How to Get Contractor Leads Without Paying Per Lead

On the big lead platforms, a homeowner’s request is usually sent to several pros at once. Angi’s own help center says each request is matched with up to five pros. Every one of them can pay for the same request, and you pay for the lead whether or not you win the job.

The model has drawn scrutiny. In 2023 the FTC ordered HomeAdvisor to pay up to $7.2 million over how it marketed its leads to service providers, and later sent more than $3 million in refunds to businesses that had paid for memberships.

• You’re one of several pros on every request, so you lose most of them, even when you do everything right.
• Speed often beats fit. The first pro to call has the edge, which is hard when you’re on a roof all day.
• The leads you lose still cost money, and that cost has to come out of the jobs you win: thinner margins, or higher prices than you’d like to quote.

1. Ask for the referral and the review at the right moment. Right after a job wraps up, when the customer is happiest. A short text with a direct review link works better than a request weeks later.
2. Build out your Google Business Profile. It’s free. List every service you offer, set your real service area, add photos of finished work, and reply to every review.
3. Make your license easy to check. Put your license number on your quotes, your website and your truck. In Florida it’s required on every bid, contract and ad anyway (§489.119), and owners who look you up and find a clean record call you first.
4. Build relationships with building owners and property managers. One owner of a few small buildings can send you years of repeat work. Supply-house counters, local landlord and investor groups, and property management offices are where those relationships start.
5. Claim the free listings you already have. Directories often list your business before you ever sign up. Claiming them means the details are right and the leads come to you.

VendorSource is built for owners of small apartment buildings and commercial property who need big repairs: roofs, repipes, panel upgrades, HVAC. Here’s how it works on the pro side:

• You’re probably already listed. Listings are built from public business information, so you claim yours instead of starting from scratch.
• Claiming is free. Add your license number and certificate of insurance and, once we check them, you see open jobs in your trade and area.
• You see the real job first: the scope, photos and timeline, before you decide to respond. Respond only to the jobs that fit.
• Owners can also invite you directly if they already know your work.
• Ranking is based on license, claim status and insurance, never on who pays.

• Google Business Profile complete, with photos and your real service area
• License number on every quote, your website, and your truck
• A simple routine for asking happy customers for reviews
• At least one property owner or manager you check in with each season
• Free listings claimed and up to date