Phil Currie runs Absolute Clean Air, a company his dad, Neil Currie, started years ago, providing air duct and dryer vent cleaning. Like most solid home service businesses, they didn’t start with marketing.
“We never needed marketing before.”
For a long time, they didn’t.
Their leads came from:
- Referrals
- Word of mouth
- Happy customers telling other people
And honestly, that’s how a lot of great companies are built. Neil built a strong reputation. The phone rang. The jobs kept coming. But eventually, they hit a point that many other contractors hit. They’re steadily receiving work, but the leads aren’t coming in at a high enough volume for real growth.
The Shift
At some point, the question becomes: “Do we want to stay the same… or actually grow this thing?”
Because referrals don’t scale. Some months are great, some months are slow, and you have little control over it.
That’s when they decided to hire a marketing company and found 99 Calls. That was almost 10 years ago!
Marketing Strategy & Results
When they partnered with us, we didn’t overcomplicate things. We built a strong foundation.
Here’s what we did:
- Set them up with an SEO-friendly website designed to rank on Google
- Indexed their website on Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster
- Created and optimized their Google Business Profile (GBP) so they showed up locally
- Promoted their business across trusted online directories, such as Yelp and Houzz to improve local search visibility
Behind the scenes, we also:
- Tracked every lead coming in
- Monitored performance month over month
- Continually updated and optimized their website and GBP
Results Generated by Consistency
The first month of SEO, Absolute Clean Air got 10 leads.
From there, the leads climbed steadily to 80+ leads per month during the heyday of SEO. Now that most of Google’s page is paid advertising, their SEO consistently generates 20-50 duct cleaning leads per month. That’s 1-2 calls for services every day, not even counting repeat customers!
Just because SEO slowed down, doesn’t mean SEO stopped working. It just means the market got more competitive. Think about what might’ve happened if they stopped SEO the moment leads dipped! They’d be down 25+ exclusive air duct & dryer vent cleaning leads per month.
Commitment to SEO and consistent 5-star service from Absolute Clean Air, Inc generated the success they see today.
The Key Takeaway for Home Service Businesses
Most guys think:
“If I get enough referrals, I’m good.”
Here’s what this situation really shows:
1. Referrals are a great foundation, but not a growth plan
They got the business started, but they didn’t take it to the next level.
2. Marketing isn’t about spikes, it’s about stability
Even when leads dropped from peak levels, they didn’t disappear.
3. Competition is guaranteed
If you’re not investing in your visibility:
- Someone else will
- And they’ll take your calls
4. 20 good leads > 100 bad ones
You don’t need massive volume.
You need:
- The right customers
- At the right time
- In your service area
What Changed When Neil Currie Partnered with the Right Team
There’s a big difference between doing marketing… and doing it right.
Absolute Clean Air didn’t just decide to “try SEO.” They partnered with a team that built the foundation correctly and stayed consistent with it.
Because of that, they:
- Built a steady flow of qualified inbound leads
- Stopped relying only on referrals
- Created a more predictable, stable business
- Continued getting jobs even as competition increased
And honestly, this is the part most contractors underestimate.
It’s not just about running ads or having a website. It’s about having the right strategy behind it.
Hear It Directly from Phil
After working together for nearly a decade, Phil shares what that decision meant for their business.
“You guys have gotten us a lot of help……helping us with getting seen as a top-of-the-line company.”
That consistency is everything.
Without it, you’re guessing month to month. With it, you can actually plan, grow, and scale.
Where They’d Be Without Marketing
This is the part most people don’t like to think about.
If Absolute Clean Air never invested in marketing, or chose the wrong company, they’d probably still be:
- Relying only on word of mouth
- Dealing with inconsistent lead flow
- Stuck at the same level year after year
Instead, they built something more stable. Something that continues to produce results, even as the market gets more competitive.
The Real Difference
Partnering with the right marketing agency didn’t just get them more leads.
It changed how their business operates.
- Less uncertainty
- More control
- More opportunity to grow
And that’s why, even today, the decision they made almost 10 years ago is still paying off.