So, you’ve gotten a commercial cleaning lead, done a walkthrough, and now it’s time to pick a price. If you’ve ever wondered how to bid cleaning contracts so that you can win, this video shows you how.
As long as you’ve done your commercial cleaning walkthrough properly (see how here), the profitable price you pick shouldn’t scare your potential cleaning client away. But if you’re too far off, you’ll appear unreasonably high, or so low that you’ll risk losing their confidence.
*As a note, good customers DON’T want to work with the lowest bidder just because they’re the lowest. You can actually lose when you bid cleaning contracts too low. That means you missed a great, profitable opportunity. Don’t let that be you!
This video reveals multiple factors that we consider when figuring out how much to bid cleaning contracts for, and then how to adjust our price to win their business. Watch and see for yourself!
Figuring Out How To Bid Cleaning Contracts
There are three main factors I cover in the video that you need to know to properly bid cleaning contracts.
#1 Length Of Cleaning
Since our heaviest cost in the commercial cleaning industry is labor, you need to get a accurate picture of how long the cleaning should take in a facility. This time will determine the primary cost for how you bid cleaning contracts.
For those of us with experience, we can use our team’s production rates, compare to other facilities we service, and some of us can just look at a facility and have a good idea how long it will take.
But what if you’re new to the commercial cleaning game or don’t have confidence yet?
The good news is, there are shortcuts to figuring this out. I’ve actually shared our quote calculator here that can do this for you. You can also use the production rates I share in the video or even use the ISSA Production Rates.
#2 True Hourly Cost
Your true hourly cost is not just what you pay employees. This considers all of the payroll liabilities that come with paying your team to do the cleaning. Payroll liabilities include: liability insurance, worker’s comp insurance, Social Security match, Medicare match, Federal and State unemployment insurance, and potentially other costs.
*For many young cleaning businesses, this factor is forgotten to be considered when they bid cleaning contracts.
If you’re having any trouble with this, this quote calculator will get the true hourly cost for you automatically. If you want to make a safe guess without using the calculator, you can add 15% to 20% on top of the hourly pay of your employees.
Example: If you pay $10 per hour, then your true hourly cost would be $11.50 at the 15% mark or $12.00 at the 20% mark.
#3 Pick Your Perfect Profit
It can be tempting to bid cleaning contracts too high if you feel like you’ve already got the deal, and also tempting to bid too low if you’re feeling desperate or eager to win an account.
One of the hidden risks with bidding cleaning contracts too high is that, even if you win the account, you are likely going to lose them in the future instead of keeping them as long as possible. Eventually, they will get the sense that they’re overpaying compared to the services provided and they’re likely to make a change.
The danger of bidding too low is that you’ll be unprofitable and if you attempt to reduce your costs in order to be profitable, quality will drop and then you’ll be living with an unhappy customer. This can permanently damage your reputation and hurt your ability to win more customers in the future
Bid Cleaning Contracts To WIN!
Now you don’t have to wonder anymore how to bid cleaning contracts. Use what you learn in the video and you can even use our calculator. We’re here to help you grow your cleaning company!
