🧠 Label Their Emotions, Close More Deals: The Secret Weapon in Your Sales Arsenal from the FBI

In partnership with

Find out why 1M+ professionals read Superhuman AI daily.

In 2 years you will be working for AI

Or an AI will be working for you

Here's how you can future-proof yourself:

1. Join the Superhuman AI newsletter – read by 1M+ people at top companies

2. Master AI tools, tutorials, and news in just 3 minutes a day

3. Become 10X more productive using AI

Join 1,000,000+ pros at companies like Google, Meta, and Amazon that are using AI to get ahead.

Sign up and start learning AI

Hi Sales Friends,

FBI hostage negotiators don't just save lives—they've cracked the code to reading emotions that can supercharge your sales game overnight. 🔥 When you can spot and name what your prospect is feeling (without drowning in their emotions yourself), you unlock a secret pathway to trust that your competitors don't even know exists. Here is how you can do this.

🔑 Key Learnings

Labeling emotions—the practice of identifying and acknowledging what someone else is feeling—is a powerful technique from hostage negotiation that translates perfectly to sales. When you correctly identify a prospect's emotional state, it creates an immediate connection and demonstrates your empathy without getting emotionally entangled yourself.

The beauty of labeling is that it allows you to address the emotional elephant in the room without making assumptions or trying to "fix" the emotion. By simply acknowledging "It seems like you're concerned about implementation costs" or "I sense some frustration with your current solution," you create psychological safety that encourages prospects to open up and share more deeply.

Remember: in sales, your goal isn't to feel your prospect's pain personally (which can cloud your judgment) but to recognize it, label it accurately, and create space for them to elaborate. This builds the foundation for constructive negotiation and mutual problem-solving.

🎯 Top 5 Takeaways

1. 🔍 Tactical Empathy - Use emotional intelligence as a tool to understand prospects' positions without becoming emotionally involved yourself

2. 💬 Effective Labeling Phrases - Start with "It seems like...", "It sounds like...", or "You look..." to introduce your observation without being accusatory

3. 🤐 Silence Is Golden - After labeling an emotion, pause and let the silence do the work; this gives your prospect space to confirm, deny, or elaborate

4. 🚫 Avoid "I" Statements - Keep the focus on their experience rather than your perception by avoiding phrases like "I think you feel..."

5. 📝 Listen Between the Lines - Pay attention to tone, body language, and word choice to identify hidden emotions beyond what's explicitly stated

🛠️ Daily Implementation

Morning Preparation: Start your day by reviewing upcoming calls and anticipating potential emotional states of each prospect. Create a small list of labeling phrases you might use for different scenarios.

During Sales Conversations: Look for emotional cues in your prospect's language and behavior. When you detect an emotion, use a neutral labeling statement followed by silence. Watch how this simple technique often leads prospects to elaborate and share valuable information.

After Each Interaction: Take quick notes on which emotional labels resonated most with your prospects. What did they reveal after you acknowledged their feelings? These insights will help you better prepare for follow-up conversations.

Weekly Practice: Role-play with colleagues to practice identifying and labeling emotions in challenging sales scenarios. Give each other feedback on your labeling technique and emotional intelligence.

Monthly Review: Analyze your closed and lost deals to identify patterns in emotional responses. Could better labeling have helped address concerns earlier in lost deals? How did successful labeling contribute to your wins?

Remember, the goal isn't manipulation but genuine connection. By acknowledging your prospects' emotions without judgment, you create a foundation of trust that makes the sales process more authentic and effective. 🤝

These are our key learnings and how to apply them to sales from Chis Voss in his book “Never Split the Difference”