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Inspired by "Hollywood Squares"

Retail contests shouldn’t be all about spreadsheets and crunching numbers. They should be fun and inspire your staff to sell with excitement! The best way to do this is to frame the contest as more of a game than a competition.

by Molly Noonan
July 10, 2011
2 min to read


Retail contests shouldn't be all about spreadsheets and crunching numbers. They should be fun and inspire your staff to sell with excitement! The best way to do this is to frame the contest as more of a game than a competition-and most importantly, make sure the reward resonates with employees. It can be something big, like a trip to the Bahamas, or something as simple as allowing them to choose the salon's music for a day. Whatever you choose, make sure your employees WANT to keep their eyes on the prize and sell!

This first contest, a "Hollywood Squares"-inspired game, is sure to get your employees selling like superstars! The best part is, it's designed to ensure that your staff is suggesting different products and categories, rather than relying on the same color-protecting shampoo or styling wax. Here's how it works:

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  1. Take a large poster board in the backroom and divide it into a grid of nine or 12 squares.

  1. In each square write a product name or category. For example, styling products, shampoo and conditioner, color-protecting products and heat appliances. However you choose to organize it, just make sure it's easy for the staff to understand and remember what they need to sell.

  1. Every time a staff member makes the first sale in the box, they put their initial. The first person to sell something from every box wins.

  1. You can also arrange it so that everybody wins a prize if they sell something from each box, but the first person wins the biggest prize.

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