15 Stats About Onboarding Sales Reps You Can’t Afford to Ignore

Onboarding sales reps is essential to the success of any sales team. It sets the tone for new sellers and plays an important role in getting them acquainted with your company, its culture and their roles. Sales onboarding also equips reps with the knowledge and tools they need to hit the ground running.

A growing number of organizations are making investments in sales onboarding. And for good reason. Effective onboarding accelerates reps’ productivity — which means a quicker boost to the bottom line. What’s more, a strong onboarding program increases the likelihood that new reps will stick around long-term, which can save you a lot of time and money in the long run.

We’ve pulled together 15 recent stats from industry-leading organizations that prove why now is the time to develop and optimize a great sales onboarding program that sets up your sellers (and your entire organization) for long-term success.

1. Per G2, sales reps that go through the best sales onboarding programs are productive 3.4 months sooner, on average, than those who are onboarded at organizations with weaker programs.
2. Research from CSO Insights found that effective onboarding services that meet or exceed expectations can improve quota attainment by 16.2%.
3. According to Xerox, via Hubspot, 84% of sales training is forgotten within the first three months.
4. SiriusDecisions research (via Hirebox) found that nearly half (49%) of high-performing sales reps indicate that whether or not a company provides onboarding is a very important factor when considering a new position.
5. According to Aberdeen Research, only 37% of companies extend their onboarding programs beyond the first month.
6. The State of Sales Enablement 2020, a report from Sales Enablement PRO, states that organizations with a sales onboarding tool and effective use of it experience win rates seven percentage points higher than those that don’t.
7. The report also found that 21% of organizations indicate that one of their top three sales challenges is onboarding new hires.
8. The average sales new hire spends 10 weeks in training, according to the Sales Management Association (SMA).
9. The SMA also tells us that the average sales new hire only becomes productive after 11.2 months.
10. According to the SMA, via Sales & Marketing Management, 62% of organizations feel their sales onboarding programs are ineffective.
11. The Periodic Table of B2B Sales Metrics from the Bridge Group shows that the average tenure of a B2B Account Executive (AE) is 2.6 years. And on average, it takes these AEs 4.9 months to ramp up.
12. Spotio reports that 65% of employees say the quality of training and learning opportunities available to them positively influence their engagement.
13. According to UrbanBound, organizations with a standard onboarding process have 50% greater new hire retention than those that don’t.
14. UrbanBound also reports that 49% of companies are currently investing money in updating their onboarding programs.
15. Research from DePaul University found that it costs almost $115,000 to replace a sales rep.

Position your sellers for success with a strong onboarding program
The pressure’s on to deliver onboarding experiences that engage sellers and equip them with the knowledge they need to achieve results — quickly. Ready to take your sales onboarding program to the next level? Download our Sales Onboarding Checklist to make sure you’ve got all of your bases covered.