What must be true by the end of day one
- They can sign in on the device they will actually use, and they see only their own leads.
- They can explain in their own words how a case moves from a new enquiry to disbursement.
- They have made three calls with a senior agent listening, and logged an outcome for each.
- They know what they must not do or promise.
- They know who to ask when they are stuck, and how.
Notice what is missing: product expertise. Nobody learns the detail of every loan product in a day, and a new agent who tries is likely to remember very little of it. Teach the process on day one and the content over the month.
The day, hour by hour
| Time | What happens | Who leads |
|---|---|---|
| 9.00 | Welcome. Sign in, check access, meet the team leader and the buddy. | Team leader |
| 9.45 | How a case moves: the stages, the document checklist, what counts as stuck. | Team leader |
| 10.45 | Listen to live calls beside the buddy. Notice how each call opens and how it ends. | Buddy |
| 12.00 | Role-play three typical enquiries, with the buddy as the customer. | Buddy |
| 1.00 | Lunch. | Everyone |
| 2.00 | Three real calls to warm leads, with the buddy listening. Log each outcome. | New agent |
| 3.30 | Review each call: one thing to keep and one thing to change. | Buddy |
| 4.30 | Read the house rules, ask questions and plan tomorrow's first hour. | Team leader |
Morning
- 9.00Welcome and accessSet up, 45 min
- 9.45How a case movesTeach, 1 h
- 10.45Listen beside the buddyListen, 1 h 15 min
- 12.00Role-play three enquiriesPractise, 1 h
Afternoon
- 1.00LunchBreak, 1 h
- 2.00Three real calls, buddy listeningReal calls, 1 h 30 min
- 3.30Review each callReview, 1 h
- 4.30House rules and tomorrow's planReview, 1 h
Change the times to suit your office. The order is what matters: short teaching, then listening, then practice, then real calls, then review, with real calls in the afternoon.
Set up access before they arrive
The slowest part of most first days is waiting for logins. Do it the day before.
- Their own login. Never a shared one. With a shared login you cannot tell who did what, and you cannot remove one person's access when they leave.
- The right role. A sales agent sees only the leads assigned to them. A freelance agent sees only the cases they referred. Give the smallest access that lets them do the job.
- Their phone and tools. The calling tool working on their own device, and access to the shared WhatsApp inbox if they will answer enquiries.
- A starter list. A small list of warm leads, such as callbacks and recent enquiries, assigned to them in advance so that the afternoon calls are not cold.
Teach the pipeline, not the catalogue
A new agent needs a map more than a manual. Draw your pipeline on one page in plain words: new case, collecting documents, analysis, submitted to the bank, approved, disbursed, and rejected. For each stage, write what has to be true before a case can move on, and who does it.
Add the document checklist. Banks differ in what they ask for, so do not teach one list as if it applied everywhere. Keep the current list for each bank on the case, and tell the new agent that when in doubt the answer is to ask the bank or the team leader.
Finish with the habit that matters most: every contact ends with an outcome and a dated next step. See why every call should end with an outcome.
Run the supervised calls properly
Choose the buddy for their habits, not only their results. You want the new agent to copy someone who logs every call, writes a date on every next step and is calm when a customer is difficult. The top closer is not always that person.
The buddy's job is to listen, not to rescue. Stepping in every time a call wobbles can teach the new agent to stop when it gets hard. Take notes instead and talk afterwards.
Give the new agent a simple structure for the opening, not a script to read out. Say who you are and which company you are from. Say why you are calling. Ask whether now is a good time. Ask two questions about what the customer wants. Agree the next step and when it will happen. Start with warm leads: people who asked to be called, or who messaged first.
After each call, ask for two things only: one thing to keep and one thing to change. Four corrections at once is a lecture, and most of it is forgotten. Then check the logged outcome and the date of the next step.
The first four weeks
Day two should look like day one with less help: more calls from the starter list, the buddy reviewing the log afterwards instead of listening to every call, and a short daily review. By the end of the first week the new agent should have worked through the starter list and logged every call. After that, add one new skill a week, in this order.
| Week | Focus | How you know it is working |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calls and outcomes, with a ten-minute review with the buddy each day. | Every call has an outcome and there are no overdue follow-ups. |
| 2 | Reading credit reports and DSR. Start with how to read a CTOS report. | They can explain one report to the buddy without notes. |
| 3 | Taking one case from documents to bank submission, with a senior agent checking. | A case is submitted with a complete checklist. |
| 4 | A first review: outcomes, cases opened and what to change. | Agreed goals for month two. |
Getting the team ready
If you use the Loan Advisory CRM, the setup includes your data import and training for your team. The roles are already there: boss, team leader, sales, sales admin and freelance agent, each seeing only their part, and the boss can change those settings for each person. It does not replace the day above. It gives you the roles, the logins and the single place to log calls that the day relies on.
If you would like help planning your team's first day, talk to us.
Questions people ask next
- Should a new agent get leads on day one?
- A small starter list of warm leads, yes. Cold leads on day one waste the lead and discourage the agent. Hold back anything high in value until they have had their first review.
- How do I onboard a freelance agent?
- Use a shorter version: the pipeline, how to submit a referral, what they can see, and how and when they are paid, all in writing. Give them access only to the cases they referred. See how to track agent commission without disputes.
- How long before a new agent works alone?
- There is no fixed number of days. A reasonable test is three consecutive calls that needed no correction, a clean log with no missing outcomes, and a first case that reached the bank with a complete checklist.
- What if the new agent has experience from another agency?
- Skip the basics but not the process. Their habits from the last agency may not match yours, especially on logging calls and handling customer documents.
This guide is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules and bank policies change, so check the current position with the bank, the regulator or a professional before you act.