A number of companies and hiring managers love to hire former college athletes. Their logic is based on the assumption that anyone who has the work ethic and grit to succeed as an athlete at the highest levels will successfully transfer those same attributes into the equally challenging world of sales. And that may well be true . . . the athlete may very well have a great work ethic and a high need to achieve and succeed. He is probably also very competitive, which we also like to see when identifying and selecting high-potential sales candidates. But be careful,

Many hiring managers for financial services firms face a dilemma when trying to build a high performance sales team because their sales reps are often asked to play two roles. Be top-notch salespeople: capable of finding and developing new clients and new business. Be competent financial consultants: or at least be able to speak intelligently relative to financial services during the selling process and thereafter with a greater team. But when looking to hire financial service salespeople, you have a choice. Should you search for people with financial acumen and then try to train them to sell?  Or should you