How to Address the Challenges of CRM and Sales Management Systems with Gamification
Salespeople are into selling and the rush they get closing a deal. They are not interested in a “data entry” job, and if you had an opening for one, you would not want to hire them for it.
On the other hand, sales managers need real data, in real time, so they can make accurate forecasts and manage a sales pipeline that is in touch with reality.
The six “sins” that make CRM systems full of garbage data, are the following
- Distorted forecasts
- Duplicate leads
- Stale information
- The no-lead sharing economy
- The “Opportunities are never lost” problem
- Avoiding data entry at all costs or doing it really late
Gamification can be used, simply and elegantly, to address these challenges, communicate corporate objectives and help with CRM process, all the while keeping salespeople and their sales managers happy.
Use gamification to improve data entry, the quality of data inputs and the overall quality of the sales pipeline are as follows:
1. Gamify Performance
Using enterprise gamification together with CRM can have surprising results, creating lasting changes in employee behavior.
2. Concentrate on driving small actions
Pipeline management quality is all about the “small actions” – update a lost deal, insert more information about the customer, make a realistic estimate of the deal size and more. It isn’t about competition – it is about the satisfaction that comes from completion. This is where game mechanics that reward completion (and not competition) work well.
3. Don’t let leaderboards confuse you
Leaderboards are just one of a large arsenal of game mechanics. They can be great for the person who is at the top of the board – the best sales person – but can be discouraging for the rest. Leaderboards are also focused on the bottom line – sales – and won’t necessarily work for the “small actions”.
4. Reward Speed
Aside from the quality of the data, the data also needs to be timely, or else the pipeline will be based on old data.
5. Gamification is an opportunity to communicate
One of the great benefits of gamification, a benefit that is often missed, is that game rules, calls to actions and game mechanics are all great ways to convey messages about corporate objectives and the best way to achieve them.
6. Think about the learning moment
Not doing well on a game or being unable to complete a suggested course of action aren’t necessarily regarded as failure in a gamified world. Sometimes they can be gateways into learning and training opportunities.
7. Think about forming habits
Gamification can form habits – good ones. It can suggest new behaviors to replace the habits that come when certain cues are made.
8. Use Karma
Rather than viewing your sales force as a bunch of hyper competitive individuals, think of a game rule that involves “karma” – rewarding people for their contributions to others’ success, for their assistance and activity on corporate social networks.
9.Avoid vanity KPIs
Whatever you do, think about the behavior you want to encourage and that matters, and not about amorphous “metrics” that look good but matter less.
You can read more about best practices for CRM gamification and sales management by downloading the white paper here. Requires registration.
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