Is Thumbtack Good for Contractors?

Learn more about home care service contractors’ best lead generation platform. Understand the nitty-gritty elements of Thumbtack.

Are you looking to strengthen your lead generation efforts?

With the rising competition in the industry, limited powerful lead generation platforms are available for your service business that can assist you to stand out from the rest.

Thumbtack is one of the best lead generation services available.

The lead generation platform can help you connect with your ideal prospects and convert them into long-term customers that can help you scale your service business.

But once you go through the online reviews, there are multiple complaints from different contractors about the platform.

What are those issues?

Is thumbtack good for contractors?

We’ll discuss it all. So without further ado, let’s get started.

What is Thumbtack? (Working, Reviews, Pros & Cons)

Thumbtack is a professional lead generation site for home improvement contractors and small business owners.

The platform was founded in 2008 and now has over 10 million users with over 250,000 pros listed.

The platform generated over $1 billion per year in income and has 500 types of service categories.

Different handyman businesses rely on the platform to generate great revenue and profits. Thumbtack customers or your prospective clients list the tasks they require to complete and look to connect with a professional home service provider like electricians, plumbers, or handymen.

Once the homeowners post the requirements, the Thumbtack app or Thumbtack Pro alerts the qualified contractors to bid for the job and pitch their lowest price for customer acquisition.

Once the bid is placed, the homeowner can choose the desired contractor based on the pricing and multiple other factors.

Let’s explore the workings of Thumbtack to get a better understanding.

How Does Thumbtack Work?

Thumbtack is focused on connecting the clients who require home-based services with the right contractors. It bridges the two and takes commissions once the lead is generated for the service providers.

Once the client enters the required information for plumbing, yard work, painting, HVAC, and other services, the platform analyzes the requirements and focuses on fulfilling them.

Based on the information, the client is provided a list of qualified contractors operating in the local area where the client can filter a few contractors.

The clients review the professional service provider profile and then contact the service providers to extract the quotes. Once the contract and client agree, they can work together, and the conversation can be completed outside the Thumbtack ecosystem.

The platform doesn’t charge the homeowners to find the right service contractors. The homeowners can directly pay the service provider and rate or review the local service business on the platform.

But Thumbtack charges the contractors for every lead they get from the platform. You can calculate the lead acquisition cost and manage your budget and marketing efforts based on the cost per lead.

Thumbtack Pros

The platform offers great benefits that can be utilized by your contractor business to generate leads and rank on top of the search engine results of the software.

1. No joining fees

You don’t need to pay for the sign-up on the platform. You can create your free profile using the platform to help you connect with your ideal prospect and ensure that you can scale your business operations.

2. Flexibility

The contractors get great flexibility that can help them choose the projects they find suitable to work on. You can set up the number of days and hours you want to work and are available for the prospects.

You can also select the service preference that you want to provide. It can assist the platform in filtering the job request based on your preference and notify you.

3. Only pay for the leads

You only need to pay for the lead you want to communicate with. The platform doesn’t charge you extra, which can minimize your profits. The platform doesn’t charge you a set percentage of your profits. 

The lead acquisition cost is based on the demand, and you are aware of the cost before you apply to work on a specific job.

 You can also attract direct leads without bidding for different projects if you get the Top Pro status from Thumbtack. 

4. Ideal for starting your business

The platform is great for the contractors starting their business and for those who don’t have a social media presence of dedicated lead generation strategies integrated into the business ecosystem.

It can boost your reach and online visibility across the wide user base of the platform that can help you scale your business and stand out from the local competition in the industry.

Thumbtack Cons

1. The variable price of leads

Back in 2017, the platform rolled a new update called “Instant Match.” Since that day, the prices of the leads have increased drastically.

To acquire the exact match leads, you must pay a specific fee to the platform before you start working for your client.

But if you want to earn great profits from large contracting jobs, you must acquire the lead at a high price. The lead acquisition for kitchen remodeling projects can go up by $50 to 60 per lead.

Different handyman jobs can cost you less than $10 per lead. The difference is great for small and large-scale jobs.

The number can vary for different service industries, and chances are you can’t acquire the same lead type for the same price the next time.

It makes the lead acquisition process very important, and you must manage the lead conversion closely. The lead pricing changes weekly depending on size, available pros, and the market. The lead pricing is similar to Uber’s in how it adjusts the taxi cab pricing based on the demand.

2. Stiff competition

Because of excellent opportunities provided by the platform for the service providers, there is a rise in the number of contractors listed for different services on the platform. The bidder’s number for the average job on the platform has increased from 3-5 to 15.

The quality commitment of the platform doesn’t limit the competitors from applying for the bids and provides options to the users or homeowners.

But the platform limits the customers who want to reach out to pros. A user can connect with only five contractors in the first few hours of their search. 

If you reply quickly to the request, you need to compete with a maximum of four others or less.

But if you cross the four-hour limit, the opportunity opens from other pros, which can minimize your chances of lead acquisition.

3. Account deletion

The platform can deactivate your account without any warnings that can vanish your hard work within a second.

According to the terms and conditions, your account will be deleted without any warnings if you violate the rules set by Thumbtack.

Suppose you have been working on the platform for two years, working hard to improve your presence, and building a strong profile with multiple five-star customer reviews. If the platform doesn’t like something about your profile, or you fail to follow the conditions set, they can shut you down.

Our research found that the prime reason for deactivation was that the contractors failed to pay for leads. The platform has little patience with contractors who don’t pay on time. 

And once Thumbtack deactivates your account and removes all your lead generation efforts from the platform, it becomes difficult for you to retrieve your original account. 

4. Poor lead quality

Poor lead quality is a major setback that the platform needs to work on and improve. Non-serious homeowners, local competitors, and flaky people can request on Thumbtack that can cost you time and money. These fake leads can be expensive and annoying for your business operations.

And if you raise the issue with the platform, you might get a terrible customer service experience.  

Sometimes, the company refunds the money for certain types of bad leads, but it’s not in every case. The issues with the reimbursement for a local service provider have tarnished the platform’s image.

Thumbtack Reviews

Thumbtack has been an excellent source for generating leads for contractors for years. It can help you fill your schedule and boost your business by gaining new customers. But you should not rely solely on the platform and focus on expanding your contractor business lead generation techniques.

You should test the lead generation platform based on your business industry and niche. If it works, explore other options, but if it doesn’t, you should stop using it.

You don’t want to spend a major chunk of your marketing budget on a tool that doesn’t provide great results, right?

Here’s what we think about Thumbtack as a lead generation platform for contractors:

• Being a home service business, you can see the price of leads before you can approve them. You can also filter leads based on factors that can help maximize lead acquisition efforts.
• You can improve your profile representation, which can help you increase the response from the leads and might result in more direct message leads from the platform.
• You can check the competition to help you do the market research and plan a better lead generation strategy to outshine your competitors and stand out from the rest.
• If you are starting your business, the platform is great for acquiring small-scale leads quickly that can streamline your business operations and help you bypass the initial dry spell in the industry.
• You only need to pay when the customer reaches out to your business directly on the platform or accepts your interest in completing their desired requirements. You can minimize the chances of bad and fake leads on the platform.

Apart from highlighting the positives, we also came around a few let-off points where the platform can improve and deliver an excellent experience to the clients and contractors.

• The platform encourages the homeowners to search for more contractors even if they have selected one from the search result. It increases the time and effort of the customers and increases the price of the lead acquisition because of the higher competition on a specific job.
• When the lead price is high and the demand is low, a contractor is forced to lower their prices to compete to convert the customers. It harms the average service cost estimations and minimizes the overall profits for the contractors.
• You don’t have control over the lead acquisition cost. You are at their mercy, and your profits go down if the lead price goes up because of multiple factors. You don’t have a choice but to change the existing system, but you need to adapt to the environment.

Considering the overall understanding of the business Thumbtack follows and its pros, cons, and reviews, you can decide whether to integrate the platform into your lead generation strategy or not.

But there’s still more you need to know. Have a look.

How Much Should You Pay to Thumbtack?

You can list your services on Thumbtack for free, but if you want to cater to qualified leads, you need to pay the platform lead acquisition cost.

Every lead generated on the platform has a monetary value that is the primary source of earnings for the company. The pricing of the lead varies on different factors like

• Job type
• Industry
• Region
• Job size
• Job competition

These factors are analyzed by Thumbtack, and then you’ll be charged depending on these factors. The bigger your lead, the higher you need to pay to the platform.

Thumbtack prices the leads based on how the market is performing. If there are more pros in a specific area competing to acquire a job, the price of the lead will go up.

For example, during the pandemic, there were fewer jobs, and multiple pros were looking for jobs, so the price of lead acquisition went up.

You should be careful while choosing and filtering your new customers. If you don’t remain careful, Thumbtack can be the most expensive lead generation platform.

Hire professionals who can control your customer leads acquisition cost on Thumbtack. Remain on top of your lead spending and set up a specific budget to ensure that you don’t bypass your financial limits and minimize your profits.

Look at the step-by-step process of getting started on Thumbtack as a professional contractor with your home improvement services.

How to Get Started on Thumbtack? (Step-Wise Process)

You can connect with your potential clients using the platform by creating a Thumbtack account and following the simple steps.

1. Account sign-up

You need to visit the Thumbtack Pro sign-up page and enter your basic business details like your services, address, business name, bank account details (if asked), phone number, or other vital information.

You can also download the Thumbtack Pro mobile app for Android and iOS that can help you access the lead generation budget tool with finesse.

2. Create your profile

You should focus on improving the business profile that can help you impress your prospects. A quality profile can create a powerful impact when the customers browse your profile on the platform.

You can include the following information on your page that can help you generate more leads.

• Type of service
• Service areas
• Business hours
• Pictures and videos
• Accepted payment methods 
• Experience in the industry
• Customer reviews
• Business summary
• Details about background check
• Links to your website and social media platform

The detailed information can help the clients and Thumbtack to determine your expertise in the industry and whether or not you are fit to complete the requested service tasks.

3. Complete the background check

You can create immense trustworthiness among your prospects if you get a background check from Thumbtack. The platform performs a free background check for contractors that can list the check details on your profile.

You need to provide a valid photo ID and your Social Security number to Thumbtack so that they can complete the background check. It will take the company five or seven business days to complete the process and deliver the results.

You can get the badge on your profile once the platform clears the background check. It can ensure the homeowners that your contractor service is safe to hire and that they can trust your work.

4. Set the target preferences

You can set a preference for the specific types of leads you want for your business. Thumbtack will filter the lead requests and notify you of the desired preference leads for your business operations.

It can help you deliver an excellent customer experience and work according to your preference. You can update your travel areas, job types, and work availability to assist the platform infiltration.

5. Focus on getting reviews

To build a solid profile, you need to get consistently positive reviews from your clients that can help you close new clients. 

You should have at least one review that can help showcase your good service in the industry. You can share the positive review on different social media platforms that can boost your authority and credibility.

You also can import Google reviews to Thumbtack, which can help you land initial jobs and ensure that you can stand out from the others.

Now you are ready for lead generation results by attracting quality leads.

Tips for Contractors to Get Business from Thumbtack

If you want to create an impact on the lead generation platform and use the services, Thumbtack offers, here’s what you can do.

1. A decent headshot

Don’t just remain limited to a logo or a picture of your job location in your profile puncture. You must step out and connect with your potential customers as a small business owner.

Explain who they are hiring with a detailed and professional headshot on your profile. Once you add a decent headshot, you can increase the chances of conversion from search results and bidding results. 

Thumbtack displays detailed information about your contractor business to the customer resulting in 10x lead conversion and minimizing the customer acquisition costs. 

2. Quick lead response

Focus on a quick response to the homeowner’s request that can help your customers save time in the search conquest and help them find the right service providers within no time. 

Customers are likely to hire the first pro contacting them. Although in services like kitchen remodeling, the customers want to consider two or more contractors and weigh the options, customers hire the ones who respond fast in smaller jobs.

You can also unlock a few rewards from Thumbtack for responding quickly on the platform. The platform also states that contractors who respond quickly to the leads have a higher chance of converting a lead into a customer.

3. Optimization

Once you bid for over 30 jobs, you should go back to your bid history to view the conversion rate of the leads into customers. You can notice a pattern or identical data sets that can help you with conversions.

Stop applying for the specific type of leads that won’t convert into your customers and optimize your future decisions channeled to improve your lead conversions.

Filter the specific types of leads and services that are helping you increase your profits and have less competition. Double down on those and scale your lead generation processing from Thumbtack.

4. Gain positive reviews and ratings

Ask your clients to review your services once you complete the job. You can attract more customers and scale your business operations with higher ratings and great reviews on the platform.

You can also boost your search rankings on the platform because of higher rankings. You should focus on becoming the Top Pro on the platform, which can be an excellent badge on your profile to boost your chances of direct lead conversions.

Overall the platform is ideal for the lead generation process for contractors, but you should not rely fully on the platform considering the drawbacks.

To attract positive and high-quality reviews, you must deliver excellent home repair and installation services to your clients. 

Also, improve your in-house service business management operations by integrating leading software and technologies in your ecosystem.

Focus on creating and managing your estimation, invoicing, purchase orders, reporting, and optimizing your accounting management using professional software.

Out of hundreds of professional tools available in the industry, it can get overwhelming for you to filter out the best financial management software tailored for handling your business requirements.

Don’t worry. Our expert team has done the research on your behalf and filtered the leading software for estimation and invoicing for your service business.

InvoiceOwl Can Help You Manage Your Financial Documents

InvoiceOwl is the leading estimate and invoice software for contractors and businesses to manage and improve the quality of invoice and estimate creation and manage these financial documents effectively.

The software offers a bird’s eye view of the operations and minimizes the inefficiencies and errors in your contractor’s business financial management.

InvoiceOwl allows you to create and manage estimates, invoices, purchase orders, and credit memo journalentries.

The powerful and user-friendly interface can help in the easy integration and adoption of the software. Your team can easily check the history of different financial documents to help you streamline your cash flow and achieve your desired business goals.

You can deliver quality estimates and quotes to all your leads generated from Thumbtack that can boost the chances of conversions. 

Avail of the FREE trial today and transform your contractor’s business financial aspect.