ArticlesThe Time-Price-Quality Connection in the Cleaning Business Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 How can independent cleaning businesses respond to the empty-promising franchises and national cleaning management companies who threaten to take some of their best, oldest and largest customers with their slick marketing and low-ball prices? Well, frankly, they need to have an ‘answer’ to this question from their customers: “Why should I continue to do business with you when I’ve got your competitors promising me fantastic cleaning at unbelievably low prices?” Well, each independent cleaning business has to answer that question for their individual company. But, in the end, the answer has to make one thing clear: How you are different from your competitors, and how that difference benefits customers by delivering them more value, better value. It needs to make sense and it needs to really matter. For example, let’s say a building owner asks why they should stick with me, rather than switch to one of my aggressive pricing, over-promising competitors. Rather than begging them to stay out of loyalty, pleading with them to stay … How Independent Cleaning Businesses Should Have Responded To Price-Cutting Competitors Monday, February 8th, 2010 If you’re an independent janitorial cleaning business, you may have been asking yourself lately, “What’s happened to the cleaning business?” And you’d be right to wonder. You see the world of janitorial work, or if you prefer, commercial cleaning, doesn’t look the same anymore. Independent cleaning businesses – the ones that decide to own and operate their own cleaning business without financially ‘handcuffing’ themselves to a franchise, used to ‘reign supreme’. That’s right; independent cleaning businesses used to be the ‘backbone’ of this important industry. Building owners and property managers alike turned regularly to their local, trusted, independent cleaning companies when it came time to arrange for someone to maintain their building’s appearance. Why? Well, customers were happy because they could count on getting quality cleaning and reliable service from cleaning people they knew, liked and trusted. Employees were happy because they were given enough time to deliver quality cleaning; the kind they could be proud of, not embarrassed of. Finding the “Burn Zone”: The KEY to Pricing Cleaning Jobs Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 Cleaning Guy #1 Cleaning Guy #2 Sound familiar? Ever heard someone, or yourself, say something similar? Let’s take a closer look: On one hand, we’ve got cleaning guy #1 who simply wants what he wants. He’s made up his mind that he’s worth so much per hour and that’s that. No amount of explaining to the contrary, we’ll likely change his mind. The heck with what the broader market wants. Misguided ego and immovable stubbornness may … Janitorial Bidding & Estimating Software: Past, Present and Future Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 The future of janitorial bidding & estimating software promises to be very exciting as it moves from being somewhat slow, difficult to use, limited, and providing general estimates to one that is increasingly… fast, easy to use, unlimited and accurate. How Did We Get Here? Well, as in many things, the changes in janitorial bidding & estimating software have come in waves. For many years, and still today, various bidding and estimating “rules of thumb” have been used to create a variety of basic spreadsheet applications or relatively simple bidding “calculators”. For example, general production rate estimates for standard office cleaning may be used in these calculators, allowing a facility manager to estimate labor hours needed to clean an area, while price per square foot guidelines may be built in to help janitorial contractors determine how much to charge for monthly services. These spreadsheets or calculators are generally easy to find and available if not free, usually for a modest charge. They … How To Prepare A Janitorial Proposal Cover Letter Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 Many cleaning business owners treat the cover letter of a janitorial bid as a necessary but essentially meaningless part of the proposal; simply a formality. Don’t you believe it; it couldn”t be further from the truth! In fact, put together the right way, and your bid cover letter can become one of your most powerful selling tools. However, as we’ve said, most commercial cleaning companies put very little thought, and even less effort, into preparing one. They feel compelled to include it, if for no other reason, than they think it makes them look “professional”. The result is most janitorial proposal cover letters are filled with the same ‘safe’, but boring stuff that has been putting building owners and property managers to sleep for years such as: “Thanks for allowing us to bid” But, if it bores you, you can pretty safely assume…it’s boring your prospects too! It’s not the just what the cover letter says … How To Bid Janitorial, Commercial Cleaning Jobs Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 Everyone has an opinion. Price Per Square Foot Some say knowing how much to price a janitorial, office-cleaning bid at is as easy as multiplying the total cleanable square feet of a building by so many dollars or cents per square foot. Unfortunately, this formula is often tossed about without even mentioning if the figures are based on a month or a year; a piece of information those new to the cleaning business would not doubt find quite valuable to know. For example, per square foot figures ranging from $0.08 – $0.14 per sq. ft. or $0.95 – $1.50 per sq. ft., are offered up with little or no explanation; assuming it’s common knowledge that the former generally refers to a monthly calculation; while the latter is meant for a yearly price estimate. Educated Guess Others suggest you should rely on your own experience, simply guesstimate how long it should take to clean, and then charge so much per hour. But, that advice can be equally misleading. And the cleaning contractor with … Why Cleaning Businesses Shouldn’t Use A Price Per Sq. Ft. Method to Bid Janitorial Jobs Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 Could a simple price per square foot approach work when bidding on office-cleaning jobs? Maybe. Yeah, maybe if all cleaning companies were the same, it might work. But they’re not. And, maybe if all customers wanted the same thing, it might work. But, they don’t. And there’’s the rub. See, broad, one-size-fits-all approaches to bidding office-cleaning like price per square foot, might work, if all cleaning companies were all the same size, cleaned the same, had the same costs, and expected the same profit. But they don”t. The really big ones may come close. Really large cleaning companies, some of whom, may have 500, 1000, or more employees… may come close. At that level, the “players” (competing cleaning contractors) may begin to look similar; similar management structure, similar approaches to cleaning, similar quality control methods, and maybe most importantly… similar expense ratios and profit requirements. And at that level of play, per square foot based pricing may work adequately. But, the reality … |
“Years ago, my ex-husband and I owned a janitorial franchise and the only difference between them and you guys are the high franchise fees! Thanks again for the great customer service and wonderful program!” Robin Hester DDH Cleaning Services Kansas City, MO
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