In this article
Summary
A sales onboarding plan is a written schedule for a new rep's first 90 days. The rep, their manager and your enablement team use the schedule to see what the rep will learn, do and prove, and who is responsible for each part of the plan.
A 30/60/90-day plan splits the first 90 days into three 30-day phases. In this guide, each phase ends in a gate: a checkpoint the rep must pass, such as a scored pitch or a pipeline target, before moving on.
This guide's 30/60/90-day sales onboarding plan includes:
- A written definition of “ramped,” the milestone you measure ramp time against.
- A setup checklist finished before the rep's first day.
- Days 1–30: learn the buyer, the product and the sales process.
- Days 31–60: practice, then sell with support.
- Days 61–90: run the full sales cycle.
- A named owner for each part of the plan.
- A few measures of whether the plan is working, such as time to first closed deal, reviewed after every cohort of new hires.
Sales teams that run onboarding in Tangelo use versions of this 30/60/90-day plan to see which new reps are falling behind while a manager still has time to help, long before quota results show it. You'll find a template you can copy further down.
Define “ramped” before you plan anything
Get your sales leaders to agree in writing on what “ramped” means for each role you hire. Options include the rep's first closed deal, a share of full quota held for a set number of months, or a pipeline target. Without that definition, each manager may answer “is the new hire on track?” by a different standard.
Keep the 90 days of the structured program separate from ramp time, which is how long a rep takes to reach your definition of “ramped.” For a long sales cycle, ramp time can run well past 90 days.
Before day one: finish the setup
A new rep can lose days of their first week to an empty calendar and logins that do not work. Before the start date:
- Access Set up and test every login the rep needs: the customer relationship management (CRM) system, email, calendar, call recorder, content library and your onboarding platform.
- Calendar Book the rep's first two weeks of training sessions on your product and sales process, along with shadowing calls and weekly one-on-ones with their manager.
- People Assign the new rep a mentor, an experienced rep who answers their day-to-day questions, and book the new rep's first one-on-one with their manager for day one.
- The 30/60/90-day plan Have the plan ready to give the rep on their first morning, so they know what they must show at the day-30 gate.
Onboarding software can build each rep's learning path and book the first sessions before the rep arrives. In Tangelo, that learning path, a dated sequence of courses, videos, knowledge checks and roleplays, is ready before the rep first logs in1.
Days 1–30: learn the buyer, the product and the sales process
The rep learnsWho you sell to and why they buy, the product well enough to deliver your pitch, the main competitors, your sales process and methodology, and the sales tools the team uses.
The rep doesShadows live calls at different stages of a deal, listens to recordings from won and lost deals, and practices the pitch and a discovery call in roleplay before handling a real one.
Gate at day 30The rep delivers the pitch and a discovery-call roleplay to the standard on a scorecard you write before the rep starts, and passes a product knowledge check. The manager or your roleplay software scores the roleplays, and the manager signs off on this phase.
Days 31–60: practice, then sell with support
The rep learnsObjection handling, pricing and the demo.
The rep doesRuns discovery calls with a manager or mentor listening, starts building their pipeline, practices objection handling, pricing conversations and the demo in roleplay before they come up on live calls, and reviews at least one recorded call a week with the manager.
Gate at day 60The rep has created the number of qualified opportunities you set for this phase, has passed the enablement team's roleplay certification on objection handling, pricing and the demo, and follows the steps of your sales methodology in a call the manager reviews. The manager then signs off on this phase.
Days 61–90: run the full sales cycle
The rep learnsNegotiation and forecasting.
The rep doesRuns deals from first call to proposal (and on to close if your sales cycle is short enough), forecasts in the CRM, handles pricing and negotiation with coaching, and is held to the same activity targets as a ramped rep.
Gate at day 90The rep meets the pipeline target you set for this phase, the manager signs off on the phase, and the rep and manager agree on which skills the rep will work on over the next 90 days. If your sales cycle is short enough, add the rep's first closed deal to this gate.
After day 90: keep developing the rep from real calls
From day 91, score the rep's calls against the steps of your sales methodology, and turn the steps the rep misses into roleplay practice for the next 90 days.
Tangelo's AI agents build each rep's learning path and, as the rep grows, “keep rebuilding it.”1
A 30/60/90-day sales onboarding plan template
| Phase | The rep learns | The rep does | Proves before moving on | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before day 1 | — | — | The team has tested every login, booked the rep's first two weeks of sessions and assigned a mentor, and the plan is ready for the rep's first morning | The enablement team, with IT for logins and the manager for the first one-on-one |
| Days 1–30 | The buyer, the product, the competitors, the sales process and the sales tools | Shadows live calls, listens to recordings from won and lost deals, and practices the pitch and a discovery call in roleplay | Delivers the pitch and a discovery-call roleplay to the standard on your scorecard, passes a product knowledge check, and gets the manager's sign-off | The enablement team, with a mentor for shadowing |
| Days 31–60 | Objection handling, pricing, the demo | Runs discovery calls with a manager or mentor listening, builds their pipeline, practices objection handling, pricing and the demo in roleplay, and reviews at least one recorded call a week with the manager | Meets the target for qualified opportunities, passes the roleplay certification on objection handling, pricing and the demo, follows your sales methodology in a call the manager reviews, and gets the manager's sign-off | The manager, with the enablement team for certifications |
| Days 61–90 | Negotiation, forecasting | Runs deals from first call to proposal (and on to close if your sales cycle is short enough), forecasts in the CRM, handles pricing and negotiation with coaching, and is held to the same activity targets as a ramped rep | Meets the pipeline target, gets the manager's sign-off, and agrees with the manager on which skills to work on for the next 90 days | The manager |
Who owns each part of the plan
- The manager Holds the weekly one-on-one, reviews calls and signs off on each phase once the rep meets its gate.
- The mentor Takes the rep on shadowing calls and answers day-to-day questions.
- The enablement team Builds the plan, schedules the sessions, runs certifications, keeps content current, reports on progress and reviews the plan's measures after every cohort.
- The rep Completes the assigned practice and asks for help early.
- With Tangelo Tangelo's AI agents assign onboarding tasks to managers and mentors2.
How to tell whether the plan is working
Compare each cohort of new hires with the one before, rather than one rep with another, on a few of these measures:
- Time to first closed deal
- Time to your written definition of “ramped”
- How many reps pass each phase gate on the first attempt, and which gates they retake
- Pipeline created by day 60 and day 90
- The manager's rating of the rep at each sign-off, on a scale you keep the same for every cohort
- How many new hires are still in the role a year later
Best practices for onboarding new sales reps
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Write the plan before the start date, and give it to the rep on day one.
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Gate each phase on something the rep can show, such as a scored roleplay or a call a manager has reviewed, so reaching day 30 or finishing courses does not by itself move a rep to the next phase. A rep who misses a gate practices what they missed and retakes the gate, and the phase continues until the manager signs off.
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Practice before the live call. Have the rep roleplay a discovery call before running a real one, and a pricing conversation before one comes up in a deal.
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Build a plan per role. A sales development rep (SDR), an account executive and a customer success manager need different skills by day 30, so rewrite this template's activities and gates for any role that does not run deals to proposal.
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Every week, show managers each rep's overdue tasks, missed required sessions and latest roleplay with the feedback on it, so each manager can step in before a rep who is falling behind reaches the next gate.
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Take the coordination work off the enablement team. Booking sessions, sending reminders, tracking attendance and assigning follow-ups can run automatically, so the enablement team spends more of its time on content and coaching.
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Name an owner and a review date for every training module, so the owner checks each module on its review date and updates it when your product, pricing or messaging changes.
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Review the plan after every cohort, using the measures in “How to tell whether the plan is working,” and change one thing at a time.
What Tangelo does in onboarding, and what your team still decides
Software can draft the plan, book sessions and score reps' practice, but your team still decides what “ramped” means and signs off on each phase. Tangelo does the following for your onboarding program:
- Drafting the plan. You describe the program you want, and Tangelo drafts it as a sequence of tasks and automations, whether that is an onboarding program, certification, sales kickoff (SKO) or product launch3.
- Scheduling and reminders. Tangelo's AI agents schedule sessions, send reminders and follow up on missed sessions automatically, and connect to Google and Microsoft calendars2,3.
- A learning path per rep. Tangelo builds each rep's learning path from their role, level, team, location, start date and experience2.
- Practice and certification. Tangelo Roleplay lets reps rehearse discovery calls, objections and demos against an AI buyer built from your ideal customer profiles, messaging, playbooks and call data3,4. Tangelo Onboarding assesses each new hire's skills “using AI roleplays and dynamic scorecards.”2 Reps earn certifications by passing verbal checks and roleplays1.
- Progress for managers. Managers see calls scored, roleplays passed and certifications overdue on one dashboard in Tangelo's Learning Management System, “with the rep who needs attention already flagged.”1
- Coaching from real calls. Tangelo “reviews reps' sales calls to find where they need help, makes personalized coaching and roleplays, then reviews subsequent calls to make sure their skills are developing.”3
- Content search for reps. Tangelo's “AI-powered content search finds answers in Drive, SharePoint, Confluence, and other connected sources,”3 and it also searches your CRM.
At Justworks, ramp time for account executives “dropped from 18 months to 10 months” after the team rebuilt onboarding in Tangelo, with “learning pathways, cohort calendaring, AI-powered roleplay, and manager dashboards, all integrated rather than stitched together from separate tools.”5
Frequently asked questions
What are the key components of a successful sales onboarding plan?
A sales onboarding plan can include these key components, which Tangelo recommends: a written definition of “ramped”; a setup checklist finished before day one, such as tested logins, booked sessions for the first two weeks and an assigned mentor; phases that each end in a gate the rep must pass; a named owner for each part of the plan; and a few measures of whether the plan is working, such as time to first closed deal, reviewed after each cohort. Phase length varies by team; the plan in this guide uses three 30-day phases.
What is a 30-60-90 day sales plan?
A 30/60/90-day sales plan splits a new rep's first 90 days into three 30-day phases, for example learning, then selling with support, then running the full sales cycle. Ending each phase in a gate, a checkpoint the rep must pass such as a scored pitch or a pipeline target, helps a manager see who is falling behind in time to course-correct.
Where can I find a 30-60-90 day sales plan template?
This guide includes a 30/60/90-day sales onboarding plan template, which sets out, for each phase, what the rep learns, what the rep does, what the rep proves before moving on, and who owns the phase. Copy the table into a document or spreadsheet, then set the gates and targets for each role.
What are the best practices for onboarding new sales reps?
Tangelo recommends these best practices for onboarding new sales reps: write the plan before the start date, and base each phase gate on something the rep can show. Have reps practice conversations before live calls, build a plan per role, and show managers every week which reps are falling behind.
Automate the scheduling and reminders, keep onboarding content current, and review the plan after every cohort.
How long should sales onboarding take?
Plan 90 days of structured sales onboarding, split into three 30-day phases of learning, selling with support and running the full sales cycle, and measure ramp time separately.
Ramp time depends on your definition of “ramped” and on your sales cycle, and it can run past the end of the program. In surveys of sales leaders by The Bridge Group, a sales consulting firm, account executives took about 6 months on average to reach full productivity6, and sales development reps (SDRs) about 37.
How can you speed up sales onboarding?
Speed up sales onboarding by removing the days reps lose to empty calendars and logins that do not work, moving practice earlier and showing managers sooner who is falling behind. Finish setup before day one, so the new rep spends the first week learning rather than waiting for access.
Have reps practice conversations in roleplay before live calls, and show managers who is falling behind early enough to help.
How do you run sales onboarding without adding admin work for the enablement team?
Where possible, automate the coordination (session booking, calendar invites, reminders, attendance and follow-ups), so the enablement team has more time for content and coaching. Tangelo schedules sessions, sends calendar invites and reminders, tracks attendance and follows up on missed sessions2,3.
Can I use this template for a 30-60-90 day plan for a job interview?
Partly. This template is written for the teams that build onboarding, but a candidate can use its phases and gates (the checkpoints a rep passes before moving on) to outline what they would learn, do and prove in the role.
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