I’m not (yet) a member of Dan Sullivan’s Strategic Coach®. Though it’s probably only a matter of time.
I find his techniques and systems resonate with me. And, I know enough Strategic Coach clients that say the investment is more than worth it, that I have little doubt as to its value.
For now though, I’ve been dabbling in his teachings through the 10X Talk podcast, that he does with Joe Polish.
And there’s one concept that Dan keeps coming back to, and keeps coming back to, and keeps coming back to. It seems to pervade every little thing he does.
It’s called The Impact Filter™.
In short, it’s a way to look at any project, any business idea, any situation, and both evaluate it and get yourself intellectually and emotionally engaged into it.
I encourage you to dive into Dan’s work to really start to understand what this is and how to apply it.
I’ve linked to a YouTube video below, where he talks about it, as a good jumping off point. (It’s an episode of the 10X Talk podcast where he talks about applying this in a selling situation.)
But for now, I really want to just give you my take on it, and the basics of how it works…
This is how you evaluate the potential impact of anything…
Like I said, this is a way to evaluate opportunities (in whatever form) and either rule them out, or get yourself intellectually and emotionally engaged in following through with them.
It starts by asking yourself three questions, and writing down the answers…
— What is the purpose of this? What do I want to accomplish here?
— Why is it important? What’s the biggest difference it will make?
— What’s my ideal outcome? What does the completed project look like?
And then you take a moment to list the criteria you can use to identify when this has been a success. That is, what measurable items will be true when the project is finished.
This is enough to engage you mentally in a project, and gives you a rational basis by which to evaluate it. But you’re not yet emotionally stirred by it, at this point.
In order to get emotionally into it, you need to put yourself at the crossroads. (This is very similar to the crossroads close you can use in sales copy and other selling situations.)
And so you ask these two questions, and write their answers…
— What’s the worst that could happen if I don’t take action on this?
— What’s the best thing that will happen if this is a huge success?
At this point, you not only have an intellectual case made for (or against) the opportunity, you also have emotional reasons laid out both to succeed, and to not fail.
How to use this…
I’m still getting rolling with this approach. But my understanding is that Dan Sullivan — and many clients of Strategic Coach — use this multiple times per day.
It can be used to start a project, to determine how to implement it, to plan your day, to set yourself up for a selling situation, as a sales tool you use with your clients, and a whole lot more.
If you want more clarity on how to use this, I encourage you to start listening to the 10X Talk podcast if you haven’t already. Here’s the episode where Dan explains how you can use The Impact Filter to be a more effective salesperson.
(He also talks about The Impact Filter on this episode of the I Love Marketing podcast, which you can watch on video or read the transcript.)
Enjoy, and have a great weekend.
Yours for bigger breakthroughs,
Roy Furr
Editor, Breakthrough Marketing Secrets