During some of Tom Shay's presentations, he mentions a sales skill game that can be utilized in your business. The game is called, "Top Ten/Bottom Ten".

To adapt this game for your staff, you will want to make a list of the best things you can say to a customer as well as a list of the worst things you can say to a customer. To see our list of the top ten and bottom ten things, click on the appropriate list.

Top Ten Things

Bottom Ten things

To play the game, one person needs to be the time keeper. They will need a stopwatch and something to make noise with - such as a bell or whistle. One person accepts the job of salesperson and another becomes the customer.

Posted on the wall in large print should be a poster listing the top ten things to say and a poster listing the bottom ten things to say. The posters should be in a position that the person playing the part of salesperson cannot see them.

The timekeeper starts the stopwatch to begin the game and then closely listens to the interaction between the "customer" and "salesperson". One bonus point is scored for each of the things from the "top ten" list that is said. However, when the salesperson says one of the "bottom ten" things, the bell is sounded and the stopwatch is stopped.

The score for the "salesperson" is tabulated as the number of seconds on the stopwatch plus one bonus point for each of the "top ten" things said.

Score for each person is listed on an additional poster hung on the wall. Winner of the game is the person with the highest score. A prize that works well is purchasing lunch for the winner and providing additional time for lunch.