AE Onboarding & Ramp Schedule
A 30-day structured ramp plan for new Account Executives. Four phases — orient, skill up, start live prospecting, and run an independent pipeline — with daily activities, role plays, and clear milestones from Day 1 through full independence.
Fill in the new hire info below, set ramp targets before Day 1, assign a buddy and a Sr. AE shadow partner, then run this schedule week by week.
New Hire Info
Fill this in before Day 1. Share with the Sr. AE partner and onboarding buddy.
- New Hire Name
- Start Date
- Direct Manager
- AE Buddy (Peer)
- Sr. AE Shadow Partner
- Segment / Territory
Ramp Targets
Set numbers before Day 1. Without targets, there is no shared definition of a successful ramp.
Opps Created by Month 2
Qualified opportunities in CRM before going fully independent.
Discovery Calls Completed
Live or shadowed discovery calls by end of Week 3.
Role Plays Logged
Scored role plays across Weeks 2–4.
Milestone Snapshot
The full ramp at a glance. Each phase has its own section below.
Week 1 · Orient & Absorb
Company onboarding + AE-specific context. Tools live. Customer language locked in.
Week 2 · Skill Up
Discovery, demos, objection handling, pricing. Daily role plays. Start building prospect list.
Weeks 3 & 4 · Live Prospecting
Live prospecting alongside Sr. AE. Shadow full sales cycles. Deliver a full demo solo.
Month 2+ · Own Your Pipeline
Building personal pipeline, running deals independently, ongoing training with Sr. AE team.
Daily Role Plays
Weeks 2 through 4Every day ends with a 10–15 min role play tied to the day's learning. Manager or Sr. AE plays the prospect.
- Scenario is listed in each day's row. The new AE preps a 2-sentence brief before the session: what they're practicing and what good looks like.
- Written feedback delivered within 24 hours using this format: What landed · What to sharpen · One thing to try next time.
- By Month 2, the AE is running role plays against live deals in their own pipeline rather than hypotheticals.
Week 1 — Orient & Absorb
ContextWeek 1 follows company-wide onboarding. AEs attend every session with the full team and layer in deal-cycle context. Sessions marked ⚡ AE+ include extra prep, a different lens, or follow-up specific to this role.
Welcome & Setup
IT setup, HR paperwork, team lunch, CEO welcome. ⚡ AE+: Get full CRM access configured today — deal stages, pipeline views, territory assigned. Don't wait until Week 2.
How We Work & The Customer
Meeting norms, OKRs, customer deep dive, real stories, support tickets. ⚡ AE+: Listen for the exact words customers use to describe their before/after. Write them down verbatim — these are your discovery call anchors.
GTM & Sales Motion
ICP, personas, competitive landscape, pipeline stages, deal cycle, key objections, win/loss. ⚡ AE+: The core sales-context day of Week 1. Map every pipeline stage to a buyer action rather than a seller action. Understand why deals are lost, not only won.
Product Deep Dive
End-to-end walkthrough, use cases, roadmap, differentiators. Self-directed: explore as a customer, watch 3 recorded demos. ⚡ AE+: You'll give demos in Week 3. Use today to build your personal demo environment and identify the 2–3 "wow moments" you'll lead with.
Flex & Catch-Up
Revisit materials, finalize tools, end-of-day Week 1 check-in (30 min). ⚡ AE+: Come to the check-in with your initial prospect list started (20+ names) and your first hypothesis on which ICP segment you'll prioritize.
All tools live. Product demoed. AE can map each pipeline stage to a buyer action and name 3 customer pain points in the customer's own words. Prospect list started.
Ask: "Which part of the sales cycle worries you most right now?"
Week 2 — Skill Up
FocusClassroom + shadow. No live prospect calls yet. Every day ends with a 10–15 min role play. The goal: AE enters Week 3 with a clear sales framework in their head and at least one full demo drafted and practiced.
Discovery Methodology
Review MEDDIC, SPIN, BANT or custom. Study 2 recorded discovery calls — note questions, responses, pivots. Map questions to each ICP persona. 🎭 RP: Cold → Discovery handoff. Manager plays skeptical VP of Sales.
Qualification & MEDDIC
What separates a real deal from a wish. Grade 3 CRM deals against the framework. Pipeline hygiene expectations. 🎭 RP: Second discovery call, focused on qualifying. Manager introduces a disqualifying signal mid-call.
Demo Methodology
Watch 2 full recorded demos — annotate what works. Study the demo framework. Draft your own narrative using the persona + pain from Week 1. 🎭 RP: First 10 minutes of your demo. Manager plays a distracted CFO.
Objection Handling
Top 10 objections — price, timing, competitor, "not a priority." Learn the response framework, write your own, workshop with Sr. AE. 🎭 RP: Manager raises the 5 hardest objections in sequence. Acknowledge, explore, respond.
Pricing, Negotiation & Close
Pricing model, packaging tiers, discount authority. Review 2 closed-won deals. Study the mutual action plan (MAP) template. 🎭 RP: Post-demo. Manager asks "what does this cost?" Walk through pricing, handle pushback, ask for next steps.
AE can run a full discovery call, qualify a deal, deliver a 20-min demo with a clear POV, and respond to the top 5 objections without a script. Prospect list at 40+ names.
Ask: "Which part of the sales cycle do you feel least ready for?"
Weeks 3 & 4 — Live Prospecting
ShiftTwo weeks of live prospecting alongside the Sr. AE. Each focus covers two days — time to repeat, reflect, improve. AE transitions from observer to participant: shadowing first, then owning prospecting and first live deals.
Shadow: Discovery
Shadow Sr. AE on 2 live discovery calls. Structured notes. Debrief after each. Build your target 10 list. 🎭 RP: Replay a call you just shadowed — AE takes the AE role, Sr. AE plays prospect using real objections.
Shadow: Full Demo
Shadow Sr. AE on a full demo + follow-up. Draft what you'd have done differently. Next steps set? MAP proposed? Begin outreach for your target 10. 🎭 RP: Run the full demo end-to-end. Manager plays the prospect from today's call.
First Prospecting Calls
First outbound calls — target 10. Manager or Sr. AE listens live (not on the call). Debrief after each batch of 3. Log all activity in CRM. 🎭 RP: Take a real objection from today's prospecting and workshop the response.
Pipeline Building
Own prospecting block (2 hrs). Booked meetings go to Stage 1 immediately. CRM hygiene — every interaction logged, every next step dated. Shadow Sr. AE pipeline review. 🎭 RP: Sr. AE plays a prospect who just agreed — confirm, set agenda, plant mini-qualification before hanging up.
First Solo Discovery Call
First solo discovery call on a booked meeting. Manager listens live, silent. Full debrief after. What qualified, what didn't, next step. CRM updated by EOD. 🎭 RP: Replay the discovery call verbatim. Identify 2 moments to handle differently — practice them live.
AE has made outbound calls, booked at least 2 meetings, and run at least 1 solo discovery call. CRM is clean.
Ask: "What surprised you most about talking to real prospects vs. role playing?" — that gap is where Month 2 coaching focuses.
Month 2+ — Own Your Pipeline
RampTransition to full independence — with guardrails. Bi-weekly deal reviews. Optional prospecting for a Sr. AE's territory to add outbound reps. Full quota kicks in at the end of this phase.
Prospecting · Daily
Own outbound block daily. Build list to 100+ contacts. Target 5 new qualified opps by end of Week 4. Track response rates, iterate weekly.
Deal Execution · Daily
Run full cycle independently. Discovery → Demo → Proposal → Close. Every deal has a MAP. Every stage move needs a documented buyer action.
Pipeline Review · Every 2 Weeks
Walk every active deal: stage, next buyer action, risk, close timeline. Manager challenges the forecast. Defend it with evidence.
Sr. AE Training · Monthly
Monthly ride-along day. All calls, all meetings, all debriefs. Then Sr. AE shadows AE for half a day. Structured debrief: top 3 takeaways, 1 thing to implement immediately.
AE clears the gate when: 5+ qualified opps in CRM · CRM hygiene score passing · Manager has observed 1 full sales cycle · AE has closed or advanced 1 deal past demo stage · role play score average above threshold.
⚡ Readiness opens this gate, not the calendar. Some AEs clear it in Month 2; others need a few more weeks. Base the decision on what the AE can demonstrate.
Full quota active. Weekly 1:1s shift to deal coaching. Manager tracks pipeline velocity, stage conversion rates, and whether documented buyer actions are driving stage movement.
Manager Tips — Running This Ramp Well
Five practices that help a new AE ramp faster.
- Don't skip Week 2. The temptation is to put AEs on live calls immediately. Skipping methodology creates shortcuts that take months to undo.
- Keep role plays on the calendar. Every day in Weeks 2–3. Reps before real stakes. Give written feedback every time, not just verbal.
- CRM hygiene starts Day 1. If you let AEs slip on logging in Week 1, you'll fight it for the rest of their tenure. Set the standard early.
- Make the independence gate a clear standard. Frame it as "here's exactly what I need to see to trust you with full quota," so it reads as a defined bar rather than a barrier.
- Sr. AE partnership matters. Don't assign a random shadow. Pick someone who's a strong closer and an even stronger coach. Assess fit before Day 1.