Bidding and Estimating Cleaning Services with Bill Griffin
During my 30+ years in the cleaning industry nothing generates more interest than the subject of bidding and estimating the cost of cleaning services. One might think that this only applies to Building Service Contractors who are new to the business and don’t have much experience in calculating costs and submitting bids, but that is not the case. Almost everyone in the cleaning industry is interested in the subject; this includes manufacturers, salespeople, building owners and departmental managers.
I recall teaching a seminar on Bidding and Estimating some 20 years ago and one attendee had over 30 year experience. Being impressed that he’d come to my class, I asked him why he, with all his years of experience would attend the seminar and his response was “I can’t take a chance that one of my competitor’s will know more about bidding and estimating than I do.” That hit home with me as to how important bidding and estimating is to everyone in the industry.
Over the last five years, myself and other ICAN members have answered questions submitted to the Ask the Experts (ATEX) section of the CMM website and the most common questions asked relate to bidding, calculating costs and determine production rates. Due to the increasingly competitive nature of business, I believe that the need to keep up to date with every aspect of one’s job or business is even more important today than it was a few short years ago.
When the Editor and Publisher of CMM mentioned they’d like publish a regular column on the subject of bidding and estimating, I was eager to be involved. To keep things interesting, from time to time we may use a guest columnists and I may occasionally interview other experts who can shed light on the art and science of bidding and estimating cleaning services for all types and sizes of facilities.
To lay the ground work for the column, let’s cover some of the basics and then each month I’ll deal with a different aspect of this intriguing, important and potentially confusing subject. I would anticipate that some of my columns will relate to things I come across, see or hear on the street as I go about work as a consultant. I plan to include at least one resource in each column that you can learn more from about a specific subject. I’d like to think of this as your column, which means you have to communicate with me so I know what you want to know more about. I will do my best to deal with the subjects you tell me are most important and of value to you. Feel free to get in touch via phone or email. My contact info will appear at the end of each column.
Let’s get started.
What: Bidding and estimating is the process of using information to determine or estimate what it will cost to cleaning a building, areas, surface or space.
Why: Cleaning is competitive business. If your price is too high you won’t get any work and you will lose accounts to someone who will do the work for less money. As a departmental manager or facilities director, if your costs are too high, you are at risk of being replaced with someone who is better able to control costs or the work your department does will be at risk of being taken over by an independent contractor who can do the work at less cost.
How: Preparing a bid can be done manually (the old fashioned way) or with the aid of software and a computer.
Changes: Every day. If you don’t keep up with changes in why we clean, what we clean, and how we do it, as well as enhancements in equipment, procedures and chemicals that allow you to do a better job in less time, you will not be as competitive as someone who has kept up with these changes.
Future: Things are going to continue to change and they will change even faster in the future than they do today. If you don’t change with your industry and your customer’s needs, you will not be competitive in the market place or job market.
Reality: It’s not just about being able to clean something. You must be competitive or you won’t be successful. No one wants to pay more for cleaning services than they have to. This is simply a reality of the marketplace and the economy we work and live in. You are no different, when you go to the grocery store; you look for the best product at the best price. Buying cleaning services is no different.
Impactors: The list of the things that impact the cost of cleaning is almost endless. What we often look for are exceptions. Is there something that will drive the cost up or down beyond the norm? If so, we must account for it in our bid or we won’t generate as much profit, our costs will be excessively high or we will lose money.
This Month’s Resource:
– ISSA’s 540 Cleaning Times: a common source of production rates. Available as a book or software. In my opinion, you will need to reduce the times listed by 15% to 20% if you want to be competitive in today’s market place. Available from the ISSA for a less than $20.00. A good resource that everyone should have available on their desk. http://www.issa.com/?id=540_calculator&lg=
This Month’s Thought: The eye sees what the mind looks for.
