How To Win The Battle For Attention

9 snips

Sep 10, 2025

Discover how shifting your focus from your own needs to your clients' futures can help differentiate you in a crowded marketplace. Learn two critical questions that clarify impactful actions for entrepreneurs. Explore the two time systems that successful entrepreneurs operate within. Uncover a simple method to engage others in transformative thinking and the essential question that builds strong client loyalty. Understand that today's competition is all about winning people's time and attention.

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ADVICE

State Goals As Future Pictures

State your goals as bold, positive future pictures rather than as needs that ask permission.
Use two time horizons: 25 years for vision and 90 days for immediate action to stay focused.

ADVICE

Sell What Helps Their Future

Always link your product or service to what the client thinks is important in their future.
Ask clients what they value in their future and craft offerings that uniquely serve that vision.

ADVICE

Use The DOS Question

Ask the DOS question to instantly create partnership and differentiation.
Make conversations about the client's future, not about your product or yourself.

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What if the key to differentiation isn't about your product, but your perspective? Dan Sullivan reveals how to escape the crowded marketplace by shifting your focus from your needs to your clients' futures. Learn the powerful question that instantly creates partnership and makes you the most valuable person in the room.

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

The two critical questions that clarify an entrepreneur's most impactful actions.
The two time systems in which the best entrepreneurs operate.
How to determine the needs of your customers and clients.
A simple method to instantly engage anyone in transformative thinking about their goals.
The one essential question that builds partnership and loyalty with every client.
Why Strategic Coach^® members continuously achieve bigger and better future outcomes.

Show Notes:

Stating goals as needs puts entrepreneurs in a position of asking for permission rather than leading with confidence.

Bold goals are vivid pictures of yourself in the future operating at a higher level.

State your ambitions based on what you truly want, not just what you think you need.

Modern uncertainty means that seeing clearly beyond the next 90 days is difficult, so it’s important to focus on shorter time frames and long-term vision.

Your entire future lies in helping your customers and clients achieve their own futures.

The real competition is not for market share, but for a person’s time and attention.

Every entrepreneur can offer clients something truly unique that nobody else can provide.

Entrepreneurs who make every conversation about the other person hold their attention and differentiate themselves for the long term.

Maintaining calm confidence in your own future lets you focus on creating breakthroughs for others.

Traditional advertising talks about the seller, but true impact comes from asking clients about their future goals.

Strong partnerships are built by consistently helping top clients clarify and expand their future goals together.

Entrepreneurial growth is a continuous process across 100 quarters, fueled by a commitment to others’ futures.

Strategic Coach’s unique value is opening clients’ eyes to new possibilities through insightful questions, not prescribed solutions.

Resources:

Wanting What You Want by Dan Sullivan

The D.O.S. Conversation^® by Dan Sullivan