I don’t really like magic. I rarely remember magic tricks when I see them, and I certainly don’t like the feeling of being fooled. But I do like Penn and Teller.

Penn and Teller have been performing their Las Vegas act to sold-out crowds for over a decade. And in a town where you can find a magician on virtually every street corner, that’s a pretty impressive feat. So what is it about their show that sets them apart as the best in the business?

Penn and Teller do one thing that no other magician would ever dream of doing: They actually show the audience how they work their magic. After performing a typical trick, Penn and Teller will methodically demonstrate exactly how they did it, step-by-step. The result? The audience is instantly hooked, hanging on each and every word and watching each move closely. And once the crowd is safely “behind the curtain,” Penn and Teller then perform an even bigger, mind-bending showstopper. The secrets to their final trick of the evening, however, they keep to themselves.

The effect is profound. They have inspired an epic level of curiosity in their once skeptical audience, who are now left to spend the rest of their evening talking about the show over and over again with friends (helpfully fueling future sold-out shows).

Creating curiosity or interest can be an art. The challenge is that what we often sell can sometimes make us feel like we are performing in front of a bunch of bored 8-year olds. So how do we get people curious about something after being bored by countless other “routine” magic shows?

1) Sell the “Post-Sales Experience.”

Not everybody you’re selling to will be interested in your product, but I guarantee they’re always interested in themselves. Creating a vision of what will happen to them once they buy your product is a great way to create interest.

Think about Nike’s catch phrase, “Just do it,” or Burger King’s “Have it your way.” These phrases don’t tell you what they sell. They tell you what you can do with the things they sell.

When I call on a VP of Sales at a Fortune 500 company to sell him my firm’s services, I certainly don’t lead with, “Hi! I’m Jeff from Boston, and I sell sales training and consulting in Boston. I’d like to introduce my services. Is this a good time?”

Yawn. That isn’t interesting to him (or me!) and it certainly doesn’t make him curious to want to find out more. Instead, as soon as he picks up the phone, I might say, “Hi. I got you live on my first dial, and when you hire me, I will teach your sales reps how to do the exact same thing.”

Now, I have his attention. You’ll notice I didn’t even introduce myself or describe my services. Instead, I’ve managed to gain his attention and plant the first seed of curiosity. Only after he is interested, will I then take the time to introduce myself and my services. Now that he’s actually listening, of course.

2) Be loud and proud.

I see far too many reps pretending to be unbiased in an effort to sound “credible.” But your buyer, who is both educated and experienced, knows that as a salesperson, you are biased. In fact, nothing you will ever say will make a customer forget that ultimately, your job is to get them to buy your product.

So stop pretending. If anything, do the opposite, and have the opinion that your service is simply the best.

Your buyer is sophisticated. They understand the use of hyperbole. Embrace the fact that you’re excited about your offering and that you love to share your point of view. When you tell prospects that your product is “the best on the market” or that your customer’s sales reps “will be blowing out their numbers after working with us,” you aren’t having an academic discussion relying on survey data and spreadsheets to defend your conclusion -- you’re sharing your opinion, and your commitment to that opinion. We trust those that are authentic and genuine, not merely impartial.

3) Use past successes (not failures) as your guide.

I’ve always found it far more instructive to focus on what went well and try to replicate specific successes, rather than to dwell on mistakes. Our minds often behave like a search engine, displaying the results that reflect your query.

For example, if you Google “don’t show me Chinese food menus” ... you are bound to get a massive list of Chinese food menus. Coincidentally, if you only focus on how you have failed in the past, then that is probably all you will ever see.

The good news is that the same rule applies if you focus on the things that have already worked. One way to reinforce that mindset is to reach out to your current customers and ask what were the things that first got them interested in your offering. Look for trends in their responses and then reuse those successful approaches with future prospects. Who knows, they might say, "Hey, that’s not why I took your meeting, I took it for this reason."

The best answers for how to sell can usually be found from the people you have already closed.

Penn and Teller have fun, and that fun is infectious. They do it differently, with a confidence, and with a style that’s all their own. And they treat their audience with respect, which gives them the runway to go be bolder than most. Maybe it isn’t magic after all.

What else do you do get people interested? How are you like Penn and Teller? Let us know in the comments, or join us for our upcoming prospecting workshop this May.