Issue 16: I’m Bored Edition

Productivity can be Fun
(really)
In case you haven’t heard us say it before:

The only thing adults do more than work...
is sleep.
~ So if you don’t have fun at work...
where will you have fun?

That means you have to take control of how you not only view work, but how you approach it.

For goodness sakes, as salespeople we are involved in the biggest game there is!

This month, instead of saying;
“ I’m bored”

Saying that at our house growing up got you more chores.

Figure out a way to;
Play A Game!

If you are having difficulty envisioning work as a game, or as fun for that matter - let us help:

Frustration BINGO
To relieve the frustration of a bad call day, years ago we created a game that rewarded you when not so fun things happened.

Frustration Bingo has you track things like:
  • endless voicemail
  • “not interested”
  • the right person who denies involvement
  • wants to buy ~ you can’t deliver
  • And more!
You can use the bingo board we created, or pick things that are specific to your sales world and make up your own.

The fun of yelling BINGO when you fill the board along makes the day better.

We even know a salesperson who told a non-cooperative prospect “thanks, you just won me a BINGO square”.

Wheel of Fortune
Yup, just like the game show. Instead of spinning the wheel, set a behavior objective.

Once a target is reached - that salesperson gets to choose a letter!

Now this does mean someone from outside your group needs to come up with a puzzle - or you can check out this person who records as many of the bonus rounds as they can (it is amazing what a google search turns up).

Head to Head
If you’re sitting in a cube, a little head to head competition with your neighbor never hurt either.

Pick something you’re both working toward (business opportunities found, dials made, whatever you choose) and choose a minimum number to win.

Then who ever passes the minimum either in the shortest time or by the largest margin, wins.

What about prizes?
My experience is that if the game is fun, your prize can be something as small as a free ice cream.

One idea is that everyone playing kicks in $1.00 winner takes all.

Another = everyone bring in a wrapped prize (choose a dollar limit that everyone playing can afford), then the winner picks one of the prizes and unwraps.

How about someone to fetch your coffee for a day or week?

Get the idea? The prize is the icing; making work fun is the cake.

Don’t make it so complicated!
Remember we are talking about self generated fun and games here; don’t wait for someone in management to come up with a contest with HUGE payoffs.

The goal is to make sales efforts more fun!

After all that, if you still are viewing work as a 4 letter word, go fly a kite! Wait that was last month...

Interested in reading the more than just the main article or past editions? Here they are