'Exercises' Help Build Sales Fitness
by Erin Johansen, Business Journal Staff Reporter
Many people find it difficult to commit to an exercise program and stick with it. If the direct result of a regimen was increased sales or greater business success, perhaps their resolve would be greater.
Denver business trainer MaryJo Wagner offers two
seminars that use exercise to increase effectiveness in business. her simple
techniques help the brain to focus on specific tasks. One of her seminars,
Switched-on Selling, uses these exercises to focus the brain on selling goals.
When the entire brain is working together, "you're not sending yourself
unconscious
messages or sabotaging yourself," said Wagner, who founded her training
company
the mjwagner company in 1991.
The South Carolina Farm Bureau Insurance Co. sent one-third of its sales
force to
the seminar and then closely tracked performance for the following 120 days. The
company found that the employees who attended the seminar had a 39 percent
higher closing rate and 71 percent higher premiums than those who did not
attend.
Demonstrating Lazy 8's for
eliminating sales blocks.
In addition to Switched-on Selling, Wagner also teaches a seminar called Brain Gym, which uses the same principles but is geared toward the general public and people who work with children.
The seminar, based on Educational Kinesiology, was originally developed to help kids with learning disabilities learn to read. Wagner, who is certified by the Educational Kinesiology Foundation, defined Educational Kinesiology as "movement as it affects brain function and learning.
One exercise that Wagner uses in training is the "cross crawl," which involves swinging the body around so that the elbow touches the opposite knee. The effect of this exercise is to get both hemispheres of the brain to work together simultaneously.
Wagner recommends that participants wear comfortable clothes to the seminars. "We do exercises, but nobody's panting," she said. During the seminar, attendees take turns practicing the techniques with different partners.
John Nelson owns The Compass Group, Inc., a consulting and training company that specializes in leadership and communication skills for business owners, executives and managers. Nelson attended the Switched-on Selling seminar this year.
"I would highly recommend it to anybody who has a sales force who is looking for a day-long, on-shot thing to get a major shift," Nelson said.
Switched-on Selling is accredited by the National Association of Sales Professionals.
reprinted from The Denver Business Journal,
March 27-April 2, 1998.
Break through sales blocks.
Prevent sales burnout. Take the chill out of marketing.
Contact MaryJo today to schedule a "Switched-on Selling
seminar" or
"Brain Gym
for Marketers" TeleSeminar E-mail her mjw@mjwagner.com
Call her at 303-484-8027. Come to a
Switched-on Selling seminar
FREE.