A 30-day onboarding checklist for a new sales rep

The first 30 days set a rep's trajectory. Rush them onto the phones with no foundation and they build bad habits; bury them in a month of slides and they lose momentum. Here's a balanced, week-by-week checklist.

Week 1 — Context, not calls

• Learn the product deeply enough to explain the problem it solves, not just the features.
• Understand the ideal customer: who buys, why, and what they're comparing you to.
• Listen to 10+ recorded calls — a few great ones, a few that went sideways.
• Meet the team they'll rely on: SDR/AE counterpart, sales engineering, support.

Week 2 — Message and mechanics

• Internalize the core pitch and the top five objections with strong responses.
• Learn the tools: CRM hygiene, sequences, where notes go.
• Shadow live calls, then debrief: what would you have said at each turn?
• Do structured role-play on the hardest objections — safe reps before real ones.

Week 3 — Supervised live work

• Start real calls with a manager listening and a single coaching focus per call.
• Debrief every call with one specific, timestamped piece of feedback (not ten).
• Build a first small pipeline; review qualification quality, not just quantity.

Week 4 — Independence with a safety net

• Run calls solo; review recordings together a few times a week.
• Set the 60/90-day targets so "ramping" has a definition, not a vibe.
• Have the rep self-assess calls against your team's scorecard — self-coaching is where lasting improvement comes from.

The principle behind the checklist

Alternate input and reps. A week of pure learning without practice, or a week of calls without foundation, both fail. Layer knowledge, then immediately make them use it.

Ramp isn't a function of how much you tell a new rep. It's a function of how quickly you get them doing the job with feedback.

Team onboarding and practice tools from Callevo are coming soon. Hiring your next rep now? Screen for people who ramp fast with an objective assessment before they start.