Training games: A new strategy for growing stronger sales teams

You know that feeling you got in elementary school when your teacher stuck a gold star on your test for a job well done? What if this feeling could be reciprocated in a work environment as a way to onboard new sales reps?

Hint: It can.

According to Sapling HR, only 12% of employees feel satisfied with their onboarding experience. Exploring and experimenting with new methods can reap great benefits.

The traditional methods of employee training work depending on your situation, but you should also consider being creative by gamifying the onboarding process.

Gamification includes applying a game-like approach in non-game contexts. In the onboarding context, gamification can be used to influence solutions to problems by inspiring employees through characteristics of game elements like rewards.

In this post, we discuss experimenting with non-traditional training methods, along with use cases that your company will be able to follow to its advantage.

Why it’s important to test new methods of training

In the information age, the average attention span for humans is decreasing. Thus, your company may run into onboarding problems if the process isn’t engaging.

Glassdoor found that a great onboarding process can increase employee retention by 82%. No company wants to waste their resources on training a new employee if the turnover rate of employees is high. Therefore, there should be a focus on maintaining the retention of new sales reps by looking at every employee from their individual perspectives.

By approaching the process from an individual perspective rather than a group perspective, every sales reps’ needs can be met throughout the training process. By doing this, your employees will have an easier time feeling engaged and motivated, which will help them to resonate with their new role.

Your company may also see improvements in employee efficiency due to the fact that each sales rep will experience their own unique onboarding journey. This will allow them to ask questions, offer insight, and feel more confident in their role.

Ideas for new training methods

There are plenty of ideas that your company can experiment with when looking at new training methods.

We’ve gone ahead and found some great ideas that you can start with:

• Mock sales calls with prizes for winning (similar to mock trials in law TV shows).
• Include a badge ranking system that employees can be proud of as they advance.
• Try the Talent Games to gamify the process in a fun way.
• Make use of sales leaderboards to create fun contests for your sales team.
• Use an old-school sales hack to help your reps to get better at handling rejection

These ideas and more can be easily implemented into the training process and it’s worth giving them a try if the traditional method isn’t cutting it.

How companies have used gamifying in their onboarding

Marriott International

Back in 2012, Marriott International gamified their recruitment process by creating a game called “My Marriott Hotel”. Users were tasked with handling all of the responsibilities of running their own hotel, including purchasing supplies, hiring staff and ensuring good customer service.

Users were then ranked with a score on how well they performed. Once a certain score was reached, players were prompted with the opportunity to “do it for real” by receiving consideration for a position with Marriott.

Deloitte

In 2018, Deloitte gamified their onboarding process by creating a zombie apocalypse-style game. The main protagonist in the story is the new recruit, whose mission is to save humanity by making critical decisions to test skills in professionalism, Excel, and more.

The game is approached from an individual level, allowing each user to work at their own pace. However, the game also allows users to work together as a team, which was key in increasing the impact of the program.

Users reported that they were fans of the gamified approach and that they were appreciative of the additional resources that were offered throughout the process.

Wrap-up

Engagement of new sales reps in the onboarding process is important for the success of your company. Experimenting with new methods of training is something that’s worth exploring if you’re finding that your new sales recruits aren’t fully inspired.

Keep this statement in mind next time you introduce a new sales rep to your team and you may see that non-traditional methods can work wonders.

If your company exists remotely, have a read through our step-by-step guide on how to onboard remote employees.

Looking for the opposite of onboarding? Have a read of our blog on how to effectively offboard sales reps.

Want more advice on recruiting, interviewing, onboarding and managing sales reps? Get a free copy of our Sales Hiring Playbook!

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