Power Washing and Roof Cleaning Forum

Hello Alabama!
I use Home Advisor pro.
The Good: As a small- part time business, I like the fact that they allow you to build a profile page, create a gallery, gain exposure, can be used as a SEO optimizer and another way to show you are a vetted business of sorts. Paid advertising is what it boils down to for me. You can set the geographic area you are willing to receive leads from by zip code. I have received leads that have turned into jobs so it has worked to a small degree. They have revamped their sight, controls and it looks professional.
You can also turn your leads receiving on/off. But only for two weeks at a time. You do get reminders automatically when leads are on/off and when they are about to come on. You just go back into your account and turn them off again if you are busy..= no leads no charges.
They have e mail service thru them, scripts, ratings etc.

The Bad: But, I do agree that problems are a bound. I have googled Home Advisor and read all of the complaints etc. They give you the impression they cater to you and watch for leads suited for you. They may do this, but they are also doing for a bunch of others. Potential customers get flooded with contractors calling. If your not one of the first to call back or make contact via e-mail, your chances of getting a call back drop fast.
They automatically bill you for leads whether the lead calls you back or not. I have had a few with bad phone numbers and addresses. Customer service is hard to get a hold of and they are very slow to get back to you.
You set the monthly limit of what you are willing to pay for their leads. They typically charge $8-$14 a lead. I have my limit set pretty low to reduce my financial risk. I have heard of contractors getting huge bills for lots of bad leads because their monthly limit was set high.

All in all I figured as a rookie and small time operation I would give it a try. I would give it a "C" so far.
But the pro’s on this board make a lot of sense and talk from experience! Hope this was helpful some.
V/R Jeff

Jeff wrote:

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All in all I figured as a rookie and small time operation I would give it a try. I would give it a "C" so far.
But the pro’s on this board make a lot of sense and talk from experience! Hope this was helpful some.
V/R Jeff

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 Jeff, great follow up post! Great information for anyone looking into giving this a try.

Once they get a business to pay for their leads, they use that business name and content to rank up....while aggressively calling your competitors to sell the same leads. They are like a virus that infects a whole market area and spawns low balling. They are one of the reasons I created the roof cleaning directory...they sell roof cleaning inquiries to roofers.

I'd stay away...

If you can't beat homeadvisor in google....you aren't trying very hard.