Gamification in the workplace has increased in popularity by 143% over the last five years, according to recent research. The same study revealed that 70% of global 2000 companies and 50% of startups use this approach to drive employee engagement and boost results. This comes as no surprise when you consider that:
- 72% of people say gamification motivates them to work harder on the job
- 90% of employees say gamification makes them more productive
- Employee engagement increases by 60% with gamification
- 89% of workers say that gamification makes them feel happier at work
- 69% of employees reported they would stay at a company for more than three years if they used gamification in some way
With benefits and outcomes like this, it makes sense that companies using gamification are 7 times more profitable than those that don’t.
More specifically, the benefits of gamifying sales commissions include:
- Increased familiarity with how to earn more
- More reps actively tracking commissions and attainment progress
- An increase in desired sales behaviors
- More reps hitting quota
- More closed deals
- Increased revenue
- Better sales rep retention
The timeliness of gamification in today’s market
Since before the pandemic, hiring and retention have changed. It’s become increasingly difficult to retain great talent. Add in the current economic conditions, and many businesses have reduced their headcount, which has forced them to do more with less.
As our sales rep, Alex Brennen, shared an insight from her prospect calls, “We are in a time when rep motivation and squeezing the juice out of every rep is critical for organizations more than ever. Motivating reps using their own “why”—which is often money — is the best method.”
Our Sales Compensation Trends Survey supports this sentiment, revealing that 86% of reps rank compensation as their top priority when looking for a job. This makes it essential that your existing reps and potential hires understand the value of your carefully crafted comp plan and its details.
Sales compensation gamification helps reps gain a deeper understanding of your comp plan and how they can maximize their earnings. It makes selling more fun, increases rep happiness, and boosts retention.
How QuotaPath gamifies sales commissions
Automating sales compensation with QuotaPath gamifies compensation for your reps in the following ways:
Provides clarity around sales commissions
Reps immediately gain insight into sales commission earnings and quota attainment, and which deals will push them to their next bonus or commission tier.
As Director of Commercial Operations Ron Morgan at EverView said, “Our comp plan was easily measured and easily viewed by our sellers in QuotaPath, which drove positive selling behaviors.”
Thomas Egbert, Prefect’s Head of Finance added, “This platform has significantly upgraded our sales compensation process. From the time saved on the financial side to our reps fully understanding and feeling motivated by our incentive structures. QuotaPath saves days of time worth of unnecessary spreadsheets and emails.”
Forecasting commissions
Plus, by gamifying sales commissions, QuotaPath gives reps the ability to run “what-if” scenarios. This way they can see how close they are to goals and how much they’ll earn when deals in the pipeline close. With QuotaPath’s forecasting software, reps always know how much to expect in their paycheck.
According to VP of Sales Joe St Germain at Blackthorn, “Our reps realized they could run scenarios and see how much they could earn from our monthly kickers.”
This led to big pushes from Blackthorn’s reps as they moved to fully maximize the accelerators set by Joe. QuotaPath’s ability for reps to run “what if” scenarios also broke down how much they would need to book monthly to lock in an extra 2 percent per deal toward the end of the year.
Real-time visibility
QuotaPath automatically tracks sales commissions in real-time, so reps can see how much they’ll earn on a deal-by-deal basis and how much they will make when they hit the accelerator threshold.
That’s how Blackthorn broke sales records. According to Joe, “Our team has had record sales months the past three months. QuotaPath’s visibility has given our reps a little extra boost to go out and get as much as they can.”
Personalized goal setting and tracking
Additionally, with gamified sales commissions, reps can track their achievements and progress toward personal goals, like saving for a vacation.
Alex said, “We’ve seen a best practice is to focus on how their attainment is working toward their personal goals, rather than the company’s targets. My manager opens up our one-on-ones talking about how I’m trending toward the vacation I am planning at the end of the year that I am tracking in my QuotaPath Workspace.”
This leadership technique, Alex picked up from Kevin “KD” Dorsey’s Winning By Design course teaches focusing on the person in “salesperson.”
“As I’ve grown as a leader, I have a better understanding of what truly drives behavior, motivation, and long-term success,” wrote KD. “If we can make better people, the sales will follow.” What a great way to motivate sales reps and get to know them better!”
Start boosting sales performance
The research speaks for itself. Businesses that use gamification are seven times more profitable, their employees are more engaged, happier, and more productive. Plus, their retention rate is better.
Gamifying commissions provides your sales team with a better understanding of how they earn on your compensation plan. It gives reps the ability to track their progress toward key milestones and what they need to do to boost earnings.
Gamification helps keep your team motivated and focused on the behaviors you are trying to encourage. Plus, quota attainment and overall revenue increase. Isn’t it time you start benefiting from commission gamification too? Book a demo to see how QuotaPath tracks and gamifies commissions.
