Challenge Accepted: How I Revolutionized Sales Rep Onboarding in 30 Days

There were five pairs of eyes staring back at me down a long wooden table—all sales executives. I sat alone. One of the sales executives spoke up, “Emily, we can’t take a year to onboard our new Sales Reps.” I chortled back, “I wholeheartedly agree. What time frame do you have in mind?” After several seconds of a pause, one of the executives spoke up and said, “30 days. I want our sales reps, regardless of prior professional experience—or lack thereof, to get in front of a customer confidently and competently in 30 days.”

I almost burst out laughing, thinking they were joking. How could this be done? The product portfolio was massive, and some of these new hires had just graduated college and didn’t understand a general sales process, let alone the complexities of selling in person versus virtually. New hires were starting at different times, and we had no fewer than six major software platforms (I’m sure there were more) they needed to learn to navigate. Not to mention the general insights and strategies they needed to build for appropriate account planning. And I hadn’t even begun to speak about the connection component—getting them to align and collaborate with their new team.

I could have said, “Not a chance,” and renegotiated for something more feasible, but my hubris got the best of me, and I responded, “Challenge accepted.” The sales execs nodded and smiled.

Up to this point, I had been a Pharma and MedTech sales trainer and learning strategist working in the new hire onboarding space for about five years, and it had been far from a perfect process. I say this all to let you know that, first, I have been where you are. I get it. And I am sure onboarding is merely one of your many responsibilities in your role. Second, there is hope. I took all my years of learning, screwing up, and iterating to make that “30-day magic wand” dream become a reality—or at least something that was not too shabby.

Now, my goal is to share with you some tried-and-true strategies to save you the headache and allow you to spend more time on the 50 other tasks on your to-do list.

Join me weekly to navigate both the challenges and successes together. After all, as my improv team used to say before every performance, "I've got your back!"

Welcome to Burges Red. Let’s revolutionize onboarding together.

Stay tuned for more insights and solutions to make your onboarding process seamless and effective!