innovative thinking talking trade


Tips from the top G


Award-winning trainer George Morton shares some techniques


eorge Morton, owner of Top Level Solutions, describes winning the Best Industry Trainer Award in our


Independent Business Awards 2013 as one of the highlights of his working life. So why does he think he won? “A very difficult question to answer,” he says. “All I can think of is that my programmes are unique and not part of a programme lifted off the shelf. I’m also - I believe - the only trainer in the industry willing to talk to real customers and demonstrate the skills to showroom staff on the shopfloor.”


in Dunblane in 1963, “which I’m pleased to say is still going strong 50 years later”. Over the years, he worked with most of the big rental companies. He also started a TV department for a local Co-op and sold the very first remote control TV in the UK for Granada TV rentals “without the customer seeing the product; that’s when I became fascinated by selling”). A few years later he joined the Prudential,


followed by a three-year stint with TSB Bank. By this time, George had a feeling that he would like to go self-employed. He rejoined the Prudential as a trainer in 1987, and this move decided his future. “From having no qualifications on leaving


school, the Prudential supported me in becoming a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development and the Institute of Sale & Marketing Managers.” He is now a Fellow of the latter. George founded Top Level Solutions in 1994. He became an associate member of retra in 1996. “A member told me that a lot of training companies had tried to come into electrical retail and disappeared after a couple of years. He said that if I survived three years, some people in retra might use my services. I’ve never been short of work since. In my early days, I worked for a number of non-retra companies. Since joining retra, I’ve worked with retra/CIH/Sirius members exclusively.” But, he notes, the training needs of electrical


Innovations that set Top Level Solutions


apart include the content of courses, which include neuro linguistic programming and body language, as well as training on all aspects of the sales process. “Manufacturers train product knowledge,” explains George. “I train sales skills. I’m also a professional trainer with professional qualifications. I have worked on the shop floor, but I’ve also studied the psychology of selling, person specification… and much more.” George left school at 15 equipped with no qualifications but with an “excellent” work ethic, inherited from his parents. He started his career as a TV engineer with Burgess & Gibson


October 2013


retailers are no different to those of other retailers. “When people go into any shop, they want to be treated with courtesy, they want attention and they want service. If shops don’t provide this, they are likely to go out of business quite quickly. I just happen to love our products and the people in this industry – hence the reason I work in it exclusively. Every customer basically wants quality, service, convenience and value for money. Give customers these four things and you won’t go far wrong.” Possibly the most popular training request


he receives, he says, is ‘how to close the sale’. “Many salespeople don’t get the early parts of the sale correct and as a result their foundations are not secure. Therefore, the sale doesn’t always go according to plan. I try to build strong foundations for them so the result/sale is achieved.”


Over the years, training needs have changed, George says, with the internet becoming a major issue, particularly since the start of the recession. Today, however, 70% of people still want to buy from a person, he adds; “which means staff have to be good enough to make the connection”.


Everything can be made


cheaper and China seems to have found a way to do this. UK suppliers should keep an eye on them.


Surely, with the current economic climate and tight budgets, training is perceived as a luxury for many retailers? “Probably,” says George, “but a re-think may be worth considering. Many retailers will spend around £250 - £600 on an advert in their local newspaper, which will last for a week before the paper is put in the bin. Speaking to a professional trainer that understands their business will cost less, and last much longer. “I recently received an email from a retailer


who told me his sales had increased by 5% after I had done the training, and his staff were now getting most of their customers to buy a delivery and installation package.” The biggest issue facing electrical retailers,


believes George, is manufacturers chasing market share by selling direct to the public. “If they keep doing this, they will destroy so


many retailers, and eventually they will have nowhere to showcase their products; it’s a short sighted policy.” And then there’s China. “Everything can be made cheaper and China seems to have found a way to do this. UK suppliers should keep an eye on them.” He also advises every electrical retailer to be a member of retra and a buying group. “We’re all stronger together,” he explains, “and the quicker some people realise this, the better.”


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