Putting the Fun back into Retail Selling: Using Selling Games to Increase Sales

By Harry J. Friedman Founder/CEO, The Friedman Group

If you knew of a selling game that would cause your salespeople to do extraordinary things to increase their sales, would you take a shot at it? Let's say you discovered that running sales games or contests all the time would breathe new life into your store, creating an atmosphere where your customers and salespeople really enjoyed themselves. Would you keep running them?

It's surprising how few retailers use selling games and contests. As a sales generator, this tool has taken a back seat to the more traditional approach of merchandising and advertising.

Think about how involved we become when watching a sporting event. Emotionally, we get right out there with our favorite players and want to win. The same goes for games we participate in like golf and tennis. We feel strongly about competing and stretching ourselves to reach new personal goals.

The same thing can happen on your sales floor. Games and contests brings out the fun, challenging and competitive spirit in your salespeople. But that's not the real reason why you run a game. The improvements in selling behaviors and sales statistics that result from games is what you're after.

The object of any retail selling game is to get your salespeople to want to reach a goal; to do better; to meet or beat a sales statistic. The game, sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly, focuses on a key part of your business. And when that occurs, some interesting things can happen.

For example, we had a client in the shoe business in the early 1980s that wanted to improve their items-per-sale statistic. The average was running at about 1.30 pairs of shoes per transaction. In the shoe business, as with most retail operations, add-on sales are they key to growth and profit. We labored through extensive sales training and many meetings, extolling the virtues of adding on, with only small increases to show our efforts.

At the same time, Imelda Marcos, wife of the Philippines's deposed president, was pictured in the media with a closet with more than 2,000 pairs of shoes. A light bulb went off and a contest was formed: The Imelda Marcos Cup! The contest awarded terrific prizes for those individuals who maintained large items-per-sale increases. The contest ran for a week and the company-wide average rose to 1.75. Two weeks after the contest, the average sale settled at about 1.45 items per sale, that's .15 over the original average. As a result of the game, the sales staff knew they could sell more items per sale, and management came to expect it. Here then, is a primary benefit of running games:

After you run a contest or a game and your store's sales stats improve, you should never expect those numbers to go down again.

Improved selling behaviors are directly related to the focus that games and contests place on sales statistics. A behavior is an activity that can be seen, described or measured. Selling behaviors are how your staff sells. All behaviors, including selling behaviors, can be reinforced with positive consequences. Therefore, if your salespeople get some kind of prize (which doesn't have to be money) for doing something special, they'll probably want to do it again. That's where selling games and contests will pay off in your store.

Suddenly, the same person who wasn't motivated enough to show up for work on time, begins to improve his or her selling skills. When there's a game or contest going on, you'll see how your salespeople will take that one extra shot. Give your staff a game to play, and watch what happens.