How to Respond to Leads From Angi, Thumbtack, and Yelp

A lead lands from Angi. You send the same reply you'd send to a Thumbtack lead or a Yelp message: "Hi, thanks for reaching out, happy to give you a quote, what's a good time to talk?" Reasonable message. Wrong move. Each of these platforms hands you a lead in a different context, with different expectations about price, speed, and how much the homeowner has already told other contractors. Treat them the same and you'll lose jobs to guys who didn't.

This isn't about chasing faster (that's covered in "How Fast Should Contractors Respond to New Leads?"). It's about what you actually say once you've opened the message, because the words matter as much as the timing.

Angi: They've Already Been Pitched by Three Other Guys

Angi leads are often shared with multiple contractors at once, sometimes as many as four or five. The homeowner has probably already gotten a generic "thanks for your interest, when works for a call?" from at least one of them before you've even opened your phone. Blending in here is fatal.

What works on Angi is specificity, fast. Reference the exact job details from their request in your first message — not "your project," but "the 2-car garage door replacement in [their zip]." Homeowners on Angi can tell within one message whether a contractor actually read their request or just fired off a template. If you have a rough price range you're comfortable sharing before a full estimate, give it. Angi shoppers are price-comparing by nature; silence on cost reads as evasive, not professional.

• Reference their specific job details, not generic language, in the first line
• Give a ballpark range if you can, even a wide one — it filters out mismatched budgets fast
• Ask one clarifying question that shows expertise ("Is that garage door insulated or standard?") rather than "when can we chat?"
• Offer a same-day or next-day time slot by name, not "let me know your availability"

Thumbtack: They Compared Prices Before They Ever Messaged You

Thumbtack works backward from most platforms — homeowners often see a price estimate or a list of contractors with rates before they send a single message. By the time your lead notification hits, they've usually already ruled some people out on cost alone. If you're getting the message, price wasn't the disqualifier, so don't lead with it defensively.

The mistake contractors make on Thumbtack is treating every inbound message like a cold lead that needs to be sold on why to hire a contractor at all. They don't need convincing that they need the work done — they need convincing that you're the one who'll actually show up and do it well. Lead with logistics and confidence: when you can look at the job, how you handle the details they mentioned, and a next step that requires almost no effort from them.

• Skip the sales pitch — they already decided they need the work done
• Confirm scope in plain language so there's no surprise later ("Just to confirm, this is the fence replacement, not repair, correct?")
• Propose a specific appointment window instead of asking them to pick
• If you use flat-rate or package pricing, mention it — Thumbtack users are comparison shoppers and clarity wins over mystery

Yelp: They're Reading Your Reviews While You Type

Yelp leads behave differently because Yelp is a reputation platform first and a lead-gen tool second. Someone messaging you through Yelp has likely already read your reviews, maybe looked at photos of past jobs, and is now testing whether your actual communication matches the reputation. Response tone matters more here than on Angi or Thumbtack.

Write like you'd want your best review to sound: warm, direct, no corporate hedging. Reference a detail from their message the way a real person would, not a business account would. If you have relevant photos from a similar past job, attach one — Yelp users respond well to visual proof because that's the currency of the platform they're already on.

• Match a conversational tone, not a form-letter tone — Yelp users expect a person, not a business account
• Attach a photo from a similar past job if you have one on hand
• Thank them for a specific detail in their message, not a generic "thanks for reaching out"
• Follow up once, politely, if they go quiet — Yelp users often message several contractors and forget who replied first

The One Thing All Three Have in Common

Regardless of platform, every one of these leads is being worked by more than one contractor. The homeowner isn't loyal to whoever answers first — they're loyal to whoever answers first, well. A fast reply that's generic loses to a slightly slower reply that's specific and confident. But you rarely get to choose between fast and generic versus slow and specific — the contractors winning these leads are doing both, because they're not writing every reply from scratch.

That's usually a systems problem, not a communication skills problem. If leads are landing in three different apps and you're toggling between them to figure out what was even asked, you're going to default to the same lazy template regardless of platform. We've written before about what happens when leads fall through those cracks in "Why Contractors Lose Leads — and How to Prevent It," and how to convert the ones you do catch in "How to Turn More Contractor Leads Into Paying Customers."

Where Trusso Fits

Trusso's lead capture pulls in leads from Angi, Thumbtack, Yelp, and Google LSA into one inbox, with the original request details attached so you're not hunting for what the homeowner actually asked for before you reply. You can see the job specifics, respond right from the app, and move straight into building an AI estimate anchored to your own price book if the conversation goes well — instead of losing the thread between four different apps. Check out /lead-capture for how it works.

The platform doesn't write your reply for you, and it shouldn't — homeowners can smell a copy-paste job on any of these sites. But it makes sure you're never replying blind, which is half the battle when three different lead sources expect three different conversations.