Dear TT Decision Makers-- Can We Pros Please Give Input on Some of These Changes?

Meridith_Alexander1

Three years ago, I was a HUGE advocate for the Thumbtack platform and happily spent at least 1000-1200 per week on it. The numbers made sense and it seemed like a win/win. This month about halfway through the month, I paused it and I don't know that I'll be seriously opening it up again. I share this not to complain but in the hopes that TT is open to some constructive insight from a Pro who would love nothing better than to see ALL of us succeed together. I don't know if my 40-50K a year to Thumbtack is significant to the platform but I would think that it would be worth at least a slight consideration. I have seen an advisory board that targets pros on Thumbtack but, respectfully, if the numbers are not set up in a way that a pro can succeed, all the "advising" in the world won't change that. I keep track of my numbers. Three years ago, leads for life coaching were approximately $65 each. My 1200 investment (weekly) would land me 15-20 leads which typically meant that about 8-9 of those would actually respond to me and set up a call. Of those 8-9, I would land about 4-6 of those as clients, some of whom would invest in my larger coaching programs. That meant that my real cost to secure each of those clients ranged from $200-300 (factoring in the clients who did not hop on a call or who did not enroll). If I was enrolling them in a $1300-2500 program, that definitely was a good investment. About two years ago, the leads jumped to about $95 each. Now the same $1200 meant that I would only get about 12 leads of which maybe 4-6 would hop onto a discovery call versus ghost me. With my 50% conversion rate, I averaged 2-4 of those enrolling with me. That meant that my real cost to secure these clients was $300-600. If they booked a larger package, it was a bit tighter but it still could be justified (although just barely). In July 2022, TT launched its "name your own price" policy which of course bumped the lead price up to about $165 in order to be considered competitive in this genre. My same $1200 averages now 7-8 leads per week of which only 2-3 respond to my quick replies. If I'm lucky, I'll get 2-3 on a discovery call. If I do, I tend to hear that they have zero funds to invest so if they do enroll, it's for a smaller $797 package. With a 50% conversion rate, that's still only 1 per week -- and typically at the $797 rate. So yes, I have invested $1200 to "make" $797. Cost to secure this client was $600-1200, of which I recoup $797. My point? If TT can perhaps allow some of us seasoned pros who know the numbers in our industry to help TT establish a fair lead price, this truly could be a fantastic platform. Are there weird algorithm glitches where we suddenly don't show up? Yes. No idea why and TT has never been able to explain that but overall, it's the numbers behind the lead prices that don't add up. I would love nothing more than to be the happy customer that I once was. So the question is... Thumbtack, are you willing to hear the constructive input from your Pros who have loyally supported you for years? I sure hope so!! @DustiO

Matt

Well said, there seems to be some drastic changes to TT that only benefits Thumbtack and not the Pro’s. The features they offer should all be optional and not forced into every Pro regardless of the industry.

I’m at a loss with what my next steps will be in using Thumbtack.

Meridith_Alexander1

I have just appealed a refusal from support to issue a refund for a $128 lead from a father who called to explore coaching for his 40+ year old daughter who has refused to get coaching in the past and didn't even know that he was reaching out to me. TT support said that he had ample time to decide if he wanted to hire me and they were sorry if he did not. (!) I have been a loyal, enthusiastic fan of Thumbtack for years and have hung with them over the past year and a half as their lead prices jumped astronomically hoping that they would correct this. At the moment, I will be discontinuing my use of TT at the end of the year (maybe earlier). I am sickened because I truly used to love this platform.