What % of "direct leads" actually end up booking you?

MrTTennessee

I've gotten ~30 "direct leads" on thumbtack, and every single one has just vanished after 1 or 2 messages. Curious to hear if other contractors are also getting a high % of ghost leads.
I understand that you won't book a majority of what comes to you and it's just about getting a % booked. But having 30 "direct leads", none of which actually replied to a text message, is starting to feel weird. I've booked 5 jobs through the "opportunities", but literally not had a single "direct lead" follow up with me about the quote they requested. Kinda feels like these are either fake leads, or people price shopping who never hire anyone.
Considering stopping paying for direct leads. Just thought I would do a poll and see if others are having the same experience.

DustiO

@MrTTennessee You are probably already doing this, but just wanted to ask to make sure! Are you also trying to call and text these leads?

Have you signed up for our upcoming Pro Summit this Wednesday? You'll be hearing about some great improvements on both the pro and customer side, based on pro feedback — to address the issue of customer commitment and verification.

MrTTennessee

I do also text the leads right away. I have literally not had a single "direct lead" reply to me outside of thumbtack, and only 2 of the 30 even replied to message on thumbtack. I've gotten 2 direct leads from the same person/phone number this week, but they didn't message back either time. Doesn't make much sense that they wouldn't at least message me back since they keep selecting my work.

It seems like this issue could be solved by only charging a higher fee, but only for jobs that actually CONFIRM A HIRE of one of the contractors. I would pay more if it meant guaranteeing the job was a real one and not just price shopping.

I will absolutely sign up for the pro summit! Would love it if they had a section for comments/suggestions.

tiphdou

I booked many leads through direct leads, but I had several case like you, and I think its Thumbtack's responsibility to pay us back

First I think they are lacking of transparency regarding how they function. People reaching out to us don't know we get charged if we receive a message, which is wrong. they should be aware of that so they choose wisely and they make sure they need to hire someone.

2 days ago I was charged 78 dollars for a direct lead and the person doesnt even respond to a text.

I asked for refund and got denied.

Believe me I am not gonna let this go.

Thumbtack will have to prove me the person respond to someone or if not it will go far.

MrTTennessee

@ tiphdou Well I'm glad to hear that at least some of the direct leads are real.
I 100% agree - thumbtack isn't transparent with how they function, and it seems as if they are doing this intentionally to take as much money as possible, wether or not it's for a real job.

What you described is how all 30+ of my direct leads have gone. I get charged, they never respond, and never mark anyone as hired. Seems like a pretty clear pattern, and I agree, it seems like thumbtack should be the ones paying for this "flaw" in their service, not small business owners. Hopefully enough people will complain that they end up doing something to fix this borderline scam they're running.

tiphdou

Honestly we should all write horrible reviews about them. I am personally messaging them about refunding my 78 dollars fake lead and I wont let this go

I am writing an awful review on trustpilot now

and will tell them if they dont refund me I will keep going ( twitter etc)

this is unacceptable

MrTTennessee

@tiphdou We definitely should - although I have to say, I don't think that would matter to thumbtack. If you google Thumbtack, it's quickly apparent how bad of a reputation the site has, both for contractors and customers - but people still use it either way. Doesn't seem like they're too worried about people having negative reviews of them.

I was on thumbtack a decade ago, and it was somehow even worse than it is today. A bunch of contractors left, and they re-did how the platform works to bring the contractors back. Which gives me hope that if enough people complain/stop giving them money, they might attempt to address the concerns that drove people away.

Good luck with your refund. I was just denied for several similar refunds because "Thumbtack gets your business in front of customers for free. You only pay for customers who contact you to learn more about working with you. This connection is valuable wether or not they hire you".
Would help if it was a real connection that replied to messages, not just a price shopper.

DustiO

As a former Thumbtack pro myself, I understand the frustration of customers not responding. As @MrTTennessee mentioned, your feedback matters and does make a difference, so please do continue to offer it. Make sure you are sending your feedback through our support channels to ensure that it is getting logged. I can offer some advice and you can take or leave it, as you may already be doing these things, but if it is helpful, then great!

• Hopefully you are tracking your overall ROI with Thumbtack, vs lead by lead. I'd suggest tracking your overall ROI and then adjusting accordingly. It's easy to get caught up in each lead that doesn't pan out, but most important is whether or not you are getting a good ROI overall
• Check that your max lead prices are set to prices that make sense for you and your business
  • Revisit those settings often, lowering if it helps and see how you perform. Same with your weekly budget, play around with that and see what works for you
• If you suspect a lead to be fraudulent, please be sure to report the lead
• Be sure that your response time is as quick as possible (under one hour at minimum, but even faster is better)
• If a customer doesn't respond in the app, try reaching out via text and phone call and follow up later as well (below these bullets see some great suggestions from other pros re: non-responsive customers)
• Make sure you are getting new reviews, even if from customers outside of Thumbtack - and be sure you are responding to the reviews you do get
• Add photos and change up your intro and FAQs often to see what attracts more customers
• At the end of the day those things will set you apart from the competition and may make a difference
• If you are able to, we have bi-weekly CommuniTEA sessions (networking sessions) via Zoom with other Thumbtack pros and it is a GREAT forum to ask questions/advice and bounce ideas off of each other or just feel seen/heard in your common struggles
• Lastly, if you can make it, I'd highly recommend attending tomorrow's Pro Summit to hear about some coming updates born from pro feedback, some tools that will help you to maximize your ROI on Thumbtack, as well as some updates to the customer side to better guide customers along their journey

In a recent CommuniTEA session a pro brought up the topic of unresponsive customers and a lot of pros chimed in with some really great tactics that have worked for them:

• Refresh your profile intro once a month using chatgpt, to mix it up and test what resonates more with customers (from @1_gold_hands, a handyman who has grown to 7 locations using Thumbtack)
• Reach out via the Thumbtack messenger, and then text and call - different pros suggested different timing that works for them like text immediately, call after 1 hr or 2 hrs, etc (several pros suggested this one)
• Leave the message on a positive note and follow up with "nurture campaigns" - reaching out to customers every 30 days/60 days/etc with a refresher message (both @ShaquealThomas and @SOUNIQUE007 use this tactic and have multiple customers hire them at later dates)
• Try a contest/sweepstakes - tell them even if they have used another pro and don’t need your services they can gift it to someone else! But put a deadline on it to add some urgency
• Leave on a positive note, leave all of your contact info if they come back later (from @ShaquealThomas)
• Message people during off time like evenings and weekends, when they will have time to respond to the message right when they see the notification, vs if they are at work) (from @AR2i, who has had a lot of success using this tactic)
• Send them a note with all of the services you offer, in case they have already figured out that job, they can return later to hire you for other things (also from @1_gold_hands)

I know this was a lot of info, I hope something here will help and I hope you can join us tomorrow!