This article is about how to win a janitorial bid. It is how to present the best and most responsible proposal to win a commercial office building cleaning contract. No gimmicks or schemes involved.
Let’s start by understanding what a “bid” is.
A BID is a request for a quote or a proposal for professional cleaning services. It may be for a one-time cleaning job, cleaning for a short period of time, or for comprehensive cleaning maintenance accompanied with an annual contract.
Sometimes the request for cleaning services will have specifications outlined and sometimes the requester will ask for the scope of services along with a price.
It all depends on the property manager or engineer if the tasks have been outlined or left up to you to compose. It really doesn’t matter, your proposal will make all the difference because it is what you are presenting based upon your expertise. You will be able to showcase your knowledge in the proposal that you present.
If you are required to create a new scope of services, do so with your professional cleaning services quote.
If the property manager or facility operations manager has asked for a plan of action, then they simply want to start off fresh. This is even more to your advantage.
If it was requested for you to provide a scope of services, be sure to schedule a cleaning proposal walk-through to assess the job COMPLETELY.
Keep in mind, the bidder that proposes the lowest amount may get the job. I say may get the job because this is not always the case. Understand this too, a professional janitorial service provider must also have the ability to perform the workload. They must have the staff and resources to complete the job for the duration of the cleaning contract.
Knowing this, you should focus on two objectives when going to the walk through of the job site.
One – how can I complete this cleaning job economically.
Two – how can I maximize my efforts to establish and maintain optimum cleanliness.
So, your focus is to be the lowest and responsible bidder to win the janitorial cleaning contract.
We have won many cleaning contracts using this very method. This method of winning a janitorial cleaning bid has been very successful for us.
Even if you have specifications from your requester outlining what they want done, sometimes there is room to create your own plan of action. This is the nuts and bolts of how to win a janitorial bid.
During the walk through, consider implementing these following options. It is a practical way of how to win a janitorial bid. It is a suggestion of how to be the lowest and most responsible bidder and win the job.
- For instance, if the job calls for carpet cleaning, it may not detail how many times per year nor the frequency of cleaning for any particular area. This is your chance to create your own schedule. The requester just wants you to assume the duty but is not requesting the frequency, so create your own.
- At the walk through, see if it is necessary to perform all work according to the schedule at the intervals specified. Or, is there room to improvise as long as you will maintain the level of cleanliness. That’s the key, maintain the level of desired cleanliness.
- Check to see if you can create your own plan for extended hard surface floor care. If so, choose a high-quality floor finish to extend the life of the strip and wax jobs. Implement floor burnishing to help extend the life of the floor. Choosing to use higher grade floor products will prolong the life of the hard surface as well. And, since you won’t have to strip and wax floors as often it will cut labor cost for these extra care services.
- Also, at this walk through, see if there is a way to map out your general/ basic cleaning schedule to save time. Some areas may not need to be cleaned as often. This is time saved and “time” that you do not need to calculate for a cleaning price.
- Additionally, if the contract asks for window cleaning. Remember, the outside of exterior windows may be cleaned 3 times more than the inside of the SAME exterior windows. So, you don’t have to price the window cleaning at FULL PRICE. This is yet another way to save costs when pricing for your impending commercial cleaning customer.
If you need help pricing an office cleaning job by the hour, read this article. It was how we learned to price office buildings by the hour to win commercial cleaning bids!
Also, gab a FREE printable. Our Commercial Customer Profile Worksheets can help you collect all pertinent information needed at your first walk-through.
Conclusion
Assess your new office building. Create your own cleaning schedule. Price according to the actual time that you will spend cleaning. Take notes of these situations so that you can be creative regarding your price: carpet cleaning, hard surface floor care, basic cleaning, and window cleaning. Devising a good action plan followed by a reasonable quote is how to win a janitorial bid!
“Don’t worry about failure; you only have to be right once.” —Drew Houston, Dropbox founder and CEO
Until next time,
Happy cleaning
I grew my office cleaning side hustle into a ½ million-dollar corporation with the partnership of my husband and our amazing staff. In 2020, I retired my service-based business to shift my focus and passion from serving cleaning clientele to serving cleaning business owners.
Utilizing my 27+ years’ experience, I offer free and paid products exclusively for cleaning business owners and cleaning side hustlers at A Janitor’s Story® Website and my VIP Group Coaching Membership App.
I’ve served other cleaning pros by helping them to turn one time cleaning jobs into high paying recurring customers, create excellent client retention practices, develop hiring systems that really work, build marketing techniques that convert and so much more.
If this is a place you’d like to explore, I’d love to serve you too. Simply sign up to my free weekly email newsletter for tips and inspiration. I can’t wait to meet you inside.
