How leads work

When a homeowner posts a job on TruePro, the platform distributes it to verified tradespeople who match the job's category and suburb. This article explains how leads are distributed, how the quoting cap works, and how to make the most of the leads you receive.

How leads are distributed

When a job is posted, TruePro matches it to tradespeople based on two criteria:

1. Trade category — you must offer the category and subcategory of the posted job.
2. Service area — the job's suburb must be within your configured service area.

If you match on both, you receive a lead notification by email and SMS. You can then view the job details and decide whether to quote. When the job's location is known, the lead page also shows an approximate straight-line distance from your nearest branch — a rough guide to how far the job is, not an actual travel distance or driving time.

The 5-quote cap

A maximum of five tradespeople can quote on a single job. Once five quotes are submitted, the job closes to new quotes. This is first-come, first-served — the faster you respond, the better your chance of being in the five.

When you open a lead and the cap has already been reached, you will see a "Quoting closed" message in place of the quote builder — no further quotes are accepted for that job. If you have a draft quote already in progress before the cap was reached, you can still submit it.

Direct invitations from homeowners

Homeowners can browse your public profile and invite you directly to quote on a specific existing job request. If this happens, you will receive a lead notification the same way as a broadcast lead, but it will be labelled as a direct invitation. You have 48 hours to respond before the invitation lapses. Direct invitations can arrive even after the broadcast round has finished — they bypass the standard distribution and are added directly to the job's quote pool, subject to the 5-quote cap.

Response time matters

Homeowners often accept the first few quotes they receive, especially for urgent jobs. Responding quickly — ideally within one to two hours — gives you a significant advantage. Your average response time is also factored into your trust score, so slow responses have a double cost.

Asking the homeowner a question before you quote

If a job's description is missing something you need to price it accurately — an exact spec, access details, or a photo of the problem area — open the lead and use the "Questions & Answers" box to ask the homeowner directly, rather than guessing or submitting a padded quote. This is a one-off question, not a chat: you submit it, the homeowner answers when they can, and once answered it appears with the job description for everyone quoting on it — a useful shortcut if another pro already asked the same thing.

You can have up to five unanswered questions open on the same job at once. The homeowner is notified by email and SMS when you ask, and you're notified as soon as they answer.

Keep questions about the job itself. A question that looks like it's trying to arrange contact outside the platform (a phone number, email address, social media handle, or wording like "call me"/"WhatsApp me") is automatically held for admin review before the homeowner sees it — you'll be told it's under review right after you submit it. All communication with a homeowner about a job should go through TruePro so it's covered by the platform's protections.

Requesting to call a homeowner directly

On a lead where you're a strong, close match — fully ID-verified, a high trust score, and in the job's exact service area, not just nearby — you'll see either a "📞 Call customer" or "💬 Chat with customer" button, depending on how TruePro is currently set up. This is the sanctioned way to reach a homeowner directly (unlike arranging contact through a question, above, which is always held for review). A homeowner can also turn this off entirely for their job, in which case neither button will appear on that lead at all. The same button shows up right on the in-app notification for that lead too — no need to open it first just to call or chat.

When it reads "💬 Chat with customer", tapping it takes you straight to a chat thread with that homeowner — no quote needed first, and nothing said there is lost once the job is booked, it just keeps going as the job's own message thread. When it reads "📞 Call customer" instead, tapping it places a real call to the homeowner directly through the TruePro app — you'll see a "Trying to connect…" state while we attempt to reach them. If the homeowner doesn't have the app installed at all, you'll be told within a few seconds rather than left waiting — we'll let them know you tried to call so they can get in touch another way. If a homeowner replies while you're elsewhere in TruePro, you'll see a brief on-screen notification with a direct link back into that chat, so you don't need to be sitting on the lead page to catch it.

Leads you can act on before the job is finished being posted

Sometimes you'll see a lead marked "Call or chat now — still being finalised". This means the homeowner has verified their cell number but hasn't finished writing up their job yet — they may still be adding photos or answering a few more questions. The lead and the call/chat button are both real and already working; only quoting isn't open yet, since the description below may still change.

This is a genuine opportunity, not a reason to wait: many homeowners don't know enough about their own problem to describe it well, and a quick call to ask a few questions can turn into a job that might otherwise never get posted properly at all. If you start a quote while a lead is still in this state, you can save it as a draft, but you'll only be able to send it once the homeowner finishes and the lead becomes fully open.

How to pass on a lead

If you receive a lead you cannot take on — perhaps you are too busy or the location is inconvenient — you can pass on it. Open the lead notification and select "Pass on this job". This removes it from your lead inbox and does not affect your trust score. Passing on too many leads in a category may affect how frequently you receive leads in that category over time.

Preferred pros

Homeowners who have used you before may be able to request you specifically when posting a new job. If a returning customer posts a job and selects you as a preferred pro, you receive the lead before the standard broadcast, giving you a head start. Building a base of happy repeat customers is the most reliable way to grow your TruePro business.