Founder & Partner
The One Question That Unlocks Emotion in Any Sales Call
Robert Herjavec said something that every founder and sales leader should pay attention to. Good reps sell features. Great reps sell outcomes. The best reps sell feelings. They understand that buyers make decisions emotionally and justify them logically.
Most stalled deals do not fall apart because of pricing, feature gaps, or competition. They fall apart because the rep never reached the emotional truth behind the problem. The buyer stays guarded. The call stays surface level. The deal goes quiet.
There is a simple way to change that.
You ask the question that unlocks real emotion.
What is the real impact this problem has on you?
This question cuts through the noise. It shifts the conversation from business pain to personal impact. Buyers suddenly talk about stress, pressure, missed goals, reputation, risk, and the cost of inaction. This is the moment where the call becomes honest. This is where trust forms.
And trust is the currency of sales.
When a buyer answers this question everything changes. You understand their world. You understand their fear. You understand what success would actually mean for them. Selling becomes coaching. The conversation becomes real. Movement starts.
This is also where deals become predictable. Because when you know the emotional truth you can tie your solution to the feeling they want to achieve, not just the feature they need to use.
Most teams never do this. They stay stuck in feature lists and product demos and wonder why deals stop responding. But the best reps know that selling is not about information. It is about transformation. The shift they want. The feeling they want. The pressure they want removed.
Ask this question and buyers finally open up.
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About Daniel Nielsen
Daniel builds revenue engines that convert. With 25+ years leading growth across SaaS, fintech, e-commerce, and real estate, he has driven more than $1B in revenue. He has led go-to-market strategy at Realtor.com, Socialsuite, Charitable Impact, Kartera, World Duty Free, and Kao Salon Services, delivering 400% lead growth, 135% ARR overachievement, and 116% year-over-year ARR growth.