Larry Kendall, Founding partner of the Group Inc. Author of Ninja Selling

FORT COLLINS — Larry Kendall has blended people-power with his own compassion to carve out a career worthy of BizWest’s 2020 Bravo! Entrepreneur Regional Spirit award. During a career that spans five decades, Kendall has helped thousands of people find the home of their dreams, and he has helped thousands of agents hone their skills to aid in those transactions. Along the way, he has volunteered time and effort to help the Northern Colorado community. Kendall fell in love with Fort Collins when on a road trip in the 1970s, and he decided to put down roots. Finding himself without a job, he turned to selling real estate, but he was turned off by the hard-sell approach driven by quotas that was taught at real estate seminars of the day. He thought there had to be a better approach and decided to create one that suited his people-oriented personality. Kendall helped co-found The Group Inc. in 1976 with 11 other Realtors. The employee-owned real estate sales group was formed long before employee-owned businesses were fashionable. It quickly became a laboratory for experimenting with group dynamics, teams, self-directed work groups, employee empowerment and leadership — all the while working to find the best way to buy-and-sell real estate. Susie Ewing, one of those first partners, recalls that it was Kendall’s idea to open a real estate company that was employee-owned. “All partners bought stock in the company and benefited from the profits,” Ewing said. “In 1976, that was unheard of, and 44 years later the company that started with 12 partners now has 212 partners and six offices in Northern Colorado. He was then and still is a visionary.” Ewing said that Kendall is driven by bringing out the best in people. “From the beginning, he was always a good leader, mentor, motivator and friend. He has a very unique way of  recognizing the talents that people have long before they do and then helping them build on those talents.  He is a true Go Giver — always willing to share what he has learned in order for people to be better.” In 1994, Kendall was instrumental in co-creating the Ninja Selling system. The sales-training system is based on building relationships, listening to customers and helping get them to where they want to be. In addition to making a transaction smooth for buyer and seller, the goals of the system include increasing an agent’s income per hour, customer satisfaction and improving the quality of an agent’s life. The system first was used by the members of The Group but has since been taught internationally. Propelled by Kendall’s book “Ninja Selling,” the system has been taught in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Spain with approximately 100,000 graduates. The book offers insights and case studies of Kendall’s “soft” approach to sales and business development that he says never puts sellers in the position of being rejected or causes customers to feel pressure. These “soft” skills such as empathy, communication and collaboration, […]
Source: BizWest