Key takeaways
- Draw the service area by travel time for your supervisors, not by postcode alone.
- The renewal date is the single most useful fact you can learn about a prospect.
- Staff transfer rules can apply when a cleaning contract changes hands, so price them in.
- Public tenders follow a fixed process; direct outreach depends on relationships and site visits.
How to get cleaning contracts in your service area
Get cleaning contracts by choosing an area your teams and supervisors can reach reliably, then listing every suitable site inside it. Travel time decides your margin and your response to a missed clean, so draw the boundary from your depot outwards rather than from a map of towns.
Segment the sites by building type, because frequency, specification and hours differ: offices, business centres, industrial units and warehouses, clinics and surgeries, retail and showrooms. Start with the types where your current contracts run best and your references are strongest.
Who buys office cleaning
The facilities manager buys cleaning at larger sites, the office manager or operations lead at smaller ones, and the operations director at warehouses and production sites. In a multi-let building, the landlord's managing agent buys cleaning for the common parts while each tenant buys for its own space.
Large estates often outsource all facilities to an integrated facilities management company, which then subcontracts cleaning. That is a separate route: you sell to the provider's contract or procurement manager and work under their standards.
When do facilities services buyers switch contractors
Facilities buyers switch at three moments: when a contract comes up for renewal, when they move or refurbish, and when the current contractor lets them down once too often. Ask every prospect for the renewal date and notice period, record it, and come back before it.
Expect questions on insurance, method statements, chemical handling under the COSHH regulations and staff vetting. In the UK, the TUPE rules can move cleaning staff on the existing contract across to you when the service changes hands, which affects your costs and mobilisation; take advice on how they apply to each bid.
How a public sector tender differs from direct outreach
A public sector tender is a formal competition with a published specification, fixed deadlines and scoring criteria, while direct outreach is a conversation you shape. Public buyers advertise opportunities on government procurement portals, take questions through a clarification process and score every bid against the same criteria.
Read the requirements before you commit: insurance levels, policies, accreditations and references can take time to prepare. Many public bodies also buy through frameworks, so getting onto a framework can matter as much as winning a single contract.
How a commercial cleaning firm wins new contracts
Keep the private pipeline and the tender pipeline separate, each with its own dates.
- Draw your service area by travel time from your depot and list the building types you clean best.
- Find sites in that area by industry, size and location, and name the facilities or office manager at each.
- Ask every prospect when their current contract renews and record the date and notice period.
- Offer a site survey, then a written specification and a quote that accounts for any staff transfer.
- Track public tenders for your area on government portals and treat each one as its own bid.
- Follow up ahead of every recorded renewal date, not only after the first quote.
Where Pebbles Ai fits
- CapabilityProspecting & customer recordsAsk your assistant for companies headquartered in your region by industry and headcount, then find facilities and office managers at up to ten of them; an admin can add a Date custom field for contract renewal in the CRM, which is in Beta.
- FoundationIntegrationsConnect Google Calendar and an assistant can find a free slot and book site surveys; in Manual mode each booking waits for your approval.
Common questions
What is TUPE in a cleaning contract?
TUPE is the UK rule that can move the cleaning staff on an existing contract to the new contractor when the service changes hands. It affects your costs and start-up, so raise it early and take advice on how it applies.
How long do commercial cleaning contracts usually run?
Terms range from rolling agreements to multi-year contracts. Ask each prospect for the renewal date and notice period rather than assuming.
Should a small cleaning firm bid for public tenders?
It can, when the lots match its size and area. Read the requirements first, because some tenders ask for insurance, policies and references that take time to prepare.
How do I find out who manages a building?
Ask at reception, look for the managing agent named on the building's signs or letting details, and check the landlord's website.
About this page. Written by the Pebbles Ai team for people who run sales, marketing and growth. Last updated .
