How our SDRs book 2+ meetings in their first week on the phones

Ramping doesn’t have to take months.

At Nooks, new SDRs are booking meetings in their second week and hitting full quota by their second month.

That’s a ramp time of just one month. Compare that to the industry average of 3–4 months, and it’s clear: this onboarding playbook doesn’t just move fast — it works.

It’s all thanks to Melanie Smith’s onboarding playbook. Here’s how she gets reps live and productive, fast.

Week 1: Prep for live calls

Mel's mantra? Get them talking early.

That doesn’t mean jumping on a call day one. It means building up the reps — mentally and tactically — so when they do go live, it feels like they’ve already made 20 calls.

Here's what the week looks like:

🗓️ Monday:

• Meet the team
• Get your tech stack set up
• Review our personas, value props, and cold calling philosophy
• Spend 2 hours listening to live dials on the Nooks Salesfloor

🗓️ Tuesday:

• Build your own call script using our persona research and cold call framework
• Practice your script 3x with our AI Bot
• Review and get feedback live from your manager
• Keep shadowing the Salesfloor

🗓️ Wednesday:

• Learn how to find and tier accounts in HubSpot and LinkedIn SalesNav
• Add your first 10 accounts
• Practice 3 more calls with the AI Bot
• Listen to 2 intro calls in Gong
• Keep shadowing the Salesfloor

🗓️ Thursday:

• Learn how to find and sequence prospects
• Add 30 people into sequences
• Practice 3 more calls with the AI Bot
• Listen to 2 more intro calls
• Finalize your account list
• Keep shadowing the Salesfloor

🗓️ Friday:

• Final product training and persona Q&A
• Take your mock cold call certification
• Walk through your dialer view and workflow setup
• Keep shadowing the Salesfloor

By the time SDRs go live Tuesday of week 2, they’ve already:

• Heard ~80 live cold calls
• Practiced their script 15+ times
• Written messaging for 3 personas
• Sequenced 50+ prospects
• Passed a mock cold call with a manager

And they don’t just sound confident. They start performing.

How we’re leveling up quality and consistency

We’re always iterating on how to make onboarding sharper. One concept we’re excited to roll out is swapping managers for mock cold call feedback.

Instead of a rep’s direct manager signing off on their final certification, another manager steps in to evaluate the call.

Why?

1. Consistency: Every new rep gets evaluated by someone who’s focused solely on the output, not influenced by how well they know the rep.
2. Accountability: It keeps our team aligned on what “good” sounds like. Managers stay sharp, expectations stay tight, and no one’s tempted to give a pass just to move faster.

This small switch has a big impact. It builds trust across the org. And it makes sure everyone who goes live is actually ready.

Steal this cold call scorecard

Remember, it’s not a vibe check, it’s a structured evaluation with clear expectations.

Here’s how we make sure every rep is held to the same standards:

Week 2: Go live with structure and support

SDRs aren’t thrown to the wolves.

Every new hire is paired with an onboarding buddy — another SDR who’s been through the same onboarding and knows exactly what week 2 feels like.

They’re a go-to person for off-the-record advice, tactical tips, and gut checks. Like: “What if I totally bomb a call?” or “How do I handle this objection?”

Questions you might not want to ask in front of your boss. Buddies are there to give honest answers, build confidence, and help new reps feel like they belong.

Meanwhile, managers run daily syncs during week 2 to review progress, unblock challenges, and keep reps moving. Coaching is active and personalized so no one’s left guessing what “good” looks like.

Week 2 KPIs:

• 75 new prospects sequenced
• 300+ dials logged
• 2 meetings booked

Pro tip: This onboarding sprint only works when reps are set up to succeed. At Nooks, reps start with all tech access pre-provided, custom views built in HubSpot, and decks they can always look back at from every live session.

Why it works

Mel’s onboarding playbook compresses ramp time without cutting corners. It works because it focuses on output, not just information.

We don’t rely on LMS videos or passive content. Every rep:

• Practices, not just watches
• Listens with intent, not just logs hours
• Gets feedback from real humans, not checklists

Onboarding is designed for action. And the culture reinforces it. Reps want to prove themselves fast. They’re eager and excited by the fact that they get to do the job on day 1.

And they’re surrounded by teammates who just did exactly that. The sales floor is full of hype and support. In fact, most of the time it’s senior SDRs who are rallying the troops to call together on the sales floor, not a manager mandating.

Fast doesn't mean fragile

Yes, the ramp is fast. But it’s not rushed.

Because the process is so hands-on, structured, and transparent, issues surface early. So if someone’s off track, you know right away. And you can course correct before bad habits form.

It also gives leadership visibility into what’s working, where messaging is breaking down, and what tools or training need to evolve.

You’re not just onboarding fast. You’re building a system that gets smarter every time.

Steal this week 1 agenda

Want your reps hitting the phones confidently by day 6?

Here’s the exact breakdown of Mel’s onboarding agenda that makes it happen:

This is just the beginning

Let’s be real: teaching someone to “find accounts in HubSpot” or “sequence prospects” isn’t one bullet point and done.

On Account Day (Wednesday), new SDRs don’t just click around HubSpot. They work with their manager to:

• Set up custom views and saved filters
• Learn how to qualify accounts based on activity, past deals, and ICP fit
• Understand what makes a good account vs. a bad one
• Set up buyer personas in LinkedIn Sales Navigator
• And build their first list with context and confidence

Then on Prospecting Day (Thursday), it’s not just “add people to a sequence.” They:

• Walk through the sequencing workflow in Outreach
• Learn how to enrich data using Nooks Numbers
• Get hands-on with SalesNav to find the right contacts
• Push prospects directly into Outreach and Nooks from LinkedIn Sales Navigator
• And get real-time coaching as they build

And even then, this isn’t everything.

This playbook is focused on getting reps live and productive fast. That’s by design. It’s built to help them start strong by leaning into action, not passively absorbing training. But week 1 isn’t the whole story.

There’s still more to learn — like how to book meetings in RevenueHero, manage deals in HubSpot, speak to different competitors, and tailor messaging across verticals. Keep an eye out because we’ll cover these topics in future playbooks.

Because onboarding isn’t about rushing. It’s about unlocking momentum early and building on it every week after.

Results

With this onboarding playbook:

• SDRs average 2 meetings booked in their first week live
• Reps hear ~80 real conversations before their first dial
• Most hit full quota by their second full month
• Ramp time is cut to 25% of the industry average

We hope it will help you too!