Ann Budge is the customer service manager at Michael O’Connor and Sons, nationwide industrial, commercial and domestic Chimney Sweeps. Coming from an industry which predominantly springs to the customers’ minds in the colder months of the year, Ann talks to us about keeping the momentum going over the summer months.

Tell us a bit about your business… how long have you been around and what services do you offer?
We’ve been in business almost 25 years and offer a chimney cleaning service to a range of clients including residential, commercial and industrial. Domestically, we provide a professional sweeping service to wood heating flues and open fireplace chimneys. We also install bird and possum grids, cowls and dampers, and provide ongoing effective operation assistance.

On the commercial and industrial front we clean air conditioning ducts for offices, factories and hospitals; exhaust systems in toilets and laboratories; and we provide cleaning services to all types of ovenlines, flues and associated ductwork - specialising in 'tin plate' printing and manufacturing equipment.

When are your busiest months?
The different areas of our business complement each other well so we’re rarely not busy. On the domestic front March – October are our busiest. People are keen to have fires during the winter. On the industrial side of the business November – February is the busiest time so it works well.

What do you do to drive business in the slower months?
Well we don’t really have slow months, but when things are a little quieter we tend to enjoy things while we can and take a break.

You recently featured on Channel 9’s Dirty Jobs. How did this come about?
We were contacted by Cornerbox, the production company who explained the concept of the show and asked if we’d be interested. I think they found us online in Yellow.

What was the experience like?
It was a really interesting and a fun experience. It was completely different to what we thought it would be and we were all amazed at how much they had to film just to produce a few minutes of final footage… so time consuming too – it must be frustrating on the other side of the camera. We also received a lot of follow up from potential customers after the show so it did a good job of raising our brand profile.

Where does the majority of your advertising dollars go?
We advertise heavily in Yellow print and online as this is often the place people go when they need our services. We make sure we ask everyone who phones in how they obtained our number so we can ensure our marketing budget is being spent in the right places.

To read more about broadcast advertising download your own copy of Chapter 17 of the Small Business, Big Opportunity guide. To read more about directory advertising download a copy of Chapter 14.

To find out more about Michael O’Connor and Sons phone 1300 651 631 or go to www.chimneysweeps.com.au.