subject: Bidding on janitorial jobs [print this page] This will be a weekly article on janitorial bids so check back often.
Part 1. Blindsided
You just came back from a bid for janitorial services for a 50k sq ft building. You bought the lead for $140.00 and it seemed like a sure fire thing. The only problem was, the lead service did not give you enough info on the job and you went in blind as a bat. They forgot to tell you the decision maker would not be on the grounds that day and you would be doing your walk through with with her assistant. By the way the assistant hates doing walk through's as he feels it's not his job and could care less who gets the bid.
So now you're out $140.00 and the time you spent to go there. Not a pretty picture for anyone especially if you're a start up business.
So let me give you a 3 little tip's on how make sure you get all the info you need before you go out on you're next bid.
The Dirty.
So you have a week before you need to out and bid on a nice size job, that could be worth 30k a year in revenue. Here is what you need to do to make sure you get a step up on your competition.
Tip 1.
Case the building, try to spend 1 day waching the building and the cleaning crew that is there now. Pick up on things that are doing wrong. This way when you do the walk through, you can mention to the decision maker, something like "Wow those brass rails are really dirty." Trust me the decision maker, has seen this dirt also and you will build a bond with them.
Tip 2.
Make sure the decision maker is going to be there. This is a simple one. Call and speak to the person 2 days before the bid. Say " Hi this is Fred over at super clean and we have appointment set up for Dec. 8th at 10:00 am, will you be the person doing the walk through?" If not, reschedule it to when they are there.
Tip 3.
Does the decision maker drink coffee? If so what kind of coffee? If not what do they like?
Ok you have to be a little sneaky on this one. Have someone call the front desk at least 3 days before the bid. Then have then ask for the building manager, saying you want to deliver a free sample of coffee for the building to try out. Then you will be passed to the building manager, this is when you go into attack mode. You would say somthing like, " Susan we have a 5lbs of rich whatever coffee and we would like to let the occupants of the building try it out. Do you drink coffee by the way?" If they say yes, ask "what flavor of coffee do you like?" Then say ok I'll stop by next week and leave the sample, thanks!
So now when you go on your bid make sure you take that person the cofee that they like. You've almost got the bid after this exchange. Also if you win the bid have someone go out spend $50.00 on some coffee and bring it in. I know it's dirty but it works!
