15 Sales Contest Ideas to Motivate Your Team

Sales contests are a popular and effective way to motivate and incentivize sales teams to reach their goals and exceed expectations. These contests can focus on individual performance, team performance, or specific skills. They typically involve a range of rewards and incentives to encourage participation and drive results.

This article will explore 15 sales contest ideas to motivate your team. These ideas are compiled from various resources, including Outreach.io, Spotio, and Fitsmallbusiness.com. Whether you’re looking to boost individual performance, enhance teamwork, or develop specific skills, these ideas will inspire and engage your sales team.

Benefits of Sales Contests

Sales contests can bring various benefits to sales teams and their organizations. Here are three key benefits of sales contests:

1. Increased motivation and engagement: Sales contests create a sense of excitement and competition, motivating salespeople to perform at their best. By offering rewards and recognition for top performers, sales contests can boost morale and create a more engaged and enthusiastic sales team.
2. Improved sales performance and productivity: Sales contests provide a clear set of goals and metrics that salespeople can work towards. This can help to focus their efforts and improve their performance, leading to increased sales and productivity for the organization.
3. Enhanced team spirit and collaboration: Sales contests can also foster a sense of teamwork and cooperation among salespeople. By working together towards a common goal, sales team members can build stronger relationships and support each other’s success.

Sales contests can be a powerful tool for driving sales performance and building a more motivated and engaged sales team.

15 Sales Contest Ideas

Individual Performance-Based Contests

• Top Salesperson

Top Salesperson is a popular individual performance-based sales contest idea that aims to reward the Salesperson with the highest sales figures over a certain period. This contest can be run on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis and can motivate salespeople to work harder to achieve their sales targets.

To run this contest, sales managers can set clear sales targets and provide regular updates on the progress towards achieving those targets. They can also keep track of individual sales figures and create a leaderboard to display the results. At the end of the contest, the Salesperson with the highest sales figures can be rewarded with a bonus, a gift card, or other types of rewards.

This contest can be particularly effective in driving individual performance and competitiveness among salespeople. It also creates a sense of accountability and encourages salespeople to take ownership of their sales targets and results.

• Most Improved Salesperson

Most improved salesperson contests aim to recognize and reward the efforts of individual salespeople. The Top Salesperson contest recognizes the Salesperson with the highest sales figures over a certain period. The Most Improved Salesperson contest rewards the Salesperson who has shown the most significant improvement in their sales performance compared to the previous period. These contests can motivate salespeople to work harder, create a sense of accountability, and promote a culture of continuous improvement and growth within the sales team. The winners can be rewarded with bonuses, gift cards, or other rewards.

• Rookie of the Year

The Rookie of the Year sales contest is designed to recognize and reward the best-performing new Salesperson. This individual performance-based contest motivates new salespeople to work harder, strive for success, and feel valued within the team. Sales managers can set clear sales targets and performance metrics for new salespeople, track their progress over a specific period, and reward the winner with bonuses, gift cards, or other rewards. The contest promotes healthy competition and creates a culture of recognition and reward within the sales team.

• Sales Bingo

Sales Bingo contest that adds fun and engaging elements to achieve sales targets. The contest involves creating a Bingo-style card with various sales-related tasks or goals, and salespeople can mark off each task on their card as they achieve it, to complete a full row, column, or diagonal. The first Salesperson to complete an entire row, column, or diagonal can be rewarded with a bonus, a gift card, or other rewards. Sales Bingo adds a fun and rewarding element to achieving sales targets, motivates salespeople to work harder and promotes healthy competition and camaraderie within the sales team.

• Outbound Call Contest

Outbound Call Contest is a performance-based sales contest focusing on making outbound calls to prospects or existing customers. Sales managers can set specific goals for the number of outbound calls over a certain period. The Salesperson who makes the most outbound calls within the given period can be recognized as the winner and rewarded with a bonus, a gift card, or other rewards. This contest encourages salespeople to prioritize outbound calling, which can lead to increased lead generation and sales. It also promotes healthy competition and creates a culture of accountability within the sales team.

Team-Based Contests

• Department vs Department

Department vs Department is a team-based sales contest that pits different departments against each other to see which team can generate the most sales. Sales managers can divide the sales team into various departments and assign each group a specific sales goal. The Department that achieves the sales goal or generates the most sales within the given period can be recognized as the winner and rewarded with a prize or other rewards. This contest creates a sense of camaraderie and healthy competition within the sales team, promotes teamwork and collaboration, and motivates team members to work harder to generate more sales.

• Weekly Sales Goal Contest

Weekly Sales Goal Contest challenges sales teams to achieve a specific sales goal within a week. Sales managers can set a specific sales goal for the team to accomplish within a week, and the team that completes the sales goal or comes closest to achieving it can be recognized as the winner and rewarded with a prize or other types of rewards. This contest promotes teamwork and collaboration within the sales team, creates a sense of urgency and focus among team members, and encourages them to prioritize their sales activities and work harder to achieve their sales targets.

• Group Activity Contest

Group Activity Contest encourages sales teams to work together to achieve a specific sales goal through a group activity. Sales managers can assign a specific sales activity or challenge that requires the participation of the entire sales team. The team that achieves the sales goal or performs the best in the group activity can be recognized as the winner and rewarded with a prize or other rewards. This contest promotes teamwork, collaboration, and healthy competition within the sales team. It creates a sense of camaraderie among team members, encouraging them to work together to achieve common sales goals.

• Sales Pipeline Contest

Sales Pipeline Contest challenges sales teams to focus on the entire sales pipeline and generate the most revenue through effective pipeline management. Sales managers can divide the sales pipeline into different stages and assign point values to each stage based on its importance to the sales process. The team that generates the most revenue or achieves the highest point value at the end of the contest can be recognized as the winner and rewarded with a prize or other types of rewards. This contest promotes a strategic approach to sales. It encourages sales teams to prioritize the most critical stages of the sales process, creating healthy competition among team members and motivating them to work harder to generate revenue and achieve their sales targets.

• Customer Satisfaction Contest

The Customer Satisfaction Contest is a team-based sales contest focusing on improving customer satisfaction and increasing customer retention rates. Sales managers can measure customer satisfaction through customer feedback surveys or other metrics and assign point values to different customer satisfaction levels. The team that achieves the highest customer satisfaction score or improves customer satisfaction levels the most at the end of the contest can be recognized as the winner and rewarded with a prize or other types of rewards. This contest promotes a customer-centric approach to sales and encourages sales teams to prioritize the needs and preferences of their customers. It also creates a sense of healthy competition among team members, enabling them to provide excellent customer service and improve customer satisfaction.

Skill-Based Contests

• Cold Calling Competition

The Cold Calling Competition is a skill-based sales contest that challenges sales teams to generate the most leads or sales through cold calling. Sales managers provide a list of prospects or leads for each Salesperson or team and assign point values based on the number of successful cold calls made, appointments set, or sales closed. The Salesperson or team that generates the most leads or sales at the end of the contest can be recognized as the winner and rewarded with a prize or other types of rewards. This contest promotes a strategic approach to cold calling, encourages sales teams to use effective techniques, and helps salespeople develop communication and negotiation skills.

• Objection Handling Contest

The Objection Handling Contest challenges sales teams to handle objections and close deals effectively. The Salesperson or team that provides the most effective solutions or responses to objections at the end of the contest can be recognized as the winner and rewarded with a prize or other rewards. The contest promotes a strategic approach to objection handling, encourages sales teams to improve their problem-solving skills, and helps salespeople gain confidence in their ability to overcome objections and close deals. It can also improve communication and collaboration within the team.

• Social Selling Contest

The Social Selling Contest is a sales contest that challenges sales teams to leverage social media to drive sales. It encourages sales teams to create engaging social media posts, build and engage with their network, and drive leads or sales through social media channels. The Salesperson or team that generates the most engagement or leads through social media at the end of the contest can be recognized as the winner and rewarded with a prize or other rewards. It is an effective way to improve sales performance, help sales teams stay competitive in the digital age, and build a personal brand and influence online.

• Demo Contest

The Demo Contest is a sales contest where sales teams showcase their product knowledge and presentation skills by delivering a practical product demo to potential customers. The winner is selected based on the demo’s quality, the sales pitch’s effectiveness, and the level of customer engagement. This contest helps sales teams improve their product knowledge, presentation skills, and customer engagement. It is an effective way to increase customer satisfaction and improve sales performance.

• Deal-Closing Contest

The Deal-Closing Contest is a sales contest that challenges sales teams to close deals with potential customers. The contest focuses on improving sales teams’ negotiation skills, building strong customer relationships, and increasing sales revenue. The winner is selected based on the number and size of deals closed and the level of customer satisfaction. The contest helps sales teams better understand customer needs and preferences, tailor their sales approach, and increase customer satisfaction.

Tips for Running Successful Sales Contests

• Define clear goals and rules for the contest
• Choose appropriate prizes and incentives for the winners
• Communicate effectively with the sales team about the contest
• Use a variety of contests to keep the team engaged and motivated
• Incorporate team-building activities and recognition programs into the contests
• Use technology to track and monitor sales performance during the contest
• Analyze the results and use them to improve future contests
• Celebrate the winners and recognize the efforts of all participants to maintain team morale.

Encouragement to Implement Sales Contests to Motivate and Energize Sales Teams

Sales contests effectively motivate and energize sales teams to achieve better results. Using the 15 sales contest ideas discussed above, you can create an engaging and exciting environment for your sales team to improve their skills, collaborate more effectively, and achieve higher sales revenue. Implementing sales contests in your organization can help create a positive work culture, foster team spirit, and drive revenue growth. 

So why start planning your sales contests today and unleash the full potential of your sales team?