How to Make Lead Generation Fun With Gamification

Gamification is the application of game playing elements (i.e, point scoring, competition, rules of play) to other areas of activity, such as learning in the education world, training in the military, and sales in business. Gamification injects fun into what has become routine. Even though the concept is not new, it is currently generating a lot of buzz. “Companies have been using games in non-game contexts for a long time,” says Gabe Zichermann, the author of Game-Based Marketing. Think airline frequent flier programs, hotel loyalty clubs, and the points you earn to get a free cup of coffee. Now, the concept of “game” is being used, not just to keep customers buying, but to also keep sales reps selling.

Gamification is being used to motivate sales reps by creating competition among team members in order to increase participation and heighten engagement. Gamification takes the data-driven techniques that computer game designers use to engage players, and applies them to actions that add value to business. It leverages the motivations and desires that exist in all of us for community, feedback, achievement and reward. Gamification makes the workplace more engaging and productive, as it changes the rules of engagement and inspires employees to change behaviors as a result. It shakes things up, brings novelty to the old, makes what has become routine exciting again. It can make being at work a social, fun and recreational activity.

The millennial generation is more game-attuned than previous generations. “Gaming” has taken over the entertainment world for kids. As all parents know, one of the biggest challenges can be: How do I get my kid away from that computer screen. Our youth spend hours a day, day after day, week after week focussed and engaged with others in competition to save a princess, find a planet, or wipe out the bad guys, as points tally and various rewards are attained — 3,000 points will earn you a better sword and 3,000 more will make you faster– all in the effort to get you there first.

It’s certainly become a concern for parents who aren’t sure why saving a digital princess is worth so much time and effort. But, what if the dogged persistence shown in gaming could be employed in focusing sales reps on making contacts and signing contracts? That is the new concept behind the old idea of playing a game. It focuses on the activities that prompt sales, and is a great way to promote the desired behaviors that lead to organizational goals. Successful gamification tools work, because they give users the motivation to do something–the chance to win, receive rewards or gain recognition.

ConnectLeader is a perfect example of a company that knows how to tap into the energy of this new gaming era in order to utilize the power of competition to engage reps and drive the sales process. TopRung from ConnectLeader is a comprehensive gamification platform that leverages all that lead generation data in the Salesforce CRM system. By using ConnectLeader’s predictive intelligence software (Adaptilytics), TopRung optimizes prospect prioritization to accelerate sales activities and sustain performance through gamification of the sales activities.

TopRung features contests that match reps up against their teammates. It sets up challenges among the group and determines who ends up at the top. This lets the hard work of the rep be noticed by teammates, co-workers and management. And the data analysis in TopRung also allows managers to have all the performance data in one spot. All activities, all outcomes, and all progressions. This gives managers advanced trending analysis to be able to spot, drill down and remediate or enhance behaviors.

TopRung also fits perfectly into ConnectLeader’s sales acceleration platform which increases the pace of sales activities with Click Dialer, Personal Dialer and Team Dialer. By organizing and optimizing targets with Adaptilytics, increasing pace with the phone dialers, and driving correct behavior and outcomes with TopRung’s gamification technology, ConnectLeader allows optimization of targets, acceleration of sales, and maximization of the sales process.

According to Zichermann, “gamification is 75 percent psychology and 25 percent technology,” which means that the winning abilities lie within the person, and that it’s up to the technology to tap into those powerful psychological motivators which govern human behavior: recognition, reward, and recreation. The medical world has compiled an overwhelming amount of data which leads to the conclusion that play brings joy, and that joy is vital for problem solving, creativity and relationships.

So, don’t let sales reps fall into ruts. Shake things up! Make things exciting! Bring in the fun, and then experience the joy which comes when the reps are happy and the profits increase.

Author: Senraj Soundar, CEO, ConnectLeader