From the course: Sales Gamification
Increasing motivation
- One common feature well executed gamification programs have in common, is a focus on properly motivating the sales force to take the desired actions. At first blush, it might seem that motivating sales professionals with gamification, is as easy as offering some prizes, or points, or badges, it's not that simple. Prizes, points, and badges lose their motivational power over time, if they're not tied to internal triggers. External factors only motivate an individual for so long, instead, what you want to do, is to tie the gamified program to a framework that drives internal motivation. An effective motivational framework for creating a sales gamification program, is the self-determination theory. This theory identifies three factors that internally motivate people. The first is autonomy. Autonomy is the feeling a person has when they are in control and can determine the outcome of their own actions. In a gamified sales experience this translates into meaningful choices. Does the gamified system let the sales professional make decisions about what activity to choose? Can the sales professional select from different methods of earning points, or badges? Sales professionals need to feel that they have choices and are not being forced into one action. This requires pre-planning and thinking, because there are specific outcomes the designer of the gamification experience wants to achieve. However, those outcomes need to be achieved within the context of user choices. One example is allowing the sales professional to select which activity to do first, second, or third, in terms of earning a badge. Or allowing the sales professional to customize their gamified experience by selecting how they're going to level-up, or gain skills, as opposed to being forced-fed a pre-determined sequence of activities. The second factor of the self-determination theory is competence or mastery. This is both the sense that a task or a skill can be mastered, and the ability to observe progress toward mastery. People don't want to waste time on things that they don't think they can master, so an important element of sales gamification, is providing visual signs of progress so the person knows they are mastering tasks, behaviors, or knowledge. This can be a progress bar, a roadmap, or some other visual indication that the sales person is getting better at what she is doing. The third factor of the self-determination theory, is called relatedness. This is a sense of purpose and a sense of connection to others. For example, many pharmaceutical sales representatives are motivated by the fact that the products that they sell help to save lives. It's when a sales professional really believes in their product. In a gamified environment, this is when sales people are connected to other sales people, via leader boards, chats, or the ability to congratulate someone with a quick emoji. It's the constant reminder that the sales person is part of a larger effort. So when creating a gamified sales program, remember to include autonomy, mastery, and relatedness, as key motivational elements.
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