Sales shadowing is a new rep listening in on a tenured rep's live buyer calls, usually in the first weeks of onboarding, to learn how the job sounds.
Why listening is not enough on its own
The new rep joins calls as a silent listener, then talks them over with the rep they shadowed. It is a good way to hear the team's norms and the pace of a real conversation.
- 01BriefOne thing to listen for
- 02ObserveThe tenured rep runs the call
- 03DebriefWhat the buyer said, in the buyer's words
- 04Reverse shadowingThe new rep runs part of their own deal
Its limit is that listening is passive. In the learning research our Game Winning Kickoffs study traced, people tested on material kept 56% of it a week later against 42% for people who re-read it, and training built on people's own scenarios held up well across 117 studies. A shadowed call is someone else's scenario, and nothing tests the listener. Gong's Chris Orlob makes the related point that live shadowing by a manager "isn't coaching; it's co-selling".
Shadowing works well as the middle of brief, observe, debrief: a short brief on what to listen for, the call, then a debrief where the new rep says what the buyer said and what they would ask next. After that comes reverse shadowing, where the new rep runs part of their own co-owned deal and the tenured rep or a coach listens. Our sales onboarding guide places it in the first 30 days.
Two weeks of shadowing a discovery call
This example is illustrative. In week one a new AE shadows three discovery calls. Before each, the tenured rep asks her to listen for one thing: how the buyer describes the cost of the problem. After each, she says it back in the buyer's words and names the next question. In week two she runs the first ten minutes of a call on her co-owned deal while he listens, then they swap roles in the debrief.
Related terms
- Ride-along: a manager joining a rep's call to observe and coach afterwards.
- Call coaching: coaching a rep on a specific recorded or live call.
- Ramp time: how long a new rep takes to sell to standard.
- New rep first-week checklist: where shadowing sits in week one.
FAQ
How long should a new sales rep shadow? A new rep should shadow for a week or two, a handful of calls with a brief and a debrief each, then move to running part of their own co-owned deal. Set the endpoint in writing before shadowing starts.
What is reverse shadowing in sales? Reverse shadowing is the tenured rep or a coach listening while the new rep runs the call. It tests the new rep on their own deal, which is the condition the learning research rewards, and it gives the debrief something specific to work on.
Is shadowing the same as coaching? No, shadowing shows a new rep how calls sound, while coaching works on the rep's own deal before and after their conversation. Shadowing becomes useful when a debrief turns what was heard into the rep's next question.