8 Fun Sales Games to Boost Your Team’s Performance

Sales meetings help keep your revenue flowing and your team on track toward its goals. To some people, that sort of thing might sound boring, but sales meetings can be lots of fun! That’s especially true when they comprise more than just charts, reports, and (god forbid) yawns. With the below eight fun sales games for meetings, you’re bound to get everyone excited, engaged, and chatty.

• 8 sales games you should try in your next meeting 
• What are the benefits of using games in sales meetings?

8 sales games you should try in your next meeting 

Presentations, numbers: They’re constants in every sales meeting. But what about laughter, team bonding, and plain old fun? That’s where the below eight ideas for sales games come in. Start your sales meetings with them to get things off on the right foot.

• The dice exercise
• What’s in the box?
• The questions game
• Selling generic products
• Make a timed sales pitch
• Description creation
• Participation Bingo
• Trivia

1 The dice exercise

Landing sales can be time-sensitive and number-intensive – the more your sales reps engage and interact with potential customers, the more likely the sale. The dice game is a great way to illustrate this concept. To play, each member takes a die and throws it repeatedly. The goal is to roll as many sixes as possible within a certain timeframe. Thirty seconds should be enough time.

• Time commitment: 30 seconds
• Number of people needed: Any
• Equipment needed: A pair of dice

2 What’s in the box?

Playing “What’s in the box?” can help your team learn how to ask important questions and get answers from potential customers. To play, split your team into groups of two, and give each person a box that’s holding a random item. Each person needs to ask the other person on their team 10 close-ended questions to guess what item is in the box. If the person can’t guess correctly with these questions, they can then ask three open-ended questions.

Say, for example, Person A has a cotton ball in their box. Person B might start by asking, “Is your item an office supply?” Person A would say, “No.” Person B might then ask, “Is your item small?” Person B would say, “Yes,” and so on and so forth. If the 10 close ended-questions get Person B nowhere, they could ask an open-ended question such as “Describe the texture of your item.” The team that guesses the most items correctly wins the game.

• Time commitment: At most 10 minutes
• Number of people needed: Any even number
• Equipment needed: Boxes and random items. Paper clips, a remote control, a pair of headphones, and a water bottle are just a few of the endless possibilities.

3 The questions game

Sales reps often need to think quickly to sway and engage potential customers. The questions game can help your team practice this important skill. Pair your team members and have them keep a conversation going as long as possible. The catch? Each participant can only speak using questions.

For example, Person A might start the conversation by asking, “What did you bring for lunch today?” Person B might reply with, “Do you know what pasta is?” Person A might then say, “What kind of pasta?” The first person who can’t think of a related question to ask, takes too long to reply, or uses a declarative sentence loses the game. Their opponent would then continue the game with the winners from other groups until there is one final winner.

• Time commitment: You could reserve up to half an hour for this game, though you can also complete it in as little as 10 minutes.
• Number of people needed: An even number
• Equipment needed: None

4 Selling generic products

You may have heard exaggerated sales rep praise along the lines of, “He could sell a cape to Superman.” That’s basically a funny way of talking about someone who can sell just about anything to anyone. The “selling generic products” game can teach this skill. With this game, your team can stretch its creative muscles and try to “sell” items that are easily accessible.

To play, divide your team into groups of two and give each player a random yet common item. This item could be a pen, a piece of paper, a plastic bag, or a stapler – just about anything will do. Then, give each team a minute or two to formulate a sales pitch for the item they’re holding. From there, each participant must be strategic and convincing enough to sell this ordinary item to the other person.

• Time commitment: You can set your own time limit.
• Number of people needed: An even number
• Equipment needed: Random, everyday items, from a roll of toilet paper to a bag of chips from the vending machine.

5 Make a timed sales pitch

Effective sales pitches are the core of your sales team’s success. The timed sales pitch meeting game can help them out on this front. To start, divide your teams into a few groups of three or more people. Then, ask them to make an appealing 40-second sales pitch about your organization. The pitch should include basic information about your organization, such as the people it serves, its mission statement, and the products or services it offers.

Give your participants five minutes to work together and formulate an effective sales pitch. Once the time is up, each group will select one member to present their pitch to the rest of the team. When a member from each group has presented, everyone decides on a winner based on the group that had the best pitch.

• Time commitment: 5 minutes, plus 40 seconds for each group to present
• Number of people needed: Any
• Equipment needed: None

6 Description creation

The point of this game is to encourage players to think outside of the box and “sell” random objects in the room. Simply point to any item and ask your team to give their most elaborate descriptions.

For example, you might point to the whiteboard. Participants should then take turns creatively describing that object. If a player can’t think of a descriptive phrase, they lose. You can then continue the game with the same object or another one of your choice. You should encourage your team to make their descriptions as appealing as possible.

• Time commitment: You can set your own time limit, in part by selecting as many or as few objects as you’d like.
• Number of people needed: Any
• Equipment needed: Just your surroundings!

7 Participation Bingo

To encourage your team to contribute during your sales meeting, start your meeting with a game of Bingo. Before gathering your team, you’ll need to create some custom bingo cards. Fill in the boxes with tasks your team should accomplish during your meeting. For example, you can include boxes like, “Comment on at least one person’s ideas” or “Share an idea for ways to improve next month’s numbers.”

Your team should work to fill out their cards as they participate in the meeting. The first person to connect a line of five boxes wins and, of course, says “Bingo!”

• Time commitment: None during the meeting, though you’ll need to set aside time beforehand to set rules and make bingo cards
• Number of people needed: Any
• Equipment needed: Bingo cards and pens, pencils, etc.

8 Trivia

How well does your sales team know sales? Quiz your team on some key terms and concepts with a game of sales trivia. Divide your attendees into a few teams, and ask them some sales-based questions. You can tailor the trivia to your organization with questions like, “What was one of the strategies we discussed at our last meeting?” Or you can combine those questions and others that really require everyone to put on their thinking caps. The team with the most points wins.

• Time commitment: You can vary the length of this game based on whether you choose many or just a few questions. You can likely cap it at 15 minutes.
• Number of people needed: Any
• Equipment needed: None

What are the benefits of using games in sales meetings?

Fun sales games for meetings can be a great way to get everyone warmed up and ready to chat. More specifically, it comes with the below benefits that are great for both your team and your bottom line.

• Encourages team-building

It’s easy for sales reps to get caught up in cold calling and task lists without really getting to know their fellow team members. Giving your team a game to play can lead to a friendlier work environment that brings your team together and strengthens its bonds.

• Helps sales reps feel competitive

Sales work requires a competitive attitude – with so many products out there, how can you sell yours without wanting to be the best? Meeting games are competitive too, so when sales managers notice reps not being competitive enough during the games, they can work to correct that.

On that front, Phil Jacobson, VP Product & Operations at #paid, has a suggestion. “Focus on building a feedback-first culture where it’s normal and encouraged to regularly share constructive and positive feedback,” he says. In other words, you can help your sales reps feel more competitive during meetings if everyone already expects you to kindly share areas for improvement. 

• Improves communication

You can’t play sales meeting games without communicating, and your team members can’t coordinate big sales without it either. That’s just one reason why games can have such a big impact on your sales numbers. Effective sales team communication can lead to more employee productivity, better problem-solving skills, and more sales – the ultimate goal.

• Engages employees

Gamifying work can engage employees 60 percent more. In other words, including a game early on in your meeting can help boost employee morale. A sales rep with more morale will have more pep in their step, so to speak, on their sales calls. That enthusiasm alone can sometimes be enough to make a sale. 

• Encourages critical questioning

As sales reps, your team members spend their days chatting with potential customers and quickly, thoughtfully answering their questions. Critical questioning involves asking questions that help sales reps better understand an idea. It can also help sales leads give more effective responses to your leads’ questions.

Sales training games such as the questions game and “what’s in the box?” can be especially helpful here. In these games, your team members must carefully consider the information they’re receiving from another person. They must then analyze everything and use what they see to come up with the best possible next question. That’s critical questioning to a tee.

• Helps sales reps understand what they’re selling

If your team is playing the timed sales pitch game, they’re basically selling your company and its products and services without any real-world pressure. That means they’ll learn more about what you’ve hired them to sell. The more your team knows about your products, the more persuasively they can discuss them with potential customers.

A fun way to sell

Let’s say you’re already excited about your next meeting with your sales team. Make things even more intriguing with a sales game on the meeting agenda. And as you prepare for your meeting, you can lean on Fellow to build your agenda. You can also foster team building through Fellow’s numerous collaborative features. The result is overall better meetings.