It dawned on me as I watched water pouring out of the sides of my rain gutters that I should hire someone to clean them. Can I do this myself? Sure. Do I have a ladder? No. Can I buy a ladder? Yes. Can I fit said ladder on my motorcycle? Not safely. Could I use a fence to climb up and crawl onto my roof, then shimmy to the edge and scoop them out by hand? Uh, okay, yes. Did I want to risk injury or death? No.
So, I called the professionals.
I haven’t hired for this particular role before, so I did what any normal person would do: I went to Google and typed, “Gutter Cleaning.” There were a dozen companies on the first page, many of which were “sponsored,” which I promptly ignored. Why ignore the sponsored ones, you ask? Great question, and I suppose the best answer I have is, “They didn’t earn their place on page one, and I’m looking for someone I can trust.”
Of the remaining five options, I right clicked and opened each website in a separate tab and had a look. Some were not pretty while others were really slick. Committed to the process, I started calling them one by one.
The first on the list was “Gutter Cleaning Calgary,” which has the perfect domain name that gets right to the point and deserves top marks. They were number one on my list. The phone rang, and rang, and rang, and just as I was about to hang up, it was answered by a machine, “GUTTER CLEANING CALGARY … BEEEEEEEP.” I hung up. It was a jarring experience. I instantly and viscerally didn’t want to hire them due to that initial impression.
Next on the list was “Men In Kilts.” I’ve seen their trucks around, and they have a polished professional look, and a fun and cheeky tagline (no peeking), so I figured this would be the one. In the world of hiring gutter cleaning companies, I was looking for something easy and professional. Call. Make an appointment. Pay. Celebrate having the cleanest gutters on my block. Maybe hold a block party?
There was an automated attendant to determine if I was a Residential or Commercial client. I pressed “1” for residential. In a couple of rings, a nice-sounding lady answered in what can best be described as a tin-can telephone; not unlike those we built as kids with soup cans and string. It was hollow, clacky and sounded like a boiler room. She wanted me to fill out an application and agree that the amount — if I decided to use them to clean my gutters — would be no less than $259. This was a hard no for me. Not because of the price, but because it didn’t feel human. It felt purely transactional. And weird. Apply to have my gutters cleaned?
Here’s the thing: I’m not looking for a life-altering gutter cleanse. This isn’t a mint-and-pumpkin-spice colonic. I just want a human connection — someone I can trust with my home.
Next on my list was “Cleaning In Action.” Their website is best described as “humble,” and in truth, I didn’t even really scroll or read more than a few words. I didn’t have to. I could quickly see they did what I needed doing (Gutter Cleaning), that they were a “Family Business,” and there was a phone number to call. Perfect.
I called. No answer, but within a few rings, I was greeted by a friendly invitation to leave a message. As I was leaving my message, my other line rang. It was them. “Hello, I missed a call from this number,” a pleasant voice said. I explained I needed my gutters cleaned and asked if they could help. She asked a couple of questions about the size and layout of my home, and then after a moment said, “We’ll come out to your place to see it personally, our rates start at $129, although, depending on a variety of factors, it may be more. If you agree, we’ll do it that day, by hand, and put everything in your Green Bin so you don’t have a mess. If you don’t want to do it, we’ll just leave it as an open estimate.”
This is the difference: a human, being human, connecting with another human — asking the right questions and offering clear, simple next steps anyone can follow. A memorable brand doesn’t always need a clever slogan or the perfect domain name. Sometimes it just needs to be real.