Keeping you in the (feedback) loop: May edition

[DJStevie]

@HansenJC
I commented on @Hankster comment on read receipt in this thread. So not to repeat myself, I wanted to say that this is excellent expansion on read receipts. It IS something that should not have gone away, and we do need it back, not options.

DJ Stevie 6-13-2019

[HansenJC]

The suggestion box is a black hole in more than one sense.

When a pro makes a suggestion, no other pro knows about it. Pros must come here to the Community to post it a second time in order to gain a consensus or discuss the merits or nuances of the suggestion.

We never get any acknowledgement from Thumbtack that the suggestion was received.

Once we have submitted the suggestion, we cannot even read it ourselves. It is gone forever in an untraceable state.

The character count limitation for a suggestion is too short to be a robust communication tool. (We know this because Thumbtack created to the TackMaster program to overcome that limitation.)

We do not know who at Thumbtack actually assigns the topics for grouping of suggestions nor what team is looking at this suggestion. The anonymity of the team(s) diminishes trust and the community moderators are challenged in their efforts to stop the freefall of trust. Pros get the feeling that all teams are tasked only with monitizing every click of the mouse rather than improving the functionality of the program or the interaction between Pros and Job Posters.

Increasing the number of hires per request is not even considered by Thumbtack. If it were of significance, it would be measured and reported.

[Knightmagic]

I agree 100% with this. Everytime i have spoken to customer service they tell me that my feedback is being forward to their sales team. I'm tired of paying for leads and notice that the customer has requested every pro in my area for an estimate. This forces every pro to either accept the charge immediately or lose out on the lead entirely. Once the lead is paid for and you send them a quote it makes it more fun when they don't respond or they ask a single question and then leave it at that. It feels like I just ordered something online and when the box got to my house there was nothing in it except a note that said sorry no refunds or returns. 

I have always said that TT needs to make the customers pay for quotes and then charge the pros a small comission based on the final agreed upon price. 

[DJStevie]

@Knightmagic 

Great suggestion in having the "customer" pay for the quote, and charge the Pros a small commision based on final agreed. This will eliminate, or at least, possibly minimize the ghosting, and show the Pros that there are serious potential customers out there. As it stands now, majority of the "customers" aren't serious, they are more than click happy and searching for pricing. So why charge us if they are just price searching.

DJ Stevie 6-17-2019

[Knightmagic]

It could go without saying that TT could just create their own fake "leads" just to increase revenue for the short run. It bothers me so much with all these changes.

[Hankster]

This is a great analogy you provided @Knightmagic  'It feels like I just ordered something online and when the box got to my house there was nothing in it except a note that said sorry no refunds or returns'. I'll add one caveat. When you open that box in addition you will also see a name of the lead. No phone number or e-mail address of that lead. Just their name. That's how the lead system with Thumbtack has been for 10 years now!. The suggestion to provide a leads phone number & e-mail address has been suggested by many of us service pros over the years. It's in the virtual 'suggestion box' & of course the approrpiate team is looking into this. It's a matter now of whether Thumbtack wants to pull that suggestion out of the box & finally implement it.

[ChefOfAllSeason]

How about a tiered price structure for all leads?

example:

1) Job post with no contact info costs 2.5% of the project's expected return $

2) Job post with phone#, all filters filled out but no message box preferences. Cost: 7.5% of the project's expected return $

3) Job post with phone#, email address, and completly filld out lead with message box stating preferences. Cost: 12.5% of the project's expected return.

Ghosts: 0% Cost. Not our job to fix that problem; we already paid for the viable leads. 

Now THAT would convince us that TT is working alongside us and promotes our prosperity.

[Grat17]

Good start except one major problem. I'm a contractor and TT has ZERO chance of guessing what a job will make. If you sent estimates without looking at a job personally, you'd be out of business in a few months from losses or no clientele from having to over.charge. This isn't true for all trades of course, for example DJs, drum lessons, thing that are pretty straightforward and have few variables. Contracting....nope

[ChefOfAllSeason]

@Grat 17- I agree with you 100%. There are at least 4 times as many variables in my profession than are provided by the current JP template. Additionally, the way they are categorized discourages customer interest in TT. Catering is listed as “Weddings and Events”. Everyone knows that weddings are the most expensive of all events. “Bridal / Baby Shower “are the same option. When I see that and the JP did not take a minute to add further info in the message box, I pass. “Birthday/Anniversary” is another one. Presenting a method of contact with professionals this vague in no way improves the customer experience. Serious customers above all want to tell their story. If all they bother to do is click a few generalized options, I move on. One thing that all trades and professions agree on: we do not want to spend full price for a ghosted lead.

[taylor]

@ChefOfAllSeason Thanks for sharing your suggestions for a tiered pricing structure. I'll be sure to pass them along. @Grat17 is right in the fact that what works for one business might not always work for others. This is a great sentiment to keep in mind. While we always love to take in your great ideas, feedback, and suggestions, not everything is going to be able to be applied across the board.