How to Win Profitable Commercial Cleaning Contracts
Learn how to confidently scope, price, bid, and win profitable commercial cleaning contract. This step-by-step guide will walk you through the entire bidding process. From evaluating a facility and calculating labor costs to setting you price and submitting a professional proposal.
Step 1: Understand the Cleaning Contract
Before you price any commercial cleaning job, you need to understand exactly what the client expects. Never give final price based only on the budling’s square footage. Two buildings of the same size can require very different amount of labor.
During your walkthrough, collect the following information:
Total cleanable square footage
Type of facility
Number of offices and common areas
Number of restrooms and fixtures
Breakrooms or kitchens
Flooring types: carpet, tile, concrete, etc.
Number of trash cans
Cleaning frequency per week
Required cleaning days and hours
High-traffic areas
Special cleaning requirements
Whether supplies and consumables are provided by you or the client
Security, keys, alarm, or access requirements
Pro Tip: Ask the client what they dislike about their current cleaning service. Their answer can tell you exactly what value and help you build a stronger proposal.
Step 2: Perform the Walkthrough & Calculate the Scope
During the walkthrough, your goal is to estimate how much labor the building will actually require. Square footage is useful, but labor time is what ultimately determines whether your contract will be profitable.
Break the facility into areas and estimate each separately:
Offices and workstations
Restrooms
Breakrooms and kitchens
Lobbies and reception areas
Hallways and common areas
Conference rooms
Carpeted areas
Hard floor
Trash removal
Stairs and elevators
High-touch surfaces
Any special cleaning tasks
Example:
A 20,000 sq. ft. office that takes one cleaner approximately 5 hours per visit and is serviced 5 days per week requires:
5hours x 5 visits = 25 hours per week
25 hours x 4.33 weeks = approximately 108 labor hours per month.
This monthly labor estimate becomes one of the most important numbers when calculating your bid.
Important: Don’t automatically assume every 20,000 sq. ft. building take 5 hours. Restrooms, occupancy, floor type, cleaning specifications, building layout. and frequency can significantly change the labor required.
Step 3: Calculate Your New Labor Cost
Labor is usually the largest expense in a commercial cleaning contract. One of the biggest bidding mistakes is calculating only the employee’s hourly wage. Your true labor cost is higher than the wage you pay.
Include cost such as:
Employee hourly wages
Employer payroll taxes
Workers’ compensation
Unemployment insurance
Overtime, when applicable
Training and supervision
Paid time or benefits, if applicable
Example:
Supposed the contract requires 108 labor hours per month, and you estimate your true labor cost at $20 per hour.
108 hours x $20 = $2,160 Monthly labor cost
But $2,160 is NOT your bid price. It is only your estimate labor expense.
You still need to account for supplies, equipment, insurance, transportation, overhead, and profit before determining what to charge the customer.
Pro Tip: Never build a commercial cleaning bid by simply multiplying hours by the employee’s wage. Know your true labor cost first.
Step 4: Calculate Supplies, Equipment & Overhead
Labor is only part of the cost of servicing a commercial cleaning contract. Before setting your final price, calculate the other expenses required to operate the account.
Cleaning supplies may include:
Disinfectants and general-propose cleaners
Glass cleaner
Floor chemicals
Trash liners
Microfiber cloths Mop
Gloves and other disposable supplies
Equipment cost may include:
Commercial vacuums
Mop system
Floor machines and burnishers
Carpet cleaning equipment
Equipment maintenance and replacement
Business overhead may include:
General liability insurance
Workers’ compensation
Vehicle expenses and fuel
Office and administrative expenses
Scheduling and management software
Bookkeeping and accounting
Uniforms
Marketing
Supervisor and management time
Example:
If your estimate monthly cost are:
Labor: $2,160
Supplies: $250
Equipment allowance: $100
Other overhead allocated to the account: $300
Your estimated monthly cost to service the contract is:
$2,160 + $250 + $100 + $300 = $2,810
Important: $2,810 still isn’t the customer price. This is your estimated cost of performing the work. You still need to add profit and make sure the final price gives the business an adequate margin.
Step 5: Set Your Profit Margin & Calculate Your Bid Price
Once you know your estimated monthly cost, you can calculate a selling price that includes your desired profit margin. Do not simply add a percentage to your cost and assume that percentage is your profit margin. Markup and profit margin are different.
Use this formula:
Selling price = Total monthly cost / (1-Desired Profit Margin)
Example:
From our previous example, the estimated monthly cost is:
$2,810
If you want a 20% profit margin:
$2810 / 0.80 = $3,512.50
Your calculated monthly selling price would be approximately:
$3,513 per month
At this price:
Revenue: $3,512.50
Estimated costs: $2,810.00
Estimated Profit: $702.50
Profit Margin: 20%
Compare different margins:
15% margin – $3,306
20% margin – $3,513
25% margin – $3,747
30% margin – $4,014
Important: Your calculated price is a starting point, not an automatic final bid. Before submitting the proposal, consider the scope of work, contract requirements, risks, local competition, service frequency, payment terms, and any unusual expenses.
Pro Tip: Never lower your price just to win a contract without knowing what it does to your margin. A large contract that loses money can hurt your business more than not winning the contract at all.
Step 6: Check Your Price Using Square-Foot Pricing
Square-foot pricing can be useful as a quick way to check whether your calculated bid is reasonable. However, it should not replace a detailed labor and cost calculation because every facility has different cleaning requirements.
Monthly Square-Foot Rate Formula
Monthly Price / Total Cleanable Square Feet = Monthly Price Per Square Foot
Example:
Supposed you are bidding on a 20,000 sq. ft. office and your labor-and-cost calculation produced a monthly price of $3,513.
$3,513 / 20,000 sq. ft. = 0.176 per sq. ft. per month
That means your proposed price is approximately:
$0.18 per sq. ft. per month
You can also calculate the price per cleaning:
If the facility is cleaned 3 times per week, that is approximately 13 visits per month.
$3,513 / 13 = $270 per cleaning
$270.23 / 20,000 sq. ft. = 0.0135 per sq. ft. per cleaning
Important: Do not use one square-foot rate for every building.
A 20,000 sq. ft. warehouse may require much less labor that a 20,000 sq. ft. medical office with multiple restrooms, exam rooms, touchpoints, and sanitation requirements.
Square-foot pricing should be used as comparison tool, while your estimated labor hours, wages, payroll burden, supplies, overhead, and profit should determine whether the contract is actually profitable.
Pro Tip: If your square-foot comparison looks usually high or low, go back through your scope and labor estimate before changing the price. Never lower a bid simply because a competitor may be cheaper.
Step 7: Create Your Commercial Cleaning Proposal
Your proposal should make it easy for the client to understand exactly what they are receiving, how often the work will be performed, and what they will pay. A professional proposal can help separate your company from competitors who submit only a price.
Include these sections in your proposal:
Your company name, logo, phone number, email, and website.
Client/company name and property address
Proposal date and expiration date
Description of the facility
Detailed scope of work
Cleaning frequency and service days
Estimated service schedule or hours, when appropriate
Monthly service price
Additional or optional services
Supplies/consumables responsibility
Payment terms
Insurance information
Quality-control procedures
Cancellation or contract terms
Client acceptance/signature section
Example Pricing Section:
Commercial Janitorial Service
Frequency: 5 days per week
Monthly Service Price: $3,513
Optional Services:
Carpet extraction – quoted separately
Floor stripping & refinishing – quoted separately
Interior/exterior window cleaning – quoted separately
Pressure Washing – quoted separately
Avoid giving the client a detailed breakdown of your employee wages, profit margin, or internal operating costs. Those calculations help determine your price, but the customer generally needs to see the scope, service frequency, deliverables, and final price – not your internal cost structure.
Pro Tip: Don’t make your proposal only about price. Highlight reliability, communication, quality inspections, insurance, trained staff, and how you will solve the problem the client identified during the walkthrough.
Step 8: Follow Up & Win the Contract
After submitting your commercial cleaning proposal, don’t simply wait for the client to contact you. Professional follow up shows that you are interested in the account and gives you another opportunity to answer questions or address concerns.
When to follow up:
Send a short thank-you message after submitting the proposal
Follow up approximately 2-3 business days later
Ask whether they have any questions about the proposal
Be prepared to clarify your scope of work
Keep your communication professional and brief
If they are not ready, ask when would be a good time to follow up again.
Sample Follow-Up Message:
“Hello [Client Name], I wanted to follow up regarding the commercial cleaning proposal we submitted for your facility. Please let me know if you have any questions about the scope of work or pricing. We would appreciate the opportunity to work with your company and are available to discuss the proposal at your convenience.
If the client says your price is too high:
Don’t immediately lower your price. Ask whether they have a specific budget or whether there are parts of the scope they would like to adjust.
You may be able to modify the cleaning frequency, remove optional services, or adjust certain tasks instead of reducing your price while providing the exact same service.
If you win the contract:
Before beginning service, confirm the start date, cleaning schedule, access procedures, alarm instructions, keys, supplies, billing information, client contact person, and final scope of work in writing.
If you don’t win the contract:
Politely ask whether they can provide feedback. Learning why another company was selected can help you improve future bids.
Pro Tip: Keep track of every proposal you submit and schedule follow-ups. Consistent follow-up can turn proposals that initially went unanswered into future contracts.
Commercial Cleaning Bid Checklist
Before submitting your next commercial cleaning bid, use this checklist to make sure you haven’t missed anything important.
Facility Information
Total Cleanable square footage
Facility type
Number of offices and common areas
Number of restrooms
Flooring types
High-traffic areas
Special cleaning requirements
Service Requirements
Cleaning frequency
Service days and hours
Detailed scope of work
Trash removal requirements
Floor care requirements
Client expectations confirmed
Pricing
Estimated labor hours
True hourly labor cost
Monthly labor cost
Cleaning supplies
Equipment expenses
Business overhead
Profit margin
Final monthly bid price
Proposal
Company contact information
Client information
Scope of work
Service frequency
Final price
Payment terms
insurance information
Proposal expiration date
Signature/acceptance section
Before You Submit
Double-check your calculations
Review the proposal for errors
Confirm the scope matches the client’s request
Save a copy of the proposal
Schedule your follow-up