Guides
Getting commercial cleaning customers to say yes
How to win more commercial cleaning customers: a seven-step prospecting sequence built on walkthroughs and renewal dates, a lost-bid table, honest review practice.
What to take away
- A commercial cleaning customer is won at the walkthrough and lost at the renewal date. Everything in between is follow-up.
- Build a list of buildings near your route, learn who holds each one's cleaning decision, and ask for a walkthrough. Record every answer, including the renewal date that "we're under contract" usually hides.
- Bids are lost for reasons you can find out. Ask, write the reason down, and fix the one that repeats.
- A manager who is looking will check you online before calling. Make what they find complete and accurate; do not expect it to make them look.
- Ask for reviews the same way from every customer, at the same point, without incentives that would distort them.
The prospecting sequence
- Start from your route. List every building within a short night drive of an existing account, by type. Route fit is the first filter, because a won account an hour away is a loss.
- For each building, find the decision holder. Ask the front desk who handles facility issues. Look for the property management sign. Check the owner in public property records. Write the name down, and write "unknown" where it is unknown.
- Prepare the paperwork a buyer will want before opening the door: the certificate of insurance and the compliance file. The licensing and compliance guide describes what a vendor form asks for, and it is asked for before the walkthrough, not after.
- Ask for the walkthrough, in person where you can. Offer it as a no-cost survey that produces a written scope, whether or not they buy. Most refusals are "we're under contract"; ask until when, and put the date on the calendar.
- Walk the building with your standard sheet and bid from it, using the pricing cluster's method, with a scope the manager can compare against the incumbent's.
- Follow up on a fixed cadencea week after the bid, a month after, and a month before the renewal date with the scope refreshed.
- On every loss, ask why. Write it down.
Why bids are lost
| Stated reason | What it usually means | What to change |
|---|---|---|
| Too expensive | The incumbent's scope is thinner, or the buyer never intended to switch | Compare scopes line by line; ask what the incumbent includes |
| Under contract | A renewal date exists and was not asked for | Ask for the date, and bid a month before it |
| Went with someone we know | No reference was offered | Bring a reference account the buyer can call |
| Insurance or paperwork | The certificate was slow or wrong | Fix the lead time; see the compliance cluster |
| No answer | The bid went to someone who does not decide | Find the decision holder before the next bid |
| Not now | Nothing was wrong; the timing was | Calendar, and stay in touch without pestering |
The reason that repeats across five losses is the one to fix. The others are noise.
Lost bids: reason vs fix
Stated reason
- Too expensive
- Compare scopes line by line
- Under contract
- Ask for renewal date, bid early
- Went with someone we know
- Bring a reference account
- Insurance or paperwork
- Fix certificate lead time
- No answer
- Find decision holder first
- Not now
- Calendar and stay in touch
What to change
- Too expensive
- Under contract
- Went with someone we know
- Insurance or paperwork
- No answer
- Not now
What a manager finds when they look you up
A manager who is considering a walkthrough will look for you before granting it. The marketing and growth guide explains why local search presence is a verification channel in this trade, not a lead source.
Complete local profile checklist
- Complete business information
- Accurate hours
- Reviews
- Photos
- Relevance, distance, prominence
Google's own help page on improving local ranking says its local results depend mainly on relevance, distance, and prominence, and recommends complete business information, accurate hours, reviews, and photos. Do those things so a manager checking on you finds a complete, accurate profile. Do not expect them to produce walkthroughs on their own; the sequence above does that.
Reviews without distortion
The manager finds reviews. The Federal Trade Commission's guidance on soliciting and paying for online reviews says ask all customers, without picking only likely-positive ones, and incentives, connections, or paid placement must not create a false or misleading picture.
Honest review practice
- Ask every customer
- Same words at ninety-day review
- No discount attached
- No picking only likely-positive customers
- No false or misleading picture
For a cleaning company: ask every customer at the ninety-day review, same words, no discount attached. Let the honest ones stand.
What winning commits you to
Every account won is a night of labor, keys to hold, and an inspection cadence to keep. Before bidding, check that the crew can absorb it, which is the hiring and training guide's question, and that the cart and vehicle can serve it, which is the equipment and setup guide's. Sell at the pace those can take.
When the route is full and the next accounts sit in a different part of town, that is a growth decision, not a sales one. The expansion and market guide treats it as one.
Common questions
How do I get a walkthrough when they already have a cleaner?
Offer the survey as something useful regardless: a written scope they can use to hold their current vendor to account. Some will take it, and the renewal date comes out of the conversation.
Should I bid buildings I cannot walk?
No. Offer a range subject to a site visit, in writing. A firm price without a walkthrough is a guess you will be held to.
How long does it take to win an account?
Often a renewal cycle. The bid that wins is frequently the second one, delivered a month before the incumbent's term ends.
What is the one thing that wins most often?
A reference the buyer can call, and a scope they can compare. Price rarely decides on its own.
