Hiring new sales reps is expensive and time-consuming. Getting them up to speed shouldn’t be. If you’re tired of watching new hires fumble through endless documents, stale slide decks, and “shadowing” that doesn’t really teach them much, you’re not alone. This guide is for sales managers, enablement folks, and anyone who wants new reps to actually sell—not just sit through training.
Let’s cut to it: Here’s how you can use Experiense playbooks to make onboarding way less painful, more consistent, and a lot more useful.
Why Sales Onboarding Usually Fails (and What Needs Fixing)
Let’s be honest: Most onboarding is a mess. Here’s why:
- Information overload: New reps get a firehose of info, forget 90% of it in a week, and then end up pinging you for basics.
- No real context: Shadowing is hit or miss. Some reps learn a ton, others just watch someone else’s calls and zone out.
- Inconsistent training: Every manager or “buddy” does it differently. Some are great, others, not so much.
- Too slow to ramp: It takes months before new hires are actually productive.
What new reps really need:
- Clear, step-by-step guidance, not a dump of docs.
- Real scenarios they’ll actually face.
- A way to practice and get feedback—without feeling like they’re annoying everyone.
This is where Experiense playbooks can actually help—if you use them right.
What Are Experiense Playbooks, Really?
Skip the buzzwords: Experiense playbooks are interactive guides that walk someone through a process, scenario, or workflow, step by step. Think of them as checklists with brains—less “read this doc,” more “do this task, here’s how.”
You can use playbooks for:
- Prepping for discovery calls
- Handling objections (with real examples)
- Walking through your CRM the way your team does it—not how Salesforce wants you to
- Practicing demos, pricing talks, or proposal reviews
They’re not magical, but they are a hell of a lot better than a stack of slides.
Step-by-Step: Using Experiense Playbooks to Onboard New Sales Reps
Let’s get practical. Here’s how to actually use Experiense playbooks to build a repeatable, less-painful onboarding process:
1. Map Out the “Real World” Sales Tasks
Don’t start with what’s in your training deck. Start with what new reps have to actually do in their first month.
- List out the core tasks: booking meetings, running discovery, updating the CRM, sending proposals, etc.
- Ask your best reps what trips people up when they’re new.
- Skip the fluff (“Our company mission statement” can be a link, not a whole module).
Pro tip: If it’s not something a rep will do in their first 30 days, it probably doesn’t belong in onboarding.
2. Break Each Task Into Steps—Be Specific
Now, for each “real world” task, break it down into bite-sized steps. Be concrete.
- “Book a meeting” isn’t one step. It’s finding the right contact, using the right email template, following up, logging it in the CRM, etc.
- Include common gotchas—“Don’t forget to CC the SDR” or “Here’s what to do if they don’t reply.”
What to ignore: You don’t need to cover every edge case. Stick to 80% of the real work.
3. Build Interactive Playbooks in Experiense
Now, actually create the playbooks.
- Use the Experiense builder to lay out each step. Keep instructions short and actionable.
- Add links to templates, sample emails, or demo videos where it makes sense.
- Use decision points: “If the prospect says X, do Y. If not, skip ahead.”
- Include checklists or “mark as done” steps—so reps track their progress.
Honest take: Don’t try to cram everything into one massive playbook. Shorter, focused playbooks work better. (No one wants to scroll for days.)
4. Make It Easy to Find and Use
Playbooks only work if people actually use them.
- Pin the key playbooks where new reps will see them—inside your CRM, Slack, or wherever your team hangs out.
- Send a short “Start here” guide to new hires—don’t just say “check the wiki.”
- Encourage managers and buddies to walk through a playbook with new reps once, so they see it in action.
What doesn’t work: Burying playbooks in a “resources” folder and expecting people to remember they exist.
5. Add Real-World Scenarios and Practice
Don’t just tell reps what to do—let them try it.
- Use playbooks to guide practice calls. Include scripts, objection-handling prompts, and common curveballs.
- Add “what would you do?” quiz steps to check their understanding.
- Let reps record practice pitches and get quick feedback (even just a thumbs up or “try again”).
Pro tip: Keep feedback simple and fast. New reps don’t need a book report; they need to know what to fix, now.
6. Get Feedback—Then Iterate
Your first playbooks won’t be perfect. That’s normal.
- Ask every new hire what confused them or what was missing.
- Watch where people get stuck or skip steps—those are clues to improve.
- Update playbooks as your process changes. Don’t let them get stale.
What to ignore: Fancy analytics dashboards. Just ask reps what’s working and what’s not.
What Works, What Doesn’t, and What to Watch Out For
Let’s keep it real:
What works well: - New reps ramp up faster, because they know what to do and when. - Less time wasted answering the same questions over and over. - More consistent process—everyone learns your way.
What doesn’t: - Playbooks don’t replace real coaching or feedback. You still need humans. - If your process is a mess, playbooks just make it more obvious (which can be a good thing, honestly). - Over-complicating playbooks. If it feels overwhelming, it probably is.
Watch out for: - “Set it and forget it.” You’ll have to update playbooks as things change. - Making playbooks too rigid. Leave room for reps to use their judgment.
Keep It Simple—And Make It Better Over Time
Don’t overthink it. The goal isn’t to create a perfect onboarding system on day one—it’s to make each new hire’s first few weeks less confusing, more productive, and a little less painful for everyone.
Start small: build playbooks for the top 3 things new reps need to nail. See what works, get feedback, and tweak as you go. You’ll save yourself (and your reps) a lot of headaches—and maybe even get everyone selling faster.
If you keep it simple and keep improving, you’ll wonder how you ever did onboarding the old way.