by Lana Stockton

Created on: February 17, 2009   Last Updated: June 08, 2010

Winning that cleaning bid is like any other sales pitch. The most important moment is the initial impression. Part of that first impression is arriving on time. Lombardi time, as it's known in sales.

Lombardi time comes from the famous Coach Lombardi who considered his players late unless they arrived a day before the scheduled out-of-town game. But you're in a different game here, so 5-15 minutes is early enough for an appointment.

Are you positive, cheerful and listening attentively? Listening is the most important part of communication. Are you clean and neat? Are your clothes freshly pressed, or do you look the part of a janitor who has worked all night?

While you may be able to clean better than any other janitorial service, if you lose the bid, you'll never get the chance to prove it.

Let the bidding begin

An office where I once worked had a perfectly good cleaning service. We had no complaints. Then why were they replaced?

Because one afternoon a professionally dressed young woman, with clipboard in hand, came in and asked the name of our buyer. After getting his name she asked if she could speak with him briefly. This initial meeting was not a sales pitch. It was a public relations move.

She knew he would resent a sales pitch, or springing an unplanned estimate on him. She respected his time. Introducing herself and stating why she was there, she simply asked for an appointment to provide him with an estimate.

Our buyer was favorably impressed for two reasons: respecting his time and presenting herself as impeccably dressed, clean and professional. She got her appointment.

Timing is everything

The representative showed up on time. Being late for an appointment shows poor timing skills and lack of respect for the other person's time.

Evaluating your bid

Questions to consider:

1. Which rooms need to be cleaned?

2. Bathroom:  How many sinks and toilets to clean, trash cans to be emptied, how much time will be involved in adding hand soap to the dispensers/toilet paper rolls in place? How much time to sweep and mop?

3. Breakroom:  Estimate how much time it will take to sweep, mop, clean surfaces and take out trash. Ask if the cleaning service is also responsible for cleaning out the refrigerator regularly.

4. How often do they want the office cleaned? Daily? Several times a week? Make a mental note of how long you estimate it would take one person to clean each room. Decide how much you should make per hour, then multiply this times the number

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