Direct leads are costing me. Not getting any texts for leads.

Mike_Cipriano

I am a quick responder on

thumbtack. Have used them for 15 years. I am getting 0 leads only ones called direct leads ( charged big bucks). For outside work in Akron to far for me. Lost over $100.00 we no longer receive any texts but, if I log into website I see them. That's not good, to late to get the job. Plus the leads I see only when I go to the website are 100 miles away in another state. Or they are lost to me because others have gotten them 1st. No one is in the office until Monday. This sucks we really need work. Very disappointed. Mike Cipriano Painting 440 823 2242

DustiO

Hi @Mike_Cipriano thank you for posting! Sorry for the difficulty getting through to support — most team members are out for the holiday, but I am happy to hop in and help you in the meantime.

You'll want to check a few things:

1. Check your account settings to make sure you have your most current phone number listed.
2. Check that you have the most up-to-date version of the Thumbtack Pro app (you can also try uninstalling and reinstalling the app).
3. Check your phone's settings to make sure you are set up to get notifications from the app (your texts that you have been missing). I would link help here, but I am not sure what kind of phone you have!
4. Check your travel area and make sure it's still where you want it to be - I checked and you have areas selected that are as far apart as about 90 miles. You can select specific counties, cities, and neighborhoods.
5. Check all of your job preferences to make sure you are getting leads for all of the types of jobs you want to do in each of your categories (it can be tedious to check, but definitely worth it!). The leads you are getting are direct leads - those are the leads you want as those are customers who selected your profile and reached out directly to you. Those leads will all be within the targeting preferences that you set. You will also have "opportunities" that you can respond to that might be outside of those preferences (but for those ones, you don't pay unless the customer gets back to you). You can check here to learn about different types of leads, since Thumbtack has changed so much in the (amazingly!) long time that you have been on the platform.

If you try all of these things and you are still getting jobs outside your preferences (ie outside your selected travel area), and you still aren't receiving texts, then I would email or chat with Support - or feel free to comment here and I can continue to try and help you (but chat or email might be faster for you).

I sincerely hope this helps, please comment and let me know! I am out until next week, but will check back here to make sure I didn't miss anything! Best of luck!!

Mike_Cipriano

This I did. I figured out that I am no longer getting opportunities from Thumbtack because there has been a massive increase in pricing. When I started with Thumbtack in 2009 It was between 3-11 dollars per opportunity and you didn't have Direct leads. That is what had me using and sticking with Thumbtack. I like being charged if I want to take the lead. I spent years and much effort making my spot on your platform top rated and I respond in 3 minutes. Now it looks like I have to focus on Google and spend my time and money there instead. It doesn't seem to me viable to pay you $46.99 to get an opportunity to visit a customers house and quote 1 room (About $200.00). That is a 25% commission for you, if I get the job and $98.00 for 3 rooms. Let me know if I am getting this wrong. Seems like I was priced out of the market at the worst time. Thank you, Mike Cipriano

Mike_Cipriano

Also I signed up for a community call just now with thumbtack and I had to give credit card information. It said for location only. When I did it charged my card $39.99. Chase contacted me and I had to cancel my card. so now I have to wait for a new one to be sent. Watch out for that pop up window on your community site, it's a scam.

DustiO

@Mike_Cipriano I'm not sure what community call you would sign up for that costs money. Everything within this Community is free and any "calls" we do happen over Zoom. Could you send me a screenshot of whatever you have via DM and maybe I can help figure out what that was? Was it a pop up when you were in here (community.thumbtack.com)?

Mike_Cipriano

It was a pop up window when I signed up for the event

Js_Garage_Door1

@Mike_Cipriano sorry to hear this, this might be a silly question but are you using the latest updated version of the TT app?

Mike_Cipriano

Yes . the thing is I would have to way raise the amount I am willing to pay for leads. In an environment

of less discretionary spending and more unemployment. Meaning I have to lower my prices, and pay more for my leads. I have to find a better alternative to thumbtack, and it has been very good for me for a long time. I would like to keep using thumbtack and I will always look into the leads from time to time but, I am going to have to figure some alternatives.

Js_Garage_Door1

@Mike_Cipriano can I ask what you're paying for leads and what the cost of the Google alternative would be? In my market thumbtack is below the cost Google local services, especially since Google does a variable spending limit now so the job goes to the highest bidder. We have a way better ROI with TT but I'm definitely curious on what platforms you found and the price differences.

DustiO

@Mike_Cipriano that is so strange - I would recommend clearing your cache and cookies in your browser. The Community itself does not have any pop ups. You may have a virus or something else happening. Would definitely see if you can clean up your computer/phone to make sure you don't have a virus! So sorry that happened!

Mike_Cipriano

Yes, It's $46.99 for a lead that is one bedroom and $98.00 for 3 bedrooms.

Direct leads came in at $68 for exterior in Akron (thumbtack gave me a refund for that one)

I had to go to the website to turn off Direct leads. I that is when I discovered that my setting were set for like $35.00 max.. It just doesn't seem like a good idea to pay $46 for a chance to go quote one bedroom. the cost of my labor is not high enough to pay 46.00 for that. Just got to expensive

for us. Hopefully we can figure our something else. From what I understand Google charges per click and that is about $18.00 no matter the size of the job.

Mike_Cipriano

I hate to sound like I am bad mothing Thumbtack. It always worked well for us. I never had to go to the website much, I never had to use the app. It worked so well for us for a long time. I would get texts. tap on the link and if it looked like we wanted the job, I would sent information off to the customer. Getting billed only if they contacted us back. We ran into this trouble due to a cost spike in the service.

Depending on you type of business Thumbtack might still be great. For us the current cost structure

means we will have to be much more careful before responding to any leads.

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Marcus1987

The same thing happens to me. I'm expending more than $200 a week, but customers never answer in the app or on their telephone. In the past, most of the time, I used to receive text messages from customers. My main tool for getting new projects was Thumbtack, but I am considering deactivating my account now.