Leader
Toolkit
Free
SDR Onboarding Playbook
A complete 30-60-90 curriculum for standing up a new SDR — day-by-day training plan, the core cold-call script, an 8-touch cadence, a shadowing log, an objection bank, and the certification gate that clears reps for full territory.
What's inside
- Days 1-30 foundation curriculum, week-by-week
- Days 31-60 supervised execution plan with ramp quota
- Days 61-90 certification and full-ramp plan
- Core cold-call script skeleton (word-for-word opener through close)
- 8-touch / 15-day outbound cadence table by channel
- Call Shadowing Log template
- Objection response bank (top 5 objections)
- Day-90 graduation checklist gating full territory assignment
Philosophy: an SDR earns unsupervised territory. They don't get it on day one. Every phase below ends in a checkpoint that gates the next phase.
Days 1–30: Foundation
Week 1 — Systems & Story
- Tool logins: CRM, dialer, sequencer, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, call-intelligence tool
- Company narrative, product walkthrough, pricing/packaging
- ICP document: who we sell to, who we don't, disqualifiers
- Competitive battlecards: top 3 competitors, how we win
- Read the last 20 closed-won deal summaries
Week 2 — Absorb the motion
- Shadow 10 calls total: 5 AE discovery calls, 5 SDR prospecting calls, logged in the Call Shadowing Log below
- Memorize the Core Cold Call Script (below) word-for-word
- Memorize responses to the top 5 objections (Objection Bank below)
- Build personal target account list (first 20 accounts)
Week 3 — Paired dialing
- Rep dials, manager/mentor listens live on every call and scores using a mini-rubric: Opening / Discovery / Ask for next step (3 criteria, 1–4 each)
- Build 2 personal cadence variants (industry-specific opener)
- Practice writing prospecting emails against real accounts (no sends yet — review only)
Week 4 — First solo reps
- Solo dial block at 25% of full daily volume target
- Same-day call review with manager after every session
- Day-30 checkpoint: readiness review (not certification) — go/no-go on entering Days 31–60
Days 31–60: Supervised execution
- Full 8-touch/15-day cadence (below) live on B-tier accounts only
- Ramp quota: 50% of full target
- Weekly 1:1 call review scored informally against the Cold Call Certification Scorecard categories
- Objection-handling drill session 2×/week (manager role-plays the prospect)
- Day-60 checkpoint: formal scorecard dry run — score but don't gate; identify weak categories for the final 30 days
Days 61–90: Certification & full ramp
- Full quota volume, full territory (A/B/C-tier accounts)
- Sit the Cold Call Certification Scorecard for real (3 calls, must pass to keep unsupervised territory)
- Day-90 checkpoint — Graduation Checklist:
- Passed Cold Call Certification Scorecard (≥80%, no auto-fails)
- Hit ≥ 80% of ramp quota in Days 61–90
- CRM hygiene: 100% of calls logged same-day for 2 consecutive weeks
- Built and executed at least 1 full account plan independently
- Manager sign-off
- Graduate: transition to standard 1:1 cadence, assign permanent pod/team, full commission plan if applicable
Core cold-call script skeleton
Opening (0–10s): "Hi [Name], this is [Rep] from [Company] — I know this is a cold call, do you have 20 seconds?" Permission/reason (10–20s): "The reason I'm calling — I saw [trigger event / role-specific reason] and wanted to see if [problem hypothesis] is something you're dealing with." Discovery (20–60s): "How are you handling [specific process] today?" → follow-up: "What happens when [likely failure point]?" Value tie-in: "That's exactly what we help [similar company/persona] with — [one-sentence outcome, no feature dump]." Ask: "Worth 20 minutes next week to see if it's relevant? I've got Tuesday at 10 or Thursday at 2 — which works better?"
8-touch / 15-day cadence
| Day | Channel | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Call + LinkedIn connect | Cold call attempt 1; send connection request same day |
| 2 | Email 1 | Trigger-event or role-relevance opener (short, 1 ask) |
| 4 | Call | Attempt 2, different time of day |
| 6 | LinkedIn message | Value-add insight, no ask |
| 8 | Email 2 | Case study / peer proof point |
| 10 | Call | Attempt 3 |
| 12 | Video message | 30-second personalized video (see Video Prospecting Script Templates) |
| 15 | Email 3 (breakup) | "Should I close the loop?" — last touch, reopen door |
Call Shadowing Log
| Date | Call type (AE/SDR) | Rep observed | 1 thing that worked | 1 thing I'd do differently | Question for manager |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Objection bank (top 5)
| Objection | Response pattern |
|---|---|
| "Send me an email" | "Happy to — so I send the right thing, what's the one problem you'd want it to speak to?" |
| "We already use [competitor]" | "Makes sense — most of our customers switched from [competitor] too. Curious what prompted you to look at us today vs. staying put — is there something not working?" |
| "Not interested" | "Totally fair, most people say that on a cold call. Can I ask — is it 'not interested in this problem' or 'not interested in talking to me right now'?" |
| "No budget" | "Understood — this isn't a budget conversation yet, it's a 'does this problem matter' conversation. If it turns out it's worth solving, budget conversations follow." |
| "I'm busy, call me later" | "No problem — better to actually get you at a good time. Does [specific day/time] work, or is mornings generally better for you?" |
Manager checklist for standing this up
- Assign an onboarding mentor (not the hiring manager) per new SDR
- Block manager calendar for Week 3 paired-dialing sessions before hire's start date
- Pre-load target account lists so Week 2 isn't spent building lists from scratch
- Schedule Day-30/60/90 checkpoints on the calendar at time of hire
How to use it
Follow the day-by-day 30/60/90 curriculum in order, use the embedded script, cadence, shadowing log and objection bank as working documents from week one, and gate territory assignment on the Day-90 graduation checklist.