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The tree is up, the lights are on, and holiday cheer is running swiftly through your veins—but are those deals still running swiftly through your pipeline? With just a few weeks (!) left in Q4, there’s still work to be done and goals to hit before settling in for that long winter’s nap. Whether your team is just shy of hitting targets or needs a Christmas miracle, a festive sales contest will give your people that extra boost of motivation they need to push through these final weeks of 2022.
During a season where distractions are high, burnout may be settling in, and many people—sellers and prospects alike—are out of office, gamifying the daily grind with targeted sales competitions can help your reps stay focused, engaged, and working toward the metrics that will most impact your bottom line.
Infuse your culture with that magical holiday spirit and celebrate your team’s accomplishments with these holiday competition ideas.
6 Holiday Sales Competition Ideas
1. 12 Days of Sales-mas
Description: Give away prizes for the 12 work days leading up to Christmas. Each activity a rep completes during the day counts as an entry for that day’s prize. For example: every meeting set = 1 entry. You won’t disclose what the prize is until it’s time to draw the winner, and a rep can win a max of 3 prizes throughout the contest period.
Why it works: You can adjust the entries based on which targets your team still needs to hit. Since the activities you choose will likely have some variety, everyone will have an opportunity to enter. The mystery element of the daily prize will keep people motivated whether or not it’s a prize they’d want to win.
2. Christmas Calls are Ringing
Description: This is your classic call blitz. Schedule your blitz ahead of time or surprise your team midday to create some fun energy and fuel the competitive spirit. Assign a point value to calls, connects, voicemails, and SQLs. Whoever has the most points at the end of the blitz wins.
Why it works: Getting everyone on the phones together creates meaningful energy right when people may start to lose momentum before the holidays. And because prospects likely don’t have full calendars this time of year, they’re more likely to answer the phone. It’s a great way to get things queued up and filled for January.
3. The Nice List
Description: This one is simple—whoever has the highest activity score by the end of the week wins. Give your reps a little extra incentive to not only complete their scorecard, but to go above and beyond. Whoever has the highest activity score by the end of the contest period earns a spot on The Nice List and wins a prize.
Why it works: Because scorecards are role-based, every rep has an equal opportunity to win. The added incentive of a prize encourages them to knock out their activities and, as a result, reinforces the behaviors that will drive results.
4. Referrals: Do You Hear What I Hear?
Description: Happy customers can be your greatest advocates. Build a competition around getting referrals directly from your existing customers. Your team will continue to foster relationships with those accounts while also acquiring leads who are more likely to convert. Track referral meeting sets and award the top 3 reps who book the most meetings.
Why it works: This is a great way to set more quality meetings because referrals are naturally warmer leads. Focusing intentionally on that profile will result in more meetings booked overall.
5. Fa-la-la-la Feeling Lucky
Description: For every 50 outbound calls a rep makes, they earn a raffle ticket. Every ticket earned goes into a drawing. At the end of the competition period, draw a raffle ticket. The rep with the matching ticket wins.
Why it works: This competition encourages high activity, but it’s anyone’s game. Everyone who participates and meets even the minimum number of calls has a chance to win.
6. Countdown to Midnight
Description: Create a competition that entices your reps to lock in early renewals before the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve. Whoever secures a 2023 renewal in 2022 gets an additional bonus or prize of their choice.
Why it works: This encourages reps to stay on top of 2023 renewals and start having conversations early. Even if they don’t close before the year ends, they will create good momentum and be top of mind with customers to ensure a renewal happens early next year.
Prize Ideas for Your Holiday Sales Competition
‘Tis the season of giving, and what better way to raise the stakes—and spread good cheer—than by giving away bigger and better prizes to your competition winners? Higher value prizes are great incentives, but it’s the holiday season, which means people will also appreciate the gift of an afternoon or day off to spend with loved ones, catch up on holiday shopping, or even just sleep in a little later. Whether you’re running an epic holiday sales contest or want to keep these in your back pocket all year long, here are some prize ideas for your next competition.
- Restaurant gift card of winner’s choice
- Airline gift card
- 2 tickets to an event of the winner’s choice
- Amazon gift card
- Team happy hour
- Team activity such as Top Golf, escape room, cooking class, or trivia
- Customized ugly Christmas sweaters
- Donation to a winner’s charity of choice
- Electronics like AirPods, TVs, or record players
- Kitchen appliances like a Vitamix or air fryer
- Fitness equipment
The best prize ideas will come from your team. Find out what they care about, what their hobbies are, and reward them with the gifts you know they’ll love, but that they’re less likely to buy for themselves.
Looking for more sales contest ideas? Check out our library of plug-and-play sales contest templates for year-round inspiration!
