consultant’s corner Brought to you by ICAN Technology By: Gary Clipperton For Closing Contracts probably have a couple of questions when I deliver the proposal package, so could we briefly meet next Tuesday morning?” Bidding software is useful, but make sure you are connected to your customers. S Some building service contractors (BSCs) assume that marketing success is guar-anteed by using a smartphone to perform building surveys. You punch in the numbers, immediately submit a bid and presto: You are over-whelmed with signed contracts; it sounds simple, but it’s not that easy. High-tech approaches can be good, unless they annoy the prospect. Some prospects may be irritated when you spend more time “talking” with your smartphone or iPad than you spend talking with them. They may see you as distracted and aloof; more importantly, while fiddling with your gadget, you may fail to collect impor-tant body language clues. Digital data collection does not fit every situation. Call it old school, but taking your time to sleep on the bid is still good advice. What’s the big hurry in submitting a bid within 30 minutes of collecting the data? It is much safer to consider all the options and weigh the possibilities before committing to a financial contract for the next one to three years. And, much of time, the prospect either does not see how or couldn’t care less how you collect the data, just as long as the price and coverage is acceptable. Prospects will be impressed when they hear you say, “I want to take this back to my office, determine how I can best personal-ize your service plan and work out a supe-rior, affordable and thorough service cov-erage. I’ll make sure my bidding software provides any and all possible savings. I will Accurate Pricing Many bidding programs fail to accurately address and quantify the critical list of cleaning variables. In fact, every building should have a score representing the overall cleaning dif-ficulty from one to 100. With proper calculations, this score can project a precise cleaning time. Of special importance is the necessity of calculating workstation density; a compu-tation of this number will assist in pinpoint-ing accurate production rates. Also, there are a host of decisions regarding travel time, setup times, the percentage of markup for supplies and supervisory and quality inspection times and frequencies. Many of these will be addressed by bidding software that facilitates quick, yet detailed assessments. If you are inexperienced in conduct-ing a needs assessment and presenting the solutions, consider getting help from training programs, a mentor or a software program that includes individual support. In most cases, you will want to refrain from submitting actual cleaning times, as this can create a price war where you must substantiate your hourly fee. It is safer to show the quoted price per month — not the hours worked. There could be exceptions to this, as in showing the labor workloading for a gov-ernment contract, but remember: How long the job takes is your business. Besides, the exact cleaning time can only be established after you have cleaned the account for a few days. Getting The Signed Contract You can’t automate face-to-face relation-ships. Most prospects prefer to hire a contrac-tor who is personable, committed and genuinely concerned. First and foremost: Don’t forget to show an interest in becoming business friends or associates with your potential customers. When it comes to personalized services, people do business with people, not with computer software or hardware. CM Gary Clipperton, president of National Pro Clean Corporation, is a 40-year indus-try veteran. Clipperton, vice president of the International Custodial Advisors Network (ICAN), is the author of several cleaning books, as well as JanBid Estimating Solutions. He can be reached at (800) 796-4680 or Gary@ NationalProClean.com. Personalization When you prepare the bid package, avoid the cookie cutter approach. Instead, use personalized marketing fly-ers and data sheets that address customer concerns. Demonstrate your service superiority and answer all the customers’ questions. You may want to review your quality assurance inspection program or discuss your building safety, building security and pre-employment background investigation programs. 18 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • August 2012
CMM – Archives August 2012: 18
