I’ve used Thumbtack for years
I’ve used Thumbtack for years and have sold many remodeling projects from Thumbtack leads in the past. Five or six years ago, Thumbtack was actually one of our better sources of new business. Unfortunately, in my experience, the quality of the leads has deteriorated substantially. Far too many of the homeowners we receive now seem to be very early-stage shoppers, extremely price-focused, difficult to contact, or simply not serious about moving forward with a project. Even when you do get an appointment, you can spend a significant amount of time driving to the home, discussing the project, preparing options and pricing, only to discover that the homeowner is collecting quotes from multiple contractors with very little real buying intent. My biggest issue is the definition of a “lead.” A homeowner requesting information or clicking to compare contractors is not necessarily a qualified prospect, yet contractors can pay significant amounts of money for access to these inquiries. I understand that Thumbtack cannot guarantee a sale. That's part of running a business. But there needs to be a reasonable relationship between what contractors are paying and the quality and intent of the prospects being delivered. What makes this particularly disappointing is that Thumbtack used to work for us. We generated real business from it. Based on my recent experience, I no longer believe the economics or the amount of time required make sense for our remodeling company. We're moving our marketing dollars toward channels where we can generate and qualify our own prospects instead.