In this episode, Dan Sullivan shares how one powerful question can transform any sales conversation. Instead of pitching, you invite prospects to imagine their bigger future and talk themselves into working with you. Learn how The R-Factor Question® builds instant trust, filters out wrong-fit clients, and makes every sales call about them, not you.

Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:

• How to use one question to turn any sales conversation into a deep, future-focused discussion.
• Which types of businesses and professions can most effectively use The R-Factor Question.
• What it means—and what to do next—when someone refuses to answer The R-Factor Question.

Show Notes:

A great sales conversation starts long before you speak, with a trusted referral that pre-sells your credibility and lowers resistance.

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The R-Factor Question instantly signals that the conversation is going to be about the prospect’s future, not your offer or your agenda.

When you ask someone to imagine their life three years from now and describe what progress would make them happy, you shift them into possibility thinking.

The person who does most of the talking in a sales conversation is the one doing the buying, so let your prospect talk themselves into their future.

Silence after you ask the question is your best tool because it proves the question has landed and gives the prospect space to think deeply.

When a prospect openly shares their dangers, opportunities, and strengths in response, they’re demonstrating real trust and a desire for a relationship with you.

If someone refuses to answer The R-Factor Question, they’re telling you they don’t trust you, and the most productive move is to graciously end the conversation.

The first thing anyone truly buys in the marketplace is a relationship, long before they decide on a product, service, or program.

People don’t actually want your answers; they want better questions that help them discover their own best answers and next steps.

Asking questions you genuinely don’t know the answer to keeps you curious, keeps them engaged, and reveals what they really want to transform.

By focusing on their three-year future, you immediately differentiate yourself from every salesperson who is focused on this quarter’s sale.

A prospect who shares painful parts of their past or their failures with you is demonstrating deep trust, which is the foundation for any meaningful transformational work.

Knowing early that someone is not a fit protects your time, energy, and team so you can focus on clients who genuinely want your help.

Resources:

How To Improve Business By Asking Good Questions

Many entrepreneurs are technically “in business” but still trapped working for a relentless, 24/7 boss: themselves. In this episode, Dan Sullivan and Jessica Christy unpack what it takes to build a true entrepreneurial company instead. Hear how a painful team exodus became Jessica’s biggest growth catalyst and how clear core values, better leadership, and greater control over your life create a company you never want to retire from.

Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:

• Jessica’s original “entrepreneurial moment” while she was still working for someone else.
• How her medical aesthetics company, Beauty Culture, helps clients far beyond surface-level appearance.
• What makes her company stand out in a crowded, diluted industry.
• How to build the confidence to step into big, scary opportunities.
• What Jessica has gained since joining Strategic Coach®.

Show Notes:

Most entrepreneurs aren’t running true companies yet; they’ve simply created a demanding job where they work for themselves.

When you’re self‑employed, your “boss” follows you everywhere—24 hours a day, 365 days a year—and is often tougher than any previous employer.

Being your own boss doesn’t automatically make you a good boss, especially for your team or for your future self.

The Four Freedoms at the heart of entrepreneurial motivation are freedom of time, money, relationship, and purpose, and true entrepreneurial companies are built to expand all four.

If you’ve designed a life and business you truly love, the desire to retire largely disappears because work is an expression of your purpose.

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When entrepreneurs get together, the most valuable conversations are about how they transformed failures and crises into breakthroughs, not just about their wins.

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The more you learn as an entrepreneur, the more aware you become of how much you don’t know, which keeps you curious, humble, and growth oriented.

People rarely leave “bad jobs” so much as they leave a lack of leadership; team members crave clear vision, accountability, and support from their boss.

Strong core values act as the navigating compass for your entire company, guiding who you hire, fire, promote, and partner with.

Resources:

The 4 Freedoms That Motivate Successful Entrepreneurs

The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber

Unique Ability®

If you’re good or great at everything you do, it can be hard to focus on the one thing you really should be doing. In this episode, Lior Weinstein shares how he learned to identify and strengthen what’s most important to him in both his business life and his personal life.

Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:

• How Lior’s entrepreneurism showed up when he was still in grade school.
• The mindsets Lior gained from growing up in Israel.
• What drew Lior to move from Israel to the U.S.
• Why having a child led to Lior struggling as an entrepreneur.
• The particular freedom that Lior is always working to expand.
• What happens when entrepreneurs have space, and what happens when they don’t.

Show Notes:

You’re born with a Unique Ability®—the activity you’re energetically drawn toward and can’t get enough of doing.

Being good—or even exceptional—at something doesn’t automatically make it emotionally fulfilling.

If you’re a non-entrepreneur, someone else owns your time and controls your activity.

There’s a common misconception that entrepreneurs are motivated only by money.

The “Four Freedoms” that entrepreneurs seek are freedom of time, money, relationship, and purpose.

Struggling as a parent isn’t a sign of failure—it’s a sign that you care deeply.

What looks like quitting from the outside may simply be the decision to choose a different path.

If you’re reflecting on a bad decision, that means you survived it.

Entrepreneurs often underestimate the value of their own intuition.

If you have the money to solve the problem, you don’t have the problem.

Resources:

Unique Ability

“The 4 Freedoms That Motivate Successful Entrepreneurs”

Who Not How by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy