Onboarding new sales reps is a pain. You want them productive fast, but dumping them in front of a dashboard and hoping for the best doesn't work. If you're using Salesloft, this guide will show you—step by step—how to get new reps comfortable, confident, and actually closing deals. This is for sales managers, ops folks, and anyone tired of “best practices” articles that never get to the point.
Let’s get your new hires up and running, minus the confusion and wasted time.
Step 1: Set Up the Basics Before Their First Day
Nothing kills excitement like logging in to a half-configured tool. Before your rep even starts:
- Create their Salesloft account: Don’t wait. Get it set up with the right email and permissions.
- Assign the right role: Salesloft has user roles—don’t just make everyone an admin. Stick with “Sales Rep” unless they genuinely need more access.
- Connect their email and calendar: This is mission-critical. If your company uses Google or Outlook, make sure integration is ready to go.
- Add them to relevant teams: Salesloft lets you group users. Put your new rep on the right team(s) so they see the right cadences and reporting.
Pro tip: Send a “Welcome to Salesloft” email with login info, links to your key cadences, and who to bug for help. It saves you a dozen “where do I start?” questions.
Step 2: Give a Guided Tour—Not a Lecture
Don’t throw your rep into a three-hour Zoom demo. The basics matter most, so cover these in a 30-minute walkthrough:
- Home/dashboard: Where they’ll see tasks for the day. This is their launchpad.
- Cadence basics: Show how to enroll someone in a cadence, complete steps (email, call, social), and mark outcomes.
- People & Accounts: Where they look up prospects, see activity, and take notes.
- Email and phone tools: Show how to send tracked emails and make calls from Salesloft.
- Analytics (but keep it simple): Point out where to see their own results—calls made, reply rates, etc.
If you’re in person, screen share. If remote, use a video walkthrough. Skip the deep-dive into every menu. They’ll forget it anyway.
Step 3: Load Up Their First Cadences
Salesloft lives and dies by cadences (think: pre-built sales sequences). It’s easy to overwhelm new reps, so:
- Assign just 1-2 cadences to start: Pick your bread-and-butter campaigns—the ones most reps use.
- Explain the why: Tell them when to use each cadence, the type of prospects it fits, and what “good” looks like (e.g., open rates, reply rates).
- Quality over quantity: It’s tempting to show off 15 cadences, but new reps will just get lost. Focus on what actually works.
Watch out: If your cadences are a mess (outdated steps, broken links), fix them before onboarding anyone. Nothing frustrates a new rep faster than broken templates.
Step 4: Import a Starter List—Don’t Make Them Prospect Cold
New hires flounder if they’re told to “just start prospecting.” Give them a head start:
- Upload a list of good-fit leads: Even 20-30 prospects is enough. Use a CSV import or sync from your CRM.
- Show them how to add people to cadences: Do it together—walk through the process, then have them try it solo.
- Explain custom fields: If you use custom fields in Salesloft (e.g., industry, persona), show how to check that info before starting outreach.
Pro tip: Encourage quality outreach over blasting everyone. It’s better to send five thoughtful emails than 50 generic ones no one reads.
Step 5: Practice Real Tasks—Not Just Clicking Around
Here's where most onboarding falls apart. Watching a demo isn’t the same as doing the work. Get your new rep to:
- Send a real email: Have them pick a lead and send a personalized message through Salesloft.
- Make a test call: If you record calls, let them practice on a teammate first. Don’t worry about it being perfect.
- Update a lead’s status: Walk through marking a disposition (e.g., interested, not interested, follow-up) so they don’t fudge up your reporting later.
- Try logging a note: Notes help everyone remember why you called. Get them in the habit early.
Be there to help: Watch their screen (or sit beside them) for the first couple tasks. It’s faster than answering 20 tiny questions later.
Step 6: Show Them Where to Get Help (and What to Ignore)
Salesloft’s help docs are decent, but reps get lost easily. Point them to:
- Your internal cheat sheet: A simple Google Doc with, “How do I… in Salesloft?” answers is gold.
- The in-app help: There’s a chat icon in Salesloft. Sometimes it’s helpful, sometimes not—don’t oversell it.
- Who to ask: Make it clear who owns Salesloft in your org. Reps shouldn’t have to guess who to bug for access or troubleshooting.
- What not to worry about: Ignore advanced features (like automation rules, API stuff, deep analytics) until they’ve mastered the basics.
Honest take: Most “power user” features in Salesloft sound cool but rarely move the needle for new reps. Stick to the stuff that helps them hit quota.
Step 7: Set Clear Expectations and Check In (Without Micromanaging)
Even with a perfect setup, new reps need direction. Avoid “sink or swim” by:
- Giving daily or weekly goals: Number of emails sent, calls made, or leads worked. Make it achievable for someone new.
- Scheduling a check-in after the first week: Not to grill them, but to answer questions and clear up confusion.
- Asking what’s confusing: If multiple reps get stuck in the same place, your onboarding needs work—not them.
Avoid: Don’t track every click. Trust but verify. Most reps want to do a good job—help them do it.
Step 8: Iterate and Improve (Because Your Process Isn’t Perfect)
No onboarding process is ever “done.” After each new hire:
- Ask for honest feedback: What was clear? What was missing? What was a waste of time?
- Update your cheat sheet and cadences: If everyone stumbles over the same thing, fix it for the next hire.
- Kill dead cadences: Outdated templates and processes just slow everyone down.
Keep your process lean. You don’t need a fancy “onboarding journey.” You just need new reps sending good emails, making calls, and not getting bogged down.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple and Keep Moving
Salesloft is powerful, but most reps just need the basics to start closing deals. Get accounts set up, give focused training, walk through real tasks, and don’t pile on features just because they’re there. Onboard, check in, and keep tweaking your process. Don’t let “perfect” get in the way of getting new reps selling.
The goal: more reps ramped, fewer headaches for everyone. That’s it.