I am a football junkie and I am very excited that NFL training camps have begun and that the start of the regular season is only a month away. What’s interesting with training camps is that the teams already know which “stars” are going to make the roster. I mean, Tom Brady of the New England Patriots or Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos are not worried about whether they’re making the team, are they?

The real battles to watch concern the role players on the team; these are the men who are either not stars yet, or quite frankly will never be stars, but can still perform at the level necessary to be professional football players. While being a player on special teams, or being the backup tight end may not seem sexy or exciting, those players are still an hugely important component of a football team. 

A football team needs everyone, both stars and role players, to be able to perform at a high level … and the same is true for your leasing team as well. 

Role Players Have a Valuable Role

Throughout my 25 years in sales and management, I’ve only met about five people who I would consider to be “natural sales people.” These were the people who could sell anything to anybody and would always top the sales charts in the organization. Understandably, most companies want sales teams composed entirely of these selling superstars. Wouldn’t you?

Yet, I’m here to tell you that while having a leasing superstar is valuable, you don’t need a “dream team” of leasing rock stars to succeed! In fact if you spend all of your time in search of a selling “Kobe Bryant” you may miss the solid, if not spectacular, associates that will give you consistent effort and results week after week. 

Why Should You Consider a Non-Star?

People who are selling superstars often clash with one another because they’re wired very similarly! So when you have a team of superstars you will often have some growing pains as your people determine who is the “Alpha” and who is the “2” and “3” people. And when someone who sees him/herself as the Alpha, runs into another Alpha, you know what happens! 

But when you have a consistent performer, who is content not being the star, you can avoid the drama that can accompany having a “Dream Team” while still getting good performance. 

Great sales people often suck at the administrative, paperwork and the small details. More often than not the great sales associates I’ve worked with had paperwork, or application forms, or just assumed that they didn't need all of the official paperwork because the sale was the only thing that mattered. When you have a non-star on the team, they’re often better at ensuring the “little” things are taken care of. 

Consider this … many of the great coaches in sports were not generally superstars during their playing careers. I believe this is because many of those coaches who were role players had to become students of their respective sports to succeed, relying on technique and smarts and savvy, to compensate for not having the physical gifts of a star athlete. 

You may find that your non-superstar leasing agent will be well-equipped to move on to management, administrative, training, marketing and other roles in the organization. 

It’s a Team!

Please understand, this post is not a knock on the superstars! If you have a few, that’s GREAT! If you don't have, keep you eyes opened because it is awesome to have a star! But remember that you need all sorts of players on a team, and everyone can bring something valuable to the table, even the ones who aren't rock stars!