I will be joining a new company in June. Until then I am still with my current company, but of course there will be some down-time. I want to use this time to prepare myself already as best as I can for the new gig.
I was curious if anyone has any definitive onboarding advice? How do you make sure you set yourself up for success at a new company?
I think one of the most important things is to really understand the product and what it solves for the customer.
It is also important to understand how the company is different from the competition.
Since pretty much every company has its own narrative, especially for GTM teams, which is always that every competing product is inferior, I think it is critical to really understand what wins and loses deals.
To do that, it pays to look at external sources like Gartner or Forrester reports, earnings calls, annual reports, or maybe just YouTube videos that compare different products.
Otherwise, I always felt that you can only prepare so much. I used to ask my hiring manager for a list of accounts so I could start looking for prospects, but I never really got one because the books of business weren’t finished. At least this built pressure early enough so I didn’t have to wait two months (I mean wtf) for my accounts like other reps.
In conclusion, I would say that a proper recovery between roles is essential, as well as reflecting on what went well and what didn’t in the last job in order to learn lessons.