If all goes well, a new salesperson leaves the office after the first day of work as a new brand ambassador. When speaking with friends or on social media later that night, the new hire’s mates will ask how it went, what the job entails, what the business does. With a strong sales onboarding process, new recruits won’t answer those questions in vague, ambiguous terms, but will instead explain with passion and excitement exactly what the business does and exactly where they fit in.

Understanding Their Role in the Company Vision

For salespeople, a good first day is a feeling — a set of emotions. They are pumped up and excited to return the next day. They are certain that they made the right choice. They feel the way they felt when they were first offered the job. They are motivated and eager to prove their worth.

So how does a sales onboarding program elicit these emotions in new recruits?

A good first day, of course, includes the normal induction routine. New hires will be familiarised with the database and other technology. They will be introduced to key players, including pre-sales and technical people. They will begin a training plan to acclimate them to their daily routine.

The most important task, however, is to paint a clear picture of the business’s purpose, the company’s vision and the recruit’s role in bringing that vision to life: The company’s goal is to put a man on the moon. You’re going to help us do that by doing X, Y and Z.

New hires should have bought into the company’s vision before they ever joined, but the first day of work is when that buy-in is examined on a granular level.

Day 1: Establishing the Non-Negotiables

On the first day, salespeople learn without any ambiguity which elements of the job are open to their own style and interpretation, and which are not. If they use the wrong language, someone should correct them and explain the way the company needs them to communicate and articulate. Salespeople should learn on day one how they are expected to present themselves and the processes the business requires them to follow.

It is never a good idea to try to turn salespeople into something they aren’t, but some things are non-negotiable — and that must be made clear on the very first day. The best salespeople will quickly incorporate the company’s required language and process into their own flare and style.

Activity Plans, Tests and Day 1 Provisions

The best sales onboarding starts with activity plans for the first one, three and six months to chart a recruit’s actions and involvements from the very beginning. Salespeople often spend their entire first day cold calling, which does nothing to improve their chances of success. New hires should spend some time on the phone, but their activity plans should also include a healthy blend of joint visits to clients, introductions to other departments and time spent with high performers.

New hires should not only meet high performers, but should be paired with a buddy for an extended period of time. The buddy system give them a living example of what success looks like, stokes their natural competitive instincts and motivates them to excel.

New recruits should also be tested on their first day:

• What do they know about the business?

• What do they know about the industry and competitors?

• What do they know about the business’s USPs?

• How well have they absorbed the product literature?

• What is expected of them?

• What process and procedures will they follow to meet those expectations?

Experienced salespeople — those with a year or more under their belts — may be asked to present their own plans and strategies for the immediate future.

Sucessfully onboarding sales employees determines which conversation they will have at the end of the day after their first day of work. It assesses their knowledge, cements their understanding of their role in the company vision and integrates them into the business as a full member of the team.