If you missed my column last month called, “Game On!” I forgive you – it’s busy season! Here is the Tweeted or micro-blog version of the article in 140 characters or less: 14-unit salon played fun sales games and out-sold similar volume 14-unit salon’s lotion sales by more than TRIPLE the numbers in March of 2013.
Both of these salons had sales meetings in February to pump up sales for March. I attended both meetings and did follow-up to document the sales results. The salon that tripled its lotion sales for March (Salon A) conducted a short and sweet, 50-minute meeting focused on creating three fun sales games to play for valuable prizes, while the owner of Salon B administered a very serious, two-hour power lecture outlining every rule, policy and guideline in the company handbook.
Here are the three games that skyrocketed Salon A’s March sales:
1. “Bouncing Ben”
This game is simple and fun. Designate some type of symbolic, fun object to represent a “Benjamin” ($100 bill). Starting with the first lotion sale of the day, that team member is handed the “Ben” and gets to keep it until a larger lotion sale is made, then Ben “bounces” to that team member. The person who wins the actual $100 bill is the one with the highest lotion sales total for the pre-determined contest period.
2. “Tango”
It’s Bingo with a tan-talizing twist! Create a Bingo card for each sales team member (you can create it simply with Microsoft Word.) Put product images or names in each square on the card. You can make each card different for each player or make them the same. You can focus on one product line or several; you could even focus on one product type, such as all tan extenders, if you want to increase sales of those items. Win prizes for single Bingo, four corners, “X”, or a grand prize if a team member covers the entire card.
3. “Buck Up”
This is another great game that can boost add-on sales on busy days. Fill a large jar with $1 bills. Every time a team member adds on to a sale, they get to take a bill from the jar. This game is very effective, because everyone has a chance to win and you can award a grand prize to the person who earns the most BUCKS.
Sales incentive games work, in that they inspire young team members to engage with guests more – because you can’t win the prizes unless you sell. A game designed to increase sales can have a short-term or long-term goal. One with a long-term sales incentive might run for a month and offer a larger grand prize, such as a cash bonus or an all-expenses paid vacation. A short-term game tends to run for a day or a few days, and offers smaller prizes, such as gift cards or tanning products. You can even set personal sales goals/prizes to hone the skills of your less experienced sales team members.
Happy selling!
