Ninja Selling’s Larry Kendall: Control The Habits, Not The Headlines

Real estate agents and brokers are bombarded daily with headlines predicting the industry’s next upheaval. Let it go, says Larry Kendall, founder of Ninja Selling, because most of that noise sits firmly outside of your control.

While it’s important you keep up with current headlines, Kendall believes real estate professionals and brokers should take a deep breath and realize what you can and can’t control. He talks about a concept popularized by leadership expert Stephen Covey — the three circles of concern, influence and control. The lesson, he says, is especially important today.

“Right now, there’s a lot of energy going into the circle of concern,” Kendall said during a recent interview with HousingWire at Leading Real Estate Companies of the World’s annual conference. “The uncertainties geopolitically, the uncertainties in the economy, certainly the uncertainties within our industry.”

“For the agent in the street selling real estate, they need to stay focused on their clients and their business and their circle of control,” Kendall said. “What can they do on a daily basis to generate business? What can they do on a daily basis to influence their clients and help them and not get too distracted with the circles of concern?”

Daily habits that drive production

Kendall developed a set of routines known as the “Ninja Nine” — five daily habits and four weekly habits designed to keep real estate professionals focused on consistent relationship building and lead generation. Some of the daily habits begin before an agent even opens their email.

“The first habit is to get up every day and do your gratitude and your affirmations,” Kendall said. “That will put you in a positive energy state — the gratitude — and it’ll focus you on your goals with the affirmations.”

Kendall ties the practice to a broader mindset shift he believes is lacking today.

“The gap is the goals — the gap between where we are and where we want to be,” he said. “But at the same time, we need to reflect a little bit on how much we’ve gained, how far we’ve come, how much we have to be grateful for.”

From there, Kendall advises agents to structure their time intentionally.

“No. 2 is to time block your day and your week,” he said. “I recommend you time block your to-do list. A lot of people operate from a to-do list, but they don’t really schedule it.”

By scheduling tasks rather than simply listing them, you’re more likely to complete the activities that actually drive business, he said.

Surprising power of simple messages

One of the most effective tactics Kendall teaches today evolved from a classroom question.

Originally, Ninja Selling encouraged agents to write personal notes daily. That practice still works, but Kendall says personalized text messages have emerged as an equally powerful tool.

“I was teaching a class a couple of years ago, and there was a young woman named Marissa in class,” Kendall recalled. “She said, ‘How do you feel about personalized text messages?’ She told me she was sending 10 a day.”

The results were striking.

“She’d only been in the business two years,” Kendall said. “She did 28 transactions her first year and 72 her second year.”

Since then, Kendall has encouraged agents to send thoughtful, question-based text messages to people in their network. One Ninja Selling practitioner tested the approach by sending five texts per day.

“He called me a couple weeks later,” Kendall said. “He said, ‘I’ve done it for 10 days — 50 messages. I have a 100% response rate and 20% asked for a meeting.’”

The key is to keep the messages simple and personal.

“They always ask a question,” Kendall explained. “When you receive a text message with a question, what do you feel compelled to do? Answer it.”

These conversations often turn into appointments — sometimes so quickly that agents must pace themselves. “When I start doing that, my calendar fills up,” Kendall said he was told.

Why empathy matters in the AI era

While technology continues to reshape real estate, Kendall believes the profession’s core value remains deeply human.

He acknowledges that artificial intelligence will play a growing role in the industry, but he argues that the most important aspect of sales — empathy — can’t be automated.

“Why do salespeople exist?” Kendall asked rhetorically. “We exist to help people go from the life they have to the life they dream about.”

That transition, he says, is rooted in understanding a client’s pain points and aspirations.

“In Ninja speak, we call that being able to identify pain and pleasure,” Kendall said. “And if you look at the research on empathy, it starts with the eyes.”

Digital communication has limits when it comes to reading these signals.

“You can kind of pick it up with email, maybe more with a phone call,” he said. “But you really can identify empathy — pain or pleasure — with your eyes. AI doesn’t have eyes.”

That’s why Kendall believes face-to-face interaction will remain central to real estate transactions, even as AI tools proliferate. “That’s a uniquely human experience,” he said.

Long-term strategy: Be a giver

Kendall’s relationship-first philosophy is reinforced by research from organizational psychologist Adam Grant, whose work examined different approaches to business success.

Grant identified three strategies: givers, takers and matchers.

“Givers create value,” Kendall said. “Takers are really good at extracting value.”

In the short term, takers sometimes outperform others, he noted — especially during boom markets when new clients are plentiful. But the long-term results tell a different story.

“If you develop a reputation as somebody who creates value, who solves pain and pleasure, people are going to come to you,” Kendall said. “They’re going to refer you.”

That reputation compounds over time, creating a sustainable business built on trust and referrals rather than constant prospecting.

Listings remain the strategic advantage

For brokerage leaders navigating consolidation and competitive pressures, Kendall’s advice is direct: focus on listings.

He compares the real estate industry to a game of Monopoly. “If you want to win at Monopoly, you have to control the board,” Kendall said. “The way you control the board in our industry is with listings.”

As brokerages compete for market share and technology reshapes the consumer experience, a strong inventory of listings will become even more critical.

“I would focus on being a strong listing company,” he said. “That’s always been important, but it’s going to become even more important going forward.”

Control the activities, not the outcomes

Kendall’s message to agents and brokerage leaders is consistent: The best response to industry uncertainty is disciplined daily activity.

Instead of trying to manage outcomes like transaction volume or market share, agents should focus on the behaviors that produce these outcomes.

“Know the activities that lead to production,” Kendall said. “Don’t try to manage production — manage the activities and production will take care of itself.”