Not sure if I should take that as we do not do quality work!!!

Did not mean that at all. I have been here and at URC control room and know the quailty of the work that you do.

What I meant is I am not sure that I will be able to sell the type of work that we do when others are giving estimates for half the price that they do in half the time.

But, I will probly give it a shot. I like the fact that you can bid on the jobs that you want....when you want.

Gotcha. That is what I like about TT. There are definitely going to be some guys giving their work away. At least it only cost me a couple bucks to try and get the work. At the end of the day, if it doesn't work out, I will likely be out the cost of a tank of gas when all said and done.

My experience with TT has been as bad as any of the others. Potential clients always looking for the least expensive quote. Most times you can't quote based on what little info they provide so you're simply introducing your co. I'd bet more than half of the bids have been credited back due to no response from the original requester. I honestly believe a lot of the requests are from trunk slammers trying to see who responds and what they charge. YMMV

Does Angie's list even check if a company has a simple business license or insurance?

Yeah, very strict about that.

Thumbtack does not and leaves it up to the individual

I have tried tt a couple of times with very mixed results
One was a win for a nice outdoor audio system. The rest have been no communication back, but that's because as faster48 said you can't bid based on the info most of the time.
On the audio job I got I had to jump through some hoops to qualify the client.
I would also agree that most are looking for the lowest bidder not necessarily the best guy for the job

Whats amazing, is that they are still in business. The stock is a dog, and so is the business model.

Angie's List of Thumbtack?

I just heard about TT a month or so ago, they are advertising on TV A lot. I signed up and just last week finally got my license and insurance verified.

Just met with a guy today that could turn out to be a very good lead. Seemed to be shocked at the lack of expertise he got from the people and even mentioned that I was the only true professional it seemed. So we'll see if something comes of it but 2.30 could lead to a few thousand bucks..

I have weeded through a lot of junk, and it's true people are getting quotes from trunk slammers! Just takes the right hit and client to see passed that. We'll see but right now it's the cheapest form of lead generation that we have control over

The roi can be good but the reality is until companies like tt require you to be a real company than trunk slammers and guys doing side work will ruin it before it even begins

Reviving-
Now that this has been in place for a while - does anyone have any updated experiences to share?
I have been called a lot recently by Home Advisor and I know another integrator who uses them with some decent success but the leads are pricey.
Curious what is the pulse of advertising success from any online marketers?

HA can suck it. I don't have time or interest in their leads right now so I paused the leads. In app, you can only pause for 2 days. It's dumb. Online you can only pause for 2 weeks. It's dumb. Every single time it comes off pause, and I mean every single time, I get an exact match lead, the most expensive. I could go a week or two with no leads at times when not paused, but every time I do pause, they pull this bs with leads that are questionable if they are even real.

Also, I get leads sometimes that don't pertain to our business. I got one recently to hang a white board in an office. In a building that I cannot park at an hour and a half away.

Thumbtack is even worse, although you don't pay per lead unless you choose to provide a quote, site unseen. Angie's List was a giant waste of money. 5 grand for 1 year and only got a couple leads for small jobs not even totaling 2 grand.

I got Douped. I signed back up, was once again promised the world. My biggest complaint is the insanely high turnover. Angie’s list claims the reps are promoted or moved to different territories blah blah blah. All BS. I have had more “reps” then I can count.

Angie’s list ruined them selves when they went “free” it has taken a major hit and I wouldn’t be surprised if they regret the decision. Old clients I got off of AL say they don’t use it anymore. The quality of leads has tanked to just hang and bangs, and even at that it’s too expensive.

Honestly it’s no different now then finding a contractor on Craigslist. Avoid HA and avoid Thumbtack like the plague. They ALL suck! Angie’s list took the biggest dump. It’s upsetting because it worked so well for us for so many years, now it’s absolitly worthless.

Why do we even need these services??! I want ZERO more leads. Notta. I dont want to hire folks. The plate is more full than I even really want it to be. These services are for new companies only I would think.

Cause everybody's business is exactly like yours, right?