Recognition and Rewards That Make Behaviour Stick

Purpose of this article

Competitions and dashboards drive focus, but recognition and rewards are what make good behaviour last. In SalesScreen, coaching identifies what to do, and recognition makes the behaviour stick. This article shows you how to use celebrations, achievements, coins and the Reward Shop to build a motivated, engaged team where everyone – not just top performers – feels seen and driven to improve.

You will learn:

This is a best-practice guide. For step-by-step setup, see Setting up celebrations and Configuring the Reward Shop.

The single biggest mistake in team motivation is assuming everyone is driven by the same reward. They're not.

Giving out the same Amazon gift card every week doesn't work, because different people have different motivations. Some reps are driven by money, others by recognition, others by competition, others by personal growth or belonging.

Before you design your recognition and reward strategy, understand what actually motivates your people.

Good example

A manager knows their team well: two reps love public recognition, one is quietly driven by personal bests, and one only cares about the leaderboard. They tailor celebrations and rewards to match – shoutouts for the recognition-seekers, personal-best badges for the achiever, and rank-focused competitions for the competitor.

Bad example

A manager gives everyone the same $50 gift card for hitting target. The competitive rep doesn't care about the money, the socializer feels the reward is impersonal, and the achiever wanted recognition, not cash. Motivation stays flat.

Recognition is one of the fastest ways to reinforce good behaviour. When you celebrate something publicly, you signal to the whole team: "This is what good looks like. Do more of it."

Don't only celebrate the final sale. Celebrate the behaviours that lead to sales:

Good example

Every time a rep books a qualified meeting, a celebration pops up on the office screens and in the feed. The team sees that prospecting effort is valued, not just closed revenue. Early-stage activity goes up because it's recognized.

Bad example

The team only celebrates deals over $50k. The reps working hard on prospecting and pipeline-building never get recognized, feel invisible, and lose motivation. The behaviour that creates future revenue goes unrewarded.

Pro tip: If you want more of a behaviour, make it visible and celebrate it. What gets recognized gets repeated.

A recognition system that only celebrates top performers demotivates the other 80% of your team. The Reward Shop and recognition features work best when they celebrate every achievement, from top performers to those making steady progress.

Good example

The team celebrates three things every week: the top performer, the most improved rep, and the team hitting its collective goal. Everyone has a path to recognition – whether they're #1, climbing fast, or contributing to the team total.

Bad example

Only the #1 rep gets celebrated, every single week. It's always the same person. The rest of the team stops trying because they know they can't beat them. Engagement collapses.

Celebrations in SalesScreen are the pop-ups (with video and music) that appear on office screens and browsers when someone hits a milestone. Done right, they create energy and joy. Done poorly, they're ignored.

Good example

A rep sets their celebration to their favorite walkout song. When they close a deal, it plays on the sales floor screens with a personalized video. The team cheers, the rep feels great, and everyone wants their own moment. Celebrations become something people look forward to.

Bad example

Celebrations are generic, silent, or trigger on every single minor action. They become background noise, and people tune them out completely.

Pro tip: Balance is key. Celebrate enough to create energy, but not so often that celebrations lose their meaning.

Achievements and badges reward specific behaviours and milestones over time. They're powerful because they give reps goals beyond the daily numbers.

Good example

A rep earns a "Consistency Champion" badge for hitting their activity target every day for two weeks. It shows on their profile and in the feed. They feel proud, and other reps want the badge too – so consistent activity goes up across the team.

Bad example

Badges are set up randomly with no connection to what matters. Reps earn badges for logging in or clicking around. The badges mean nothing, so nobody cares about them.

Pro tip: Tie achievements to the behaviours that actually drive your business goals. A meaningful badge motivates; a meaningless one is clutter.

The Reward Shop lets reps earn coins for achievements and activities, then spend them on rewards. This creates a flexible, customizable reward program that drives participation and boosts morale.

Good example

The Reward Shop has a range: small rewards (coffee voucher, 100 coins), medium (gift card, 500 coins), and aspirational (extra day off, 2,000 coins). Reps earn coins for meetings booked, deals closed and personal bests. Everyone has something to work toward, and the shop feels rewarding.

Bad example

The Reward Shop has one prize that costs an impossible number of coins. Only the top rep can ever afford it. Everyone else gives up on earning rewards, and the whole system feels pointless.

Pro tip: Discuss reward preferences with your team (or in a QBR with champions). What motivates one team may fall flat with another. Customize the shop to your people.

Recognition isn't just for reps – it's also a powerful tool in customer meetings and management reporting. Rewards and recognition can be a specific topic in QBRs with champions, helping demonstrate value and engagement.

Good example

A team brings the whole sales floor together twice a month, puts up a slide with dashboard screenshots and achievements earned, and showcases team accomplishments. Recognition becomes a shared, cultural event – not just individual pop-ups.

Bad example

Recognition data sits unused in the system. It's never surfaced in meetings, QBRs or reporting, so leadership never sees the engagement it's driving, and its value goes unnoticed.

Giving everyone the same reward ignores that people are motivated differently.

Fix: Vary reward types and tailor recognition to individual motivators.

This alienates the majority of the team.

Fix: Celebrate improvement, consistency and team wins, so everyone has a path to recognition.

If every tiny action triggers a celebration, celebrations lose meaning.

Fix: Reserve celebrations for meaningful milestones. Keep them special.

Generic "good job" recognition doesn't land.

Fix: Make it personal – custom celebration videos, specific praise, rewards people actually want.

Random badges and rewards with no connection to goals create clutter, not motivation.

Fix: Tie every achievement and reward to a behaviour that drives your business outcomes.

Talk to your reps. What do they actually want – money, recognition, growth, competition, belonging? Map the four motivation types to your people.

Good example

A manager maps their team's motivators, sets up personalized celebrations, builds a balanced Reward Shop, and makes recognition part of every meeting. Within a month, engagement is up, mid-performers are more active, and the team culture feels energized.

Bad example

A manager turns on celebrations once, never customizes anything, and never revisits it. Recognition feels like an afterthought, and the team stops noticing it.

Recognition and rewards are what make good behaviour stick. Coaching shows reps what to do; recognition makes them keep doing it.

Key principles:

Next steps

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