Plinth vs. a marketing agency
An agency buys clicks. Plinth turns them into paid, reviewed jobs.
The agency retainer is the most common — and most quietly resented — line item in a contractor's budget. The report says impressions are up. But a click only becomes a job if someone answers it, books it, and gets paid — and an agency's work ends the moment the phone rings.
Set up in minutes. No new software for your crew to learn.
What Plinth does
Four things, done well
Answers
Every call, text, and web chat, in seconds — nights and weekends too.
Books
Puts the visit onto your actual calendar, in the same conversation.
Collects
The deposit up front and the balance when the work's done, paid to you.
Gets you reviewed
Asks for the Google review the day the job is paid.
Live the same day. No new software for your crew.
What a good agency does well
Real ad management is a skill: campaign structure, creative, bid strategy. A good agency can genuinely put your name in front of more homeowners, and for companies spending heavily on paid media across many markets, that expertise matters.
The gap: clicks aren't jobs, and nobody's answering
An agency generates the inquiry and walks away — they can't answer the lead at 9 p.m., can't book it, and can't collect the payment. Plinth handles the whole job: it answers every lead in seconds, books the inspection, collects the money, and asks for the Google review the moment the job is paid — so every finished job helps win the next one. That review velocity, plus a schema-rich web presence, is part of the compounding get-found work agencies bill retainers for, and it's built into the system.
Side by side
A marketing agency vs. Plinth
| What has to happen | A marketing agency | Plinth |
|---|---|---|
| Puts your name in front of homeowners | Yes | Yes |
| Review velocity and structured data | Billed as a retainer | Included |
| Answers the leads it generates — in seconds, 24/7 | Yes | |
| Books the inspection on your calendar | Yes | |
| Collects deposits and payments | Yes | |
| Grows your review base after every paid job | Yes | |
| Paid only meaningfully when you get paid | Yes | |
| Typical cost | ~$1,500–3,000/mo retainer, results or not | $50/mo minimum, or a share of jobs Plinth causes — whichever is more |
Costs are typical market ranges, not a Plinth quote.
When an agency is the right call
If you're spending five figures a month on paid ads across multiple markets, dedicated ad management can earn its retainer. But hear the honest sequence: ad spend without instant lead response is a leaky bucket — every click you buy that rings an unanswered phone is money burned. Fix the answering first; then any ad dollar you spend works harder.
Straight answers
Questions contractors ask
Does Plinth run ads for me?
No — Plinth makes every lead you get worth more, however it arrives. Plinth's get-found work is the compounding kind: a growing review base and a schema-rich web presence. If you run ads (yourself or through an agency), Plinth answers what they generate, books it, and turns the finished jobs into reviews.
How does Plinth get me more Google reviews?
By asking at the one moment that works: right after the job is paid. The moment a payment clears, Plinth texts your customer a thank-you and asks for the Google review — when they're happiest — on every job, automatically. No campaign to run and no separate reviews tool. Those reviews are what the next homeowner sees when they search for someone like you.
Can I keep my agency and add Plinth?
Yes — and it's often the right order of operations. The agency fills the top of the funnel; Plinth answers, books, collects, and turns finished jobs into reviews. Many shops discover their existing lead flow was enough once every lead gets answered.
What does it cost compared to a retainer?
$50/month as a minimum, or a small share of the jobs Plinth causes if that’s more — never both. The share is charged only once the job is paid. If we don't make you money, we don't make real money — the opposite of a retainer's shape. See how pricing works at joinplinth.com/pricing.
See the whole loop close on a real job.
Fifteen minutes: a lead answered live, booked, paid, and asked for the review.
Not ready for a demo? Drop your email and we’ll keep you posted.