Paul Hannah is the owner of The Duct Cleaning Specialists, an astounding 15-time Best Of HomeStars Award-winning duct cleaning company in Cookstown. We spoke with Paul to find out how he grew his business from one man and a truck to having an entire team and over 1600 reviews on HomeStars.
Catalyst for Growth
Before joining HomeStars over 10 years ago, Paul had already been running his duct cleaning company for roughly 6 years. For the first portion of his career, it was just him and his truck. “I used to have just myself working one truck with work scattered all over the place,” he recalls.
The Duct Cleaning Specialists is a family run business. Paul now employes 7 team members with 4 service vehicles, a fair sized company for the industry. Joining HomeStars was one of the major factors that gave Paul’s company the boost it needed to expand.
“Once I joined HomeStars, within a couple months I was getting calls left and right and I grew to 2 vehicles and then so much work has come in to help me grow where we are at today,” he explains, “so a huge part of that is having my profile on HomeStars.”
Research is Key
One of the main concerns facing the duct cleaning industry is that it is not regulated like others are. Paul feels this is a big reason as to why reviews are so important to help legitimize a company, and so that homeowners can do their research properly to find the right company for their job. Reading reviews and doing your research before hiring can make a huge difference in your overall experience.
In addition to reviews, there are other ways to know if you’ve found a trustworthy duct cleaner. “There are procedures and policies that should be followed, and there is an association to certify companies so they know what they are doing — those are the biggest things,” says Paul. When homeowners don’t do their research first, they may end up going with a company that charges significantly less but they may also be significantly underqualified to perform the job right. That’s why it’s so important to look at everything you can so you can make as informed of a decision as possible.
Set Up for Success
There are a few key pieces of advice Paul has to share when it comes to companies just starting out who are looking to build their online reputation with HomeStars. Firstly, Paul recommends having a Brand Builder membership so that they’re able to add pictures of their work. “I think at the beginning, having the ability to add photos to our profile got us a lot of leads. Having that feature versus not having it is one of the better features that I personally like.”
His second tip is to just do good work. “Obviously you have got to do the job properly, be honest and get everything done.” It is this kind of work ethic that has led The Duct Cleaning Specialist to have over 1600 reviews and counting! In fact, they have the most reviews out of any other company in their industry.
Paul knows the value of reviews, which is why his third piece of advice is to make sure your profile is full of fresh reviews. Paul does this by sending a follow-up email after every job asking his clients to review their service. He also uses the HomeStars for Business app that quickly and easily sends a review reminder to homeowners once a job is completed. Sometimes all it takes is a simple reminder to get people to write a review. “You just need to do the job properly and then follow up. People like that kind of stuff, it shows that you care about the job.”
After 10 years, 4 trucks, and 1600 reviews, The Duct Cleaning Specialists is a thriving company who knows the value of doing good work and following up on it.
