We get you the right service pro

by Sander | May 14, 2012 at 12:24 pm

Today most people frustratingly browse the paper Yellow Pages and online directories to find local service professionals. If the professional picks up the phone, you’ll describe the work, ask if the pro’s available and at what price. Getting multiple quotes to make sure you’re not getting ripped off is likely to take more than 10 phone calls and several hours.

At Thumbtack we believe there’s a better way. Our new homepage is a gateway to get you the right service service pro in just a few quick clicks. You tell us what service you need and when and where you need it.

We do the rest. We route your request to the best of our 275,000 service pros. You’ll have multiple price quotes in your inbox the next day from pros who are available and qualified. And you’ll never have to pick up a phone, leave voicemails, wait for returned calls or deal with the various other frustrations of finding the best person for your job.

We’re excited to be helping with life’s bigger moments, like planning a wedding or remodeling a home, and with more regular jobs, like cleaning your house or getting a massage. We also help with the funnier ones — like hiring body painters for San Francisco’s revelrous Bay To Breakers or a Viking Opera Singer to embarrass your friend on his birthday.

You can ask for just about any service, anywhere in America. We have specific questions to to help service pros understand exactly what you need. Here are some examples:

  • For house cleaning, we ask how many bedrooms and baths and how often you need cleaning.
  • For drum lessons, we ask what type of drums, how much experience you have and how often you want lessons.
  • For a mechanical bull rental, we ask what type of event you’re having, how many hours you need the bull and how old your guests are.

Thumbtack has specific questions like these for more than 400 types of service. The questions allow our service professionals to quickly understand what you need, whether they’re qualified to deliver it and what they’ll charge. By knowing the right questions to ask, Thumbtack gets you accurate quotes from the right pros.

Oh, and be sure to check out the awesome new video when you visit our homepage!

Trackbacks are closed, but you can post a comment.
  • scott

    Thumbtack is just another Craiglists list. If you want professional services there are better avenues out there. LinkedIn, Elance to name a few. 

  • http://www.organic-gardening-for-life.com/ Greg Traver

    I am curious as to why you do not post the website of business listings? It seems kind of silly to allow a business to post a rather lengthy profile and then not allow them to link to their site.

  • Morpheus

    Thumbtack would be a great service, if you changed one thing. It doesn’t make sense to me as a service professional to pay you for the opportunity to make a bid on a job, even if I never get work out of it. I was recruited cold by someone with your company who sent me a job listing when I’d never even heard of Thumbtack before, and I was very interested until I saw that I’d have to pay cold cash just to name my price for the work, whether or not I’m selected for the job. No way. There are other task-matching services on the web that don’t charge the professional just to bid. I’ll be going with them.

  • Dean Brown

    I disagree with your comment that you get true professionals.  You have no way of knowing who is truly a professional or whay type of service they provide for many different business categories.  I know because my business is listed on your Website under photographer and you have asked me any questions that would verify whether or not I am a true professional.  I do not blame you for this because Thumbtack does know have the knowledge or expertise to evaluate whether or not someone is a professional. 

    In addition, you do not share with your businesses who wins the bid, name of the company, or the price that won the business.  Therefore, the businesses who use your Website  who pay to have a bid submitted obtain nor marketing information other than the person requesting the bid does not respond, requester say they have chosen someone else. etc.  The business gets nothing back of value in helping them win more bids.  I ask myself the question wheither or not there is really a person making a request?  Would you not ask the same question with basically nothing given in return?

    I truly feel that Thumbtack needs to change their operating model so the businesses who participate can obtain better information.  This would benefit the business and the clients who are supposedly requesting a bid.

  • NoCensoringShouldBeAllowed

    You have lost all credibility when your site removes bad reviews. I posted a legitimately bad review. You obviously removed it due to the pressure from the business owner. I do not put my name anywhere online – good or bad. I will no longer use your site for anyone.