The intense pressure of getting it right, closing deals, and meeting quotas can make sales training concepts difficult to grasp. However, with some games thrown into the mix, you can help inject a dose of fun into the learning process. That way, you can make sales concepts easier for your reps to master. This article will go over some of the best training games to help your sales team outshine the competition.
Role-play leader
Both new and experienced sales reps need some practice in a safe and controlled environment to keep them sharp when dealing with real customers.
How to role-play
Reps get into teams of three—the buyer, the seller, and the observer. They simulate various scenarios, with the buyer and seller exchanging roles as they go. The observer remains neutral and gives the seller feedback about how they performed—for instance, assessing if their nonverbal cues and body language were on point.
Both the buyer and seller take up different personas relevant to the company, each different from the last, with each new simulated call. The team that hits the highest mark on aspects like figuring out the buyer’s needs, overcoming the most objections, and closing more deals wins the game.
List the benefits
Buyers usually want to know how they can benefit from a product or service—they don’t just want to be flooded with information on its features. That’s why it’s important to train salespeople to get the hang of selling the benefits of a product.
In this game, participants will learn how to clearly express the benefits as well as the features.
How to play “list the benefits”
Players sit around a table. The person at the head of the table mentions a product they would like to buy. The participant sitting to the right of the “buyer” kicks off the game by stating one feature of the product.
The next one says a corresponding benefit that goes with that feature. The rest of the participants follow in the same order, feature-benefit, feature-benefit, and so forth. If a player fumbles over a product benefit, they’re out of the game. The player who states the most benefits wins the game.
Pitch to win
Nailing the pitch gives reps the best shot at closing the deal. If a pitch is unclear or the rep gabs away leaving no room for the buyer to chip in with a response, the pitch isn’t likely to win over the prospect.
So, you can create an enabling environment for reps through games to help them learn how to make successful pitches. This game is a dress rehearsal to help sellers become seasoned at talking to buyers.
How to play “pitch to win”
Participants go into groups of four or five players. One player will be the seller in the group. The trainer picks a product from the catalog or any random item in the room.
The seller will now pitch the product. The other players will attempt to make it difficult for the seller. For example, one can ask unending questions while another contradicts facts or acts dismissively. You can assign roles to each player. For instance, one player will be the devil’s advocate while another plays the objector, and so on. Alternatively, you can let it flow and allow players to switch up roles as they please.
The goal is to deliver the best pitch, listen to the “buyers,” and respond well to objections—all while keeping your cool. The seller who best manages to achieve these goals wins the game.
Seller’s hangman
This is a spin-off of the traditional hangman game that can be played at the end of a training session. The aim of playing hangman is to check if reps have grasped the lessons from the training without making it feel like a test.
How to play “seller’s hangman”
Players go into two groups: Team A and Team B. Each group has a flipchart to draw the hangman. The supervisor prepares a set of questions about the training, and teams get a crack at answering them like this:
- Team A poses a question to team B.
- If team B gets it right, they can fire their own question to team A.
- If not, team A draws a part on the hangman.
The first team to be “hanged” loses the game.
Summing Up
With these games, you can transform stale intellectual concepts into interactive, tangible sales lessons, making training less of a drudge and easier to absorb for your reps.