Playing for Keeps: CRM Gamification Encourages User Adoption, Increases Lead Conversion, and Speeds Sales Cycles

When implementing a CRM software solution, of critical importance is easing the employee transition, ensuring all users are on board to utilize and explore the new tool set before them. However, according to a recent Gallup poll, more than 70 percent of employees are disengaged at work, resulting in a loss of productivity, lower system ROI, and inadequate customer support. To this end, a strategic change management and learning effort is required to motivate users to interface with the software and apply it to their daily routine. When employees are energized and engaged with a workplace tool, collaboration across departments is easier, morale is stronger, and onboarding and road-mapping efforts become more efficient.

So just how exactly can companies encourage employees to explore and utilize their CRM system? By introducing a little friendly competition—namely, through deploying gamification technologies that turn CRM use into a system of challenges and rewards, appealing to employees’ desires to win, whether against a colleague or simply themselves, to drive ongoing engagement and process change. The trend is already taking off, and Gartner predicts that in 2015, 40 percent of Global 1000 organizations will use gamification as their top mechanism to transform business operations.

The adoption of this technology can result in powerful growth, as evidenced by annualized metrics released by The Aberdeen Group revealing that companies who utilize gamification experience an 8.5 percent year-over-year change in annual revenue compared to all other companies, who experience a 4.4 percent change. In addition, such companies experience a 6.1 percent year-over-year change in average deal size, 2.2 percent change in lead closure time, and 1.1 percent change in lead conversion rate, compared to all other companies who note a 0.5 percent, -1.5 percent, and -1.9 percent change, respectively.

While these statistics are powerful, introducing elements of gamification into your CRM strategy may prove challenging at first. How do you appeal to all users and sustain long-term adoption? The answer lies in the below considerations:

Keep It Timely and Relevant

Update your gamification strategy routinely and be ready to introduce new challenges, keeping pace with employee progress to ensure games never get stale. In addition, quality gamification is more than simply workplace fun—build your strategy on elements that tie in directly with user roles and responsibilities, so employees feel valued for the work they do.

Tailor Rewards to Fit User Types

Research shows that online game players fit into one of four categories: achievers, focused on racking up points and accolades; explorers, determined to unlock secret levels or gain new knowledge; socializers, most interested in game collaboration/interaction; and imposers, out to strictly sweep the competition and dominate the leaderboard. There’s not a one-size-fits-all strategy to rewarding players. Vary your approach to appeal to each employee’s concept of “winning.”

Consider Usability and Ease of Play

Games should be adequately challenging, but not overly difficult to navigate. Carefully craft your gamification strategy to ensure it’s not so simple it’s disrespectful or so challenging it deters users from even trying.

At the end of the day, a carefully considered gamification strategy doesn’t just energize the workplace environment, it results in engaged and driven employees dedicated to performing at their best, ultimately driving up system ROI and optimizing operations across departments—a win for everyone.

To learn more about how partnering with our seasoned CRM consultants can deliver this functionality to your business, please contact any member of our consulting team at [email protected]. We also encourage you to contact Tokara’s VP of Business Development, Mark Fillingim, directly at +1 972-719-0213.

Sources:

“Webcast: Game Mechanics in Salesforce: Turning CRM Users Into CRM Addicts,” Bluewolf, http://www.bluewolf.com/resources/webcast/webcast-game-mechanics-salesforce-turning-crm-users-crm-addicts.

Visconti, Kate, “Gamification – Rules Of Engagement?” Bluewolf, http://www.bluewolf.com/blog/gamification-%E2%80%93-rules-engagement.

Bartle, Richard, “Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades: Players Who Suit Muds,” MUSE Ltd, Colchester, Essex, http://mud.co.uk/richard/hcds.htm.

Tokara Solutions

As President and founder of Tokara Solutions, Shawn Grant has over 20 years of experience in enterprise CRM design and delivery. Shawn remains instrumental in providing CRM and Marketing Automation products and services for companies in the Financial Services, Manufacturing, Public Utilities, Home Builders/Real Estate Services, and Land Title Industry. Consequently, he continues to look forward to providing his knowledge within the CRM industry by writing for our company blog. From integration to implementation, Shawn’s unmatched CRM experience provides us with exceptional insight through Tokara Solutions’ blogs.

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