Best Practices for Onboarding New Sales Reps Effectively

Adam H. · 2025-07-02 02:03:44.775459+00

Hey everyone, I brought on a new sales rep to work with recently but I found out we didn't have much ready yet. All we had was Notion doc from last year, some slack threads for his information and loom videos I took. I've been trying to help him ramp fast by running some shadowing sessions together but honestly I feel like I'm just throwing contexts. Curious of how you've handled this.

Best Practices for Onboarding New Sales Reps Effectively | RevGenius

7 comments

· Sorted by Oldest

Mike C.
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This is a much bigger conversation. I would say there's probably no silver bullet for a quick win in any ramp. Except for execution. Practice. Repetition. Be in the trench with them. Show them what it takes. Leverage AI and buildenablement material they can take home with them.
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Nicolas L.
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Not sure if this is your first sales hire, but if not, a buddy program has worked well for me in the past. You also want to compartmentalise the ramp ideally. Define milestones (every 1/3 or 1/4 of the ramp period ideally) which correlate to your leading indicators of success
Adam H.
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Yes I guess there aren't silver bullets for allowing our reps to win quick. This isn't our first hire (3rd one actually) so think I should make great buddy programs! Thanks for your kind advice!
👀1
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Dominic A.
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Hi Adam, Paris P. might have some great advice for you. I faced a similar challenge, but from the SDR side, and found one of her recent posts really helpful. Thought you might want to take a look! here
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Paris P.
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Thank you Dominic A. 🙂 Adam H. The buddy system can be helpful but the reps need a base to start off of. Are they junior or more senior? Before they get on the phone, they should know:
1.
Who they're selling to - what criteria makes the perfect prospect? (Industry, job title, location, # of employees/revenue, etc etc) They should not be wasting time selling to the wrong people.
2.
How they're selling - which tools can they use? How are they logging activities for tracking? What messaging resonates? What objections will they hear and how do they handle it? Do they know all the competitors and how to pitch against them?
3.
What they're selling - Do they fully understand the product/service and what the main selling points are? And a whole session on how to pitch pricing is essential..
4.
What does success look like and what do they need to do to get there? How will they be measured?
And I am probably forgetting several points. This is the absolute minimum starting point. If you can't afford to do a structured training week before they start, I'd do a weekly training to get them up to speed. You can facilitate it via Trainual, Notion, zoom etc but I would recommend quizzing them somehow to make sure they actually retained the info...
Adam H.
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Hey Picard, thanks so much for your advice! And Adeiza, thanks so much for the connection!! I'll obviously do let him know about those who, how & whats and just as you've mentioned since we're just a startup company yet and cannot afford structured training yet, I'll obviously do weekly training sessions with him! - Maybe I could document things out while doing so
🙌1
Jaime J.
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Congrats on hiring your first sales rep. I would encourage you to document the responsibilities. If you don’t really have training in place, build it as you go with your sales person. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago… the next best time? Today. Good luck.

Loading comments

Mike C.
·
·
This is a much bigger conversation. I would say there's probably no silver bullet for a quick win in any ramp. Except for execution. Practice. Repetition. Be in the trench with them. Show them what it takes. Leverage AI and buildenablement material they can take home with them.
👀1
Nicolas L.
·
·
Not sure if this is your first sales hire, but if not, a buddy program has worked well for me in the past. You also want to compartmentalise the ramp ideally. Define milestones (every 1/3 or 1/4 of the ramp period ideally) which correlate to your leading indicators of success
Adam H.
·
·
Yes I guess there aren't silver bullets for allowing our reps to win quick. This isn't our first hire (3rd one actually) so think I should make great buddy programs! Thanks for your kind advice!
👀1
🙏1
Dominic A.
·
·
Hi Adam, Paris P. might have some great advice for you. I faced a similar challenge, but from the SDR side, and found one of her recent posts really helpful. Thought you might want to take a look! here
💡1
Paris P.
·
·
Thank you Dominic A. 🙂 Adam H. The buddy system can be helpful but the reps need a base to start off of. Are they junior or more senior? Before they get on the phone, they should know:
1.
Who they're selling to - what criteria makes the perfect prospect? (Industry, job title, location, # of employees/revenue, etc etc) They should not be wasting time selling to the wrong people.
2.
How they're selling - which tools can they use? How are they logging activities for tracking? What messaging resonates? What objections will they hear and how do they handle it? Do they know all the competitors and how to pitch against them?
3.
What they're selling - Do they fully understand the product/service and what the main selling points are? And a whole session on how to pitch pricing is essential..
4.
What does success look like and what do they need to do to get there? How will they be measured?
And I am probably forgetting several points. This is the absolute minimum starting point. If you can't afford to do a structured training week before they start, I'd do a weekly training to get them up to speed. You can facilitate it via Trainual, Notion, zoom etc but I would recommend quizzing them somehow to make sure they actually retained the info...
Adam H.
·
·
Hey Picard, thanks so much for your advice! And Adeiza, thanks so much for the connection!! I'll obviously do let him know about those who, how & whats and just as you've mentioned since we're just a startup company yet and cannot afford structured training yet, I'll obviously do weekly training sessions with him! - Maybe I could document things out while doing so
🙌1
Jaime J.
·
·
Congrats on hiring your first sales rep. I would encourage you to document the responsibilities. If you don’t really have training in place, build it as you go with your sales person. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago… the next best time? Today. Good luck.