Table of Contents
How to Hire Sales Reps That Actually Perform
What It Really Means to Hire Sales Reps
Why Traditional Hiring Processes Fall Short
A Better Way to Hire Sales Reps
The Core Skills Athletes & Veterans Bring to Sales Roles
How to Source Sales Reps Without Compromising Quality
Onboarding and Retention Start Before the Hire
Final Thoughts: Why Shift Group Is the Smarter Way to Hire Sales Reps
- Frequently Asked Questions About Hiring Sales Reps
Hiring sales reps is one of the highest-impact decisions a company can make, and one of the easiest to get wrong. The right reps accelerate revenue, strengthen customer relationships, and scale with your business. The wrong hires slow momentum, increase churn, and create unnecessary cost.
Most hiring processes fail because they prioritize resumes over readiness. The companies seeing the best results today are hiring sales reps who bring discipline, coachability, and performance under pressure, traits consistently found in former athletes and veterans. This guide explains how to hire sales reps the right way, and why Shift Group has become the go-to platform for companies looking to hire from these backgrounds.
How to Hire Sales Reps That Actually Perform
Hiring sales reps is one of the highest-impact decisions a company can make, and one of the easiest to get wrong. The right reps accelerate revenue, strengthen customer relationships, and scale with your business. The wrong hires slow momentum, increase churn, and create unnecessary cost.
Most hiring processes fail because they prioritize resumes over readiness. The companies seeing the best results today are hiring sales reps who bring discipline, coachability, and performance under pressure, traits consistently found in former athletes and veterans. This guide explains how to hire sales reps the right way, and why Shift Group has become the go-to platform for companies looking to hire from these backgrounds.
What It Really Means to Hire Sales Reps
Hiring sales reps isn’t about filling seats, it’s about finding people who can perform in a high-accountability environment. The most effective sales reps:
Communicate clearly and adapt to customer needs
Take ownership of results and metrics
Learn quickly from feedback and setbacks
Operate well under pressure
Athletes and veterans are uniquely prepared for this. They are accustomed to structured systems, feedback loops, and working toward defined goals. Shift Group evaluates these candidates based on behaviors that predict sales success, not just resumes.
Why Traditional Hiring Processes Fall Short
Most companies rely on the same approach: post a job, screen resumes, run interviews, and hope the hire works out. Common challenges include:
Hiring based on titles instead of performance potential
Unstructured interviews that fail to measure critical skills
Overlooking non-traditional candidates, like athletes and veterans
Shift Group solves these problems by translating the discipline, resilience, and teamwork of athletes and veterans into business-ready skills. Companies gain insight into candidate readiness before the first interview, reducing risk and improving alignment.
A Better Way to Hire Sales Reps
Hiring sales reps effectively requires a structured system. Companies that succeed consistently:
Define success clearly — outline metrics, responsibilities, and growth pathways.
Evaluate candidates against behaviors that predict sales performance.
Streamline the hiring process so managers meet only qualified, prepared candidates.
Shift Group provides this system exclusively for athletes and veterans, preparing them with business and sales fundamentals and evaluating readiness before introduction to companies. This leads to faster hiring, stronger alignment, and lower risk.
The Core Skills Athletes and Veterans Bring to Sales Roles
Top sales reps share several essential traits. Athletes and veterans naturally bring these to the table:
Discipline: Following structured processes and maintaining consistent performance
Resilience: Handling rejection or setbacks without losing momentum
Coachability: Quickly applying feedback to improve results
Goal orientation: Taking ownership of outcomes and staying accountable
By the time candidates reach hiring managers, these skills have already been assessed and reinforced through Shift Group’s preparation process.
How to Source Sales Reps Without Compromising Quality
Many companies rely on job boards or resume databases, creating a high volume of candidates but inconsistent quality. Shift Group flips this approach:
Provides a curated pipeline of trained athletes and veterans
Eliminates unqualified applicants and wasted interviews
Aligns candidate preparation with real-world business and sales expectations
This ensures every conversation is with a candidate who is ready to perform from day one.
Onboarding and Retention Start Before the Hire
Sales turnover often results from misalignment, not lack of talent. Shift Group prepares candidates in advance so companies can onboard faster and retain longer. Key advantages include:
Clear understanding of performance expectations
Faster ramp times thanks to pre-training
Higher engagement and lower early attrition
By aligning hiring, preparation, and onboarding, companies set up athlete and veteran sales reps for long-term success.
Final Thoughts: Why Shift Group Is the Smarter Way to Hire Sales Reps
Hiring sales reps doesn’t have to be unpredictable. Companies that hire athletes and veterans through Shift Group gain access to professionals with proven discipline, accountability, and performance under pressure.
Shift Group makes this transition seamless, preparing elite talent for business careers and connecting companies with sales reps who actually perform. For teams building durable, high-performing sales organizations, the advantage is clear.
FAQ's
Athletes and veterans are trained to perform under pressure, follow structured systems, and stay accountable to goals. These traits translate directly to sales, where resilience, discipline, and coachability drive consistent performance.
Some Shift Group candidates do have prior sales experience, while others come from right from sports or service. The key is that all candidates are evaluated for potential, coachability, and performance traits, and receive structured training to prepare them for success in sales roles.
Shift Group provides structured business and sales training that aligns with real-world job expectations. Candidates learn the skills, language, and behaviors needed to succeed in sales before they ever interview with a company.
By vetting, training, and aligning candidates upfront, Shift Group ensures companies only meet sales reps who are ready to perform. This reduces mis-hires, early attrition, and ramp time compared to traditional hiring methods.
Yes. Shift Group works with both new and transitioning talent. Athletes and veterans are evaluated for potential, adaptability, and performance traits, making them suitable for a range of roles, from SDRs/BDRs to account executives.
Because candidates are pre-trained and vetted, companies can meet ready-to-perform sales reps much faster than traditional hiring processes. Many teams reduce time-to-hire while increasing the quality of candidates.
Build a high-performing sales team with Shift Group!
Prior to founding Shift Group, JR held senior revenue leadership roles at high-growth technology companies, including serving as Chief Revenue Officer at Pillir, where he built the company’s go-to-market strategy and top-tier AWS partnerships. Before that, he was an early employee at Turbonomic, helping scale the company through its $2B acquisition by IBM while leading top-performing sales teams and enterprise growth. JR is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, where he played Division I hockey.
About Shift Group:
Shift Group is the premier talent platform for building high-performing teams. We turn the experience of athletes and veterans into business-ready skills, delivering a steady pipeline of qualified, pre-vetted candidates with the mindset, discipline, and work ethic to make an immediate impact.
For companies: Our platform accelerates sourcing and hiring, reduces risk, and improves retention and time-to-productivity. The result is a more efficient, data-driven hiring process and a competitive edge built on proven talent.
For athletes and veterans: We’re your partner in career transition. From functional skill training to interview prep and job placement, we guide you step-by-step. Our platform teaches you how to leverage your unique background and story through video to stand out to employers. And our curated job board gives you direct access to top opportunities, helping you launch a career that matters.
Shift Group connects elite talent with companies that value drive, resilience, and leadership, creating high-performing teams and meaningful careers.
