My fee is listed in my About section yet some leads don't book due to price

cynbeatty

My fee is based on industry standards, but I realize not in everyone's budget. My fee is clearly stated in my About section, yet another lead this week said my fee wasn't in his budget. I spent $41 for that. Anyone else have similar issues or solutions?

ArvinC

Hi @cynbeatty! Thanks for posting. I'm tagging in some of our best pros to see if they have any advice for you!

@_Nura101 @adonayflooring @amccarthy @AntilleanRestoration @Bretdouglas @busyb @Chuva @Cliff @CodyRisner @Jack_Marquardt @Juliano_50 @JWC @ShaquealThomas @TechExpert @Trevorbelk

JWC

Thanks for tagging me, @ArvinC
.
@cynbeatty I’ve definitely run into this as well. It used to happen more frequently, but I’ve seen a noticeable drop after tightening my targeting, improving my photos, and reworking my About section to better communicate value upfront.

That said, some clients will always either overlook pricing or assume there’s flexibility, so I don’t think it ever fully goes away.

What’s helped me most is stepping back and tracking ROI over longer periods—monthly, quarterly, yearly. Looking at the bigger picture makes it easier to absorb non-converting leads as a result of not engaging with my profile.

ArvinC

Really appreciate you joining the thread, @JWC . Thanks for being here and for continuing to support others in the community!

cynbeatty

Thanks @JWC and @ArvinC . My ROI on Thumbtack is usually pretty good, but for Q1 it's been $0, so this lead was particularly frustrating. Appreciate your good thoughts and suggestions!

JWC

@cynbeatty Q1 is typically tough for us as well. Lets' go for Q2! My pleasure, and feel free to follow up with any other questions. Happy to help.

busyb

@cynbeatty I would agree with what @JWC said. You always need to look at the bigger picture and not just what happens with each individual lead. It is frustrating though that customers do not look at pricing. I do put in my profile that I am always happy to offer discounts if possible but there is no guarantee. And Thumbtack is continuing to try to improve on what customers need to know before submitting an inquiry about any particular pro but for the most part they don't know that we are paying for the lead so it doesn't dawn on them the cost we incur. Again, that is something Thumbtack is working on. I'm a member of the Pro Advisory Board and we try to help with Pro mentoring so if you want to reach out to coordinate a time to connect text your email address to 720-637-2492 so I can figure out a mutually convenient time.

Thanks,
Beth Blacker

It's Just Stuff

DustiO

Loving this discussion @cynbeatty @busyb and @JWC — thanks for all of the offers of help and the ongoing questions and comments to all of you!

DerHilfer_LLC

Happened far too often to be a coincidence. It was exceptionally frustrating to have a User ask me what the cost would be and when I told them, they said "no" or just flat out hung up on me. Ask for a refund, denied as frequently as it was approved.

It's probably due to the one click "contact more pros" button that really needs to go away if Thumbtack wants me to start using their platform again. It makes us Pros look inattentive or deceptive - not what Thumbtack wants to show their Users. And let's be real, it only serves to pump more money into Thumbtack's bottom line. It does not benefit the User at all since he doesn't want to talk to three Pros, he just wants one to fix his problem.

So please, Thumbtack, delete that button, limit Users to ONE Pro per inquiry. Everyone will be happier and you might just start earning my money again, which will improve your bottom line.

marylandman

I agree, the way Thumback is encouraging customers to select multiple pros (without explicitly stating that the pros will be charged) is in appropriate and unethical.