{"id":1027,"slug":"multi-touch-buyer-journey-discovery-validation-verification-contact","title":"Multi-touch buyer journey for residential construction / major renovation: 4-touch sequence (discovery → validation → verification → contact); the contractor's own website is the 2nd or 3rd surface, not the 1st","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","claude-code","smb-owner","candid-team"],"topics":["agency-methodology","b2b-buying","trust-signals","lead-gen-directories","homestars"],"reference_body":"**Claim:** CHBA, GuildQuality, and BuildBook buyer surveys consistently document a **4-touch pattern** for residential construction and major-renovation buyers:\n\n| Step | Touch | Surface |\n|---|---|---|\n| **1** | **Discovery** | Referral, directory listing, ad — *the source of awareness* |\n| **2** | **Validation** | Web search — usually a **branded search for the contractor's name** |\n| **3** | **Verification** | The **contractor's own website** — services, photos, credentials, named projects |\n| **4** | **Contact** | Form, phone, email |\n\n**Source:** CHBA, GuildQuality, BuildBook buyer surveys.\n**Confidence:** Industry-consensus.\n\nSteps 2–3 happen **before** step 4. The contractor's website is the **conversion surface**, not the directory.\n\n## What this means for the HomeStars argument\n\n**HomeStars wins step 1 (Discovery) some of the time.** It does not win step 2 (Validation), step 3 (Verification), or step 4 (Contact). The buyer leaves HomeStars after step 1 and checks:\n\n- Google (for the branded search)\n- The contractor's own website\n- Social media\n- AI summaries (newly significant in 2026 — [[brightlocal-lcrs-2026-six-review-sources-45pct-ai-recommendations]])\n\n**The contractor's website is statistically the second or third surface in that sequence.** Which makes the website's performance (Core Web Vitals — [[mobile-cwv-pass-rates-2025-and-3-second-abandonment]]) and content (schema markup, named case studies, credentials — [[contractor-owned-trust-signal-stack-vs-homestars-rental-comparison]]) the **load-bearing trust signal**, not the directory listing that triggered the visit.\n\n## Why this matters for Candid use\n\nWhen pitching a contractor client, the diagnostic question is: **\"What does a homeowner see between HomeStars and your phone ringing?\"** The answer is usually:\n\n1. Branded Google search (the contractor's own GBP and SERP)\n2. The contractor's own homepage (or a service page)\n3. Maybe Google reviews, maybe LinkedIn, maybe a portfolio site\n\nIf any of those surfaces is weak — slow site, no schema, no named case studies, no GBP review activity — **HomeStars's lead has nowhere to convert**. The directory subscription is paying for **a surface that can't close the loop**.\n\nSee [[rule-contractor-website-cwv-is-load-bearing-second-touch]] for the codified rule.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"brightlocal-lcrs-2026-six-review-sources-45pct-ai-recommendations","title":"BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (n=1,002 US adults via SurveyMonkey): average of 6 review sources used; 97% read reviews online; 45% use ChatGPT/AI for local recommendations (up from 6% in 2025)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"mobile-cwv-pass-rates-2025-and-3-second-abandonment","title":"Mobile Core Web Vitals reality 2025: only 48% of mobile sites and 43.44% of WordPress mobile origins pass; INP replaced FID March 12 2024; Dec 2025 Google core update increased page-experience weight; 53% of mobile visits abandoned if site takes >3 seconds (Google/DoubleClick 2016); 58% of Google searches now zero-click","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-homestars-platform-critique","title":"Research brief: HomeStars / Angi — the case against directory dependence, with the owned-trust-signal alternative for Ontario contractors (May 24, 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"rule-contractor-website-cwv-is-load-bearing-second-touch","title":"Rule: a contractor's own website Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP, CLS) is a LOAD-BEARING trust signal — it is the 2nd or 3rd surface in the buyer journey; >50% of WordPress contractor sites currently fail mobile CWV; the HomeStars lead is wasted at the contractor's own front door","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}]},"created_at":"2026-05-24T17:04:39.734Z","updated_at":"2026-05-24T17:04:39.734Z"}