How to Get Commercial Cleaning Contracts: A Step-by-Step Guide

DEFINITION

RFP (Request for Proposal)

A formal document issued by a company or government agency inviting cleaning contractors to submit bids for a contract. RFPs specify the building size, task requirements, service frequency, and evaluation criteria. They require a written response with pricing and scope of work.

DEFINITION

Scope of Work

The written section of a cleaning contract that lists every area, task, and frequency included in the agreement. A complete scope of work prevents disputes about what is and isn't covered and forms the basis of an accurate bid.

DEFINITION

Property Manager

The person responsible for operating a commercial building on behalf of the owner. Property managers handle vendor selection and contracts for cleaning, maintenance, and other building services. They are the primary decision-maker for cleaning contracts at office buildings, retail centers, and apartment complexes.

DEFINITION

ISSA Production Rates

Cleaning time standards published by the Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association. They define how many square feet a single cleaner can complete per hour for each task: vacuuming, mopping, restroom cleaning, and others. Using production rates in bids produces more accurate labor estimates than guessing.

Where commercial cleaning contracts actually come from

Most cleaning company owners start by chasing any commercial lead they can find. Scattered outreach produces slow results. Commercial contracts come from three main sources, and each requires a different approach.

Property managers control the most contracts for small and mid-sized cleaning businesses. They manage office buildings, retail centers, and industrial parks on behalf of owners, and they hire and fire cleaning contractors. A property manager with 15 buildings under management is a single contact representing 15 potential contracts.

Facilities directors work at larger institutions: hospitals, school districts, corporate campuses, and government buildings. These accounts are larger and take longer to win. Procurement processes, committee approvals, and annual budget cycles push decisions out three to six months.

RFP (Request for Proposal) databases like BidNet, DemandStar, and your state’s procurement portal list cleaning contracts that government agencies and public institutions are required to put out to bid. These require more paperwork than a direct property manager relationship, but they are open to any qualified contractor and can produce contracts worth $50,000-$500,000 per year.

Start with property managers. They move faster and respond to direct outreach.

Step 1: Build your bid packet before you prospect

Going after commercial contracts without a complete bid packet wastes your time. Property managers and facilities directors ask for specific documents before moving forward with any vendor. If you don’t have them ready, the conversation stops.

A complete bid packet contains four things:

A proposal template with your company name, address, license number, and contact information formatted as a PDF. The proposal shows your monthly price, scope of work, and contract term.

A scope of work template broken down by area and task. This is the list of every cleaning task for every area in the building, with frequency. Without a written scope, disputes about what is and isn’t covered are unavoidable.

A certificate of general liability insurance. Most commercial accounts require $1M per occurrence minimum. Get this from your insurance carrier and have it ready to send on request. Some property managers will ask to be named as an additional insured on your policy. That is standard; your carrier can add it at no cost.

A written service contract with payment terms, service standards, and a termination clause. Having a contract ready signals that you operate like a real business.

Once your bid packet is ready, you pursue contracts at the pace the market allows. No more scrambling to pull documents together mid-conversation.

Step 2: Find and contact property managers

You can find property managers through three channels.

LinkedIn: search “property manager” filtered to your city. Look at their profiles to see which buildings they manage. A message referencing a specific property gets more replies than a generic introduction.

BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association) has local chapters with directories and regular networking events. Property managers show up because it is part of their job. One conversation at a BOMA dinner has a different quality than a cold email.

Property management company websites list contact information and often list the buildings they manage. Call the company, ask who manages a specific building, and reach out directly.

Keep the outreach short: who you are, which building you want to service, and what you are asking for (a site walk and a chance to quote). Send the full proposal after the walk, not before.

Step 3: Respond to RFPs with accurate estimates

RFPs specify exactly what they want in a response: pricing, scope of work, references, insurance certificates, and sometimes W-9 forms or business license copies. Follow the format they specify exactly. Missing a required document disqualifies your bid.

Pricing determines whether you win. A price that is too high loses on the surface. A price that is too low either loses anyway (clients suspect you will cut corners) or wins a contract that bleeds money.

Accurate pricing comes from walking the site, measuring square footage, listing every task in scope, and calculating labor hours using ISSA production rates. Apply your fully-loaded labor rate, add materials and overhead, and apply your margin. The calculation takes an hour or two per bid. Skipping it and guessing costs you the contract or costs you money if you win it.

SweepOps built an automated bidding tool specifically for this step. Enter the square footage, task list, and visit frequency, and the tool calculates labor hours from ISSA production rates and produces a proposal-ready price. If you are bidding more than a few commercial accounts per month, doing this manually in a spreadsheet introduces errors that add up.

Step 4: Follow up every two to three weeks

Sending a proposal and waiting is the most common sales mistake cleaning company owners make. Property managers are managing dozens of vendors, maintenance issues, and tenant requests at the same time. Your proposal is not their top priority.

A follow-up email two to three days after submitting a proposal to confirm receipt is appropriate. After that, follow up every two to three weeks to check on timing and offer to answer questions.

Keep a simple tracking spreadsheet: prospect name, building, last contact date, next follow-up date, proposal status. Five minutes to update after each contact. Without it, things slip and you go quiet on prospects right when they are making decisions.

Most commercial cleaning contracts take two to eight weeks from first contact to signed agreement. Regular contact through that window is what moves proposals forward.

Step 5: Ask for referrals after the first month

Your existing clients know other property managers. After a solid first month on a new account, ask directly: “Do you know any other property managers looking for cleaning services?” Most people will help if they are happy and you ask plainly.

The same goes for facilities directors, building owners, and anyone else in your network connected to commercial properties.

Cold outreach takes time to convert. A referral from a client who trusts you is already halfway closed. Delivering good service on every existing account is account retention and your most efficient sales channel at the same time.

Pricing benchmarks

Commercial cleaning contracts are typically priced at $0.07-$0.25 per square foot per visit, depending on task complexity and building type. A 10,000 sq ft office building cleaned three nights per week might generate $1,500-$2,500 per month. An industrial facility with basic service (sweeping, trash removal) might come in at $0.07-$0.10/sq ft. A medical office with disinfection protocols might be $0.18-$0.25/sq ft.

Use these benchmarks as a sanity check. Build your price from labor hours and costs, then compare against the per-square-foot range. If the numbers are far apart, review your production rate assumptions before adjusting the price.