From pre-boarding to full certification: The 90-day B2B support onboarding checklist

Every box a new agent should hit on the way to independent productivity, with AI-native tools woven in from day one.

Day 0: Pre-boarding

Goal: Every administrative and access task completed before the new hire's first day, so they can focus on learning from hour one.

• Offer letter signed and returned
• Tax and employment paperwork submitted
• Background check cleared
• Hardware shipped or ready (laptop, monitor, headset, peripherals)
• System access provisioned: ticketing platform
• System access provisioned: CRM
• System access provisioned: knowledge base or wiki
• System access provisioned: AI agent assist
• System access provisioned: observability and escalation tools
• System access provisioned: communication tools (Slack, email, video)
• Welcome email sent with day-one logistics (start time, location or Zoom link, dress code, what to bring)
• Buddy or mentor assigned and notified
• Day-one calendar prepared (orientation, intro meetings, team lunch)

Days 1–15: Foundations and product immersion

Goal: Build the foundation. New hire should focus on company context, product depth, and tooling fluency — no live customer tickets yet.

Gate at day 15: Foundations certification (written and practical assessment on product fundamentals and tooling fluency).

• Company orientation completed (mission, customers, ICP)
• Customer segments overview reviewed
• Product walkthrough across major modules completed
• Tooling fluency: ticketing system training complete
• Tooling fluency: CRM training complete
• Tooling fluency: knowledge platform training complete
• Tooling fluency: AI agent assist introduced and used
• Tooling fluency: observability and escalation tools training complete
• Team troubleshooting frameworks reviewed
• Sandboxed ticket practice completed (target: 20 tickets)
• Gold tickets studied (target: 10 case walkthroughs)
• Foundations certification: written assessment passed
• Foundations certification: practical assessment passed

Days 16–45: Supervised ticket handling

Goal: Handle live tickets with supervision. Senior rep reviews every closed ticket before customer response goes out.

Gate at day 45: Tier-1 certification (independent close of a defined set of tier-1 ticket types at team-average CSAT).

• First live tier-1 ticket handled (with senior review)
• Tier-1 ticket types curriculum complete
• Escalation paths reviewed and understood
• Customer communication standards reviewed
• Mentorship sessions scheduled (2x weekly cadence established)
• 50+ tier-1 tickets closed under senior review
• Tier-1 certification: passed

Days 46–75: Nesting and independence with safety nets

Goal: Transition from supervised practice to independent ownership. Senior rep review shifts from every ticket to exception-based.

Gate at day 75: Tier-2 readiness (demonstrate ability to handle a defined set of tier-2 cases).

• Tier-1 independent operation confirmed
• Tier-2 ticket types curriculum complete
• Cross-functional collaboration: engineering interface introduction
• Cross-functional collaboration: CS interface introduction
• Cross-functional collaboration: sales interface introduction
• Edge case scenarios studied (gold tickets review)
• Senior rep review shifted to exception-based
• Mentorship sessions: weekly cadence
• Tier-2 readiness assessment passed

Days 76–90: Full productivity and certification

Goal: Operate at or near team average across the metrics defined in the program. Reinforce capability and lock in long-term habits.

Gate at day 90: Full certification (signed off as fully ramped, with documented metrics meeting the team's productivity bar).

• CSAT within 5 points of team average
• First contact resolution within 10 points of team average
• Time to first solo ticket: documented
• Tickets closed per week at the team-average benchmark
• Specialty area assignment (if applicable)
• Manager 1:1 cadence transitions to standard team rhythm
• Full certification: signed off by manager
• 30-day post-onboarding retrospective scheduled

Fully certified

Every milestone hit from pre-boarding through day 90. Time to formally close out the program and schedule the 30-day retrospective.