Hello, hope someone can be of some assistance. I am bidding on a commercial office building that has roughly 18,000 sq. ft. with a few offices vacant. The cleaning will be a regular janitorial service 5 days a week with paper products provided. The building manager said they usually get a discount for vacant space. what should be the correct price for an illinois suburb.

Stringer

I am an owner/partner of a commercial cleaning company in the Chicago suburbs. To me the first factor is; are you bidding to a property management company? If so, usually these bids are very competitive; generally from $.055 to $.095 per square foot with consumable products provised by the prospective client. If you have suites that are empty then you need to offer a "vacancy rate"; a quoted price based upon a square foot price. Figure the total "empty" space and then calculate the total "deduction" from the total monthly price. (Most property management companies operate on an annual price per square foot; example, $.06 per square foot x 12 months= $.72 per annum) Once you have this vacancy rate (monthly) present it in your proposal as "Vacancy Rate; $.whatever. Then when this space is rented you have established what the increase will be to clean this area on a regular basis (monthly).

18,000 sq ft x $.06= $1,080.00 / month 18,000 sq ft x $.075= $1,350.00; examples

Bidding based only upon square footage is not the best, most productive method. Square footage gives you a close idea of what the pricing should be. However, you need to check you total costs; supplies, labor, taxes, overhead, etc to see what dollars you will drop to the bottom line.

Always remember; do not be affraid to ask as many questions from the client as possible; why are you changing cleaning companies, how many washrooms, how many regular client employees (Tells you the approximate number of trashcans, usage of the washrooms and lunchrooms, coffee stations, etc.), what are you paying presently (may not always get an answer but if you do you gain valuable info-some will tell you.)

If you are bidding to an owner of the building or a single tennant who is responsible for the cleaning you may not have to be as competitive. The only way you can tell how competitive you need to be is to ask direct questions-don't shy away from this. tell your prospect that you ask a lot of questions because you want to do a great job for them and the more info the better you understand. You are bidding because this prospect has a problem and if you ask questions you will uncover his "needs and hot spots" this will allow you to concentrate on these areas and avoid your competitor's problems.
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Good luck, keep me posted,

Stringer

Clough

Good, informative answer above!

I would keep in mind that rates in the Chicago area are going to be somewhat higher than other places in Illinois. So, you might be able to charge less for your services in order to beat the competition.