Is HomeAdvisor Pro Worth It For Contractors?
People often struggle when it comes time to finding a painting contractor,
they know that they can’t do the work themselves but there are so many options out there.
They could ask friends and family who has already had work done before,
but that isn’t always the best option without a little research.
One solution that people make use of is a web site called Home Advisor Pro.
This helps connect people in need of contractors to find the right contractor;
however, everyone has a different opinion when it comes to Home Advisor Pro.
With that in mind, let’s look at deciding if Home Advisor Pro is right for you.
Home Advisor Pro Gets You Leads
Home Advisor Pro is in the business to get leads for their contracting companies once you register for their service (and pay $300 for the registration) they send you painting leads.
What a lot of contractors don’t know that get into business with Home Advisor Pro is that they will charge you for every lead you accept, even if you don’t end up getting a sale from the lead.
Say, for example, you are sent ten leads from Home Advisor Pro and of those ten, you decide you really need the business and you take all of them.
The only problem with this is, if you only end up getting 1 out of the 10 jobs, you still pay for all 10 leads regardless…
After all, the way that Home Advisor Pro works is when someone wants a paint job done, their information is sent to a number of contractors — and only one of those contractors will get the job.
Sneaky right…?
The other contractors that missed out on the job will still end up having to pay for it.
What’s even worse, is if you didn’t know that you were going to be paying for the leads that didn’t get sales, the company has no sympathy for you not understanding their terms.
Home Advisor Doesn’t Care If They Give You A Bad Lead
If you go onto the Better Business Bureau, you will find in many cases people complaining about Home Advisor Pro.
In fact, the majority of reviews about the company are complaints,
leading one to wonder… “how it’s possible they are still in business???”
The truth is that many homeowners continue to use them because they feel like they have no other option, keeping Home Advisor in business.
Countless contractors have complained about the horrible customer service experience they receive whenever they inquire about a bad lead.
For example, a contractor was given a phone number that was not connected and had no way of contacting the homeowner — but Home Advisor still charged for the lead.
They complained to Home Advisor Pro and after some discussion, the company relented and “gave” them three free leads.
Exactly zero of those leads got them a sale… meaning that they paid four hundred dollars and didn’t win a single job.
Inaccurate Descriptions Lead To Losing Money
Among the complaints are contractors that say that they received leads that had bad descriptions.
For example, some sounded like they were going to be big jobs but only turned out to be small jobs.
The problem is that if you pay for a lead, let’s say a couple hundred dollars, and then once you get to the job it turns out to be worth the same amount you paid Home Advisor…
Moreover, the time that was spent doing that job could have been spent doing a job that would actually be profitable.
When you take this into consideration, plus the fact that the homeowner paid Home Advisor Pro, the only one that benefited from the transaction was the homeowner getting the work done and Home Advisor Pro getting money from both the homeowner and the contractors that accepted the lead!
Does Home Advisor Pro Really Send the Lead to Only 4 Contractors?
In theory, Home Advisor Pro should only send a lead to four different contractors, meaning that the best-case scenario for the homeowner is that all four will accept the lead and try to get their business.
There are painting contractors who have reported via the Better Business Bureau that they are quite sure the leads were sent to more than four contractors.
The problem with this is that when you are competing with that many more contractors for the job, you spend money for a lead and have an even smaller chance of getting a sale.
How To Succeed With Home Advisor Pro
Though difficult, it is actually possible to have some success with Home Advisor Pro.
One trick with working with Home Advisor Pro is that you have to set a budget with them so that you don’t spend more than you want to spend in any given time period.
Another important thing is that you need to be clear and upfront with them about the kinds of jobs you are going to want to take so you don’t get junk leads that cost you more than you pay them for the lead.
Probably the best thing is to do is most likely only taking the big jobs so that you still profit while paying for the leads.
The sooner you can get good reviews on Home Advisor Pro, the better as it will increase the chances that your accepted leads will turn into sales.