Sullivan - The Dan Sullivan Question

It is not about you. This is something everyone oftenforgets when helping a client. Unless you frame the conversationsaround the client, you will never demonstrate clarity, confidence,and capability. I have asked The Dan Sullivan Question hundreds oftimes, from priest to multi-billion-dollar investors, and I alwaysget the same response: What a great question!

John Culbertson, Cardinal Partners
Charlotte, NC

The foundation of our entire business is the D.O.S.Our associates do not begin client meetings with anything but thisapproach. One client commented, ... I came in to the room assumingyou were going to try to sell me on your company. Two hourslater, I had discussed the core issues and aspirations I had in mybusiness future. I told you things I later couldn't believe I haddiscussed.

Bruce Thorne, Corporate Protection Group
Belleville, ON

Dan's question has simplified my approach to helpingothers achieve their goals, simplify their lives, and put them on anever-ending path of continual growth. It is the simplest andfastest way for them to gain clarity about their future. Dan hascaptured the essence of our being with this simple question.

Gary Klaben, Coyle Asset Management
Glenview, IL

Integrating Dan's question into my conversations withprospects and clients has radically changed the perception of myprofessional practice in the marketplace. Departing from thetraditional approach of focusing on data, the question enables meto quickly create a relationship that is deep and meaningful,helping our clients to become instantly clear, confident, andcapable. Asking this question has radically changed the way my firmoperates.

Mindy Jones, Mindy N. Jones CPA, P.C. and ScottsdaleStrategy Group
Scottsdale, AZ

Building meaningful relationships in today's highlycommoditized world is increasingly challenging. True relationshipsare built through creating value, expanding trust, and helpingdevelop bigger futures. Dan's D.O.S. Conversation is an essentialcomponent in creating any relationship. Dan's wisdom and insightsare amazing!

Doug McPherson
Reston, VA

Asking this question communicates that you areinterested in your client's future and not only their futurerelationship with you. My closing rate with this strategy is around95 percent, but my anxiety level in the initial meeting has beenreduced by about 150 percent.

Dan Taylor, Advisor Freedom
Charlotte, NC

When you can know in the first 15 minutes of aconversation how a person feels pain and aspiration and,therefore, whether you can lead them out of one and toward another that's the kind of nourishment that can cure anything.

Jennifer Summer Tolman, Second Summer Inc.
Pacifica, CA

The Dan Sullivan Question is a brilliant tool. Itallows us to have an initial meeting with prospective clients andautomatically makes the meeting all about them. This question hasbecome an integral part of our business for creating value for ourclients. It's not unusual for prospective clients to ask us whytheir previous advisors haven't asked them these questions before.At that point, they realize that we are all about them and notus.

Ron Rog, R.W. Rog & Company Inc.
Bohemia, NY

D.O.S. has made a dramatic difference in our salesprocess and allowed us to differentiate our organization. We areable to build stronger relationships with our clients, as we have abetter understanding of their needs, desires, and motivations. Thisquestion has directly resulted in the development of new productsand intellectual capital, growing our revenue by an additional 40percent last year.

David Engel, Innovative Graphics Group
Toronto, ON

Simply put, Dan's question transforms the way myclients think about their circumstances. It helps them quickly andeasily transition from a preoccupation with their concerns to apositive mindset where they also recognize new opportunities. Mostimportant, this tool can be used over and over again. Any time aconcern or issue arises, this question is an effective tool forbringing about clarity and certainty. It's ideal for breakingthrough the paralysis that exists when opportunity is obscured by amyopic focus on the dangers one faces.

Elizabeth G. Norman, CFP, Retirement Specialists,Inc.
Brea, CA

Twenty years ago, my sales training taught me to openthe relationship by talking about me and why I am a person of valueand have an idea worth sharing. Using this method, I was reasonablysuccessful, performing in the top ten percent of professionals inmy field. When I learned this powerful question, my incomequadrupled, and I am now in the top one percent in my field.Learning that it's not about me, but, rather, about them,revolutionized my business. The great part is everyone gets more ofwhat they want.

Jeff Huston, Freedom Solutions
Buffalo, MN

Since we have begun using the question consistently,we have seen a tremendous impact on our business. When working withnew clients, it immediately separates who wants to do business in atransformational way from who is just looking for the cheapestprice. Our relationships have strengthened to the point that wevirtually eliminate the competition because no one else is like us.Our hit ratio on new business opportunities has increased from the50 percent range to the 90 percent-plus range. Our client retentionis almost 100 percent. This question may be the most powerfulquestion ever asked.

Bill Kliewer, BKCW Insurance
Killeen, TX

If there is any secret behind my success in beingnamed one of the top wealth advisors in the country, it is that Ireally get to know my clients well. It is The Dan Sullivan Questionthat has given me this great skill and advantage.

Joseph Janiczek, Janiczek and Company Ltd.
Greenwood Village, CO

TM & 2009. The Strategic Coach Inc. All rightsreserved.

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This publication is meant to strengthen your commonsense, not to substitute for it. It is also not a substitute forthe advice of your doctor, lawyer, accountant, or any of youradvisors, personal or professional.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing inPublication

Sullivan, Dan, 1944

The Dan Sullivan question : just asking will changeyour life / Dan Sullivan.

ISBN 978-1-897239-24-7

1. Self-actualization (Psychology) 2. Success. I.Title.

BF637.S8S8352009 158.1 C2009-902553-1

Throughout this book I refer to a program forentrepreneurs. It's called the Strategic Coach Program, and youcan read about it on Page 85. The Program develops and expands fromthe continual asking of the special question that is described onthe following pages.