Struggling to improve your sales performance and build a squad of masterful deal closers?
You are not alone!
In fact, sales productivity is the #1 challenge for nearly 65% of B2B organizations. It primarily relates to poor training and collaboration in sales teams. Moreover, the turnover rate among salespeople is 35%, almost three times higher than the average overall—13% (Source: HubSpot).
So, here’s your ultimate guide to creating a collaborative sales team of professionals who will be more productive and stay longer at your company, steering it toward success.
First, we’re sharing the most effective team-building examples in sales teams—only the best picks. Instructions go next. Stick around for valuable insights ahead. You wouldn’t want to miss those.
Table of Contents
- All-About-Sales Team Building for Better Performance
- Other Effective Team Building Solutions for Sales Teams
- Best Strategies for Building a High-Performing Sales Team
- Build a Team of Heavy Hitters in Sales with Outback
- Author Bio
All-About-Sales Team Building for Better Performance
Sales Kick-Off Meeting
How about kicking off the year with a super-productive and inspirational gathering?
Typically organized in January/February, sales kick-offs (SKOs) unite salespeople in one conference room (virtually or physically) to celebrate previous successes, set new goals, and spur everyone to climb even higher peaks in the coming year.
For example:
Microsoft holds annual SKOs called “MCAPS Start” to break into the new fiscal year with the motivation to ace sales.
Your sales kick-off meeting agenda may also include fun team building activities for sales representatives.
For example:
Sidetrade turned their SKO into an unforgettable team bonding experience for salespeople, ending with a white evening party.
Mind: When it comes to SKOs, there’s a huge wish list for improvements from sales professionals. In fact, 61% expect more peer-to-peer connections rather than presentations, and 36% want more role-play and hands-on learning.
Sales Book Club
Although reading seems passive, it can drive you to active selling. This sales team-building activity can help you close more deals in the long run!
Here’s how.
Grab a proper sales book, share your impressions over coffee or tea (or wine—no judging here!), and try to implement the best sales strategies and lessons learned.
The topic can be anything, from outreach to leadership books:
- The Transparency Sale by Todd Caponi
- Sell Like A Spy by Jeremy Hurewitz
- Cold Calling Sucks (And That’s Why It Works) by Armand Farrokh and Nick Cegelski
- Selling Your Way IN by Kristie Jones
- The Little Red Book of Selling by Jeffrey Gitomer
- The Accidental Sales Manager by Chris Lytle
For example:
The SalesGravy team discussed Fanatical Prospecting over pizzas and drinks during their book club meeting.
Sales Olympics
Similar to the Olympiad Challenge with Olympic-styled athletic activities and games, you can compete in sales “sports” like these:
- Elevator Pitch Sprint
- Cold Calling Duel
- Prospecting Scavenger Hunt (Who generates the highest number of LinkedIn quality leads in just 30 minutes, huh?)
- Email Follow-Up Contest
- Social Selling Smackdown
- The Warm Referral Race
The winners get Bronze, Silver, and Gold medals (maybe even chocolate medals). Gamification like this will reinforce your sales performance and sharpen your team’s competitive instincts.
So, it might be one of the best sales team-building ideas to test your limits and determine the top performers in specific tasks.
“Try to Sell Me This” Challenge
Wouldn’t you want to promote your sales reps’ persuasiveness and creativity?
Bet you would!
Then, hand them ordinary objects, like a pencil or an umbrella, and check how they will sell them like pros. That indeed sounds like a classic “Sell Me This Pen” test in sales job interviews. Yet, it can be just the right 30-minute team-building activity for sales professionals.
Sales Training Workshop
Have you ever considered sales training as another team building activity for your sales team?
Conduct sales skills-boosting workshops on:
- Accelerated selling
- Sales development
- Persuasive selling
- Emotional intelligence, active listening, and empathy
- Market segmentation in sales (e.g., selling to C-suite executives)
- Objection-handling and negotiation
- Data-driven selling, etc.
For example:
Zenzero conducted a sales enablement workshop as a learning and team-bonding event.
Or—
Learn from Accenture’s example. The company created “ASAP” (Accenture’s Sales Acceleration Program) with a two-week training schedule on various topics for salespeople.
Other Effective Team Building Solutions for Sales Teams
Problem-Solving Games
It’s undeniably one of the must-try team-building ideas in sales. The reason? Problem-solving activities improve cognitive skills, such as attention to detail, deduction, critical thinking, resilience, etc. Those are essential for closing complex or high-value deals. But even more so, they contribute to teamwork.
Consider the following:
- Brain Teasers
- Escape Room Quests
- Marshmallow Towers
- Tricky Build-Up Challenges (e.g., Cardboard Boat-Building or Bridge-Building)
- Code-Breaking Puzzles
- Murder Mysteries, etc.
For example:
The Conexus Credit Union team indulged in a Code Break experience to enhance their problem-solving skills with challenges prepared by Outback.
Interested in remote team-building examples for sales groups?
Here’s the one: MyZone solved a virtually hosted Clue Murder Mystery with Outback’s help.
Extraordinary Brainstorming Sessions
Do you still brainstorm freestyle around a whiteboard or casually drop your suggestions into a Google Doc or Excel file (typical method in remote teams)?
If yes, let your salespeople’s brains storm with ideas more wildly (and effectively!) with these:
- Reverse Brainstorming
- Figure-Storming
- 6-3-5 Brainwriting
- Disney Creative Strategy (three roles: The Dreamer, The Realist, and The Critic)
- Mind mapping, etc.
Cross-Departmental Mixers
When was the last time you gathered with another team from your company (if ever)?
(Nope, your annual corporate retreat or end-of-year celebration doesn’t count.)
Probably never—much like we predicted.
It should be a meeting to align your goals, enhance cross-departmental collaboration, and engage more meaningfully with each other. Again, it must be something truly engaging, not just waving a “Hi” to the opposite corner of the table amid your festive dinner at a restaurant (or into the webcam during your virtual holiday party).
Organize more purposeful meet-ups with:
- Product Development Team
- Operations and Logistics Team
- Marketing Team
- Customer Support Team
- Customer Success Team
- SEO Team
For example:
The marketers and sales specialists from Advanced IPM gather for team-building events quarterly. Check out this one on Halloween.
Best Strategies for Building a High-Performing Sales Team
Increase Your Work Efficiency with More Advanced Tools
Is your sales team still managing leads via a shared spreadsheet (again—Google Sheets or Airtable)?
It’s high time to upgrade your tech stack to boost productivity. Equip your employees with the right tools for ultimate sales success:
- To capture leads more effectively → Prospecting solutions, such as Skrapp.io, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, or UpLead.
- To get a bird’s eye view of your sales projects → Project management tools
- To manage prospective and existing customers → Customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, such as HubSpot, Pipedrive, or Salesforce
Actually, AI-powered tools (like Breeze, HubSpot’s AI tool) can save your salespeople two hours per day!
A strong sales team isn’t just built on skills and motivation—it thrives when employees feel financially secure. Managing income variability and unexpected expenses can be challenging, and financial stress can impact performance. Supporting employees in navigating these challenges through a debt relief program can contribute to a healthier, more productive team.
Pro tip: Once your leads are warmed up and ready to seal the deal, invest in contract management software to document contracts and sales notes, especially in a large business, to avoid communication silos.
Engage Them in “The Worst Scenario” Role-Playing
If your sales reps are ready for the worst situations and the angriest clients, they will be prepared for anything.
Prepare a role-playing game for your sales team building to practice handling objections or dealing with difficult customers.
Take the following steps:
- Step 1. Create a high-tension scenario (The customer says, “All right, you’ve got 30 seconds to convince me,” or “This is a total rip-off!” furiously rumbling about the price)
- Step 2. Decide on the mode (Face-to-face, email, phone call, etc.)
- Step 3. Assign roles (Pick the “Worst Customer” and the “Sales Representative” who will act it out)
- Step 4. Play it out (The salesperson has to remain calm and professional and close the deal.)
- Step 5. Analyze (What was great about this communication, and what went horribly wrong? What would they do differently next time?)
This way, you’ll develop quick thinking, stress management, persuasion, and conflict resolution skills in your sales team and make sure they’re well-prepared for the worst.
Recognize and Celebrate Wins
In the words of Jerry Han, CMO of PrizeRebel, “You’ll never see the true potential and peak performance in sales if you don’t recognize and appreciate your employees’ achievements. They are the drivers behind your revenues, yet they need fuel—that is, motivation—to drive your business to success. On some occasions, it can be a simple thank-you; other times—a monetary reward or bonus.”
Roll out the red carpet (sometimes literally) and recognize your employees individually and as a sales crew.
Individual Recognition
- The spotlight email or social media post
- X-hours off (e.g., “sleep-in” Monday or “half-day” Friday)
- Gift certificate
- Physical or virtual badge
- The “Salesperson of the Month” award
- The “Top Sales Performer” employee recognition program
You may even throw an award ceremony as one of your sales team-building activities and give awards or certificates for different personal achievements.
Team-Wide Recognition
- Team victory rituals
- Collective gifts
- Wall of team’s milestones
- Celebrations of sales-related holidays: International Salesperson Day (the second Friday of December) or International Day of Persuasion (August 7th)
- Incentive team outings or retreats
For example:
Here’s a sneak peek from SOS Systems’ sales incentive trip to Portugal.
Unite Employees Around a Common Mission
You’d prefer a cooperative sales team, not a cut-throat one, wouldn’t you?
Build team cohesion by committing to a shared mission, vision, and values.
Michael Nemeroff, Co-founder & CEO of RushOrderTees, remarks that your sales team’s mission should align with the corporate one. He gives an example of corporate social responsibility (CSR). “If your company is socially responsible, your sales team should support CSR initiatives. Cooperate with other departments and join forces to promote CSR in your company.” (What an excellent idea for your cross-departmental team building!)
For example:
From recycling old T-shirts to cleaning up the neighborhood, all the teams at RushOrderTees collaborate for mutual CSR success in protecting the planet.
If your business is focused on philanthropy in the CSR, opt for charitable team-building ideas for sales teams.
For example:
Outback helped MD Financial make a meaningful impact in the veteran community with Wheelchairs for Charity.
Build a Team of Heavy Hitters in Sales with Outback
With these tips, be assured that your sales team will be more productive to hit even the highest targets. And in case you don’t know where to start, follow this principle:
To train, donate, or play, contact Outback today!
Author Bio
Catherine Schwartz is an author who specializes in employee well-being and engagement.
