A Clean Sweep – Gaining the Edge in Contract Cleaning Tenders

Types of cleaning contracts

In the public sector there are a variety of tendering opportunities for cleaning contracts, for a range of buyers. From window cleaning services, to office cleaning, deep cleans, domestic cleaning and specialist services. Cleaning is sometimes grouped together with other similar services, such as pest control or grounds maintenance, in more of a general soft facilities management contract. To find suitable cleaning contracts for your company, start by searching on Contracts Finder.

It will already be very clear to any company operating in the cleaning market and seeking to tender for commercial cleaning contracts that the market is heavily saturated. Competition for lucrative, on-going business is very highly sought after. So, what can you do to ensure that your cleaning tender is in with a chance amongst all of that competition?

Tips for completing cleaning tenders

1. Consider hiring a professional tender writer for your cleaning tender. Not only do the professionals have a solid grounding in writing and presenting competitive and persuasive tenders, but they also tend to know both their markets and their clients very well. As cleaning tenders (building cleaning, school cleaning, facilities management, window cleaning services to name a few) are so common, there are plenty of opportunities available.
2. Ensure that your tender is well-written, clear, grammatically correct and persuasive. Ensure that there are no errors, copy and paste catastrophes or omissions. Make sure, too, that your tender is well-presented and impressive to your client.
3. Visit the premises in question before constructing your proposal. This will allow you to tailor your tender, including offer and pricing, to your client’s requirements. Tailored tenders stand a much better chance of success than generic overviews, which can imply potential future changes and possible increased prices in order to bring the offer into line with the exact needs of the client. If your client is a large county council, this could be drastically different from a small school cleaning contract.
4. Can you specialise or differentiate your cleaning tender? Consider anything that you can offer that your competitors won’t. Can you incorporate window cleaning at height? Can you offer carpet cleaning too? What about special products for special surfaces such as stainless steel? If your offer can add value in the form of suitably-qualified specialist services, your tender will be considerably more appealing to your buyer, especially if you have visited the premises and targeted your specialisms accordingly.
5. Know your competition. Have a clear idea of some of your closest competitors and what they offer. Compare your offering to theirs and seek to find ways to offer bigger/better/cheaper. If it came down to it, and it was you and one competitor at the finish line, what is it that you could do, say or offer to ensure that you won and they didn’t? Use any relevant experience you have with similar local authorities, district councils etc to showcase your expertise.
6. Accept that the market is very competitive. You will not win every cleaning tender that you submit but do take heart that the volume of cleaning tenders available is relatively large. By following simple guidelines, you can help to ensure that your chances of winning a good proportion of the contracts that you tender for are greatly increased.

Bid writing support for cleaning tenders

Executive Compass have completed hundreds of cleaning tenders, in all aspects of facilities management and understand the tender requirements. Contact us to discuss how we can help you to secure more business for your cleaning company.