Boasting more than 10 million users, Thumbtack is a popular online directory that connects renters and homeowners with local contractors and home service providers, such as painters, plumbers, landscapers, and electricians.
Thumbtack users can search or browse categories based on their geographic location and what type of service they need. For example, a homeowner can use the Thumbtack website or mobile app to search for highly-rated pest control services in their city.
While Thumbtack is useful for consumers, it's even more beneficial for businesses, offering numerous tools and resources for finding new leads and expanding your customer base.
For example, it's free to join Thumbtack Pro, which enables you to create a business profile, showcase photos of your finest work, and share details about the services you offer. Customers can also leave ratings and reviews on your profile, which your business can leverage to build trust and attract new clients.
In this guide for contractors and home service businesses, we'll show you nine ways you can use Thumbtack to generate leads, connect with potential clients, and boost your brand reputation. From optimizing your Thumbtack profile to communicating with customers, here's how you can get the most mileage from Thumbtack's website and mobile app.
Whether your home services business is large, small, or somewhere in between, you can improve customer retention and acquisition by using Thumbtack strategically. So where should you get started?
Let's explore nine effective ways to reach customers and grow your business using Thumbtack:
When a potential client performs a search on Thumbtack, they'll see a list of potential matches depending on their search input.
Clicking or tapping a business leads to their profile, which displays an overview, photos, services, customer reviews, and professional credentials:
Optimizing your Thumbtack profile enables your business to rank higher in searches, which means more customers can find you. Once you create a profile for your business, here are some of Thumbtack's tips to improve your page:
Thumbtack covers thousands of different cities, professions, and projects. To make sure you reach the right audience, it’s important to set appropriate targeting preferences.
As Thumbtack explains, “You tell us what jobs you want with your targeting preferences. That’s how we know which customers are a good fit.” For example, you can set preferences for where you work, when you’re available, and what services you offer:
It’s easy to change your targeting preferences from the app or website. Simply navigate to “Services,” choose the service you want to edit, tap or click the “Targeting Preferences” option, and follow the on-screen directions.
Here are a few Thumbtack help guides where you can learn more about this topic:
When a customer leaves a review on Thumbtack — or, for that matter, any other review site — it's vital to respond as quickly as possible, especially if the review is negative or mixed. A prompt, courteous, personalized response shows that you care about customer satisfaction, makes a positive impression on potential clients, and boosts brand loyalty.
Here's a great example of how a friendly, polished response can encourage repeat business, while also inspiring new customers to contact you:
Thumbtack enables businesses to create "quick replies," or review response templates, that speed up your response time. As Thumbtack explains, "Instead of typing out the same response again and again, you can write a message, save it and then reuse it as often as you need to."
Thumbtack allows you to create up to 100 quick reply templates, with a limit of 500 characters per response.
Along with quick replies, you can also use quote templates to speed up the process of communicating with Opportunities, as Thumbtack discusses here. We’ll talk more about Opportunities a little later in this guide.
Whether you're using templates to create quotes or reply to customer feedback, it's important to tweak each response so that it's personalized to the reviewer. Learn more tips for responding to reviews, explore Thumbtack's step-by-step guide to quick replies, or browse our collection of 4-star review response templates.
If you scroll down to the very bottom of the Thumbtack homepage, you’ll see a "Pros" column featuring a short list of links, including a link to “Pro Resources”:
Clicking or tapping the link opens a video library featuring short instructional videos — usually, just one to two minutes long — covering topics like how to view your leads, fill out your profile page, change your account settings, stand out in search results, upload images, communicate with your customers, and more.
Videos are currently available in both English and Spanish/Español.
Thumbtack offers a program called Thumbtack Pro Rewards, where businesses can earn rewards for providing exceptional service.
As Thumbtack explains, “Pro Rewards is made of three tiers: Silver, Gold, and Platinum. You qualify for these tiers by earning points as you accept jobs and respond to new leads,” along with providing “excellent customer service” on the platform.
Some examples of rewards you can earn include:
A little earlier, we learned what target preferences are and how to change them. "Opportunities," as Thumbtack calls them, are leads that don't align with your preferences but may still lead to projects you're interested in.
As Thumbtack explains in one help article, Opportunities "are either customers who have reached out to other Thumbtack pros, or they’re asking pros for quotes" on their projects. "You can let these customers know if you’re interested in the job," Thumbtack says, "and you only pay if they respond to you."
To browse Opportunities on Thumbtack, simply navigate to the "Jobs" section of your profile on the mobile app or website, then click or tap the "Opportunities" link.
Experimenting with different price ranges enables you to connect with more potential customers, like homeowners on a budget or those who are looking for high-end services.
There are two types of pricing adjustments you can make on Thumbtack:
To change how much you charge for your services, navigate to the “Services” section of your account on the website or in the mobile app, then click or tap “What Customers Pay” and make your desired adjustments.
To change your max lead price, navigate to “Services,” click or tap “Max Lead Price,” and then move the slider bar to match your desired amount.
To learn more about either of these topics, check out Thumbtack’s guides to pricing your services and setting max lead prices.
Once a lead contacts you, Thumbtack recommends responding within four hours, ideally between the hours of 8:00 A.M. and 8:00 P.M. in your time zone.
If the lead doesn't reply after you message them, don't just leave them hanging or assume they aren't interested — instead, stay on top of the conversation with a friendly follow-up message. As Thumbtack points out, "Follow-up messages are a great way to engage customers who haven’t responded yet."
To view or send messages to customers, navigate to your "Messages" tab on the app or website, select the customer you want to contact, and compose and send your message. Make sure you have your message notifications turned on, which will alert you when new messages are received.
The Thumbtack Community is an online community where professionals can network with each other, discuss upcoming events, browse on-demand webinars, show off their best work, join industry-specific groups, and more.
For example, some of the most popular and active groups on Thumbtack include Women on Thumbtack, Home Industry Pros, Events Pros, Wedding Photographers, and Property Management. Recent webinars cover topics like info sessions for new users, Thumbtack integrations, growing your business with Thumbtack, and boosting your ROI with Thumbtack. Community content is generally available in English and Spanish/Español.
One final point before we wrap up: while Thumbtack is predominantly geared toward the home service industry, the platform is constantly growing to include more and more professions, from web design experts and private chefs to photographers and fortune tellers. Even if you aren't in the home services industry, it's worth exploring whether there's a niche for you on Thumback's platform.
Using quick replies and templates is a great strategy for accelerating your customer response time. But did you know that other review management tools can potentially be even more efficient?
Introducing ResponseScribe — a completely done-for-you review response service that takes care of every detail.
How it works is simple:
With pricing starting at just $29 per location per month, ResponseScribe is ideal for independent contractors and small multi-location businesses. And if you need help or have questions, our friendly customer support team is always ready to jump on a call, video chat, email, or text message.
Managing customer feedback doesn’t have to be time-consuming. With an intuitive, cloud-based platform and sophisticated AI, ResponseScribe makes it simple to request, respond to, and track reviews — not just on Thumbtack, but all of your favorite review sites for contractors.
Discover how ResponseScribe can drive growth for your home service business. Chat with our team about your needs, or book your free demo today.
Done-for-you review response service for local businesses.
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