Microsoft has just bought Austin, TX-based Incent Games Inc., the company that created FantasySalesTeam. The latter is a sales gamification platform that promises to motivate sales teams by pitting sales employees, as well as other departments, against each other in a contest not unlike that of a fantasy sports games. According to FST the app is customizable and can be played in varied sales environments, offering performance metrics and kudos for those individuals or teams that end up at the top of the league.

Bob Stutz, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Dynamics CRM (customer relationship management), said in a blog post that the platform will be offered to Microsoft’s customers, and also combined with its own Dynamics CRM. The outcome of using FST, said Stutz, is improved sales performance, incentivized employees, and enhanced revenue through collaborative team-based competition.

While leagues and motivation tactics are nothing new in sales departments, Microsoft sees the platform, available for web, iOS and Android, as a more creative and enjoyable way to improve productivity. Stutz writes that the platform has, “Disrupted the old sales incentive model with an original twist that combines gamification with fantasy sports and expertly applies it to a sales setting.” He adds that with the old approach the winners often remained on top and those in their wake suffered from loss of confidence and gave up. FST, he writes, encourages, rather than diminishes hope.

Adam Hollander, CEO of FantasySalesTeam expressed his delight at the acquisition, saying that thousands of customers would soon turn into millions. Some of those customers have been Michelin, HP and Siemens. Microsoft cites results from studies taken on FST customers, stating that what was achieved was, “staggering”. In one such study Service Corporation International, a Texas-based funeral goods and services company, saw its sales employees close on average more than 88 percent more deals than those not using FantasySalesTeam. In another study in the first month of running the game Wireless Zone achieved a 176 percent boost in total sales, 35 percent increase in specific product sales and a 9 percent increase in profit.

The terms of the deal have yet to be disclosed.

Photo credit: FantasySalesTeam Facebook