The summer lull is over. Diaries are filling up again, inboxes are buzzing, and sales leaders everywhere are sensing the urgency of the final quarter. Philip Göthberg, Account Executive at Deel explains, “September is the perfect reset — prospects are back, budgets are set, and Q4 momentum starts now.” He’s right. This is definitely the moment to push hard and build pipeline to make Q4 your best quarter yet.
But while we’re still focused on making this year a triumph, it’s also worth thinking one step ahead. The choices you make over the next few months won’t just shape your end-of-year results; they’ll also determine how fast your team hits the ground running in 2026.
That’s because scaling your team isn’t a click-your-fingers activity. Hiring, onboarding, and ramping all take time. If you want new hires contributing to revenue in Q1 2026, the window to act is already narrowing. So, as we gear up for Q4 of 2025, it’s time to start laying the foundations for an exceptional year ahead.
Why does January get all the attention when it comes to hiring? It’s a fair question. In reality, you can recruit and ramp up your sales staff at any time of year. But many organisations like to start the year with a bang as new budgets are released, fresh goals are set, and sales leaders want quick wins to prove their strategy is working.
This makes January through March one of the busiest times for hiring. With aggressive targets to hit, companies rush to bring in new talent early to maximise performance. But that surge creates its own challenges as eager companies compete for the same sales talent. Acting in Q4 puts you well ahead of the recruitment rush, so you have your hires onboarded and ready to contribute revenue from day one of the new year.
But if you miss the end-of-year window, the fundamentals don’t change: every hire still needs time to ramp, and the longer you wait, the more costly the delay becomes. According to Lightcast, an unfilled job costs employers around $25,000 per month in missed revenue, which is the sterling equivalent of £600 lost for every single day a role sits vacant. For sales teams, those empty seats mean stalled pipeline momentum that compounds into future quarters.
With this in mind, smart sales leaders don’t think in terms of when to hire — they think in terms of when they need reps fully productive. And that makes the ramp-up period a critical planning factor.
Tempted to think you can wait till January to snap up some top talent? Even if you have slick, sleek recruitment workflows and a pipeline of candidates keen to join your ranks, the problem is that making the hire is only half the battle. The rest boils down to how long it takes for each new joiner to actively contribute to pipeline and revenue.
Industry data puts the average ramp time for an account executive at 5.3 months. Sales development reps (SDRs) get up to speed a little quicker, averaging 3.6 months. We’ll save you on the maths — if you hire in January, your AEs may not be hitting quota until June, while your SDRs could be productive from mid-April. And that’s only if you manage to recruit and get your new hires to sign on the dotted line from early January, when realistically it could take your recruiters a few weeks to settle in after the festivities.
During each of these months, you’re paying salaries without seeing full return and pipeline opportunities can slip away. In fact, poor ramp management can wipe out as much as 5% of annual revenue. The good news is that a structured onboarding process is something you can control and optimise. Once you’ve committed to training and developing your new sales hires, they’ll be able to hit targets faster. As a bonus, they’re far more likely to stay with you for the long haul.
If Q4 is the launchpad for 2026, how do you make sure you’re set up for success? Follow these seven crucial steps.
In a market where top sales talent has plenty of choice, your employer value proposition (EVP) is what makes people want to join your team over a competitor’s. Arun S., a tech sales professional, provides his perspective on why perks and compensation aren’t everything.
“Before I join a sales team, I look for three things:
These words are a reminder that Q4 is the right time to sharpen your EVP by defining what makes your culture stand out. Use this time to gather testimonials from your current team, and clarify it in your job descriptions and interviews. If you have a company careers or culture page, be sure to use them to publish details of what makes your organisation a great place to work.
Once you know what makes your company and your sales team so attractive, get clear on who you’re actually hiring for. Are you looking for SDRs to build pipeline, experienced AEs to close enterprise deals, or a mix of both? Do you need sector expertise, or is coachability more valuable?
Without clear profiles, you risk wasting time interviewing people who don’t fit or have the wrong skillsets for your strategy. In Q4, pin down the attributes that matter most, then brief your recruiters so they know exactly what to prioritise when sourcing candidates.
Next, work out how many people you can hire, at what level, and what you can afford to offer.
This means sitting down with your finance team and executives early, armed with evidence.
For example, you might build a business case that proves Q4 hiring is an investment in hitting Q1 targets, not just a cost centre.
Before you can get into the nuts and bolts of ramp management, it pays to be realistic about how long every section of the hiring process takes. 60% of organisations reported a longer time to hire in 2024 than the previous year. Remember to factor in:
Stitch those steps together and a “quick hire” can easily stretch into a couple of months before onboarding begins. Mapping the full Q4 timeline means you’re not caught out by delays and can plan for when new hires will actually walk through the door.
Top-tier sales talent doesn't wait, and a frustrating hiring experience is a fast way to lose them. In fact, 36% of candidates have declined offers after a negative candidate experience, and a staggering 33% have abandoned an application entirely if asked to sit through a one-way video interview.
An efficient, respectful process positions your business as well organised and high-trust, right from the first interaction. Here’s what to do in Q4:
Too often, businesses assume managers can deliver training alongside their day jobs, and that they’re being productive by doing so. But this “strategy” is a mistake that usually leads to inconsistency and knowledge gaps in your new hires.
This is where a specialist partner makes the difference. At Furza, our academy provides structured programmes that combine classroom learning, role-specific playbooks, and hands-on coaching. The goal is to use the first 90 days as a runway to long-term success.
From our work with sales teams, we’ve know that our approach to onboarding separates average ramp-ups from high-performing ones. When new hires have support from experienced coaches, and follow a training framework tailored to their role, they build the skills, confidence, and habits that set them up to win sales left, right, and centre.
Alongside stellar training, your new hires deserve to know what’s expected of them. Salespeople want clarity on:
Answering these questions upfront prevents reps from drifting or second-guessing themselves. It also stops them losing motivation before they’ve even had a chance to prove themselves.
Most importantly, it shows what comes after the ramp. Career pathways matter more than ever, especially for ambitious sales talent thinking in 12 to 18 month horizons. Can an SDR progress into an AE role? What does leadership development look like for top performers? When people see a future with your business, they’re far more likely to commit.
The window for Q4 hiring is short, but the impact is long-lasting. If you snooze, you lose, and by the time January arrives, you don’t want to be scrambling to interview candidates while competitors are already onboarding theirs. Wouldn’t it be better if your new hires were fresh out of the starting blocks, building pipeline, and setting the tone for a year of consistent, compounding sales success?
Ready to create your 2026 sales force? Act now and by the time January hits, all you'll have left to do is work off those mince pies.
Contact Furza today.