Retailer Spotlight: How 1st Choice Stairlifts ensures it is first choice for customers
Colin Major and Coral Affleck-Major are joint managing directors and owners of 1st Choice Stairlifts in Wiltshire, which this year celebrates its 20th anniversary…
1st Choice Stairlifts was set up by husband and wife team Colin Major and Coral Affleck Major 20 years ago. Both happened to fall into the mobility sector because of the stairlift manufacturers in their home areas.
In 1996 Coral began working for her local stairlift manufacturer, Bison Bede. For six years she worked in sales and marketing for stairlifts and wheelchair lifts and supervised the office sales team. She then went to work for ThyssenKrupp Accessibility for two years in marketing for stairlifts.
Colin, who was living in Andover, started working for stairlift supplier Stannah in 1987, where he remained for 15 years and was involved with engineering, technical support, exhibition management and sales, before leaving to join an independent stairlift dealer for another two years.
When Coral and Colin decided to set up their own independent lift business they set out to provide quality products and a localised expert service that promised to look after their customers.
To begin with it was just the two of them working from home, but after quickly growing out of that they ended up renting three small units on a local industrial estate. In 2010, just after the recession, they bought their premises and consolidated all of their operations into one building.
Rolling forward to 2024 and the couple have clocked up almost 65 years in lifts between them.
Says Coral: “We stay in the industry we’ve loved for so long because we enjoy the job satisfaction it gives us in helping to make a difference to people’s lives and independence.
“One thing that is timeless is how you treat customers, if you do an honest high quality job, and give a great service, customers are bound to sing your praises which is why the majority of our work comes from personal recommendation.”
There are now 17 members of staff; these include seven engineers, two surveyors, six office staff, and of course Colin and Coral. All of them came together in February to enjoy a celebratory staff lunch, with Coral and Colin planning another fun celebration in the summer.
Staying ahead of the game
Coral explains that the secret to the business’s longevity is the way they have constantly evolved to be at the forefront of new ideas and innovation.
She says: “20 years ago, just after we set up, Facebook was invented, Yellow Pages was the place to advertise and we just about needed a website. How things have changed!”
The business has evolved in the way it manages data. Coral explains: “We had “filing rooms” dedicated to customer files and although we were using a book-keeping package as our software and multiple spreadsheets, it just wasn’t great – it was time-consuming and needed improvement.”
Eight years ago, Coral and Colin invested in their own bespoke CRM system to run their entire operations from sales enquiry, orders, workshop and stock, aftercare and service scheduling, and management reporting. This means that they manage to be virtually paperless, and the business has been able to run like clockwork through the system.
Says Coral: “It has freed our staff up to be more proactive rather than reactive. Whenever we have a customer call us we have all their information at our fingertips in an instant so we can help them straight away rather than wade through filing cabinets!
“Workflows operate much easier and there’s visibility of every part of our business, we just have to log in and see it. We are constantly innovating on the system but it’s made the biggest difference to how we run our business for sure.”
Showroom space
Over the years the 1st Choice Stairlifts showroom has just got bigger and gained more equipment. States Coral: “Customers can now try a range of seven straight and curved staircases including a show-stopping spiral staircase to demonstrate lifts on, a steplift, a through-the-floor lift, and a homelift.”
Coral and Colin wanted to create a “fantastic resource” for customers to use. Explains Coral: “With our products, it can be hard for customers to try and visualise how it’s going to work for them. Customers are often spending thousands of pounds on equipment, so having a test drive before they buy one can be beneficial if they can leave the house and travel to us.”
Having a proper assessment by a ‘trusted product advisor’ in the showroom also helps customers to feel more confident that a stairlift is going to work in their home and they can operate it.
Recently, Colin and Coral updated most of the stairlift products in the showroom with EN81-40:2020 models, which are based on the latest European standard stairlift safety requirements, as updated last year.
The standard led to multiple product improvements and safety changes. Comments Coral: “We went through a process of having to update all our showroom models, retraining our staff and engineers, updating all our literature, and revamping most of our website so it was a very big job!”
They have also had to educate their customers and local authorities on the new changes as well.
The aim was also to create a visually pleasing showroom, so that it looked less like a showroom and more like a home. Says Coral: “That’s why you won’t see lots of brochures, banners or flyers all over our showroom walls. It’s more of a relaxed environment that looks like a home, with my favourite accessory – I had to have a bling chandelier!”
Space is utilised and while it doesn’t have space for every product that they do, 1st Choice Stairlifts does like to showcase the most popular products it sells to give the customer an idea of choice so they can see which product will best suit their needs.
Key members of staff
One of the elements of a successful business is having the right staff in place to deliver it. Ultimately Coral and Colin wanted to create a business that worked efficiently, even without them there.
Coral says: “We have a fantastic team of people working for us, all chosen carefully to align themselves with our values and deliver an exceptional service to customers.”
Lindsey is Coral and Colin’s “right-hand lady” who joined the business 18 years ago as the most long-serving member of staff. Explains Coral: “We’ve spent a lot of time together throughout the years and both in and out of work, we are so in sync with each other. Lindsey thinks and works like me so it’s easy to leave her in charge when we are not there to run the place.”
Another key member of staff is Peter, the engineer supervisor, who has worked for the business for 13 years. He has been working in stairlifts for over 30 years, working both for the manufacturers and independent dealers, and mainly supports the engineering team and assists with training and technical support.
Coral enthuses: “We couldn’t do it without the rest of the team of course supporting customers with the office and engineering side of the business.
“We like to make sure the employees are happy and motivated at work, which helps with employee retention. In fact of the 15 employees we have, nine have over five years service, with four employees over 10 years service which is good going!”
The right product
While the business stocks a range of stairlift and homelift products, stairlifts are the most popular. Whether the client’s staircase is straight, narrow, curved or spiral, 1st Choice Stairlifts can provide a solution to fit the customer’s requirements.
Newer homes, Coral notes, are made with mostly curved staircases these days, so she can see more curved stairlift products being in demand in the future.
Single-tube curved stairlifts like the Otolift, Platinum Ultimate, and the Flow X are particularly popular amongst customers. Says Coral: “Customers much prefer the sleek design of the single rails, fitting closer to the stairs, and a comfortable chair that is well designed as opposed to the twin tube rail systems. The aesthetic of the product in people’s homes is important in the private market, which is where most of our customers are.”
Homelifts are more niche, explains Coral, and mainly for people who are, or are likely, to become wheelchair users. There are others though who just prefer the look of a homelift rather than a stairlift.
Coral says that they have recently installed a Stiltz demonstration homelift in the showroom, and she feels sure that it will prove popular due to quick lead times and its pleasing aesthetics. She comments: “Whilst we do deal with local authority customers over 75 per cent of our business is with private customers. The Stiltz lift looks good and to private clients, I’m sure it would do well, I’d certainly have one in my house!”
Coral says that they get on well with all the manufacturers that they use, often dealing with people who they have known for many years.
Dealers, she says, just want a product that works, is designed well to fit the customer’s home and needs, is delivered on time and installs correctly. Technical training is available from all the manufacturers they use, which they put their engineers on, and technical assistance is available too.
Customers with dementia
A key consideration for the business is recommending the right products for customers with dementia.
1st Choice Stairlifts is a member of the British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA) and this is a question that Coral opened up for discussion at a recent meeting, she says. “We all agreed that it would depend on the client’s individual circumstances to see if a product was suitable for the client, their needs, and their environment.”
The 1st Choice Stairlifts team have had training sessions where they learned about dementia and the ways in which it affects people in different ways but they are confident they sell appropriately when this issue arise.
Says Coral: “If a client had a carer with them all the time who could help them operate the lift safely and the user could transfer on and off the lift safely, then we would be happy to recommend a product that makes the life of the carer and the user easier.”
When someone is living alone, it does become more difficult. “If we were unsure we would consult an occupational therapist and would never put a client at risk if a lift wasn’t suitable for them.”
Reconditioned, rentals and new
Reconditioned stairlifts are popular as are rentals, but Coral says that they sell as many new lifts too, with it often depending on a customer’s budget. Some people, she says, just don’t like the idea of a second-hand model and prefer to buy new, while others prefer to buy a reconditioned or rent a lift and pay an ongoing monthly fee, so that it is taken away when it is no longer needed.
Coral continues: “Rentals are good because it’s reoccurring income every month, but the billing side can be difficult to manage. This is one of the reasons why when we designed our CRM system managing the rentals through this automatically made the process a whole lot easier to manage.”
All reconditioned models that they install, says Coral, are removed from the client’s home, cleaned, checked over, and tested and then reinstalled. “We’ll replace any spare parts necessary and if we know there are common faults (let’s say for example a wiring loom) then we will replace it anyway to prevent a potential problem.”
With customer satisfaction paramount they will only resell lifts that are listed on their system under five years old. “The lift history stays with the lift so if it’s problematic, we will scrap it and only reuse the best lifts.”
Navigating challenges
Before Brexit Coral and Colin thought the supply of products would be an issue so they bought containers of straight stairlift products. Since then, Coral says, they have always stocked straight stairlifts to mitigate any supply delays on straight products, normally having a stock of around 50-70 units at a time. “This means there are no delays for customers and we can install a lift very quickly for the client.”
Since then, there has been Covid, the war in Ukraine, and now many other economic factors all affecting the supply and cost of products. Says Coral: “It certainly is a challenging time and it has affected suppliers along the way at times, through no fault of their own.
“We have all worked hard and tirelessly particularly through the last few years to navigate changes and issues.”
Through all this Coral says that they have stayed loyal to their suppliers and and have stuck with them through the ups and downs. Explains Coral: “Communication, trust, and honesty from any manufacturer are key to being able to work with them and to understand what is happening and how it can impact us as a retailer and how we serve our customers.“
Another challenge, as with other sectors, is the rising cost of products as well as the cost of wages and running a business. Says Coral: “Ultimately the customer will have to pay more money for a quality product and a good service.”
She continues: “28 years ago when I started in the stairlift industry a manufacturer was selling a straight stairlift for more money then than we are now! Local authority funding is tight but I hope that there might be some realisation that companies can’t afford to do products “on the cheap” anymore and they have to pay more realistic prices for high-quality products and service.
“There are always lots of challenges in the industry but with that also comes a lot of opportunities and ways that business can evolve. Being evolutionary excites me so I don’t mind it one bit.”
Achieving its aims
Coral says that they named the company 1st Choice Stairlifts because they wanted it to do what it said on the tin – to be the customer’s number one choice in stairlifts.
“Because we have worked for the manufacturers and ourselves as an independent retailer, I’d like to think that we give our customers a mixture of what you’d expect when buying a lift from a bigger company like the manufacturer – professionalism, and good products but with a more personalised friendly local service.
“Creating and crafting an excellent customer experience is where we are strongest. We’re friendly, we treat everyone as an individual, and think of our customers as an extension of our work family, caring for customers and helping them to become independent in their own homes.
“We are Which? Trusted Traders and received its Certificate of Distinction for customer service in June 2020 for our excellent reviews. We are also members of the BHTA and as such adhere to their Code of Practice and ethics.
“Our reputation speaks for itself, we are well respected in the industry because of our long careers in the industry and because of Colin’s technical engineering expertise. All customer installations and maintenance work is done to a very high standard with attention to detail.
“We make sure all our engineers have the correct training from both our own experienced staff and the manufacturers to be the best at their job that they can be. This is monitored as part of our ISO9001 Quality Management accreditation too.
“So the big company feel when dealing with a small company, excellent customer service, first-class engineering and expertise, and the best team of people to deliver it.”
As for the future, Coral says that they have always been the people who want to strive and constantly achieve more. “We are working on lots of plans for the future and expansion is on the cards in more ways than one – you’ll have to watch this space!”
As their customer base has continued to grow they plan to recruit for an additional engineer soon.
They will also be investing further in their CRM system. Coral enthuses: “It’s an amazing system that works well, but there’s always space to make new additions and build in extra features that make life easier and help us run our business better – always striving to be the best with continuous improvement.”
The website was given a revamp recently and they now have an AI (artificial intelligence) adviser on the chat. The results from that so far have been good, but it doesn’t mean they will be resting on their laurels either, says Coral.
“Of course AI is ok, but real people are better and it’s thanks to our team and customers, and I’d hope good leadership from ourselves, we are still here 20 years later, still doing what we love most and helping to improve peoples lives with the help of a lift!”
