In short: Start every competition with the behaviour you want to change, and check afterwards whether it changed. Choose a competition type that gives everyone a realistic chance to win, and pair activity competitions with an outcome so reps focus on quality, not just volume. Make the competition visible from start to finish.
Who this is for and when to use it
This guide is for sales managers, team leads and admins who plan competitions in SalesScreen. Use it before you create a new competition, or when a competition isn’t having the effect you want. To find the right competition type quickly, see Which SalesScreen competition should I create?
Applies to:
Company Admins and Competition Admins can create competitions for the whole company.
Managers can create competitions for their own team or department.
Standard competitions are available on all plans. Custom Target competitions and missions require Scale, Pro or Enterprise.
Lottery, Bracket and other competition types, Battles and Competition Insights require Pro or Enterprise.
Start with the behaviour you want to change, and check afterwards whether it changed
A competition without a clear goal creates activity, not results. Before you create one, decide what you want to improve:
more activity at the top of the funnel
better conversion
focus on a specific product, segment or region
lifting middle performers
Your answer decides the metric and the competition type.
When the competition ends, take 10–15 minutes to review it:
Did it drive the behaviour you wanted?
Who engaged, and who didn’t?
What would you change next time?
On Pro and Enterprise, Competition Insights shows how the KPI changed compared with the previous period. It also shows how much top, middle and bottom performers contributed.
Good example: “This month we want better meeting-to-opportunity conversion, so we compete on qualified opportunities created, not on meetings booked.”
Bad example: “Let’s run a competition on calls because we always do. We’ll figure out the goal later.”
Choose a competition type that fits your team
Each competition type solves a different problem:
Standard competition: whoever has the most of the chosen metric wins. It works best when reps have similar experience and quotas.
Custom Target competition: each participant gets their own goal for this competition only, and competes on progress towards it. Use it when experience levels, territories or quotas differ. For example, a rep who closes 9 of 10 deals (90%) beats a rep who closes 25 of 30 (83%).
Lottery competition: every qualifying report earns a ticket, and the winner is drawn with a spin of the wheel. Anyone with a ticket can win, which keeps middle and lower performers engaged. Lottery works best on leading indicators such as calls, meetings or demos, not on revenue, where top sellers get most of the tickets.
Bracket competition: head-to-head knockout rounds that create an event feel over 2–4 weeks.
Battles and missions: a Battle is a 1-on-1 duel between two people. A mission is a personal challenge for a rep who needs a confidence boost. Use them alongside larger competitions, not instead of them.
Examples:
Good example: A team with three new reps and five veterans runs a Custom Target competition, so the new reps have a real chance to win.
Bad example: The same team runs a Standard competition on revenue. The new reps know they can’t win and disengage on day one.
Pair every activity competition with an outcome
A “most calls” competition on its own pushes reps to make quick, low-quality calls just to hit the number. If you compete on activity, run a second competition at the same time on the outcome of that activity. For example, pair calls with meetings booked, or emails with replies. Reps see both leaderboards and balance their effort.
Good example: A week-long call blitz with a Standard competition on calls made and a Lottery competition where every meeting booked earns a ticket.
Bad example: A competition on calls made with no other metric. Reps dial through bad lists and hit the number without real conversations.
Make sure more than your top performers can win
If only the top one or two people are rewarded, your middle performers, who make up around 80% of your team, stop trying. Use lottery mechanics, team competitions or Custom Target competitions, or reward the top 10–25%.
Make prizes specific and varied, such as lunch with the CEO, a Friday afternoon off, a gift card, or a trophy and shoutout at the all-hands. Different people are motivated by different things.
Use a prize threshold if you want winners to meet a minimum standard. For example, the top three only win if they reach at least 70% of quota. In a Lottery, consider setting Can users obtain multiple prizes? to No, so more people come away as winners.
Good example: Prizes for the top three, with a 70% quota threshold so nobody wins with poor results just because everyone had a bad month.
Bad example: “The winner gets recognition.” Nobody knows what that means, and it motivates no one.
Keep the competition visible from start to finish
Competitions only work if people see them. When you publish, select:
Playlists, so the competition shows on your TV screens
Feeds
Events and email notifications at the start, halfway point and completion
Then keep talking about the competition in team meetings and celebrate progress along the way. For the publish settings, see How do I create a Standard competition in SalesScreen?
Good example: The competition starts Monday morning. Everyone gets an email, it shows on the office screens, and the manager highlights progress in Slack during the week.
Bad example: The competition is saved as a draft and never published, or published without screens, feeds or notifications. Nobody notices it.
Examples
Example: Call blitz week
Your team needs more pipeline. Run a Standard competition on calls made and a Lottery on meetings booked in the same week. Reps make more calls but focus on the ones that convert, because that’s where the prize is. Spin the wheel live in the Friday team meeting.
Example: A team with mixed experience levels
New SDRs have a target of 5 meetings a week and experienced SDRs have 15. A weekly Custom Target competition lets everyone compete on percentage of their own goal. A new hire who books 5 meetings can beat a senior rep who books 13.
Example: A monthly tournament
A Bracket competition on opportunities created runs for four weeks, with head-to-head rounds each week. To keep eliminated reps engaged, add them to a parallel Lottery so they still have something to play for.
Common problems
Engagement drops halfway through
The competition is probably too long. Most competitions work best at 1–4 weeks: shorter sprints of about a week for activity metrics, and about a month for outcome metrics like revenue.
Reps are confused about what to focus on
You may be running too many competitions at once. Run 1–2 main competitions at a time, plus occasional Battles or missions for specific needs.
The same people win every time
The format probably favours top performers. Switch to a Custom Target or Lottery competition, or reward more places. See “Make sure more than your top performers can win” above.
The competition isn’t showing on TV screens or in feeds
Check the publish settings, and that the screens using those playlists are online. See How do I create a Standard competition in SalesScreen?
Get help applying this
For help with strategy and getting more value from SalesScreen, reach out to your Customer Success Manager, or contact us in the chat if you don’t have one. For smaller fixes and questions, contact support in the chat.