Dan Sullivan's Relationship Factor asks prospects to describe their ideal situation three years from now, then salespeople write down their exact words and echo them back in follow-ups. This simple practice of mirroring what matters most to them builds trust and strengthens the sale.
I have one last little question that I learned from Dan Sullivan. He devised the Relationship Factor question, and I invite you to write this down. You've had the conversation now with your prospect for a long time, and then you say, let's just imagine that, that you and I were sitting across from each other 3 years from now. Okay, first 2024. And you hear the cadence. It's not, it's not unintentional. I stop. You said, okay, I'm happy you said okay. And I say, tell me what needs to have happened for you over these past 3 years for you to be happy with our relationship? And if I'm talking to a single person or a couple That's a big question. And I say, and if it's a couple, I say, and I want you to answer it and almost plug your ears. And I want you to answer it because they're so often different. And I want us as salespeople to listen to that and write down on your pad the exact words they say. I want to put my kid through private school. I want to retire early. When you write your follow-up letter or email to them, you say, and Bill, you said you wanted to retire early. And Sally, you said, you wanted this and that, and you send your child to private school. When they hear their exact words, now they know you have listened. That is so golden.
