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100 points or $100 - Which Would You Rather Have?

Author: Ryan Lallier - CEO, RepTivity @RLallier

Gamification is exploding. Some critics claim it has reached its peak while others believe the surface has barely been scratched.  Gamification is now making its way into the workplace with executives and managers deploying game mechanics to motivate and publicly acknowledge their top performers.  One of the key ingredients of gamification is the use of points to recognize achievements.  I have a problem with this concept.

Points are great for airline miles, football games, fantasy sports leagues and credit card awards. Unless you’re willing to equate points to monetary items they carry little value in the workplace, especially in a sales environment.  As a sales person myself, I could care less about 100 points. What I do care about is money, spiffs and public acknowledgement for doing my job well.  I also care about my sales rank in relation to my peers. Sales managers don’t care about how many points I have. They care about how many deals I’ve closed, my current forecast, my pipeline and whether or not I am doing the required activities to be successful. Giving sales reps tangible awards instead of virtual points for achieving these goals delivers significant value and is proven to be motivating. My point is I’d rather receive $100 instead of 100 points.   

One Good Reason to Have Your Product Demo on Your Website - Preferably Your Homepage

Author: Ryan Lallier - CEO, RepTivity @RLallier

Last night I presented RepTivity to a group of 30 attendees during Boston New Tech Meetup August 2011.  First, I want to say thank you to Chris Requena and Dave Rafkind for organizing the event and a second thank you to Dave for letting me borrow his laptop! Yep, I had to borrow his laptop. Right as I was about to present, my mouse pad decided to lock up and my presentation froze.  Dave quickly plugged his laptop into the overhead projected and launched my website. As I looked up at the big screen I internally said to myself, “oh thank God”.  Thank God for Dave and his awesome act of kindness and because my recorded demo was featured on our homepage. All I had to do was click play and begin talking.

Imagine this scene, me the sales guy presenting in front of 30 plus technical folks and I can’t get my laptop or my presentation to work. Even worse, I went last and the five presenters before me had no problems whatsoever.  I was definitely rattled for the first two minutes of the presentation but having my product demo running in the background helped me get into a groove. As the presentation continued I looked out into the crowd and noticed several smiles, head nods and intellectual face squints.  What I was saying was making sense and more importantly this room of very smart people thought my product was pretty cool.  I ended the presentation and fielded about ten to fifteen questions.

In the end, disaster was averted and the “techies” took it easy on me for my laptop debacle. I learned one lesson and was reminded of one thing. First, in crisis use the pre-recorded demo on your website and if you don’t have one – record one now! Second, in time of need people help people. Even though my situation wasn’t catastrophic the community last night was supportive and willing to help. So if I could summarize my experience with Boston Tech Meetup – It’s a Community of Supportive People Willing to Help.

Why Badges Should Have Monetary Value (At Least in a Corporate Setting)

Author: Ryan Lallier - CEO, RepTivity @RLallier

Over the past month I have seen an increase of negative press regarding badges within the gamification space. Is it really that bad? When did awarding someone with a symbol of achievement become a bad thing? For me personally, you couldn’t give me enough virtual trophies for winning my fantasy football league.  As a professional sales person, it is an honor to be awarded President’s Club to later have the seal (badge) embossed onto your business card. I can understand the argument for badges being overkill in the consumer space however, in a corporate environment your personal brand is everything.  Supporting your employee’s corporate identity through recognizable achievements is a powerful motivator and goes a long way towards increasing revenues.

Just like being awarded President’s Club though, badges in the workplace should carry more than just bragging rights and increased identity. Badges should equate to monetary value for the recipient.  Which badge is cooler? Badge A. goes to the employee who retained the most customers this week. Badge A. is a huge gold star that goes next to your employee profile so everyone in the company can see it. Badge B. goes to the employee who generated the most qualified leads this week. Badge B. is a huge gold check mark and the recipient also receives a $100 Amazon gift card.  Which badge would you rather have?

The problem is not the badge itself. The problem is how easy earning a badge has become. You shouldn’t receive a badge for completing simple everyday work tasks because the value of the badge will diminish over time.  This is exactly what is happening today and why so many gamification “experts” have turned sour towards them.

In summary, Badge = Monetary Value. Give it weight, give it meaning and make it an honor to receive it.

RepTivity Now Supports International Currency Settings -

Customers of RepTivity's leaderboard application can now select any currency model they require. Prior to today, RepTivity only supported the US dollar in their application. Whether your company has offices in China, Saudi Arabia or the United Kingdom, RepTivity can be deployed. To download your free trial of RepTivity, visit us on the AppExchange.

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RepTivity's Avatar of the Month Award - June 2011

Congratulations to Michael Stella with ServiceCEO in Boston, MA. He won RepTivity's Avatar of the Month Award for June 2011.

ServiceCEO makes it easier for field services companies to get customers, schedule jobs, dispatch work crews and bill customers. To learn more, visit www.serviceceo.com.

RepTivity Sales Leaderboard on a 60 inch plasma TV

Contractjobs.com displays their sales leaders using RepTivity's Sales Leaderboard for Salesforce.com on a 60 inch plasma. If you're a hiring agency or individual looking for contract work in the UK, check out Contractjobs.com today!