Congratulations! You’ve decided to take your sales organization to the next level and build a sales development team. We’re excited to have you on board, because we believe that the sales development process is the biggest innovation to happen to sales in the last decade. So, you’re in a great starting place with sales development onboarding.
But before we get started with the background and daily processes you’ll need to equip your team, there’s something you should know…
Early sales development onboarding studies have shown that the average tenure for Sales Development Reps is just a mere 14 months. And while that time frame doesn’t seem too short with today’s employee churn rates, about 4% of those reps barely make it through the first six.
Inexperienced sales development leaders will say “4% is insignificant. It’s not hurting my company, I’ll just hire more next quarter.” Well those leaders aren’t looking at the bigger picture. That small percentage of churning employees is likely what’s causing your sales development team to hit a wall.
The number one reason a new SDR leaves before hitting that half-year mark is a lack of successful onboarding.
Don’t get us wrong — sales development may not be for everyone. It’s not the silver bullet for all sales organizations, and your team has to be cut out to make the change. But don’t let a lack of initial effort and thoughtful sales development onboarding be the reason the method fails.
We want your reps to get the basics down quickly, so that they can start thinking outside the box and become creative, sincere sellers. The future of sales development lies in team leadership, and the strategic sales development onboarding process implemented by them when new reps are hired. And as they begin to set up their first demos, get them started by using the process below:
sales development onboarding

Following these sales development onboarding steps will help ensure your new reps are well-versed, trained, and onboarded in just one week, up and running in the first month, and meeting quota in the second.
But don’t forget: it’s not just about process. Successful sales organizations focus on culture, human connection, and team growth. Make sure you hire reps with core values that align with your company’s mission, and get to know your new SDR as much as you can in those first few days to truly welcome them aboard.
Sales is all about confidence, belief, and trust, and the ability to transfer that belief to another. Culture is contagious, and building lasting relationships is where the heart is in sales development onboarding.
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Want to get a more comprehensive look at how we tackle the early days of sales development onboarding and planning? Download the first section of our Sales Development Playbook: Planning and get started today!
