49. Operational Insight: The Service Proposal of a £22m Commercial Cleaning Business (An Overview)
You NEED to swipe this proposal template
Bidding for new contracts is one of the most important aspects for growing your cleaning business.
I bid on over 250 contracts during the 8 years I ran my cleaning business, converting around 25% of them.
Bidding on one particular contract had the biggest impact on how we presented our bids to clients.
It changed how our business was perceived and elevated our status to that of a multi-million pound cleaning business.
At least on paper.
I learned a valuable lesson from this particular bid - it’s not just the numbers that count, but how you present them.
How it started
During the first 5 years of my cleaning business, we used a very basic quote template to bid for contracts.
It was broken down into 5 sections
Section 1: Client Details - contact, name, phone number and the address of the property to be cleaned.
Section 2: Cleaning Requirements - details of the clean, including the number of days, duration and special requirements.
Section 3: Notes on the Property - details collected during the site visit, like the layout of the property, the current state and condition and anything else that impacted the clean.
Section 4: Quote Summary - the numbers for all of the cleaning requirements.
Section 5: General Information - the legal bits about the quote, like additional charges and taxes.
This is how it looked:
Simple and reasonably effective.
We won quite a few bids with this template. I would’ve continued using it until the day I got access to a proposal from PSS.
The turning point
PSS - Property Support Service Group - is a leading cleaning and support service business based in Essex, on the outskirts of London.
They provide cleaning to a number of sectors, including commercial, retail, industrial and events.
The last time I checked, PSS’s ARR was roughly £22m.
I can’t remember how we got access to their proposal.
Regardless, after seeing how they presented their bid, I knew we needed to raise our game.
How to present your bid
As you look through the proposal, bear in mind that we were both bidding on a contract worth around £5,000 a year.
Then remember this: How you do one thing is how you do everything.
If you have aspirations of growing a multi-million pound cleaning business, you have to act like a multi-million pound cleaning business.
That includes how you present your bids.
Cover
Contents + Executive Summary
Org Chart and Allocated Site Contact
Site Auditing, Account Management and Admin Team
Insurance and Continuous Professional Development
Service Requirements
Mobilisation Plan
Policies + Procedures
Accreditation and Corporate Social Responsibility
Financials and Service Guarantee
Terms & Conditions
The only thing that’s missing from this proposal is social proof - a case study or testimonial from a similar client.
However, because of the size and standing of PSS, I doubt that they need to include this.
Surprisingly, we didn’t win this bid.
If you received a 4 page quote versus a detailed 30 page proposal, which would you choose on first impressions?
Now keep that in mind when you bid on your next cleaning contract.
Need More Help?
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Thanks for reading!
Matt @ The Growth Lab
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