Remember that infamous scene from Glengarry Glen Ross where the sales contest prizes range from a Cadillac to getting fired? While it makes for dramatic cinema, there are far better ways to motivate your sales team.
A well-designed sales contest can boost morale, drive performance, and build team spirit - when done right. The key is creating healthy competition without creating unnecessary tension or rewarding certain team members at the expense of others.
In this post, we'll explore 8 specific contest ideas that engage your entire team and deliver results. These ideas work equally well for regular sales competitions and prospecting days.
8 Proven Sales Contest Ideas
1. đ Gift Swiping
How it works: You provide a number of wrapped gifts, say 20. When a member of the team closes a deal above a certain threshold in size, they can claim a gift and unwrap it. The catch? For the next deal that closes, the salesperson can either unwrap a new gift, or steal the gift from the previous person. The contest continues until all the gifts are gone.
Best timeframe: 2-4 weeks, depending on your sales cycle
Success metrics: Deal closures above a specified value threshold
Ideal prize structure: Mix of small and medium-value items ($10-50) with 1-2 premium prizes ($100-200)
Implementation tip: Create a designated "gift table" in a visible area to generate excitement and conversation.
2. đĩ Jar of Cash
How it works: This contest is best suited to run one day only. Define a number of goals and assign each of them a cash value. For instance, $1 for every meeting scheduled and $5 for every closed deal. When someone achieves one of those goals, add the assigned amount to the jar and put the jar on their desk. Whoever has the jar on their desk at 5 pm gets to keep the money!
Best timeframe: Single day (ideal for reinvigorating energy during slow periods)
Success metrics: Multiple small achievements throughout the day
Ideal prize structure: Starting with $50-100 in the jar, with potential to grow based on team performance
Implementation tip: Use a clear jar so everyone can see the money accumulating throughout the day.
3. âšī¸ March Madness
How it works: This is one for the basketball and sports fans. Create a competition bracket that contains all of your sales team members. Each pair will compete head-to-head for a short amount of time before the winner moves on the next round. You can have a big prize for the overall winner or have several smaller prizes for each level.
Best timeframe: 2-3 weeks
Success metrics: Can be based on any metric: calls made, meetings set, revenue generated
Ideal prize structure: Tiered prizes for advancing to different rounds, with a grand prize for the winner
Implementation tip: Create a large physical bracket display in the office to build excitement as the contest progresses.
4. đ¤ Buddy Contest
How it works: In this contest, pairs of team members are formed. Experienced team members are paired with less-experienced ones, so that they can learn together. The newcomers in the team will snap up valuable knowledge from the old-hands who can act as mentors. Choose a simple metric like number of deals closed or sales volume.
Best timeframe: 3-4 weeks
Success metrics: Combined performance of both team members
Ideal prize structure: Equal rewards for both team members to emphasize partnership
Implementation tip: Schedule dedicated time for pairs to strategize and debrief together throughout the contest.
5. đĢ Raffle Tickets
How it works: This contest combines the elements of surprise and competition. It works like this: every team member who achieves a specific goal like closing a deal or scheduling a call receives a raffle ticket. At the end of the month, raffle off one big prize or a series of small prizes. The more raffle tickets one wins, the better their chances.
Best timeframe: 2-4 weeks
Success metrics: Multiple achievements that earn tickets
Ideal prize structure: Several medium prizes plus one premium prize
Implementation tip: Display all potential prizes throughout the contest period to build anticipation and motivation.
6. đ The Most Rejections
How it works: This contest rewards rejection, and helps team members who get run-down when something goes wrong. It also underlines that rejection is part and parcel of the job. All you do is tally up the number of rejections per team member. As a bonus, it might help get rid of some of those deals clogging up the funnel which were never going anywhere.
Best timeframe: 1-2 weeks
Success metrics: Total number of rejected calls/pitches/deals
Ideal prize structure: Single winner prize with potential small prizes for milestones (e.g., "first to 50 rejections")
Implementation tip: Pair this with a brief team session on handling rejection to maximize the learning opportunity.
7. đš Leave Early Fridays
How it works: Nobody likes working on a Friday afternoon, so this competition should be extremely popular. The idea is simple: Hit a predetermined target for the team, and you get to clock off early and go for a drink.
Best timeframe: Single day (Friday)
Success metrics: Team reaching collective goal by a set time
Ideal prize structure: Early dismissal (2-3 hours) with first round of drinks covered by the company
Implementation tip: Set the target slightly higher than a normal Friday to make it challenging but achievable.
8. đ Sales Bingo
How it works: Create bingo cards with different types of sales (e.g. deals, products, discounts). When each team member completes that specific sale, they can cross it off their bingo card. The first team member to get "bingo" receives a reward. What makes this sales game fun is that it requires skill and luck.
Best timeframe: 2-3 weeks
Success metrics: Completing specific combinations of sales activities
Ideal prize structure: Prizes for first "line" completion and full "bingo"
Implementation tip: Include a mix of easy, medium, and difficult tasks on the bingo card to keep it interesting for everyone.
Measuring Contest Success
Beyond the immediate results, effective sales contests should be measured by:
- Overall sales lift: Compare performance during the contest to your normal baseline
- Team engagement: Monitor participation rates and enthusiasm
- Knowledge transfer: Especially for buddy contests, assess skill development
- Long-term behavior change: Track whether positive behaviors continue after the contest ends
The most successful contests not only drive immediate results but create lasting improvements in sales behaviors.
What Are Good Prizes for a Sales Contest?
We strongly recommend using non-cash rewards for your sales competition (bar the jar of cash, mentioned above). After all, your team members are probably already getting compensation based on some kind of commissions structure. Adding more cash to the mix is boring.
Non-cash rewards introduce something unique, and oftentimes represent a tangible prize that employees might not have otherwise desired had it not been for such compensation.
Here are some ideas for non-cash rewards:
- Free lunch with the CEO
- Travel vouchers for a weekend getaway
- Tickets to a sporting event or concert
- Tech gadgets
- A fine dining experience
- Extra vacation days
- Gift cards to popular retailers
- Professional development opportunities
- Choice parking spot for a month
- Team lunch catered by the winner's favorite restaurant
Let your imagination run wild. But do please keep it harmless and fun.
Using a KeeptheScore Leaderboard to Track Your Contest
A visual leaderboard adds excitement and transparency to any sales contest. For guidance on choosing the right competition timeframe and format, see our guide on sales competition formats.
An online leaderboard from Keepthescore.com
To create your own sales contest leaderboard, follow these steps:
- Create a Leaderboard by clicking the button above đ
- Choose the Leaderboard type
- Enter the name of each team member
- Click on "Create your leaderboard"
- Your leaderboard has been created!
- Under SETTINGS > Rankings and scores Change your Score suffix to match your contest metric (e.g., Sales, Calls, Rejections)
- That's it, you are ready to go!
Remember, the best contests align with your team's culture and your business goals. Don't be afraid to customize these ideas or combine elements from different contests to create something that perfectly fits your team's needs.
What's your favorite sales contest idea? Have you tried any of these with your team? Share your experiences in the comments below!
