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Quick Quote Fails

Quick quote fails can put you out of business. This is NOT the only trap for cleaning company owners and sales people. Get help! 585-413-0574.
Commercial cleaning podcast, episode 64
4 Feb 2025

Quick Quotes Fails

Quick Quote Fails

Episode 64

Avoid the “quick quote fails” trap. Providing your prospects Commercial cleaning company owners and salespeople have a lot to keep track of. Performing daily cleaning services at medical buildings and commercial office space to supply management is a full-time job. For most small and start up cleaning companies, just DOING a professional cleaning is more than enough to fill the day. In many commercial cleaning companies, the owner is stepping in to:
• Direct front line cleaners
• Troubleshoot a missed service
• Handle unique cleaning customer comments & requests
• Bid on Request for Cleaning Quotes (RFQs)
• And actively sell new cleaning services

Why quick quote fails are most likely

The Sales role in any company comes with pressure to compete-for and close business. When you spend your time always PUSHING for a sale, requests FEEL GREAT! In my opinion, that’s the single biggest reason for “quick quotes fails”. In these instances, the owner or the salesperson got excited about being invited. As someone who’s been in this industry for decades, let me warn you of something. If your customer or prospect has even a few years in the facilities management business, they know you want this. And because they do, they’ll be happy to take advantage of it. Be careful! And if this is something your business wants to monetize, contact me.

Selling with quotes vs responding

Being asked to quote is a pleasant change. How you respond will determine if the client’s cleaning services become profitable for you. Commercial cleaning services are a balancing act. You want the work. Your company needs to grow. You SHOULD diversify your client base. But all work is not equal. And a single cleaning service that was not as profitable as you hoped is nothing compared to the disaster of being over-budget on a repeat cleaning service. That kind of quick quote fail can put you out of business.

Take the lead with cleaning quotes

When a new cleaning prospect contacts you and asks for “numbers over the phone”, you have a choice to make. The same choice goes for your current clients. As a cleaning professional and Master Trainer, I encourage you to take the lead in this sale.

This is NOT the only trap

Clients and prospects are not the “bad guys” in this process. Just like you and me, they want a good service for a low price. But as commercial cleaning professionals we also know that you get what you pay for. Square footage is not the only metric on which to base your cleaning quote. Each facility you’ll clean is unique. Avoid quick quote fails and make the most of your sales efforts with an experienced Cleaning Coach! You can reach me at 585-413-0574 or contact me here.

 

This Week’s Podcast transcript can be found below.

 

00:09 Ray

Joel, we’re talking today about when “space doesn’t equal space”. Now, this reminds me of a previous episode that we will link to, Proper Job Specing. We have that. I’ll include that in the link here in the podcast transcription. Square footage doesn’t always tell the tale. How would you advise a new cleaning company owner?

 

00:28 Joel

When I first started to sales, and I had quotas that I had to deal with. I used to love the phone calls that would come in and say, “Oh, I’ve got a 5,000 square foot space and I need a quote. Oh, I don’t want you to come.” Sure, I got numbers in. I got jobs sold. Well, I quickly realized that none of those jobs I bid on when that would come in like that. They were never profitable.

 

00:50 Ray

I bet you got an earful from your boss, too.

 

00:53 Joel

That’s…  Write-up, Earful, Sore backside, You name it.

 

00:58 Ray

It’s not nice of them to sharpen up the boots.

 

00:59 Joel

But that’s probably one of the biggest mistakes people make when they’re trying to build a business is that, Oh, this is going to be easy. I can do a quick bid on this job, and I can get it, and we can get it started. Oh, it’s going to run smooth. Space is not equal to space. There are so many factors. Is it medical? Is it a warehouse? Is it a factory? Is it a cube farm? Meaning that there’s just all cubicles and no hard wall offices. And even with the cube farms, Are they two by two spaces? Are they 10 by 10 spaces? Are they 20 by 20 spaces? These all make a difference. Because maybe in a very congested, you got a lot more trash cans that have to be picked up and liners that have to be changed. And you have more corners and edges that have to be vacuumed or moped out depending on what surface it’s on. So, space doesn’t always equal space. Is it gang restrooms or is it 50 individual one-toilet, one-sink restrooms? All different. Because when you can go into a gang restroom where you’ve got 10 urinals, 10 toilets, 20 sinks, that’s a lot of cleaning. But it’s all right in front of you.

 

Instead of going to 20 different restrooms that have one sink and one toilet. (Sure.) There’s those things that are so important that as a business owner or even as a salesperson, you really need to understand what is it that you’re cleaning, what are the expectations. And yes, you talked about linking it back to the podcast that we did about walkthroughs. You got to look at the space. You can’t bid off the phone.

 

02:31 Ray

Let me ask you about that, because I know you’ve been spec in these jobs for years. Is it your impression that the person calling in who says, “I don’t need you to come in. I just need a quick number.” Are they trying to get you to low ball, or are they just literally trying to save their time?

 

Joel

They’re trying to get you to low ball.

 

Ray

They’re trying to get you to… So, they probably know.

 

02:51 Joel

Oh, but I’m a factory. Oh, I’m a medical center. Okay. Does every human being look the same? No. Does every car look the same? No.

 

03:02 Ray

In order for the new cleaning company owner to not fall into this trap, they need to gently take the lead. Or at the very least, not get sucked into being taken advantage of.

 

03:14 Joel

Correct. And redirect the conversation. And we look at every site because there might be things that you’re not aware of. And we need to make sure we had the right equipment. Because carpets clean different than hard floor. Do you need a mop or do you need a vacuum?

 

03:29 Ray

I’d like to relate this back to another recent podcast, When You Lose an Account. Rather than start an account, because there’s always an out-of-pocket cost; Getting equipment; Getting materials; And getting solutions that need to sit there, be ready for use. Before that out-of-pocket expense to do all of that, only to lose the job the next month. Which is disastrous.

 

03:52 Joel

Oh, it would be entirely financially disastrous.

 

03:55 Ray

Would it be better to decline the job than have the prospect say, “I don’t need you to come?”

 

04:00 Joel

That is my hard line.

 

04:02 Ray

Okay.

 

04:02 Joel

I’ve been burned too many times in the past to know that when people are pushing you like that, they usually have something to hide. Because anybody who wants you to succeed will allow you to be on that walkthrough.

 

04:14 Ray

For our listeners, before success destroys you because it feels like success when you just landed two or three new accounts. Do yourself a favor. Contact Joel. Joel, thank you.

 

04:25 Joel

You’re welcome.

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