(Case study · Platform-lift installer)
From invisible online to winning direct work, run on AI.
Reed Lifts is a specialist platform-lift, stairlift, and hoist installer in Greater London. It sub-contracts for the largest names in the sector and now wins direct work too.
(The brief)
Reed Lifts was cash-flow positive on sub-contract work alone. But the pipeline lived on someone else's phone. When the bigger firms went quiet, the work stopped.
A few direct jobs had closed off the back of LinkedIn content, but there was no website to send the curious to. Every direct lead was an unrepeatable accident.
The job: I built the AI systems that run Reed's content and marketing, and I run them for him.
(What we built)
Live site, deployed
Next.js + Tailwind on Vercel. Mobile-first, click-to-call above the fold, Lighthouse score above 95 across the board.
Partner trust strip
Five named partner badges signal that the big firms already trust them, without the owner having to claim it himself.
WhatsApp widget
Floating WhatsApp button wired to the business line. Most lift enquiries come from contractors mid-job who want an answer in 30 seconds, not a contact form.
QR review system
A QR code for printed cards and van decals. One scan goes straight to the Google review form to build local ranking signal.
Sector landing pages
Stairlifts, platform lifts, through-floor, hoists, LOLER. Each ranks for its own keyword cluster and carries its own compliance language.
(Build timeline)
Day 1
Brief
Mapped the existing pipeline (sub-contract for United Lift Services, The Platform Lift Company, Only Lifts), the gap (zero direct enquiries, no Google presence), and the goal (a direct-work channel they own).
Day 2-5
Site v1
Next.js + Tailwind on Vercel. Service pages for stairlifts, platform lifts, hoists, through-floor, LOLER. Mobile-first, because every trade enquiry comes from a phone in the back of a van.
Day 6-8
Trust layer
Partner badge strip (United Lift, The Platform Lift Company, Only Lifts, Innovate Lifts, SMC), a boot-up animation that signals engineering not marketing, and a review system pointed at the Google Business profile.
Day 9-11
Lead capture
WhatsApp widget wired to the business line, click-to-call CTAs above the fold on every service page, and a QR code for vans and printed cards.
Day 12-14
Deploy + ops
Live on Vercel. Checkatrade signed, Google Business profile submitted. Owned outright, no monthly lock-in.
(The numbers)
0jobs
From a single LinkedIn post
£1-8k
Per job won
0
LinkedIn impressions, 90 days
0days
Brief to live site
(The proof, straight from LinkedIn)
Ninety days of the content engine, in Reed's own analytics: 75,984 impressions, up 334%, and 14,134 people reached. That is the audience the four jobs came out of.
“Eight calls this week from other lift companies. Not customers. Other Engineers.” One of Reed's top posts. The work is getting noticed by the industry, not just by buyers.
(Results, first month live)
The site does the conversion job. The content engine on top of it does the demand job. Together they turned a sub-contract-only operator into a business with its own inbound pipeline inside four weeks.
Direct work, no middleman
A single founder-led LinkedIn post pulled in four jobs from one decision-maker in Kent. Job values £1,000 to £8,000 each. The first non-sub-contract pipeline Reed Lifts has ever had.
Industry press
The editor at Lift Industry News reached out for a feature interview on Reed Lifts as a new entrant in the sector. Inbound, not pitched.
Inbound sponsorship
A supplier kitted the founder out with workwear and tools after seeing the content. Free equipment, public partnership, thousands of impressions on the thank-you post alone.
What this proves
AI systems that turn a one-engineer trade business into a brand that wins direct work. The content is the engine, the brand and marketing is the amplifier, and both run on AI.
The systems behind the result
Reed's results aren't me doing the work by hand. They come from AI systems I built and run for them.
Content engine. Claude Code plus research tools turn Harry's expertise into a steady stream of LinkedIn posts and articles. That's what drove the 75,984 impressions and the four jobs out of Kent.
Brand and marketing engine. Canva and Figma, driven by AI, produce Reed's decks, carousels and visual assets, on brand, in minutes not days.
One operator running a business's entire web and marketing function on AI. That's the model.
(Stack)
Want the same for your business?
We take on a small number of businesses at a time. Same model: the AI systems behind a business, the content and the marketing, built and run for you.