Ramp Up Time for New Sales Hire

In a perfect world, business owners and sales managers would love their new sales hires to “hit the road running.” Unfortunately, that expectation is not realistic. Even the most experienced sales professionals have a Ramp Up Time to reach quota.

Although there is no perfect calculation for measuring Ramp Up Time, here is one general way to calculate it.

LENGTH OF RAMP UP TIME = Onboarding Time + 3 Base Months + Average Sales Cycle

• Onboarding: Basic training/Bootcamp which could be intense for a week or longer.

• 3 Base Months: Minimum time it takes an average sales rep to sell anything well.

• Average Sales Cycle: Many B2B sales cycles are 3 months or longer.

Other variables also exist. Less experienced reps may have longer ramp up times while more experienced reps, particularly in your industry, may have shorter ramp up times. The key is to have realistic expectations when measuring the sales success of a new salesperson.

For example:
Your new sales hire has sold into your industry but with a different product. His first month is focused on onboarding, product training and sales training. Add three base months. Assuming a minimum 3-month sales cycle, add an additional three months to come to a Ramp Up Time of seven months. So, a realistic expectation is that it could be a minimum of seven months before your new hire performs at full monthly quota.

Adding new sales professionals to your team is a substantial investment. If your new sales rep is not performing as quickly as you would like, it is best not to judge the quality of your new hire without first evaluating the quality of your sales training, sales management and ramp up times.

Sales success happens when three things come together . . . the right sales hire, the right sales training/onboarding, and the right sales management. If your sales hires are performing disciplined sales activities within a well-defined sales infrastructure, the results will come.

If you want to hire the right salesperson who can meet realistic performance expectations, give us a call at 317-578-1310.