Sales Reward #4: 1/2 day Fridays for a month.
Sales Reward #5: Movie/park/event tickets
Sales Reward #6: Cash!
Sales Reward #7: Choice of additional training (boondoggle) of their choice.
Give your salespeople some choice in the matter. Let them choose the reward and let them give ideas for the prizes. Listen to them and try to pick up on those little things they say they want and choose gift certificates from places that sell those things. Some say cash is the most effective reward - here is an interesting article from Online Conversion & Beyond about Sales Incentives and ROI.
Have fun selling. Be creative with your sales contest ideas but you don't need to re-invent the wheel.
12 Sales Contest Ideas For Your Sales Team
Chris Denny is the president of Lead Optimize Outsourced Marketing which was created to help small businesses generate more sales leads from their websites and use those leads more effectively. Lead Optimize helps small businesses create sales lead generation and sales solutions.