The 90 Day Onboarding System That Drops Turnover to 17% and Builds President's Club Winners

Most sales leaders think they're onboarding well.

No.

They're throwing reps into the deep end and hoping they figure it out.

Because here's what happens:

New hire starts Monday.

Gets some product training.

Maybe shadows a top rep for a week.

Then: "Good luck. Start making calls."

Six months later? Still ramping.

Eight months later? Underperforming.

Month 9? They quit.

That's not onboarding. That's negligence.

Here's the reality:

When you don't have a real onboarding system, you're betting your quota on luck.

You're losing hundreds of thousands in potential revenue while reps "figure it out."

And you're spending more time recruiting replacements than developing the team you have.

Real example:

I took over a sales team in Portland in 2012.

50% turnover.

Worst team in the region. Worst region in the company.

Year one with my 90-day playbook: Dropped turnover to 20%.

Hit President's Club.

Did it again every single year after.

How?

Two pillars:

1. Detailed 90-day launch plan

◦ Day-by-day schedule from 8-5

◦ Week 1: ICP, pain points, scripting, real plays

◦ Week 2: Live on phones, book one meeting

◦ Week 3-4: Discovery, demos, product training with top rep oversight

◦ Week 5-12: Running perfect President's Club week with revenue targets

2. Weekly rhythms

◦ High-accountability sales meetings

◦ Weekly skill training

◦ Impactful 1-on-1s

◦ Call reviews and live coaching

The framework I used:

Educate → Teach the framework

Demonstrate → Show them live (you vs. tough prospect)

Real Plays → Dozens of reps with real objections (not softball role plays)

Actions → Give them homework between sessions

The psychology:

You're removing every excuse for poor performance.

High support. High direction.

When reps know exactly what success looks like (day by day, week by week) they ramp faster, perform better, and stick around longer.

First year survival rate > retention rate.

Because if they don't survive year one, you're back to square one.

Actions you can take tomorrow:

• Look in the mirror. Are you happy with your ramp time?

• Insert weekly rhythms FIRST (stop the bleeding with current team)

• Pick ONE thing for new hires (even 1 hour/day of real plays = massive improvement)

• Build cross-functional relationships (accounts payable, customer success, product)

• Tie revenue targets to earning privileges (territory, inbound leads, contests)

Goal:

Stop babysitting reps.

Start building President's Club winners.