RETAILER PROFILE | AHM Installations


‘EMPATHY is the most important thing’


AHM Installations was started by Simon and Julie Symcox to plug what they felt was a gap for someone doing accessible bathrooms that met people’s needs. Now they employ 32 people, do 80 bathrooms a month, but it is still all about the people. Chris Frankland went to meet them and their son and MD Charles


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HM Installations is not your typical KBB retailer. For founders Simon and Julie Symcox and son Charles, it’s all about people, not products. Not just the people AHM is providing accessible bathrooms for, but those who talk to customers to determine what they need, and those who carry out the installations. And the one key quality Simon says they must all have is empathy.


“Empathy is the most important thing,” says Simon. “You will see that in all the people we have who go in and meet customers. They are not salesmen, they are people who want to help. We pride ourselves on that – our surveyors genuinely care.” He adds: “All nine are employed by of companies use self-


us. A lot


employed guys who have come from an industry such as construction and they don’t always understand what is


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required. Whereas if you bring them in and train them to the level you want, it’s a completely different ball game.” Simon and Julie have a background in mobility and healthcare and approach selling accessible bath- rooms in rather a different way. Simon tells me that the reason they started AHM Installations back in 1999 was because they felt people in need of an accessible bathroom were not being well served. “We found that a lot of the practices


in selling products and adaptations to older folk were very questionable,” he continues. “A lot of the people they were using to sell these products didn’t know anything about the customers or their requirements or the products that were available.” Making his point crystal clear, Simon


adds: “I felt a lot of people in this sector were being used and abused and that went vagainst the grain with me.”


So what is it that makes AHM Installations different?” Simon sums it up: “We didn’t start off from a plumbing background, we are healthcare people. And that is the essential difference between us and most other people involved in bathroom installation.


Pioneering “And with Julie’s help on the nursing side,” he adds, “it really helped make sure we did the right thing for customers. It was pioneering. We would involve an occupational therapist if we needed to, or if clients didn’t want to involve one, we’d rely on common sense. And it developed from there.”


Because of the special needs of their customers and the sensitive and personal nature of the areas that will need to be discussed, AHM’s sales process involves really getting to know


them to determine exactly what kind of bathroom and products will best suit their needs. To this end, the initial contact on the phone and the surveyors they send in to meet the customers for a consultation, usually in their homes, are crucial stages. Those options generally involve a walk-in or level-access shower, walk-in bath or full wet room, depending on what is needed.


Simon explains: “The devil is in the detail and it is important that you get it right to start with. We are not expecting our surveyors to sell a product. We expect them to get to know the customers, find out what is required, come back, give it some thought and then present them with the options.” He adds: “It is the only way to find out what the customer needs. Because the first time you see a customer, they won’t tell you everything. A lot of this is very personal. Especially with toileting.


• April 2023


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