Up to Speed: AI’s Role in Onboarding Sales Reps with Mafalda Johannsen

Onboarding is a crucial time for sales reps. The quality of a company's onboarding can mean the difference between sticking with the company long-term or bailing out after six months to a year.

The typical ramp time from hiring to independently working is two to six months or longer, which can significantly affect company growth and objectives. Today's onboarding can be more than pre-recorded videos and how-to articles. With the right tools, it can serve new hires instead of overwhelming them.

That’s why Mafalda Johannsen, Director of Growth at WonderWay, seeks to speed up the onboarding process without sacrificing quality.

In her conversation with Rachel Ann Kreis, VP of Marketing at Landbot, and Jiaqi Pan, CEO & Co-Founder at Landbot, Mafalda shares her strategy for bringing new hires up to speed and setting them up for success, all with a few key tweaks to company process and a dash of AI.

The Power of a Well-Designed Learning Management System

What do you remember about your last onboarding experience? Odds are, not much. Statistics show that most people forget 70% of what they learned during onboarding only a week later.

When onboarding material exists as a stream of information without any checkpoints or applications, it goes in one ear and out the other. That’s why WonderWay focuses on leveraging a Learning Management System (LMS( in their onboarding process. 

“By doing assessments on each learning block in WonderWay, they [new hires] can apply what they just learned,” Mafalda says. “And, as a manager, they can see through the quality of the assessments whether they need more support in different areas or not.”

WonderWay designed their SDR training courses to allow them to begin working by the second week with supervision, so they can work and learn at the same time. Information followed by immediate application is a proven way of cementing practices and procedures.

When an SDR feels properly prepared and equipped for success in the beginning, they’re more likely to avoid burnout and stay with a company long-term.

“We are all overworked, and that's why AI and technology are amazing. They can help you do the things that you didn't have the time to do before,” Mafalda says. “For example, our AI coach listens to every single cold call for an SDR, which is super important during the onboarding process.” 

With this AI, SDRs receive feedback on what he or she did well, alongside aspects that could use some improvement, in every call. This process provides valuable coaching that's possible to scale, and as a manager, by the end of the week, you get an overview of what parts of the call your SDR is struggling with.

Having that data helps 1:1s take on a more targeted, specific, and impactful purpose where SDRs and managers can dig into their problem areas and make an improvement plan, as well as recognize what they’re doing well.

Innovative Hiring Methods to Evaluate Candidates' Skills

Hard and soft skills are equally important when considering a potential new hire. From intuition to technological know-how, the combination of soft and hard skills an SDR holds spells out their potential in the company.

Hard skills are the easiest to teach, and that’s where AI can step in to bring clarity during the hiring process and beyond.

“Taking the example of our AI coach, we can say, ‘According to our business model, and according to what the top performers of this company, these are the questions you should be asking a prospect,’ And you can set up the AI to evaluate if you're asking those questions, and then when you don't, you get trained on that,” Mafalda says. 

Though soft skills depend more on the person, there are three markers Mafalda looks for when hiring new SDRs: 

• Feedback receptivity: responds well to coaching and constructive criticism
• Adaptability: doesn’t get too attached to one technique and is open to change
• Critical thinking: shows logic and thought behind their decisions

“It's really important to look for people with these soft skills during the recruitment process,” Mafalda says. “Because that's another thing people forget: you might have the best technology and onboarding, and you're doing everything right, but if your hiring is not done right and you don't hire the right people, there is not much you can do.” 

That’s why nailing the hiring process, onboarding, and ongoing support is critical. AI and technology can help your company excel at each step.

The Crucial Role of Documenting Processes for Scalability and Sustained Success

An important aspect to remember is that technology can’t do it all. To benefit the most from implementing AI and other tech into your procedures, you must first know why, where, and how. In other words:

• You need to have a good onboarding process, and then use a tool to streamline it and save time.
• You need to have a good hiring process, and then use tools to make your life easier. 
• You need to know how to coach, and then use AI to help you coach. 

The tools will not give you the core knowledge. Understand what gaps need filling and which parts of an already operational process need extra support before implementing dozens of tools that don’t get used.

Document your processes. Look for ways to grow. Identify how AI and tech could support those objectives, and then go out and find (or build!) the software that can get it done. Sustained success takes constant evaluation, exploration, and willingness to know your systems inside out.

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