My colleague, Ken Evans, has been thinking a lot about good questions to ask during the sales process. So a post on the Fast Company blog by Neil Baron caught my eye. Baron says there is a sure-fire way to generate interest among your B2B leads. Just ask the Magic Question.

"The Magic Question is that one question you need to ask to get the prospect to say 'please tell me more,'" Baron explains. "The trick is to generate curiosity quickly."

Baron starts with a story. "My company has developed (a new product [or service]) that has helped (a leading company in the customer's industry) achieve (the following important business benefits). [Wait for it, wait for it.] He then asks, "Would you like to learn how we did it?"

"If the question is phrased properly, the prospect can't help but say yes," Baron says. And that's always good news. "You have now grabbed their attention and gained their implicit permission to continue to ask more exploratory questions."

Baron believes that initiating the sales process by asking a single attention-grabbing, curiosity-raising question is the most effective way to accelerate revenues. I think my colleague would agree.

Do you know The Magic Question for each of your products and services?