Why Contractors Leave the Network
Some contractors decide the model isn't for them. A few are removed for not meeting our standards. Knowing both before you enquire saves everyone time.
An honest account
The network is built for contractors who are good at the work and want someone else to run everything around it. For them it works well, and they tend to stay.
Contractors leave for two broad reasons. Most decide the model doesn't suit the way they want to run their business. A smaller number are removed because they didn't meet the standards the network runs on.
We set out both here because it is better to know before you enquire than to discover it three jobs in. A network that oversells itself ends up with contractors who leave, customers who are let down, and a lot of wasted time on all sides.
If you read this page and none of it describes you, that is a good sign. If some of it does, it may be worth thinking about before you tell us about your business.
Mostly, it's about fit
The model is a trade-off, and it suits some businesses more than others
The arrangement is straightforward. We generate the enquiries ourselves, qualify the customer, book the site visit, prepare and issue the quotation, follow it up, organise the start date, handle communication while you work, and administer the payments. You provide the site visit, the technical expertise, an accurate trade-rate price and the workmanship. The detail is on how contractor networks work.
In exchange, you price at trade rate and we add our fee on top of your figure in the customer's quotation. You are paid your rate in full and pay nothing upfront. For a contractor who is currently spending evenings on quotes and weekends on marketing, that is a very good exchange.
For a contractor who enjoys the sales side, has a strong local brand and a full diary, it is a different calculation. Neither is wrong. The model simply has a shape, and some businesses fit it better than others.
Where the fit breaks down
Six reasons contractors decide it isn't for them
They want to run the customer relationship themselves
We are the customer's point of contact for coordination. Contractors who want to handle every conversation, from first call to final invoice, under their own process often prefer to work direct.
They want their own paperwork on every job
The quotation is prepared and issued by us, under the Mortaro template, naming you as the main contractor. Some contractors prefer their own documents in front of the customer.
Same-day replies don't fit their week
We ask for a reply to new opportunities the same day, ideally within about two hours. If you are often out of contact for days at a time, the standard will frustrate you.
Their pricing has no room below retail
The model relies on you quoting at trade rate, with our fee added on top. If your prices are already at what a customer would pay retail, the numbers won't work for either of us.
They need a fixed volume from day one
We don't promise a set amount of work. It depends on your area, your trade and your track record. Contractors who need a fixed pipeline from the first week can be disappointed.
Their area or trade is quieter
Opportunity flow varies by postcode and by type of work. Where we already have reliable contractors covering an area, a newcomer may see less than they hoped.
Worth knowing
Some of these are easy to check before you start
Several of these reasons can be tested in the first conversation. We can talk through how demand for your trade in your area tends to look, although we won't turn that into a promise. The answer page how much work can you provide explains why.
Pricing is the other one worth checking early. Read trade rates, explained and look at your own numbers. If quoting at trade rate and being paid that rate in full, with no marketing, sales or admin cost against it, works for your business, the model is likely to suit you.
Who stays
Who the network tends to suit
A rough guide, drawn from the shape of the model rather than any promise.
Tends to suit
- Skilled contractors who would rather be pricing and building than selling
- Small firms without an office team to answer calls
- Contractors tired of paying for shared enquiries
- People who reply quickly and keep their appointments
- Firms that value being paid promptly
Tends to suit less
- Contractors who want every customer conversation to be theirs
- Firms that want their own quotation documents on every job
- Businesses often out of contact for days at a time
- Pricing that is already at retail level
- Anyone who needs a fixed volume of work from the start
Removal
The standards that end the relationship
The second reason contractors leave is that they are removed. We say so plainly because customers read these pages too, and because it is part of what makes the network worth being in. Contractors who fail to meet our standards are removed from the network.
The standards are not hidden. They are set out in full on what we need from contractors, and the ones that most often lead to removal are these.
Missing a first site visit without good reason or communication. The first booked appointment is the clearest signal we get about someone new. Missing it and telling nobody ends things. The reasoning is on site visit expectations.
Failing to put defective work right. The customer's contract for the work is with the contractor, and so is the workmanship warranty, a minimum of 12 months across the network. When a problem is raised, we escalate it to the contractor on the customer's behalf. A contractor who doesn't put it right is removed.
Going quiet. Declining work is fine and carries no penalty. A contractor who repeatedly doesn't respond to opportunities at all is taken to be no longer interested and is taken out of the active network.
We don't publish details of individual cases, and we won't. What matters for anyone considering joining is that the standards are real and applied.
Removal on a first missed visit is aimed at the start of the relationship. A contractor with a good record who misses the occasional visit almost always reschedules and tells us, and that record earns flexibility. Where it doesn't happen, we review it carefully rather than acting automatically.
Fewer opportunities is not removal
A quieter spell has an explanation, and usually a fix
Some contractors feel they are being pushed out when opportunities slow down. Usually something simpler is happening. Allocation follows track record: response speed, communication, professionalism with customers and completed work. A contractor who has been slow to reply, or has let a few quotes drift, will tend to be offered less until that changes. The answer page how are jobs allocated sets it out briefly.
Demand also moves. Some areas and trades are busier than others, and we deliberately avoid overloading any one contractor, because service slips when someone is stretched too thin. A quiet month in your postcode is not a judgement on you.
If you are unsure why the flow has changed, ask us. A straight conversation about what we are seeing is more useful than guessing, and it is often the difference between a contractor who drifts away and one who becomes the first call in their area.
Two sides to it
What we owe contractors in return
Standards run both ways. If we expect same-day replies and kept appointments, contractors are entitled to expect things from us: enquiries that have been qualified before they reach you, visits booked properly, quotations prepared and followed up, a single contractor appointed per enquiry, and payments passed on without unnecessary delay.
Those commitments are set out on what Mortaro handles for contractors and how and when you get paid. If we ever fall short of them, tell us. A network that holds contractors to a standard it doesn't meet itself won't keep good people for long.
Why it helps you
Removing contractors who fall short keeps the network worth being in
Every contractor in the network benefits from customers trusting that the person we book will turn up, price honestly and stand behind the work. That trust is shared. One contractor who lets a customer down makes the next quotation harder for everyone.
Removal also keeps allocation meaningful. We aim for one or two highly reliable contractors per area taking most of the work, without overloading anyone. That only works if the contractors in each area are the ones who have earned it. See how opportunities are allocated.
Vetting before introduction reduces the risk of a poor experience, but no set of checks removes it entirely. Acting on performance afterwards is the other half of keeping standards where they should be.
Staying in
What keeps contractors in the network
None of this is complicated. It is the difference between contractors who become the first call in their area and those who drift away.
Reply the same day
Accept, decline or suggest another time, ideally within about two hours. Silence is the problem, not saying no.
Keep your appointments
Attend booked site visits, and tell us early when something changes so we can rebook with the customer.
Price accurately
Submit a complete trade-rate figure you are happy to be held to. On smaller jobs we aim for a price within about 48 hours.
Tell us when things change
A job overrunning, a material delay, a start date at risk. We handle the customer, but only with the information you give us.
Put things right
If a problem is raised under your warranty, deal with it. It is the standard the whole network rests on.
If you decide to go
Moving on on good terms
If you decide the model isn't for you, tell us. There is no subscription to cancel and nothing you have paid in advance, because there is nothing to pay. We would rather know, so we can offer opportunities in your area to someone else and stop sending them to you.
Any job you have already been appointed to remains your contract with that customer, and your workmanship warranty to them still stands. That is true of every contractor, whether they stay for years or decide after a few jobs that they prefer to work another way.
And if the timing is wrong rather than the model, that is worth saying too. The overview on the contractor network hub is a good place to start again.
Straight answers
Questions about leaving the network
Is there a cost to leave?
There is nothing to cancel. It is free to join, with no membership, subscription or charge per enquiry, so there are no ongoing fees to stop.
Will turning down work count against me?
No. Declining carries no penalty. Allocation is based on response speed, communication, professionalism with customers and completed work. Not replying at all is what causes problems.
Why are contractors removed?
For failing to meet our standards. The most common reasons are missing a first site visit without good reason or communication, and failing to put defective work right. We don't discuss individual cases.
Do contractors leave because the work dries up?
Sometimes the flow in a particular area or trade is lower than a contractor hoped. We don't promise volume, and we would rather say so at the start than have it become a reason to leave later.
For contractors
Tell us about your business
Your trade, the areas you cover and the size of work you take on. A person reads every enquiry, and if it looks like a fit we will send you the full application.