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Gartner describes gamification as incorporating game mechanics into activities and tasks to drive engagement, change behaviors, develop skills, and provide transparency of progress – an approach that businesses consider using in the retail industry to improve CPG CRM. 

Q: Can gamification really motivate people?

A: Two words: Pokémon Go

Pokémon Go players are obsessed with leveling up and capturing all the Pokémon to fill out their Pokédex. The game appeals to players’ competitive nature by having different “teams” they can join that are a big part of the battling aspect. Not only are the winning team’s colors displayed and top players be listed as leaders, but team members also get bonus items for protecting its winning status against others.

-Pokemon successfully employs 3 critical principles:

-Clearly state the goal and the reward

-Provide constant status against goal

-Every action gets a an immediate response (either positive or negative)

Using these same principles, companies can use gamification to motivate and incentivize their sales reps to do more, know more and sell more effectively.

Now vs. Later

In traditional sales models, feedback is delayed, with results coming at either the end of the month or the quarter or even the year. However, there is extensive research that shows people respond better to instant feedback than they do to delayed feedback. What gamification does is provide sales reps with the motivation to constantly keep on task and not delay on their goals, lest they fall behind and be unable to “win.”

A KPI engine and dashboard is the perfect mechanism for delivering this type of information.

For example, using StayinFront TouchCG®, a rep starts out his call with a dashboard with various KPIs. He can see what his goal is for that store and the tasks he needs to do to get to that goal. After each action, the rep gets instant feedback – so he can see what impact that action had on his score.

Leveling Up

There is really no limit to how companies can implement gamification. For example, it can be as simple as a leaderboard that gives reps or teams bragging rights, or it can involve incentives where individuals or teams earn points or monetary rewards for do specific tasks that help them reach their goal. The important thing to remember is that you must communicate the goal and reward and then provide constant feedback and instant gratification.

By leveraging the principles of gamification, your sale force will be more motivated to do the right tasks, become more knowledgeable about their performance and sell more effectively in-store – and they may even have some fun at work.

Gamification as a Game Changer

Dale Hagemeyer, partner at POI and former Gartner VP of Research, recently discussed five game changing technologies that are poised to change the face of the CG industry by improving retail execution. One of these technologies was gamification, and Dale gives several examples of how gamification can be implemented to motivate your sales force, especially those that are millennials.

Watch this video of Dale discussing Gamification as one of the Emerging Technologies for Consumer Goods Manufacturers.

About Dale Hagemeyer

Dale Hagemeyer leads the research, best practices, and advisory function at POI and has been active on the POI Board since its inception. Previously, he was a research vice president and managing vice president at Gartner for 15 years. There, he did research in the application of technology to the business processes of trade promotion and field sales automation for consumer goods manufacturers. Prior to Gartner he spent 14 years in management positions related to the promotion and distribution of products at Sunbeam Corporation, The Quaker Oats Company, PepsiCo, Kraft Foods, and Kroger. He also fulfilled an international assignment in Mexico from 1995 to 1996. He has served on various industry advisory boards for trade associations and industry periodicals. Dale can be reached at dhagemeyer@p-o-i.org