A Book Review: Ninja Selling: Subtle Skills. Big Results

In his book Ninja Selling: Subtle Skills. Big Results. Larry Kendall, one of the founding partners of The Group, Inc., a real estate company in Northern Colorado, outlines the principles of a system that guarantees success not only in selling but also in other fields. Kendall believes people can become the best version of themselves, and make their organizations the best as well.

Kendall compares customer-centered, humble, world-class sellers to ninjas, the covert army of emperors in ancient Japan who used ninjutsu or the art of stealth in protecting the empire. They are "quiet, unassuming, talented people who got results without ego."

In order to be a ninja seller, you need to have the right mindset, master the four principles, and use specific selling strategies.

Some Takeaways

There are four principles in ninja selling:

Principle 1: Personal Mastery.

Principle 2: Stop Selling! Start Solving!

Principle 3: Ninja Business Strategy.

Principle 4: Connect and Communicate.

There are four quadrants of emotional energy: low positive, high positive, low negative, high negative. To perform well, a seller must stay in the high positive and low positive quadrant.

At the base of the brain is a group of cells called the Reticular Activating System that operates as the central processing unit of a computer. It only has two pathways: negative and positive. "The quality of my life will be determined, in large part, by the amount of time I spend on the positive pathway of my RAS."

Solving, serving, and giving value add up to a picture of a true ninja selling.

The regularity of interaction that is called flow with customers keeps a business alive.

A successful real estate agent has skills that help customers make good decisions. In this book, these skills are applied with the Ten-Step Buyer Process and the Sixteen-Step Seller Process.

Thoughts...Thoughts...Thoughts...

I got this book on Amazon Kindle because it's only $0.99 and I thought why not give it a try. On the cover, it doesn't say that it's actually all about selling houses. Half of the book was so useful for me; the other half, I couldn't relate to. For sure, aspiring and full-fledged real estate agents can find this book useful.

The idea that brought a greater impact to me is the power of PIE time. Time is categorized into three: productive, indirectly productive, and everything else. The seller, customer, and a contract make the productive time. At an indirectly productive time, the seller works on creating P time by making customer service calls, real estate reviews, and running your three-per-month auto-flow system, for example. Lastly, E Time is for everything else: watching soccer games, sleep, family time, and other activities that do not include the customer, directly or indirectly.

How can I apply PIE time in my life? I see P time as the time to reach my goal. For example, if I want to improve my writing, my P time would be the writing time, the time I let the words flow my mind into the paper. Setting the time and making writing goals are my I time. Anything unrelated to writing is my E time. I have to be conscious about how I spend my time if I want to become a better writer, if not the best.

Discussion Questions

1. Every time you hear the word ninja, what comes to your mind?

2. What is ninja selling?

3. Do you agree with the author that this book can also be applied to other fields?

4. What have you learned from this book?

5. How would you apply the principles in your life?

Further Information

Title: Ninja Selling: Subtle Skills. Big Results

Author: Larry Kendall

Genre: Business and Personal Finance

Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press (January, 3, 2017)

Publication Date: January, 3, 2017