# 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.