Why New Pros Sometimes Lose Momentum After Their First Few Leads
Early rejection can feel personal, but early signals often need time to take shape.
When new pros begin receiving leads, it is natural to hope for quick wins. If early conversations do not immediately turn into bookings, motivation can dip. What helps is understanding that early lead activity is part of building momentum, not a final measure of success.
An Insight from a Pro Who Became a Millionaire Using Thumbtack
Josh Downing, a top performing pro and founder of Direct Movement Group, offers a helpful example of how early lead activity can evolve over time.
Since starting his business, Josh’s company has generated more than $2 million in revenue from leads on the platform. That growth did not come from instant results. Over time, Josh has responded to more than 200 requests. He typically hears back from a portion of those leads, but when customers do engage, his close rate is strong at 78%.
His projects have ranged widely in size, from $6,000 to $900,000, with an average job size of about $100,000. Many of those initial jobs also led to additional work. For every job booked, Josh often received multiple referrals through word of mouth.
Josh attributes his long-term success to persistence and regularly refining how he connects with customers.
What New Pros Can Take from This
Josh’s experience shows that early leads are not about instant payoff. They help build familiarity, improve messaging, and strengthen follow-up habits. Over time, consistency and responsiveness make it easier for the right opportunities to convert.
New Pros Platform Tip: Stay Engaged While Momentum Builds
Early lead activity works best when it’s treated as information gathering. Each interaction offers insight into what customers respond to. Small improvements over time can make a meaningful difference.
Early uncertainty is common. Staying engaged helps turn early effort into steady progress.
Top Pros, what helped you push through the early leads stage?
CC: @DustiO
Comments
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@Bretdouglas67 I ’ve been thinking about what you shared at CommuniTea last Tuesday. It really stuck with me, especially the part about when you were using Thumbtack and working through the early leads stage. If you’re open to it, could you share again what helped you get through that phase? I think it would really help others to hear your experience. Thank you!
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Jumping in to tag some of our newest community members in case this helps you get started 😊
@jlpmm@RiseAboveCam -
I think that the hardest part of Thumbtack is if you look at every single lead cost and your roi on each lead. The problem is sometimes you will get bad leads or bad clients that have no intention of paying for quality work they're only looking for the cheapest price. The way that Thumbtack is set up needs to be explained a little bit better to the client that yes it is free for the client to post up a bid but the unfortunately side of it is I don't think that they realize that each vendor that they call out is being charged for that lead.
What got me through the process when I first started was looking at it more so in a weekly roi or a monthly roi. I have been with Thumbtack for over a decade and I've never had a week where I haven't made my money back or a profit utilizing thumbtack. If you need help setting up your profile or how to shut it down to save money 💰 💰 💰 💰
Please text me at 3865008217
Free help is always here
Bret Douglas
Top pro
thumbtackiron@gmail.com
Please reach out. Free help is always here
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Bret, Thanks for the insight. That hasn’t been my experience this far however. Just starting out, it’s difficult for a company that does not have big ticket items / services to justify the spend when they are competing here and everywhere with more experienced companies that have the reviews to back them up. The ROI just isn’t there for the newbies in my experience. I am glad you find it profitable and value the service.
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Thank you for your kind words. I also think part of the problem is that Thumbtack is so big and has so many different job tasks that it is almost hard to study each group and understand if it's worth the cost of the leads compared to the value that it brings
As an example.i I'm a commercial horticulturist. I have about different lead categories
Five of them are very reasonable leads. However two of them are very expensive generating close to $100 a piece for the lead price.
Even as a seasoned veteran we cannot afford more than two or three of these type leads each week as our budget is set for $350 a week
Please reach out to me by text or email. Or phone call but let's get together and see your categories and if there's any way I can help you to tweak it to make it worthwhile
I'm not a guru anymore. But I do have over a decade of changing with thumbtack and trying to always make money off it
God bless you on your journey no matter which way you choose but please reach out to me for some free advice if I can try to help you
Warm regards
Bret
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@Colleen I tried to take a look at your account to see if I could offer any tips/advice, but it looks like you've deleted it. If you ever want to give Thumbtack a try again, we would love to help you! There are many very experienced pros (even some who have been on Thumbtack less than a year) that we could connect you with and we as a Thumbtack team are happy to see how we can help too! Have a great day and thank you @Bretdouglas67 for the insights!
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