Your first 90 days in a sales role

A lot of former athletes and veterans end up in sales, and for good reason. It rewards preparation, repetition, and competing against a number. The first 90 days decide how the rest of the year goes. Here’s a simple plan.

Days 1–30: learn

• Learn the buyer before the product. Who buys, what problem they’re solving, what it costs them when it goes wrong, and who else signs off.
• Listen to calls. Ask your manager for the best recorded calls and sit in on as many live ones as you can. Write down the questions top reps ask and the objections that come up.
• Learn the math of your plan. Quota, average deal size, win rate, sales cycle length. The free commission and quota calculator will turn your quota into weekly activity.
• Set up your system. CRM, calendar blocks, a list of target accounts. Treat it like pre-game prep.

Days 31–60: build the habit

• Protect your prospecting time. Block it on your calendar every day, at the same time, and treat it like a practice you can’t skip.
• Measure inputs, not just outcomes. You can’t control whether a deal closes this week. You can control dials, emails, conversations, and meetings booked.
• Run your first discovery calls. Pick three or four good questions and listen more than you talk. The discovery and objections page has a question bank.
• Review every call. What went well, what didn’t, what you’ll change. It’s film study.

Days 61–90: produce

• Build pipeline worth three to four times your target, or whatever coverage your team says it needs. Most new reps underbuild.
• Get your first wins, even small ones. They teach you the whole process from first touch to signature.
• Ask for feedback on a schedule. Every two weeks, ask your manager: what should I keep doing, start, and stop?

Habits that separate good reps

• Follow up when you said you would. Plenty of deals die from slow follow-up, not from a competitor.
• Write short emails. One idea, one ask.
• Be honest when you’re not the right fit. Buyers remember, and they refer.
• Keep a win log. It’s your case for promotion and your next negotiation.

On Primr, members ask questions like these in the Sales & BD room. Someone there has hit the wall you’re about to hit.