Hi all,  As the manager of the Top Pro program here at Thumbtack, I wanted to share an update with our Pro Community about two changes you might have heard about already. First, we’re so excited to announce the launch of our brand new Top Pro tracker!  This new tool lives right in your Insights and will allow you to track your progress towards qualifying for the next Top Pro class.  We qualify Top Pros twice a year -- once in January and once in July. From now on, the Top Pro tracker will always have your latest, most up-to-date stats, so you can see exactly what you need to make the cut. Second, as you’ll see in the tracker, we’ve made some changes to the Top Pro qualification criteria .   Starting with the January 2020 Top Pro class, we will require Top Pros to: Maintain an average star rating of at least 4.8 based on verified reviews (this hasn’t changed) Receive at least 5 verified reviews in the last year (this hasn’t changed) Respond to new leads within 4 business hours at least 75% of the time (this is new) Complete a free background check (this is new)  We’re now asking Top Pros to respond within 4 business hours simply because our data tells us that customers are more likely to hire a pro when that pro responds quickly.  In other words, getting a fast response makes customers happier. The longer a customer has to wait, the more likely he or she is to leave without hiring anyone at all.   We see that 4 hours is a meaningful cut off. Of course, responding faster than 4 hours will often lead to better results (responding within an hour, for example, makes you 50% more likely to turn a lead into a conversation). But we feel confident that the 4-hour mark sets an appropriately high bar for our Top Pros without being unrealistic or unattainable.  If that still feels like too short of a window, keep in mind that it’s 4 business hours, which we define as 8am to 8pm local time.  There’s definitely no expectation that you stay glued to your app all day and all night!  Also keep in mind that the 75% response rate means you can take longer than 4 hours every now and then and still qualify.  Starting with the January 2020 class, Top Pros will also be required to complete a free background check through Checkr, our free and accredited third-party provider.  Background checks take only a matter of minutes to complete and help to build credibility and customer trust.  Because Top Pros are meant to represent some of the best pros on Thumbtack, it’s important that customers know they can trust our Top Pros.   The Top Pro criteria requiring a 4.8 average star rating and 5 verified reviews have stayed the same (for more information, click here ). At the end of the day, our Top Pros are an elite group -- currently only 4% of all pros on Thumbtack qualify.  As Thumbtack continues to evolve, so, too, will the Top Pro program. Top Pro will continue to set the standard for what it means to be a fantastic pro on Thumbtack.   Keep checking back here for more updates and don’t hesitate to reply below with any questions or feedback about this change. Special shout-out to our July 2019 Top Pros for all of their incredible work!  For everyone else, we hope to welcome you into the Top Pro community soon. Jason ... View more

Below is an updated list for the month of May. We’d love to hear what you think and we want your feedback! Don’t see your idea on this list? That doesn’t mean we aren’t working on it. Some features are much more complicated than they seem and take time to implement. Have other ideas? Reply below to share your suggestion and you may see it in a future update! Updates for pros in May: Per-day business hours: You run a tight ship. So you know how crucial it is to set a schedule and keep to it. And we know after a customer views your business hours — and sees when you’re available — you’re more likely to get hired. You told us you wanted more options when setting your availability. Based on the feedback we heard, we added the ability for you to set your business hours for each day of the week. Work the same hours each day? No problem. You can still set the same hours for the whole week. But if your availability changes day by day, we’ve got you covered.  Learn more here . Jobs tab distance filter: As many of you know, you’re now seeing more opportunities in the Jobs tab. We want to give you as many chances to get hired as possible, so that's why we’re now showing all opportunities in your category within 150 miles. However, we heard from some pros that this made it more difficult for them to sort through opportunities. Now you can filter the Jobs tab by distance, making it easier to find the right opportunities. If you don't see the new filters in the app, just upgrade your app to the newest version.   Added additional targeting preferences: We received feedback from pros like you that you want more control over the types of jobs you automatically pay for. We recently added additional targeting preferences in many services to give you more control over the jobs you pay for. Check your preferences to make sure you’ve told us which leads you want. New leads reminder email: As a pro, you will now receive a reminder email at 5pm local time for all leads that you haven’t responded to yet. This is our way of helping you respond quickly in order to win more jobs. Updated lead terminology: You may have noticed that some of your leads are labeled as being an “exact match.” This means that the customer’s job exactly matches the preferences you’ve set for the jobs you want to target, and so you've paid automatically for this lead.  We made this change to make it easier to quickly identify and focus on the leads you’ve already paid for - the leads that are the best fit with your preferences.  Spend your time on these. Requesting reviews within messenger: We received the feedback that you could not request reviews from customers through the app. This improvement now makes it possible for pros to request a review from a customer through the messenger, right in the app. This should help you get more reviews.   Turning reviews into past projects: For eligible services, you can now turn verified reviews into past projects on your profile.  This way, customers can get a better sense of the work you’ve done on Thumbtack and the great experience other customers had working with you.  Just click on “Feature this project” on a review to get started! In case you’re curious, here’s one of the updates on the customer side: Encouraging flexible scheduling: This update allows customers to give a wider window of availability for when they want their project done, and encourages them to select more days and times when they are free. Ultimately, this makes it easier for you to find a time that works for both you and the customer, and therefore gives you a great opportunity to land the job. ... View more

Hi all! Based on your feedback, we've decided to change the name of "The forum" discussion board to "The water cooler."  See here. The term "forum" can be used to describe any and all of our discussion boards, so we heard you that this was confusing. While the name is new, the goal for "The water cooler" hasn't changed: this is the place where you can share random tips, big ideas, and fun stories.   It's the place for the types of conversations you'd have with your co-workers around the water cooler. This also feels like a good time to share a refresher on where you should go in the Community to find exactly what you're looking for.  There are four sections of our Community, each with a couple of discussion boards or blogs.  Below is a description of each of these sections, and each of the discussion boards and blogs you'll find within.   1) For new pros is the section of our Community for pros who are just getting started (here) How Thumbtack works is a discussion board with all of the basics; it's the place to get up to speed on what Thumbtack is and how pros can use it Getting started is a discussion board with advice on how you can build your new business on Thumbtack 2) Using Thumbtack is the section of our Community for you to talk to other pros about makingThumbtack work for you.  It's the place to discuss everything related to the product - from pricing to profiles (here) Pro tips is a blog where we'll share articles on how to be successful on Thumbtacl Product news & updates is the place to get information on all of our latest product changes. Come here to stay in the know! Find more jobs is a discussion board to talk about reaching more customers (by setting your budget and your preferences, etc.) Get hired is a discussion board to talk about standing out to customers (with your profile, your reviews, your credentials, etc.) Manage your jobs is a discussion board to talk about keeping track of your customers (with your inbox, your calendar, etc.) Pricing, payments & refunds is the discussion board for all conversation about what you pay Thumbtack (Thumbtack's fees, our refund policy, etc.) 3) Small business talk is our section devoted to the basic of running a small business.  For the ins and outs of being an entrepreneur, from filing taxes to hiring employees, come here. Small business blog is where we'll post articles and tips about managing a small business, written by our team Trending topics is a discussion board where you can talk to other pros about how they manage and operate their businesses, beyond Thumbtack 4) Pro lounge is our section for everything else that doesn't belong in one of the sections above. It's a place to share stories, debate new ideas, or connect with other pros in your city or industry (here) Stories of the Self Made is a blog where we'll share stories about incredible pros doing incredible things The water cooler is a discussion board where you can share your ideas, your thoughts, your stories   Have any ideas for new discussion boards or blogs you'd like to see? Let us know below! ... View more

Below is an updated list of product changes we shipped during the month of April. We’d love to hear what you think and we want your feedback. Don’t see your idea on this list? That doesn’t mean we aren’t working on it. Some features are much more complicated than they seem and take time to implement. Have other ideas? Reply below to share your suggestion and you may see it in a future update. Major updates for pros in April: Customer Demo: Customers find pros like you through search results, and we now have a quick way to look yourself up and see firsthand how you show up and where you rank. The goal is to help you find ways to get in front of more of the customers you want.  Take a look at the link to the demo.     Highlighting Nearby Jobs in the Lead: When leads are just outside your preferences, we now indicate that on the lead to help you better identify the ones you want most   Lead Signals: To help pros easily identify leads that are either more valuable or more likely to turn into hires we now highlight facts about the project that could be overlooked like “only contacted you”, “provided pictures”, “recurring job”, etc.   Customer notification - reminder to respond : To help remind customers that they have pros interested in their job, we are now sending a Reminder push notification 6 hours after the first pro responds (so long as the customer hasn’t responded to any other pros at that point).   Image Quality: We updated our quality and dimension criteria for images on Thumbtack and removed existing images that did not fit these guidelines. Our goal is to help you get hired, and customers want to see quality images when they're deciding who to hire. By making sure the photos in your profile are clear and high-quality, you can showcase your work in the best light. This update also helps your photos load faster, giving customers a better experience when they view your profile. Smaller changes for pros: Updates to prioritize relevant reviews on a pro’s service page: Reviews now show up for customers in order based on the relevance of the text in the review, so customers will see reviews most closely related to their job. ... View more

Last month, in an effort to increase transparency into what we’re working on, we posted our first monthly list of product changes. Below is an updated list for the month of March. We’d love to hear what you think and we want your feedback! Don’t see your idea on this list? That doesn’t mean we aren’t working on it. Some features are much more complicated than they seem and take time to implement. Have other ideas? Reply below to share your suggestion and you may see it in a future update! Major updates for pros in March: Refund requests right from your account: After hearing your feedback, we’re now giving pros the ability to request refunds directly from your Thumbtack account. This means you no longer have to spend time calling our support team when there is a problem with a charge. Once you dispute your charge through the Help with a charge link, you can get back to running your business while we look into your case.  Then, we’ll email you in 2-3 business days to let you know if your charge qualifies for a refund under our policy.  Learn more about this update here . Smaller changes for pros: Improved targeting: The best way to target the right customers is to set job preferences . You can get the exact kinds of jobs you want, while also getting a rank boost in search results. When you get a lead that matches your exact preferences, you’ll pay automatically and receive a 20% discount.  If you don’t set your preferences, you’ll still get leads, but they may not be exactly what you want (and you’ll pay full price). Learn more about this update here . Listing the number of pros who’ve responded: We’ve started listing the number of pros who have responded to a given job (in addition to the number of pros who have been contacted) in order to give you a more accurate picture of what’s going on. For example, if a customer contacts 5 pros and all 5 have responded, the chances of winning that job are lower than if a customer contacts 5 pros and only 1 has responded. We hope this will give you a better idea of which jobs you’re most likely to win. Be the first to reach out: We recently added a “Be the first!” label to jobs. This label means that the customer has not yet heard back from any of the pros she reached out to. Because none of those pros responded, you could likely to be the first pro to respond, which means you have a higher chance of winning the job — but don’t wait! Other pros can see this opportunity too. Promote lifecycle emails: We recently redid some of our email communications to help pros better understand our product and how they can be successful with Promote. ‘Check’ as an accepted payment method  For those of you accepting checks, you can now make that clear to potential customers on your profile.   In case you’re curious, here are the major updates on the customer side: Review sorting : We added the ability for customers to sort the review section on a pro’s profile by date or rating. A “Responds Quickly” tag in results: In addition to “Great Value” and “In High Demand,” we’ve added a “Responds Quickly” tag next to some pros, which customers will see when they search on Thumbtack. These tags help customers find the right pro for their project based on what is most important to them. To increase your chances of achieving this tag, focus on responding to customers as quickly as possible. This includes accepting jobs you’re interested in and declining jobs when they’re not a good fit. Again, we would love to hear your other ideas. Reply below and let us know what you’d like to see on this list next month. ... View more