You are about to make some cold calls. As you reach for the phone, you glance at your desk, and quickly decide to clean it first. Then, as you reach for that phone again, you remember you need to get some things from your car. And when the day ends, the calls were never made. You really did intend to do the calling, but time and time again, you just didn't seem to get to it.

Sound familiar? You know the techniques, but even if you finally force yourself to do it, it just doesn't seem to go very well. For some of us the difficulty may be closing the sale? You feel you can close a deal, you know the techniques, but you just can't seem to say them. In a word, you are stuck - your body and your brain are "switched off" for part of the selling process.

If you are saying to yourself that cold calling and closing aren't your concern then think of an aspect of the selling process that you find difficult to do or that you avoid. In all these situations, it's actually your brain and body that have switched off and you're struggling.

Selling requires that you think clearly, be analytical, and be attentive to details, which are all functions of the left hemisphere of your brain. Selling also requires being creative, intuitive, and able to see the broader picture, which are all functions of the right hemisphere. To be truly successful in sales you need to use both sides of your brain together. For example, you need to understand your client's needs, create answers to fit their needs, and see alternatives, while you attend to all of the details in between the opening and the closing of the sale. If you are using only one side of your brain in the selling process, you will be stressed and switched-off. You need a whole brain, integrated approach.

Educational Kinesiology
There is a way to switch your brain on for selling, to insure that both the sides of the brain are active and empowering you. It is by using a process for brain integration called Educational Kinesiology.

Educational Kinesiology was developed over fifteen years by Paul Dennison, Ph. D. a specialist in learning disabilities and a leading pioneer in brain dominance patterns. Dr Dennison discovered by using very simple body movements called Brain Gyms you can stretch the muscles and facilitate the integration of both sides of the brain. With the brain integrated , the task of selling becomes easier and less stressful. Dr. Dennison synthesized these simple body movements from work done in the fields of developmental optometry, neuro-linguistics, left and right brain research, acupressure, and kinesiology (muscle testing). This method has now been applied to the selling process through the concept of "Switched-On Selling."

S.O.S. Success Stories
"Switched-On Selling" does not teach selling techniques; rather it teaches these Brain Gyms, allowing sales people to use the whole brain to exceed their present levels of success. What are the benefits of this concept? For instance, one real estate agent in the business for five months and had six houses listed and no sales. . Within the week, after she learned the Switched - On Selling concept, she made four follow up calls and closed three sales. listings herself.

An insurance agent had been averaging one contract every three weeks. In the year after attending a Switched-On selling seminar, she averaged two sales every week for nine months and then increased her sales to three a week when she moved to a new company. And, within one month of being with the new company, she was the top sales agent for the month.

The South Carolina Farm Bureau used the seminar as a part of their training program last year. They compared the four month production of the agents who had gone through the seminar with that of those who had not; they found that those who had gone through the seminar had production averaging 71% above those who did not.

Check Your Muscles
One of the most interesting and unique components of Switched-On Selling, is the use of muscle checking" to determine what movements the body and brain need to switch on the brain. As someone exerts pressure on another person's deltoid muscle, the muscle will either stay locked (switched on) or come down (switched off) depending on how it is responding to internal or external stimuli. This muscle checking is indicating the response of the person's unconscious, and the responses are remarkably accurate. Kinesiology also allows us to easily see and experience how everything around us and within us affects our strength and ability to act. Try it for yourself, using the following simple steps. You'll need a partner to practice this on.

1. Face a partner. Have your partner raise one arm straight out from the side of their body with their thumb pointing down. partner raise one arm straight out, perpendicular to the body, thumb pointing down. Think of a bird spreading its wings.

2. Place one of your hands on your partner's extended arm, above the wrist. Place the other hand on your partner's opposite shoulder.

3. Instruct your partner to resist as you push down, firmly, on their extended arm for several seconds. You are not attempting to force or jerk the arm down, but are simply checking your partner's normal level of resistance. .

4. While your partner keeps the arm extended, have the person close their eyes and think of an negative sales experience. When they have it in focus tell them to resist while you press down on the arm. The arm will usually go down with very little pressure.

5. Now tell your partner to close his eyes and think of a very positive sales experience. Once your partner has the experience focused, tell the person to resist again while you press down on the extended arm. The arm will usually stay level and strong, even if you apply more pressure.

6. Switch roles and have your partner check you.

The muscle checking is not a trick; the results are real and repeatable. In fact, I've taught this to hundreds of thousands of people during my seminars. The muscle checking is not a trick; the results are real and repeatable. In fact, I've taught this to hundreds of thousands of people during my seminars.

Because you already checked your partner's normal level of resistance in Step 3 the results have nothing to do with muscular strength. The results also have nothing to do with muscular strength, since you already checked only the level of resistance the person demonstrated. . The muscle will either stay firm with the positive thought means that the body's life energy and brain functioning is strong -or the arm will go down easily, which means the body's energy and brain function are weakened. The contrast is very easy to see.

Change Your Brain

In Switched-On Selling, the muscle checking is first used to determine the effect of a negative sales situation on you, like cold calling. To dissipate this negative energy so that you can do that aspect of the sales process. There are two simple Brain Gym movement exercises you will need to do. The movements actually change how the brain and body are perceiving and reacting to the situation and how the body is reacting to it. The physical movement may seem unusual at first, but you will quickly become comfortable with the movements and find them to be both effective, relaxing and energy changing restful. Practice these movements as follows:

1. Have a partner muscle check you while you are thinking of a negative sales situation. Your muscle will check weak.

2. Next you will do a movement called "Cook's Hook-Up." While you are holding the Cook's Hook-Up position, keep the negative thought you would like to dissipate in your mind. Put as many details, as much color and intensity into the thought that you can. While most people would tell you not to think negative thoughts, in this situation it is necessary to do so to take the negativity out of the brain. After a short time, you may find yourself having difficulty focusing on the negative. If that happens, change your thoughts and start viewing the situation positively.

3. To do the Cook's Hook-Up, sit comfortably in a chair. Place your feet flat on the floor. Put your left foot onto the top of your right knee. Place your right hand on your left ankle, and place your left hand on the ball of your left foot near your toes. Close your eyes, place your tongue on the roof of your mouth one quarter of an inch behind your teeth. Breath normally, and hold the negative thought. Hold this position for thirty seconds to a minute.

4. Keeping the eyes closed, the tongue up, and the negative thought focused, place both feet flat on the floor and bring just your fingertips together like a teepee in front of you. Hold this position for thirty seconds to a minute, breathing naturally.

5. When you are finished, open your eyes.

6. The second movement you will do is called Positive Points. On your forehead, in the middle of your eyebrow and half way up to the hairline, there is a small bony protrusion known as a frontal eminence. Place the middle three fingers of the left hand over the left frontal eminence and the three fingers of the right hand over the right frontal eminence. Apply a very light pressure.

7. Close your eyes and remain in this position for thirty seconds to a minute. If you feel the negativity dissipating, begin to focus on a positive side of the event. When you are finished, open your eyes.

8. Have a partner muscle check you again while you keep the same situation in your mind. You will experience that your arm will stay solid. After you have completed these positions, you will find that you are able to recall the situation but that the negativity is gone from your memory.

Using these positions will demonstrate to you the power of movement over your brain and your body. You can use these two positions whenever you have a negative sales situation occur. A negative sales situation first thing in the morning no longer has to ruin your day.

This was an example of just one aspect of the Switched-On Selling concept. The rest of the seminar focuses on every other part of the selling process to insure that your body and your brain is switched on for every aspect of selling. From the pre-approach to prospecting to presentation and follow-up, the concepts incorporated into the seminar allow you to switch on the brain and body to allow you to reach even greater levels of success. Through this work, you will bring the twenty-first century technology of change into your life today.