Creating a competitive janitorial pricing chart is half the battle in winning more bids. It’s all about finding the perfect balance for both you and your clients.
Set your prices too low, and you won’t be able to sustain your business long-term. Set them too high, and you’ll scare valuable clients away. Of course, janitorial clients care that your team is skilled, but more often than not, their budget has the most substantial influence over their final vendor hiring decisions. You need to offer appealing prices, or you may have a hard time acquiring (and keeping) clients.
At the same time, you can’t ignore your organization’s best interests when creating a janitorial pricing chart. You have expenses to cover, like payroll, equipment, and cleaning supplies. Plus, you want to generate enough profit so you can progress as a business. There’s a lot to consider when determining pricing that is fair for everyone, but it’s not an impossible task. With a little careful planning and a few helpful resources, you can build a janitorial pricing chart that can keep everyone happy.
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Take these 5 essential steps to build a competitive janitorial pricing chart that attracts new bids:
1. Evaluate your janitorial walk-through policies and procedures
Are your janitorial walk-through habits structured, too rushed, or even worse, non-existent? Walk-throughs are a great way to get to know potential clients, but they also help you to take note of their specific janitorial concerns. By using a janitorial walk-through checklist, you can encourage regular procedures that help guarantee the discussion of all essential topics related to creating an appealing bid. Not only will these methods improve how you create janitorial proposals, but you’ll also be able to prepare your team to meet client needs. You can assess any risks involved with cleaning their facility, which could require extra training or personal protective gear. All of these things are expenses that can have an impact on your final pricing.
2. Calculate your team’s production rate
A big part of estimating your team’s exact production rate is determining which tools are required for each cleaning service your company offers. Your team is only as good, or as fast, as the tools they use. So naturally, your equipment can have a significant impact on how you charge your clients. Sure, it may cost a little more to maintain powered cleaning tools, but this is the kind of investment that is sure to pay off in the long run. Powered floor cleaners will help your team cover a lot more square footage than mopping by hand ever could. Plus, mechanical cleaning tools help maintain a level of consistency that is harder to achieve with manual labor. While you still have to cover the costs associated with maintaining janitorial equipment, you can still offer more competitive pricing because your team can perform tasks with greater efficiency.
3. Consider the competition’s prices and recent promotions
Whenever you work on your janitorial pricing chart, it’s a good idea to check out your local competition’s pricing and current marketing activities. Whether it’s newspaper ads or social media campaigns, you can learn a lot about what’s making your rivals successful. By observing their strategies, you can make sure your efforts are stronger and more appealing to your target client base. You may also notice that your business can provide services to niche audiences in your community, such as schools, hospitals, government buildings, and event facilities.
4. Rely on the best janitorial resources for help
It’s okay to ask for help, especially with something as vital to your business as your janitorial pricing chart. Start by subscribing to robust janitorial software. A worthwhile software platform should do more than organize work orders and client information. It should incorporate additional resources to help enhance the job bidding process (without adding tedious manual labor).
When you subscribe to Janitorial Manager’s comprehensive software platform, you’ll have access to the best bidding tools on the market. The built-in bidding calculator lets you tally pricing based on operational costs or future projects and client goals. ISSA (Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association) integrated templates are also available so you can build janitorial bids based on their highly regarded 612 time and task standards. Your bidding process is efficient, accurate, and consistent, no matter who’s working to attract new clients.
It’s also helpful to join a reputable cleaning association. ISSA is an excellent resource for businesses looking to revamp their janitorial pricing chart. They’re a worldwide cleaning association that offers valuable information about cleaning industry standards. They also provide training resources that help boost your team’s overall efficiency and productivity, which can also help increase profitability.
5. Decide how you’re going to charge your clients
Hourly rates are most often used for first-time visits or one-time clients. This type of pricing can work well as long as you factor in unexpected circumstances and can give accurate estimates.
Charging by the square foot is common practice for commercial cleaning jobs, especially medical facilities and office buildings. The average price per square footage ranges from five cents to 25 cents, depending on the client’s needs and preferred cleaning cycle.
Charging a flat rate can work if cleaners are mindful of supply usage and efficiency. But if your calculations are off, you could stand to lose a lot of money. Before presenting a flat rate to your clients, you should make sure your estimated price covers the cost of payroll, supplies, and a little extra for profits.
Now you can create a janitorial pricing chart that will help you win more bids
Once you’ve determined how you’re going to charge your clients, you’ll want to make a pricing chart for employees to use a reference guide. This will help them get familiar with your rates so they can provide potential clients with quick answers to all their questions. It’s crucial to answer the client’s inquiry as soon as possible, or you risk losing them to the competition. You might even consider posting rates for all of your most popular cleaning services online, which can expand the number of potential leads you can attract.
Make your business stand out with Janitorial Manager, software designed by janitors, for janitors. Contact us today for a free demo and learn about all the fantastic features!