20. More Than Metrics: Why Your Sales Team Needs Strategy, Not Just Data

In this episode of "From Pain Point to On Point," host Britt dives into the world of sales strategy, exploring why data alone isn't enough to drive performance. Discover how to transform your sales team from data-driven to strategy-driven, and learn the five essential steps to build a performance strategy that turns numbers into meaningful action.

Join us as we shift from data overload to strategic clarity, ensuring your sales team is not just busy, but effective. Subscribe for more insights and strategies!

Best Moments

(00:00) Introduction: More Than Metrics
(02:15) The Problem with Data Overload
(05:30) Differentiating Data-Driven and Strategy-Driven Teams
(08:45) Five Steps to Building a Performance Strategy
(12:00) The Importance of Leading Indicators
(15:30) Visualizing Progress and Automating Insights
(18:45) Reviewing and Evolving Your Strategy
(22:00) The Benefits of a Strong Performance Strategy
(25:30) Conclusion: From Data Overload to Strategy Clarity

Creators and Guests

Host

Brittney Moseley

Go-To-Market Director

Producer

Ellen Young

Marketing Campaign Manager

What is From Pain Point to On Point: Transforming Sales Challenges into Wins?

'From Pain Point to On Point: Transforming Sales Challenges into Wins with Gamification' is the podcast where we dive deep into the common challenges sales managers face and explore innovative gamification solutions to overcome them. Hosted by SalesScreen’s Go-to-Market Director Brittney, every two weeks, we'll bring you expert insights, real-world stories, and actionable tips to help you turn your sales pain points into on-point victories.

Britt: 00:00

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to another episode of From Pain Point to OnPoint. I'm your host, Britt. And today, we're talking about recognition, but more specifically, the timeliness of recognition. We all know that being recognized for your work is a huge factor motivation, but just being recognized isn't good enough anymore. So to jump into this, let's play a little game.

Britt: 00:22

Well, it's not really a game. It's kinda like a bunking exercise, but you get me. Think back to the last time someone recognized you for something at work. Maybe your manager said you crushed that presentation or a teammate of yours Slacked you and said that they couldn't have closed that deal without you. Now think about when that actually happened.

Britt: 00:40

Was it right after you did the thing, or was it three weeks later in the shout out slide buried in the company all hands? Chances are the moment that you felt that spark, that little rush of, oh, nice. Someone noticed was when it happened in the moment, And that's because recognition has an expiration date. So today we're gonna unpack why timely recognition fuels motivation, why it often beats tangible rewards, how it ties to different motivation types, and how managers can get it right. No gamification platform required.

Britt: 01:14

And I have the science to back this up, so just hear me out on it. But let's start with timing because I think this is where a lot of companies miss the mark. If you think about recognition the way that you think about espresso or coffee, it gives the best jolt when it's fresh. If you serve it cold and stale a week later, the buzz just isn't there anymore. In psychology, this comes down to what's called immediate reinforcement.

Britt: 01:39

Studies going all the way back to the nineteen seventies, meta analysis by Kulik and Kulik, some of my fellow nerds, show that immediate feedback improves learning and performance way more than delayed feedback. Basically, our brains are just pattern machines. So when we get recognized right after doing something good, we link the two together and think, got it. Have to do that again. And you can think about this even in terms of training a dog.

Britt: 02:04

Right? When your dog does something good, you wanna immediately praise it and treat it so it knows that's the that's what I need to be doing. Same thing when it does something bad. Right? If your dog pees on your floor, you're not gonna tell it bad dog a week later.

Britt: 02:17

You're gonna tell it in the moment. So it recognizes this is not the behavior that I should be doing. So if you wait a week, the association fades, and your brain is like, what behavior are we rewarding again? I've had, like, 12 meetings and six presentations since then. Gallup and Workhuman also have a ton of modern data on this as well.

Britt: 02:37

They found that employees who get weekly recognition are five times more engaged and productive than those who get recognized once a year. And here's actually a really interesting piece of data. Engagement across The US fell to a ten year low in 2024. And one of the top reasons, employees didn't feel seen or appreciated. So what's the takeaway here?

Britt: 03:01

Cognition isn't a nice to have. It's a retention tool, and timeliness is half the magic. So if you're sending on that great job last week message in your draft, stop listening right now. Hit send and come back. I'll wait for you.

Britt: 03:14

Okay. We can we can move on. Alright. So let's talk about the big myth, and that is that money is the ultimate motivator. Spoiler alert, it is not.

Britt: 03:23

At least not in the way that we think it is. There's this really fascinating study by economists that I am not going to attempt to pronounce their names because I am going to mess it up, and I don't wanna do that to them. But I will have their names and the study that I'm quoting here in the show notes below so you can always take a look at it yourself and also try to pronounce their names and let me know how to say them. But they tested how employees responded to two different kinds of rewards, cash bonuses and thoughtful noncash gifts. The noncash gifts, like a handpicked bottle of wine or a personalized thank you note, boosted productivity by about 25%, while the cash, that did nothing.

Britt: 04:07

And the reason why is because the gift signaled care. It wasn't transactional. It was human. And we see that all the time in sales screen with our reward shop. We have tons of rewards in our reward shop, tangible things, really cool things, AirPods and Bluetooth speakers and all that stuff.

Britt: 04:26

But the things that create the most camaraderie, the things that create the most motivation and excitement in our reward shop are the non cash gifts. So being someone's coffee assistant for the day or making somebody do 10 push ups in a meeting. Those are always the things that cause the most excitement and get people really pumped to earn coins so that they can redeem in the reward shop, to do something fun and exciting for the rest of the team. And this really lines up with decades of motivation research by Edward Dessie and Richard Ryan. Those are the folks behind the self determination theory, which if you've listened to this podcast before, you know that we talk about this all the time.

Britt: 05:06

It really is the foundation of gamification and fuels a lot of what we talk about and a lot of our product features in SalesScreen. But what they found is that people get expected tangible rewards for doing something that they already enjoy or care about. Their intrinsic motivation actually drops because it starts to feel like a transaction. But recognition, when it's sincere and informational, supports what we crave most at work, competence, autonomy, and connection. And the kicker is that recognition doesn't just boost the person receiving it In a field experiment by economist Bradler and Durer, public recognition increased performance not just for the recognized group but for everyone else watching.

Britt: 05:50

So people who didn't even get a shout out still improved. They were inspired by the shout out, not deflated. So, of course, bonuses are fine. They're more than fine. They're great.

Britt: 06:00

Bonus your bonus your salespeople. But recognition taps into something deeper. It says, I see you. You're part of this story. And that is really a currency that just never loses its value.

Britt: 06:11

So let's geek out for a second. Not that we haven't been geeking out this whole time, but we're gonna geek out a little bit more. Now the understanding is that not everyone is motivated the same way. If you listen to this podcast, if you know anything about gamification, if you know anything about sales screen, you know that's true. We're always being the drum that everybody is motivated differently.

Britt: 06:33

Some people thrive on mastery. Others, they love the collaboration. Some people just wanna win. And if we map this through the two lenses that we often talk about here on the podcast, motivation theory and Bartle player types, we start to see why the way that you recognize matters. So just as a a quick refresher on the motivation types in Bartle players, we have our first motivation type, is intrinsic.

Britt: 06:59

This is when people do something because it's interesting or meaningful. These are often your explorer explorers or your achievers. They respond to recognition that reinforces competence. Things like you handled that objection flawlessly, loved how you pivoted. They don't need flash.

Britt: 07:15

They just need the acknowledgment of mastery. The second type is extrinsic motivation, and this is more about outcomes. Status, prizes, visibility. They're often your killers or your more competitive type. So for them, recognition needs to be a little bit more public.

Britt: 07:30

It has to have a little bit of a flare. So something like, you closed that deal that pushed us over the target. Hero, move. Public praise really hits their status drive, but you have to keep it informational and not ego inflating or can backfire. And then lastly, we have relational or pro social motivation, and these are really your socializers.

Britt: 07:48

This is the majority of your team most of the time. They're the ones that thrive on teamwork and helping others. They respond best to gratitude that connects their effort to impact. So thanks for jumping in on that call. Your prep made all the difference.

Britt: 08:00

It's a perfect endorsement for a socializer. And psychologist Adam Grant has a really great study showing that gratitude expressions increase helping behavior because they boost people's sense of social worth. So you're not just recognizing effort, you're fueling more of it. Recognition isn't just feedback. It's personalized fuel.

Britt: 08:20

And if you want motivation to stick, match the message to the motive. So let's get a little tactical. What makes recognition actually effective? You don't need a system or a fancy tool, although, again, it helps. But you do need four different things, and so let's break those down.

Britt: 08:41

You need it to be timely. As I've as I've been saying, you've gotta catch it as it happens. Praise delayed is praise denied. You need it to be specific. So don't just say great job.

Britt: 08:52

Say what was great. Something like, loved how you diffused that tough customer moment. That's a great one. The third thing is that you want it to be meaningful. You wanna tie it to company values or purpose.

Britt: 09:03

Something like that transparency with the client is exactly how we build trust as a team. And then lastly, you want it to be visible. So when appropriate, making it public because recognition creates social proof. When people see their peers getting celebrated for the right behaviors, they start doing those behaviors too, and that's how you create a culture and a positive culture at that. There are a couple of things to avoid.

Britt: 09:27

You don't wanna overdo it. Recognition should feel earned. It shouldn't automated. You know? We no shade to participation trophies, but you want it to actually mean something.

Britt: 09:38

Right? You don't wanna save it for special occasions. You can reinforce good behavior anytime that you see it, and that could be every day. And then lastly, we've already talked about it a little bit, but you don't want it to be transactional. You hit a target, so you get praise.

Britt: 09:54

You wanna praise the effort that led to it, not just outcome. So if we're going to apply this practically, what does this actually look like from a day to day, especially if you're not using a platform like SalesStream? Here are some low effort, high impact recognition ideas you can start right now. The first one, catch it and call it. When you see a great behavior, call it out within minutes.

Britt: 10:17

Slack message, team chat, or even a quick voice note that shouts out the the good work. It takes twenty seconds, but its timeliness makes it really powerful. Second one, the Friday progress post. Instead of just praising wins, highlight progress. Shout out to Jamie.

Britt: 10:33

Improve demo to close rate by 10%. That's a great one. This hits achievers and explorers alike. It says effort and learning matters, not just numbers. We do this all the time at SalesFree too.

Britt: 10:43

Every Friday on our all hands call, we highlight the endorsements that have been given out over the week. And a lot of the time, those endorsements are really about thanking people for their help, thanking people for jumping in on a call or for helping with a deck or solving a problem for a customer. It's usually not outcome related, and that's so nice, and it makes everybody feel great. The third one is peer to peer recognition. So opening a thread for teammates to thank each other once a week.

Britt: 11:14

Gratitude is contagious, so people who feel appreciated by their peers are more likely to go out of their way to help others. The fourth one is customer shout outs, sharing positive customer feedback publicly. It connects the team's work to the real world impact, and that is one of the strongest intrinsic motivators. Fifth, first wins wall, celebrating firsts, first deal, first renewal, first cold call that led to a meeting. Early recognition creates momentum loops for new hires.

Britt: 11:42

And this is actually a really easy easy thing to do with sales screen, little shout out, with achievements. You can make these achievements trigger the first time that something ever happens. So this is just automated, and they they get the achievement and and maybe some coins to go with it so that they can go to the reward shop. Our sixth practical task is coaches corner. So highlight skill based wins, things about how you know, maybe maybe this has to do with sales reps, really great discovery call, loving how you opened that call, really curious, really trying to get to the bottom of of what our customer's pain point is, which reinforces learning behaviors, not just results.

Britt: 12:27

We've got our seventh here, story time at the all hands. You just skip the metrics. Skip the results. Have somebody talk about the lived experience, somebody that lived the company values that month. Stories really stick.

Britt: 12:42

People really remember stories. So using stories versus stats is always going to be a better better option. And then lastly, recognition and action. So pairing recognition with opportunity. You know, something like your product pitch was so great.

Britt: 12:58

Would you share that in our next training? You're turning that praise into a leadership opportunity. And so the point here being you don't actually need budget. You just need presence. That's gonna make all of the difference.

Britt: 13:12

So let's clear up a few myths. We we talked about we talked about the money myth a little bit earlier, but let's talk about a few other myths around recognition that can kind of hold people back from really diving into this in a real way. The first one is that people are gonna get jealous, and you know to a degree that's kind of true. If you're always praising one person, then yeah, it kind of gets a little bit tired, but that's why you really do need to mix it up. You need to recognize effort, collaboration, creativity, learning.

Britt: 13:43

It's not just praising the same person for doing the same thing every time. It's about recognizing all of the other work that goes into getting the win, or in some cases not getting the win, just recognizing the good work. That way, everybody has an opportunity, and everybody has a path to being recognized. The second myth is not having enough time, and the truth is is that you don't really need time. You just need timing.

Britt: 14:09

Two minutes right after a call is a perfect time to send a a quick thank you note. You don't need to have a anything polished. You don't need to have a presentation. You you don't need to put it into a into a, you know, a convo or a call or any of that. Just a a quick Slack message.

Britt: 14:29

Hey. Great job. Really appreciate the work. It means so much. And then myth number three, which I like I hope that this is kind of going by the wayside, but the last myth is that they get paid, and that's recognition enough.

Britt: 14:45

You know? Harkening back to mad men where the money is the thank you. Ultimately, it's not. Right? Compensation is expected.

Britt: 14:56

It's it's part of the agreement. Right? And recognition is experienced. It meets a human need to feel valued, and it pays dividends in engagement, creativity, and retention. And then lastly, that public praise feels cheesy.

Britt: 15:10

And it can, but it really only feels cheesy if it's generic. The more specific and sincere it is, the more authentic it feels, and the less likely it is to make people cringe. At its core, recognition is all about connection. It's how we remind people that they matter, not just as employees, but as humans trying to do good work. And when someone feels seen, it activates something primal: belonging.

Britt: 15:34

That belonging leads to ownership, and ownership drives motivation. Motivation drives performance, and performance, when celebrated, circles back to belonging again. That's the loop every great manager builds whether they realize it or not, and it doesn't cost a thing. So here's your challenge for the week. Every day, recognize one person within two hours of seeing them do something great.

Britt: 16:00

Doesn't have to be huge. Doesn't have to be massive. Just catch it, call it, and connect it to impact. You'll be amazed how fast motivation spreads when people feel seen in the moment. And if you found this episode helpful, share it with another manager who could use a reminder that praise isn't fluffy.

Britt: 16:16

It's strategic. Next episode, we're gonna dive into something a little bit trickier, how to recognize effort even when the outcome isn't a win. Spoiler, it's one of the most underused tools in the sales playbook. So thanks for listening. Until next time.

Britt: 16:30

Happy gamifying.