How Leads, Quote Requests and Search Ranking Work

Understanding how customers find you — and what you can do to appear higher in their search results — is one of the most valuable things you can learn about SpainTrades. This guide explains the full flow from a customer's search to a quote request landing in your inbox.

How Customers Search for Tradespeople

Customers search by entering a trade or job type (e.g., "plumber", "electrician", "swimming pool maintenance") and optionally filtering by location, English level, or Verified status. The search results show profile cards ranked by relevance.

Customers do not need an account to search — they can browse profiles freely. They only need to register when they want to send a quote request or start a conversation.

How Search Ranking Works

SpainTrades ranks search results using a combination of factors. In rough order of importance:

1. Plan tier — Professional and Premium listings rank above Basic
2. Response rate — tradespeople who reply to a high percentage of quote requests rank higher. Aim for 80% or above
3. Review score — your average star rating from verified customer reviews
4. Profile completeness — a full profile with logo, description, portfolio photos, and contact details ranks above incomplete ones
5. Verified status — verified tradespeople rank above unverified ones within the same tier

The most effective way to improve your ranking is to respond to every quote request promptly, gather positive reviews, and keep your profile complete and up to date.

How a Quote Request Arrives

When a customer submits a quote request for a job in your area and trade category, it is delivered to your Quotes inbox in your dashboard. You will also receive an email notification.

Each incoming request counts as one quote forward against your monthly allowance. On Professional, you receive 50 per calendar month. On Basic and Premium, forwards are unlimited. Once you've used your Professional allowance, new requests queue until the next calendar month begins.

How to Respond to a Quote

Open the quote request from your dashboard. You'll see the customer's job description, any photos they attached, their preferred contact method, and their timeframe. Click Reply to open the message thread.

A strong first response acknowledges the job, shows that you've read the details, and asks any clarifying questions you need before giving a price. Avoid single-line replies or immediate prices without understanding the job — customers judge the quality of your first message carefully and often use it to decide whether to continue the conversation.

If the customer selected "Platform Message" as their contact preference, all communication happens through the SpainTrades inbox. If they chose Email or Phone, you may also contact them directly via those channels.

What Happens If You Don't Respond

If a quote request receives no response within the allowed period, it expires. Expired requests count against your response rate metric. A falling response rate reduces your search ranking and is visible to customers on your profile.

If you're going to be unavailable — for a holiday or extended period — consider setting your profile to inactive from your dashboard so that new quote requests don't arrive and expire unanswered during your absence.

How Reviews Affect Your Ranking

After a job is completed, customers can leave a review. Reviews are moderated by the SpainTrades admin team before they appear publicly. Your average star rating and total review count contribute directly to your search ranking.

You cannot remove or hide legitimate negative reviews, but you can respond to them publicly. A professional, constructive response to a critical review often reassures prospective customers more than a perfect score with no reviews at all.