How to run a sales contest
Run a sales contest in five steps, and skip the sums.
Five contest ideas, and how to run each one without a spreadsheet.
30 minutes. You choose the day and the time.
- A manager or admin starts one in the app, and it counts what your team logs.
| Place | Name | Calls |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Priya Nair | 62 |
| 2 | Daniel Tan | 58 |
| 3 | Farid Ismail | 41 |
| You: 6th | Wei Ling Goh | 19 |
A made-up contest on a rep's board: Calls sprint, every week, top 3 win, prize: lunch on me.
Why they stall
Motivate your middle performers, or the contest is over before it starts
Most contests reward first place on closes, so two reps can win and everyone else can do the maths. Then the manager counts it up from a sheet, the prize goes out late, and nobody asks for another one.
01What counts
Count the calls and meetings, not only the closes.
A contest on closes rewards the two people already closing. Pick the work you want more of: activities logged, any one tile, closes or points. One tile is the simplest place to start, because everyone knows what to do.
- ActivitiesEverything your team logs
- One tileCallsPicked: everyone knows what to do
- ClosesThe two people already closing
- PointsThe points each tile earns
02Who wins
Make it fair: choose winners the middle can reach.
Pick the top place, the top 3, the top 5 or everyone who reaches a number. The last one keeps a rep in eighth place trying, because they're racing a number and not your best closer.
- Ties share a place
- Who winsEveryone who reaches 40 callsPrize: lunch on me
- Priya NairReached it62
- Daniel TanReached it58
- Farid IsmailReached it41
- Wei Ling Goh21 calls to go19Your own line
03How long
Change the tile when the same names keep winning.
Run it once, every week or every month. A fresh round starts on Monday or the 1st, Singapore time. When the same names keep winning, change the tile, or switch to a number to reach.
- Calls sprint, MonThis week's round starts, everyone on 00Singapore time
- Calls sprint, SunPriya Nair finishes first62
- Calls sprint, Next MonA fresh round starts by itself0Nothing to set up
04The prize
Name a prize they'd actually want.
Ask the team what they'd want, and put it on the prize line. It sits on the contest and goes out with the start post. You hand the prize over yourself.
What would you actually want for the sprint's prize?
YouLunch. Somewhere good.
Daniel TanLunch works.
Priya NairLunch on me
Prize lineGoes out with the start post
05The group
Tell the group when it starts and how it's going.
Switch on Post to the team chat, and the start goes to your Telegram or WhatsApp group with what counts and the prize. Tap Post standings when you want to, once a day. The board shows each rep the top places and their own.
Calls sprint starts. Calls count. Top 3 win lunch on me.
Palby Sales Tracker, MonPriya's going down this week.
Daniel Tan
Ideas
Five sales contest ideas
| Contest | What counts | Runs | Who wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calls sprint | One tile: Calls | Every week | Top 3 |
| Everyone to 50 | One tile: Calls | Once, this week | Everyone who reaches 50 |
| Meetings month | One tile: Meetings | Every month | Top 5 |
| Points week | Points | Once, this week | Top 3 |
| Referral week | One tile: Referrals | Once, this week | Everyone who reaches 5 |
Going stale
The warning signs your contests have gone stale
The same two names win. Reps stop opening the board once they're out of it. You stop posting the standings. Any of those means it's time for a new tile or a number to reach, not a bigger prize.
Goes well with
Stop adding up contests by hand.
Bring the last contest you ran on a spreadsheet.
30 minutes. You choose the day and the time.
Before you start one
Worried the same two reps win every time?
Then pick everyone who reaches a number, so a rep in eighth can still win. Or run it on one tile, like calls, where your closers get no head start.
Start with a week or a month. People lose track of anything longer.
A manager or admin of the team. Everyone in that group takes part, with no entry form.
Not the results. The start posts when you create it, if you switch that on. You tap Post standings for the rest, up to once a day, and your team needs a group chat set up.
Not in dollars, unless you're an insurance team running one on FYC. For everyone else, it counts activities, tiles, closes or points.
There's no public price for Palby Sales Tracker yet, so you'll get a price for your team on the walkthrough.