Onboarding a new rep
Effective onboarding gets a new rep to real doors fast, with someone alongside them, and gives them a way to see progress before sales arrive. Classroom training stops paying after the first couple of days because the binding constraint is time at doors. Measure conversations rather than sales in the first fortnight.
Doors early, with company
A new rep learns more in an afternoon alongside someone competent than in two days of instruction. The value is in seeing an actual conversation go wrong and be recovered, which cannot be described convincingly in advance.
Give them a signal that moves
Sales are too rare early to function as feedback. A rep who can see conversations rising week over week has evidence they are improving; a rep watching only sales has weeks of nothing.
Set expectations honestly
Tell them most doors end with nobody home. The gap between the recruiting pitch and the first week is the largest single cause of early attrition, and it is free to close.
Common questions
- How long should onboarding take?
- Days of structured content at most, then doors with support. The constraint is time at doors, not information delivered.
- What should a new rep be measured on?
- Doors and conversations for the first few weeks. Sales are too rare to say anything at that stage.
- What causes early attrition?
- Usually the gap between what recruiting described and what the first week feels like.
More on building a team
The manager side: recruiting, onboarding, retention and the cost of losing a rep. Where the paid tier eventually lives.