2018 Axiom Business Book Award Winner, Gold Medal Amazon Best Seller in Sales & Selling and Consumer Behavior
Stop Selling! Start Solving!
In Ninja Selling, author Larry Kendall transforms the way readers think about selling. He points out the problems with traditional selling methods and instead offers a science-based selling system that gives predictable results regardless of personality type. Ninja Selling teaches readers how to shift their approach from chasing clients to attracting clients. Readers will learn how to stop selling and start solving by asking the right questions and listening to their clients.
Ninja Selling is an invaluable step-by-step guide that shows readers how to be more effective in their sales careers and increase their income-per-hour, so that they can lead full lives. Ninja Selling is both a sales platform and a path to personal mastery and life purpose. Followers of the Ninja Selling system say it not only improved their business and their client relationships; it also improved the quality of their lives.
I was reading this book to get some good advice for real estate agents, but when I got to this paragraph (below), I just couldn't continue to support this author. I am so sick and tired of reading a self help book by male authors that should have nothing to do with gender, bring in their own opinions about how women should act or dress! Case in point-
"A good rule of thumb is not to dress like your clients. Instead, emulate the people whom your clients go to for advice. In some markets, especially resorts, a coat and tie would be inappropriate, but you still want to look polished and dressed slightly better than your customer. For women, especially young women, dressing up means professional attire- not something you'd wear to the nightclub"
Are you serious? Where was the line to tell men how to dress nicely and not like someone going out to a nightclub? Why only women? This is the society that we are in and we are so used to seeing it that we have become blinded by it.
I will not read this further, nor will I support this in any way.
Larry writes a simple enough recipe on how to achieve repeatable sales success. While the program is intended for realtors, Larry is correct in suggesting the techniques can translate to a variety of sales domains.
Some of the highlights for me: Understand the pain and pleasure principle of your buyer. Make a connection first, then get into ‘proposal’ mode. Ask FORD questions. Recognize the buyer personality, Risk taker vs. non. Give your buyer clarity and confidence, not confusion and fear. Be aware of time of possession, listen rather than speak. Believe in abundance rather than scarcity. Know there are two types of sellers, those that serve and those that get served (to the exit). Player vs. Victim. Our frequency or vibe plays a role in who we attract, positive or negative energy.
Ninja sales is about putting your customer first, looking at how to solve their problems, not serving your agenda. Learning to get out of our fixed mindset, allows us to be open to possibilities. Opportunities could be all around us, we should just focus on the positive, for what we focus on expands. Finally, remember to give gratitude every morning. The universe can only expand once we realize that every morning is already a gift; win, lose or draw.
One of the best sales/business books I’ve ever read. It’s all here; holistic, ethical philosophy coupled with great tactics and real estate industry-specific examples. I’ve begun to re-read immediately. We all should be served by Ninjas whenever we need to buy anything.
This has good actionable content once you get past the "new agey" stuff about vibrations that are in the first 1/4 or so of the book. After that, it is pretty much a step-by-step guide on how to best connect with clients.
At the suggestion of my son, Ninja personality, who worked with Larry Kendall, I read the first 12 chapters of this book, Principal 1: Personal Mastery. These chapters revisited many of the themes scattered in numerous meditation, mindfulness, positive thinking, self-help, and mental rebooting books. I appreciated the way Larry brought all of these together. I took many notes and will revisit them frequently. The review of the four quadrants of high energy/negative vibes, low energy/negative vibes, high energy/positive vibes and low energy/ positive vibes was very helpful along with the concept that we are both senders and receivers of vibrations......bringing to mind the song Good Vibrations! I must remember to put state my goals in first person and be specific and consistent.
I loved this book. The material is presented in a concise and interesting manner, with inspirational anecdotes and easy-to-apply techniques for better customer service. The Ninja Method focuses on embracing the sales process and adding value to clients, first and foremost. Having already applied some of these techniques to current relationships, I see a positive response. I'm no "ninja" yet, but I'm practicing. I'm sure this will be a book I'll re-read over my real estate career.
I really liked this book. Very practical and comprehensive and high integrity. It’s very good at helping develop a relaxed, service based mindset with practical systems to get results.
For those seeking to build relational businesses, not transactional businesses; for those eager to provide value and solve problems for the people that they serve; for those seeking to rise above the crowd, there is Ninja Selling by Larry Kendall to lead the way.
Having taken the Ninja installation back in January, I knew I had to read Ninja Selling. The principles it teaches are meant not only to help you see your business in a different light, they guide you toward better work and life balance.
Reminding the reader that TSW - The System Works - Kendall provides step-by-step instructions on how to bring greater value to your clients, going from selling to solving by asking the right questions and listening to the people you serve. This allows you to rise above the crowd, because you put the practices and systems in place to increase your productivity, be more helpful to your clients, and enjoy your life. Helpful appendices provide resources crucial to success, and the Afterword includes "The Ninja Prayer."
Kendall has a smooth, calming voice, and his narration of Ninja Selling is what one would hear in any of his videos. His voice encourages the reader along, helping them to embrace a system that can truly make a difference if you follow the Ninja Path.
I am eager to continue along my journey. While I have always been a relational person, Ninja Selling has helped me fine-tune my skills.
Highly recommended for business people everywhere!
📚 I'm thrilled to share that we've delved into "Ninja Selling" by Larry Kendall for the 6th time (for me) with a group of phenomenal realtors, and I'm simultaneously listening to the audio version for the 3rd time while teaching. 🎧
This book holds a special place in my heart as I have even attended a Ninja Installation in Fort Collin's, where this whole concept originated.
Although it's tailored for realtors, its teachings extend far beyond that realm. Kendall's emphasis on question-based selling, akin to the Socratic method, is enlightening. Understanding others' goals and genuinely helping them achieve those goals is a cornerstone of success in any relationship, personal or professional. 🌟 Putting others' needs before our own can take us further than we ever imagined in our interactions. If you're in sales or simply work with people, this book is a goldmine of wisdom! 💼
If you ask me, this book is far better than any credential a realtor can obtain. I vote only working with Ninja's for real estate and lending as we will work hard to help you get where you need to be.
Half the book felt like it was written by an imperialist guru.
In any case, a strong message but poorly delivered. 300+ pages to on the premise that ninja selling is about solving problems – alleviating consumer pain and leveraging client pleasure.
Simple enough, and repeated often.
What was not appreciated was the repeated nonsense about gratitude practices and positive affirmations attributed to one lady's 400% increase in sales. Too much fluff; I wanted practicality.
The book wove in and out of decent ideas, never really explored long enough to garner much interest.
New sellers in a B2C environment might enjoy this book as their first, but not sure who else.
I'll save you the time: Selling is about solving, asking questions, and providing meaningful outcomes. Each client has needs – cater to them specifically. Be malleable, be positive, have faith in the process, and be personable. Success = time + effort.
People work with those they like and trust – be that.
P.S. Not sure how this won an award (my opinion might be an outlier).
2/5 because it has good points, just lacks on execution.
Great. Most sales books suck. This one has actionable items for people. For anyone saying “it’s a cult!” It’s a bunch of advice. You don’t have to work for the guy. He tells you actual things to do and work on. A lot of the role plays are ideal situations and likely don’t play out with such efficiency in real life but it’s something to build on. I don’t think you need to do all this stuff in lock step but you should be able to find some items that can assist you. As well, anyone dumping on mindset is either incredibly resilient and has never had to experience anxiety or pressure, or you’re not at the stage yet to acknowledge how important mindset can be. There are so many parts of life where performance is simply a display of confidence in execution. We’re all capable of the same things but only side of us do it. It’s almost always the result of your brain and how you use it. Sales especially. If you don’t agree then don’t read the book. Or this review. Stop reading yo.
Good advice for anyone, regarding how to establish relationships, how to build integrity and value into your business. I would give it 5 stars, but it gets a little too mind-controlling and presumptuous in the way it attempts to "install" a new way of thinking. Dale Carnegie wrote it down too. So did George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Ann Landers, and many others. This is not new, and many of us learned these concepts in kindergarten, so we don't need them "installed". There are some simple principles regarding human relations and connection that have withstood the test of time. Larry Kendall writes them down with an easy to follow method for making them habits, a kind of a mashup between "How to Win Friends and Influence People" and "Atomic Habits". Very useful as a workbook of habits you can adopt.
Wish I could rate this book 0 stars. Read it to improve my job performance, but instead of good, actionable business advice, I found what I can only describe as cult-ish nonsense. This ranged from the standard-to-business (like a rather mercenary view of friends as future sales targets) to the unusual (a long section on manifesting that belonged on a teenager's Pinterest board rather than in a book on sales) to the downright bizarre (it ended with a "Ninja Prayer" that genuinely felt like I was joining a cult). Also, the book's reliance on "ninja" language, which comes from a privileged, white, not-that-knowledgeable-about-Japan author, felt both cultural appropriation-y and icky. The book provided no advice on sales that you wouldn't get from your own common sense, and it was also deeply troublesome. Would never recommend.
This book was great! The author dropped a lot of gems about becoming a better Agent in Real Estate. Although some of the skills and information that was mentioned can be useful in other sectors of your life. Also it can be applicable to personal growth as well. I’ve started using some of techniques mentioned such as writing my affirmations 25 times in the morning and writing note cards.
As I’m working on growing my brand and business in Real Estate, this book is a useful tool that I can refer back too. I plan to revisit some chapters every now and then. It’s definitely worth rereading a couple of times. It’s a great guide!
5/5 I am not a seller. I have always hated the concept of selling from my consulting days always trying to sell and grow the business because I couldn’t see the value behind what we were selling. However, the world is full of sales whether one admits or not, life is full of transactions.
This book gave some fresh perspectives that’s very intriguing to how one would make decisions differently when interacting with different people. The value of the book aligns to my thoughts, I’m not a selling realtor, I am a value providing realtor. Aiming to provide and guide my clients with the information they need fo make their final decisions.
The book look very big and intimidate from the outside but it was a great read and a must for any Real Estate agent. The relationship selling is not a quick process but once you have established it then it will be come easier. Ninja selling is a system and Larry had break it down to different part and an easy to understand system to learn and follow. I have put sticked notes on various sections that I feel is important so I can go back and outline it. Now the book make me want to check out his seminar and learn more about this system.
Great stuff, totally different than other sales books like those by zig Ziglar and Jordan belfort. Those high pressure tactics just don’t work on we millennials- we don’t want to be sold, as Larry points out. These are tactics that can make you a boatload of money and most importantly you won’t feel bad about it. I’m a loan officer that felt something was vaguely wrong about scripting and pressure closing, I’m excited to put these principles into practice and become the trusted mortgage expert in my community. Thanks Larry!
This book should be the official manual for entering real estate. As realtor we get sold a "bill of goods" by so many who are really only interested in taking our money. They all have the secret sauce to our success. The reality is the secret sauce or the idea that they have it; is only the secret sauce to their success. Real estate is a relationship business. There is no way around it! Focusing on building relationships, having a customer centric approach, and how to connect with people is the best way to do it. This books shows you how!
I got through maybe a quarter of the book and realized that most of the advice Kendall gives is “think positively”. I have no doubt positive thoughts and environments can help one perform better, but they aren’t the end-all be-all. If you want to read a book about positive thoughts, read The Secret. At least in that book they don’t try to cover up the optimism hoopla and pass it off as helpful advice, like this book does.
I’m all about “attraction marketing”, I like working with people that want to work with me. I’m not a chaser. I agree with a lot of the concepts in here, but also felt like “meh”. Maybe because these are things that I have heard in other formats many times? The one thing I am taking away is an increased focus on showing my past clients some more love. It’s more time than anything else that has been in the way of that.
This book contained many helpful tips! It lays out everything step by step to help an agent not only be highly successful in their career, but also to become the best version of themselves. It even goes through dialogue options and answering common questions/situations. This book, coupled with my goal journal, has significantly improved my life and the way I think. One of the best self-help/career books I have ever read!!
Great roadmap for any type of sales professional that is seeking to better understand relationship selling. This book creates a mindset shift, from affirmations, to daily habit shifts, that when put into place lay the groundwork for greater purpose in one's business. Lots of examples and tools given to get the concepts nailed down. Easy to read chapters, tools to get started and tips to implement - my new favorite business book!
Written for real estate professionals, the approaches here are useful for any one responsible for sales in almost any industry. Moving beyond the three step pressure selling to a consultative trust based selling approach that builds on true relationships and adding value. A great resource and read for any sales professional.
This was recommended to me by my mentor at my brokerage, he thinks it's like the bible of real estate. I will admit, it has some good stuff in it, the first section is probably my favorite, and the super in-depth processes are incredibly nice. However, I don't agree with everything. Ultimately, I think it's a worthwhile read, (plus it's pretty quick IMO).
I think this book is highly beneficial to those in sales, especially real estate. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because at times it did drag on a little and was rough to continue at some parts but I did finish it, just took my longer than usual. Worth the read to see different ideas of others that are successful!