“Get Quotes From Top 3 Pros” Button - Damaging Conversion and Lead Quality

korss0707

“Get Quotes From Top 3 Pros” Button — Damaging Conversion and Lead Quality

I’ve been using Thumbtack for years and have invested a significant amount of money into building our presence on the platform - hundreds of reviews, a strong profile, quick response times, and thousands of dollars per month in advertising at different points.

Recently, however, I’ve become increasingly concerned about the “Get Quotes From Top 3 Pros” button that appears very prominently at the top of the customer experience.

In my experience, this feature significantly reduces customer pre-qualification before a Pro is charged for a lead.

Previously, customers were more likely to review individual profiles, compare reviews, pricing, qualifications, photos, business information, and then decide which Pros actually seemed like a good fit for what they were looking for.

Now, a customer can simply click one prominent button and have their request automatically sent to three Pros - potentially without meaningfully reviewing those businesses first.

And I don’t think this is just about price.

For example, our profile clearly states that our pricing starts at around $180. If a customer is primarily looking for the cheapest possible cleaning service and has a budget of $100, that is completely fine. Under the traditional process, that customer could review our profile, see our pricing, determine that we are probably not the right fit, and contact Pros whose pricing better matches their budget.

But there can also be a completely different kind of mismatch.

Some customers specifically want an individual cleaner and are not interested in hiring a cleaning company. Others may specifically need an established company that is fully insured, can provide a COI, employs W-2 staff, background-checks its professionals, and provides trained and experienced cleaners.

Those are meaningful differences that customers should be able to evaluate before deciding whom to contact.

And this issue works both ways.

If a customer specifically needs an insured cleaning company that can provide a COI and meet certain professional requirements, an individual cleaner who does not offer those things may still be included among the three Pros and charged for a lead they were never realistically positioned to win.

Likewise, if a customer specifically wants a low-cost individual cleaner, an established company with substantially higher published pricing may be charged for an inquiry from a customer who would never have intentionally selected that company after reviewing its profile.

That is why I see this primarily as a matching and pre-qualification problem, not simply a pricing issue.

With the “Get Quotes From Top 3 Pros” button, the customer may not closely review any of these differences first. They click one button, the request is distributed to three Pros, and those Pros can be charged even if one or more of them were clearly not what the customer was looking for in the first place.

The problem is not whether we can explain our pricing, qualifications, or business model after receiving the lead. We already do that.

The problem is that by the time we have that conversation, the lead has already been generated and we have already been charged.

A customer should have a meaningful opportunity to review a Pro’s profile and determine whether that business actually fits their budget, expectations, and service requirements before the Pro is charged for the inquiry.

I also think this feature weakens one of the biggest reasons Pros spend years building strong Thumbtack profiles. Reviews, reputation, experience, qualifications, pricing, and business structure should help customers decide whom they actually want to contact.

If customers increasingly bypass that process and simply click “Get Quotes From Top 3 Pros,” the interaction becomes much closer to a three-quote comparison. Naturally, price then becomes a much larger part of the decision, while the information contained in individual profiles becomes less influential.

Since this feature was introduced, we have seen a gradual decline in our conversion rate, despite continuing to maintain a strong profile and respond quickly to leads.

We are currently evaluating whether it still makes sense to continue allocating the same level of marketing budget to Thumbtack under the current lead model, or whether that budget would be better invested in other marketing channels.

I’m very interested to hear whether other Pros have noticed similar changes:

• More customers who clearly did not review your profile before contacting you?
• More leads that are obviously not a good match for your pricing, qualifications, or business model?
• Lower conversion rates?
• More customers treating the interaction primarily as a three-price comparison?

I think Thumbtack should seriously consider removing this button. Customers should be encouraged — not discouraged — to actually review the selected Pros, including their pricing, qualifications, reviews, and business model, before submitting an inquiry and before those Pros are charged.

I’d be very interested to hear what other Pros are experiencing.

ArvinC

Hi @korss0707 , thank you for taking the time to lay this out in so much detail. I really appreciate the distinction you're making here between pricing and the broader question of matching and pre-qualification. Your example of an individual cleaner versus an insured cleaning company also helps illustrate why those differences can matter to both the customer and the Pro.

We don't have visibility into the performance of this specific experience or whether it's contributing to the changes in conversion you're seeing, so I don't want to speculate on that. But the detailed examples and business impact you've shared are really helpful context, and I'll include this in the Community feedback we surface to the appropriate teams.

I'd also encourage you to submit this feedback directly through your account if you haven't already. That helps log the feedback alongside your specific business and experience, which can provide additional context when teams are reviewing feedback and looking for patterns.

And I'd definitely be interested to hear from other Pros about what they're experiencing with this as well. Thanks again for putting so much thought into your feedback.

korss0707

Thank you, Arvin. I appreciate you taking the time to review the issue and for including this feedback when you surface Community feedback to the appropriate teams.

I have already raised this directly with Thumbtack Support. They told me the feedback had been forwarded to the Product Team and indicated that I should expect a follow-up, but it has now been several weeks. I have also followed up with Support again and still have not received any substantive response regarding whether the Product Team has reviewed the issue or what their position is.

My main concern remains that the current experience allows a paid lead to be generated before the customer has meaningfully determined whether the Pro is actually a good match based on pricing, business model, qualifications, insurance requirements, or other important factors.

I’d also really appreciate hearing from other Pros about whether they have noticed changes in lead quality or conversion since the “Get Quotes From Top 3 Pros” experience became more prominent.

Thanks again for helping surface the feedback.

ArthurHandyman

I’m experiencing the exact same issue. Since these changes were introduced, my conversion rate has dropped significantly. Customers often contact me without seeing my pricing first, and I’m still charged for the lead even when the price clearly doesn’t fit their budget. This feels very one-sided. I hope the Thumbtack team takes this feedback seriously and explains what they’re doing to address the issue.

ArvinC

Thanks for adding your experience here too, @ArthurHandyman . I remember the concerns you shared in your own post around pricing visibility, so I appreciate you joining this conversation and adding another perspective around lead quality and conversion.

As I mentioned there, I don't want to speculate about what's specifically contributing to the changes you're seeing in your conversion rate. But having multiple Pros share specific examples and business impact gives us additional context when we're surfacing these conversations and feedback to the appropriate teams.

Thanks again for continuing to share what you're experiencing.

EricGilletteDOTcom

Same here. I've spoken to people who literally ask me what my hourly rate is, and I'm usually quick to point out it is listed on my profile, to which they typically reply: "Oh, I didn't look at your profile." So it clearly is now directing leads in my direction who otherwise would not have chosen me (either I'm outside their budget, or don't do the work they're asking for). Thumbtack it seems, consistently creates an experience for the customer that involves them being able to maximize how many Pros can be charged for a lead, without actually qualifying the customer better for the Pros.

MyCleanCharlotteMaid

I can see how this could affect lead quality, especially in cleaning.

A customer looking for house cleaning may not realize how different the options can be. A standard cleaning, deep cleaning, move-out cleaning, Airbnb turnover, and post-construction cleaning are not the same scope. There is also a difference between hiring an insured cleaning company and hiring an individual cleaner.

If customers are encouraged to contact multiple pros quickly without reviewing profiles, services, pricing expectations, or qualifications, it can create confusion for everyone.

Better pre-qualification would help. Customers should know what type of service they need, what is included, and whether the pro is a good fit before the lead is created.

That would help customers make better decisions and help pros spend more time with serious, better-matched leads.

korss0707

Thank you for sharing this, @ArthurHandyman. This is exactly the type of experience I was hoping other Pros would weigh in on.

What you described - customers contacting you without even checking whether your pricing fits their budget - is exactly the concern I have with this experience. It means the lead can be generated and the Pro can be charged before the customer has really determined whether that Pro is a good match.

The fact that you’ve also seen a significant decline in conversion is especially important. It’s helpful to know that this issue isn’t limited to the cleaning industry and that Pros in the handyman industry are experiencing something similar as well.
Hopefully, if more Pros share their experience, Thumbtack can look more closely at whether there is a broader pattern.

korss0707

Thank you, @EricGilletteDOTcom. Customers actually telling you, “Oh, I didn’t look at your profile,” is a really good example of the problem.

That’s exactly why I think this goes beyond pricing. A profile contains information that helps the customer determine whether a Pro is actually a good fit before making contact. If customers are being encouraged to contact multiple Pros without reviewing those profiles, that pre-qualification step is being lost.

And once the inquiry is generated, the Pros have already been charged.

korss0707

Thank you for sharing this @MyCleanCharlotteMaid. Exactly. Better pre-qualification would benefit both sides - companies and individual Pros - because customers would have a clearer understanding of what each Pro offers before generating paid leads.

korss0707

Hi @ArvinC! It's been about a month since your response, so I wanted to follow up and ask whether there have been any updates from Thumbtack's Product Team regarding this suggestion.

Has the team actually reviewed this feedback? If so, have they provided any comments or indicated whether this is something they might consider implementing?

I appreciate you acknowledging our concerns and forwarding our suggestions. However, sometimes it feels like our feedback is going into a black hole - we receive confirmation that it's been shared, but never hear anything further.

It would be great to see some actual follow-up from the teams responsible for these decisions, even if the answer is that a particular suggestion isn't being considered.

ArvinC

Hi @korss0707 , I’ve addressed this in your other thread and provided additional context on how Community feedback is handled. Thank you for following up!