ScottZ, @scottz wrote:   " But before we get to those, I think it’s important to give some context on why we changed the way Thumbtack works. Before, customers came to Thumbtack searching for pros and would have to wait to hear back from a pro. Sometimes customers didn’t even make it through the initial request form. In fact, 80% of customers wouldn’t even get to the point of meeting any pros. Those were jobs that could’ve been yours."  I think you are operating under a false premise. While it may be true that " 80% of customers wouldn’t even get to the point of meeting any pros." You seem to believe that maybe there were no pros available, but since the old system allowed every contractor the opportunity to view the request, within that area, and within that speciality, and only 5 could respond.  It stands to reason that the requests were viewed, and rejected for any number of reasons. From being to far for too small a job, or not exactly what I am looking for, or maybe, I am just to busy at the moment to take on something else, and lastly I looked at it, and thought it was bogus, and would be more trouble than it was worth.    A lot of the leads that came through, were just crap from the begining. Pro's get pretty good at "reading between the lines" as to who is serious and who is either window shopping, or just a window licker.    Now I understand that you see this as lost revenue for you, and have devised this new system to try to get folks to pay for all the chaff that was falling through the cracks before.   Now as for your "list", you do know that you are far behind the curve for building a search engine, Type out a request, say for a carpenter in Manchester, NH.....low and behold GOOGLE will give you a list...for nothing, Bing does it too, Yahoo, heck, the yellow pages. And just like you, if I pay to promote my business listing, I can get to the top of the list.   So Please, how about some statistic's on how many folks,  1) Click on several contractors (window shoppers) 2) How many of those actually hire someone. Willing to bet those numbers will never see the light of day. 3) How many are just window lickers (not hiring anybody anyway. I mean there were tons under the old system. Every contractor has pages on pages of archived dead quotes. No response, and no indication that they hired someone else nor hired anyone at all.     ... View more

@lenstar wrote: Trying to figure out how I'm ranked...  Log out of your thumbtack, Go to www.thumbtack.com, enter the job that you want to see how you rank, enter the zip code of the area you are focusing on, and a list of pro's should show. Scroll until you see your listing. ... View more

We have been with Thumbtack since 2012, and fornately for us we have been successful IN SPITE of all the changes to Thumbtack. I still think that everything hinges on providing the customer a great experience. For us this means doing what you say you will, when you say you will do it, at a reasonable price. Today, we live in a world of instant gratification, so reviews are everything. Not just the star rating, but what folks actually say. We still get quite a few inguiries,  but decline most.  If, when I pull up the actual request, and they have contacted several other pro's....Trash can, If they use one of the TT canned inquiries...trash can. For us, we actually no longer need TT, but still take on a few jobs. For us, in our area, and our main field, we rate #3. #1 and #2, obviously use promote. I actually feel bad for them, as between them, they have 1 hire and 4 reviews. So TT is doing well off them.  ... View more

OK, I did my little rant, but you want specific's so let me delve into it a bit deeper from a construction contractors point of view, so you know where I am coming from. First you are operating under a few false premises: First of which is that one lead is more valuable than another. To you they are, but to us, the contractor, the business owner, they are not. A lead is simply a lead, not a job, nor will the vast majority ever lead to a job. You have tire kickers, (just curious how much something would cost IF i decided to do it), The comparitive shoppers ( those that have a contractor or a buddy and they just want to see if they are getting a fair price), The bull**bleep**ters (those that like to screw with folks) and ocasionally a legitimate lead. A lead is simply that, a lead. An opportunity to maybe get our foot through the door. Nothing you folks do helps in any way securing the job. That is us, 100% my ability to sell the job, and myself as the best choice for them to complete their project. Secondly, that because a customer responds to us, that we are getting the job, or that the person will ever hire someone. It doesn't even guareentee that I will ever see the project, or will ever actually speak to the potential customer in person. Thirdly, that somehow paying for a response, is somehow better for me that paying a substantiually lower rate for sending a quote. Since it's inception, the quality of the leads has dropped expotentially. When I viewed the leads prior to "the change", I could pick and choose, tailor each quote to the lead, and knew how many folks I was bidding against. Now  ??? Fourth, That somehow having a superdupper TT approved profile is going to help me get the job. A nice profile might get me a call from the client, but has no bearing on whether you secure the job or not. Again that is all me. My sales ability. Lastly, is your idea of what a quote/response is worth. You are looking at a price for one quote and one response, and your premise that every response leads to work, while the reality is much different. In a perfect world, bidding against 5 others, each of us would secure 1 job.  The reality is bidding against 5 others you would be doing well to secure 1 in 7-8.  With you folks sending 10-15 quotes, it dropps expotentially. So lets do the math, I get one job from 7-8 quotes....60x7 = $420 per job, which I now have to try to pass along to the customer. And I am paying this when you unleashed all the cutthroats. Folks don't have to pay to quote so they just quote everything, and lowball in the hopes that they land a job or two.  I know, because I look at the stats, and the folks I am bidding against...no reveiws, 1 reveiw, etc. I say good luck to them, and good luck to you ... View more

  I WAS a huge fan of thumbtack, operative word here is was. Even though I could never get you folks to list me in the search results as something other than a landscaper, lmao. I was able to get past that, through reviews, pictures, etc. It is always a bit harder selling a deck job, or remodeling job when the customer thinks that earthworks is your claim to fame. It just means that we never got jobs from searches on the internet. Even with that,  I even made a few positive comments in your little community, in the past.   Now with the changes, the % of leads that even seem real is ridiculously low. I have pages and pages of leads that lead nowhere. Enough correspondence so that you could get in my bank account, then nothing, and I mean nothing. NO responses.   Now I am paying, $300-500 for each job. Up from maybe $100 before. I have determined that your "service, such as it is,  So therefore I have opted to spend my money in marketing through my website, which is showing a much better result than dealing through you folks.   You were once a great option to Angie's List, and Home Advisor, now you are more expensive than both, with a delivery rate on par with Craigslist. ... View more