Ramp time

Ramp time is how long a new seller takes to work at full strength. You choose what full strength means before they start. A common choice is closing deals without help at a set share of the quota. The clock starts on day one, not on the first deal.

The data sits in the CRM: the hire date, the seller's assigned deals, and won deals with close dates. Count by the date the deal was won, per month since the start. Leave out deals a colleague closed for them, or the seller looks ready too early.

Fix the result before the hire starts, and count it by won deals in a full month.

Start on March 1. June and July are two full months in a row at 60% of quota. The result counts as reached on July 31: five months.

Track each hire in one table: start date, monthly result against quota, and the month they crossed the line. The head of sales updates it once a month. The owner reads it before approving the next hire.

It changes hiring decisions. Ramp time cannot be shorter than onboarding plus one sales cycle. Every month beyond that delays the payback of the hire. Example (invented numbers): with a ramp of five months, a hire made in June adds little before November. Plan sales capacity with that delay, not with the headcount.

Ramp time depends on onboarding and on the hiring profile. A clear program and the right person shorten it. Compare hires with each other, not with a number from elsewhere. If one cohort ramps slower, look at what changed in the program or in the leads they received.

• Counting from the first deal instead of the first day. The ramp looks short, and the cost of the first weeks disappears. Start the clock on the hire date.
• Calling one good month the end of ramp. A single large deal can be luck. Start with a rule to test: the seller holds the result for two months in a row.
• Giving new sellers only weak leads and then judging their ramp. The number then measures the leads, not the person. Give them the same mix of inquiries as everyone else.
• Planning revenue as if new hires sell at full strength from the start. The plan misses for months. Put each new seller into the forecast with a rising monthly share.

By Friday, the head of sales writes down what full productivity means for your team in one sentence. Then open the CRM and build the ramp table for the last three hires. Add start date, won deals by month and the month of reaching the result. Example (invented numbers): if they took three, five and seven months, plan the next hire with the slowest case.

A weekly meeting on stuck deals that ends with a decision and an owner for each.