25+ Key Sales Gamification Statistics You Need To Know In 2023

Adam Steele

Mar 13, 2023

Sales gamification is the use of game elements and mechanics in a sales environment to motivate and engage salespeople, boost productivity, and drive revenue growth. It involves setting up contests, challenges, leaderboards, and other interactive features to create a competitive and fun atmosphere that encourages sales reps to perform their best. In fact, the global gamification market is projected to grow from $9.1 billion in 2020 to $30.7 billion by 2025, at a compound annual growth rate of 27.4%.

Sales gamification concepts have gained popularity in recent years, and for good reason. Here are some key sales gamification statistics that highlight the benefits.

Sales Productivity

Sales gamification can provide an extra level of motivation and engagement that drives sales people to work harder and achieve more. By setting up challenges, competitions, and leaderboards, sales gamification creates a fun and competitive environment that drives reps to work harder and achieve more. This, in turn, leads to increased productivity, as reps are more focused and energized to close deals, generate revenue, and exceed their targets. Here are some key sales productivity stats:

Employee Engagement

Sales employee engagement refers to the level of involvement, commitment, and motivation that sales employees have towards their work and the company they work for. Gamifying employee engagement can be an effective way to motivate and engage employees in various aspects of their work. Here are a number of sales gamification stats related to employee engagement:

Customer Engagement

Gamification can significantly enhance customer engagement by creating a more interactive and enjoyable experience. By using game mechanics, companies can incentivize customers to engage more frequently and deeply with their products or services. This approach can also foster a sense of competition and community among customers, leading to increased loyalty and advocacy. Furthermore, gamification can offer customers a sense of achievement and recognition for their efforts, which can create positive emotions and motivate them to continue engaging with the brand. Here are a few concrete examples and stats:

Conversion Rates

Game mechanics can also be applied to various stages of your customer acquisition and sales funnels, becoming a powerful tool to improve sales-related conversion rates by enhancing the customer experience and driving desired behaviors. Companies can use such mechanics to incentivize customers to take specific actions, such as making a purchase or providing their contact information. Additionally, gamification can help customers to better understand the benefits and features of products or services, leading to increased engagement and confidence in their buying decisions. Here are some results:

  • Extraco, a Texas-based bank, implemented a gamified process to educate customers about its offerings and benefits. As a result, the conversion rate increased from 2% to 14%, and customer acquisitions rose by 700%. (TotalRetail, 2020; Mordor Intelligence, 2021)
  • Autodesk, a software company, saw a 40% increase in trial usage and a 15% increase in conversion rates after incorporating gamification into its approach. (Mordor Intelligence, 2021)
  • Teleflora, a floral wire service, experienced a 105% boost in Facebook referrals and an impressive 92% conversion rate after gamifying its store.

Revenue

Ultimately, the goal of sales gamification is to drive revenue growth. Without further ado, here are some key gamification stats for boosting revenue:

  • KFC Japan created gaming content that resulted in a 106% boost in store sales.
  • Moosejaw, a clothing company, implemented a gamified system that increased sales by 76%, generated an ROI of 560%, and skyrocketed its social media impressions to 240,000. 
  • After deploying the Starbucks Rewards app, Starbucks experienced a $2.65 billion revenue increase, and its membership program attracted 25% more loyal customers.
  • 90% of sales managers that were surveyed reported gamification had a positive impact on sales numbers & revenue.

Learning, Retention, & Turnover

Gamification can be a powerful tool for training, development, and employee retention. This is because gamification creates a more engaging and rewarding work environment that encourages reps to learn and stay with the company longer. Here are some specific examples:

  • A study conducted by the University of Colorado revealed that gamification can lead to a 14% increase in scores on skill-based knowledge assessments and an 11% increase in scores on factual knowledge tests.
  • 78% of respondents believe that companies would be more attractive if they used gamification in their recruitment process.
  • Research has shown that 83% of employees who received gamified training reported feeling motivated, compared to only 61% who received traditional training.
  • Companies utilizing gamification can experience up to a 43% lower turnover rate than those that do not.
  • 69% of employees are more inclined to stay with a company for over three years if social 7 gamified tools are incorporated into their work experience.

The Dark Side

The above stats paint a compelling picture for sales gamification, but achieving such results is not as simple as just slapping together a leaderboard or handing out merit badges for a job well done. For example, back in 2013, Omnicare, which is a US-based healthcare and pharmacy company currently owned by CVS Health, attempted to reduce wait times for their customer service. They created a leaderboard with monetary incentives for those who could complete customer calls in the shortest time possible. However, the initiative did not go as planned. Employees felt that they were being overly monitored, leading to increased response times and some staff quitting. This situation ended up having negative effects on the company.

According to a 2016 Gallup survey (cited in blog posts but not directly accessible), 87% of employees are disengaged from their work and desire more than just monetary rewards, such as recognition and appreciation. Furthermore, 63% of business owners felt that implementing a gamification system was too complex and required a significant budget and technical expertise. 57% of employees considered gamification as just a trend, while 24% felt that it was ineffective, a waste of time, or a form of manipulation. The survey also revealed that 24% of employees had no understanding of the concept of gamification, while 72% felt that they did not have access to the necessary resources to leverage its potential.

Conclusion

Here's the final statistic: 70% of the 2,000 largest companies in the world are making use of gamification. Sales gamification is a powerful tool that can significantly improve productivity, engagement, learning and retention, customer relationships, revenue growth, and employee retention. But in order to be effective and lasting, it must be implemented with a degree of care and understanding. If done well, leveraging game mechanics can enable sales leaders to create a more motivated, productive, and successful sales team.

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