sdr-onboarding-plan
Use this skill when you hire SDRs or BDRs and need them productive fast: "30-60-90 day plan for a new SDR", "SDR onboarding program", "ramp plan for new reps", "how to train new BDRs". Builds a week-by-week onboarding plan covering ICP and product, tools, messaging, live practice and ramping activity, with certification gates, ramp targets, coaching cadence and the signals that a rep is behind. Produces a ready-to-run plan and checklist.Use this before a new SDR starts. A structured first month is the difference between first meetings in week three and in week eight.
Inputs
- Product, ICP, personas and the main plays.
- Sales process, stages and the tools reps use.
- Full-ramp targets (meetings per month) and who coaches.
The play
1. Structure the first 90 days
Read references/onboarding-plan.md for the week-by-week plan. The shape:
| Phase | Weeks | Focus | Gate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Learn | 1-2 | ICP, personas, product, process, tools | Certification: ICP and pitch |
| Practice | 2-3 | Messaging, calls, role-plays, shadowing | Certification: role-play pass |
| Ramp | 3-8 | Live outreach with rising targets and daily review | Ramp targets met |
| Own | 9-13 | Full targets, own campaigns, peer coaching | Full quota |
2. Teach the buyer before the product
Reps who understand the customer's day, problems and language write better first lines than reps who memorised features.
3. Certify, don't assume
Short, real tests: pitch the value proposition in 30 seconds, write three first emails that pass review, handle five common objections in a role-play, qualify a mock discovery call.
4. Ramp the targets
Typical ramp for meetings: month 1, 25-35% of full target; month 2, 60-70%; month 3, 100%. Activity starts lower and leans on quality: fewer, better-researched touches.
5. Coach on a cadence
Daily 15-minute check-ins for the first four weeks, weekly call or email reviews, and a 30/60/90 review with the manager. Pair each new rep with a buddy who is hitting target.
6. Watch the early-warning signals
Not certifying by week 3, low activity quality (emails failing review), avoiding calls, no positive replies by week 5. Act early with extra practice rather than waiting for the month-3 number.
What good looks like
- The new rep books a first meeting within the first four weeks.
- Certifications use real scenarios, not slide quizzes.
- The plan is a living document with owners for each session.
- The common mistake is two weeks of product slides, then a full activity target from week three.
Rules
- MUST include certification gates before live outreach.
- MUST set ramped targets, not full targets, for the first two months.
- NEVER let new reps send unreviewed outreach in their first two weeks live.
Example prompts
- "Build a 90-day onboarding plan for 3 new SDRs selling to HR leaders."
- "Write the certification tests for new BDRs."
- "Our reps take 5 months to ramp. Fix our onboarding."