Hi all. I’ve got to put together a bid proposal for an assisted living facility and I’m working on my new form. I want to make sure everything is spelled out properly and I don’t get boned, but with all the terms down on paper it looks so awfully negative. Here is a snippet of the form
Window Cleaning – $2768
All exterior glass and surrounding frames will be scrubbed and rinsed with a pure water cleaning system. Cleaning does not include glass restoration techniques such as hard water stain removal or scratch removal. Due to the composition of modern glass, razor blades can not and will not be used to remove impacted debris such as artillery fungus and paint overspray.
All interior glass will be cleaned with traditional squeegee tools. Access must be granted to resident’s rooms for glass cleaning. Windows obstructed by large objects such as dressers and desks will not be cleaned. Due to the liability inherent in handling delicate articles, objects must be moved from window sills in advance of the interior glass cleaning. Objects left on window sills will not be moved and the glass behind them will not be cleaned.
Track Cleaning - $525
Windows with tracks will be opened, and the tracks cleaned by vacuuming if necessary, then scrubbing, rinsing and wiping to remove dirt and debris. Track cleaning can not guarantee the removal of mildew, mold or fungus.
Screen Cleaning - $345
Screens will be moved outside and mechanically washed to remove dirt and pollen from the mesh. Screen frames will be wiped by hand. Screens must be removed by housekeeping prior to cleaning and set outside resident’s rooms before cleaning of exterior glass can begin. Windows with screens left in can not be cleaned from the outside.
Maybe I’m completely ignorant but the majority of mid sized commercial jobs I land were landed with plain and simple terms. Never really had much success when spelling out terms so fully.
I’d round it to $2750. In that dollar amount $18 is negligible.
Do you think it’s too much. I don’t do many places like that so… you might be right.
The points he is making make sense though. Basically telling them he isn’t responsible for moving large objects an he isn’t responsible for artillary fungis
The screens not a bad idea he is saving them money by having them remove an replace them.
You could be right though thrrr is always sone Joe smo who will do all those things with the he same price or cheaper , but so he it
I think he is better off listing those things rahrrr then when the time comes. An everything is in the way screens are still in place an ". You didn’t get off those little black things wasnt that part of it "
Maybe leave out we won’t clean if not removed. Sounds a little in your face
Just write please jace all break ankles moved upon arrival.
Then if you get it a reminder the week of
I’m not going to say spelling it out so thouroughly is right or wrong. I do however have a good amount of experience dropping bids on medium sized jobs like this and I can assure you, pretty confidently, my close rate is noticebly lower on the job proposals where I spelled out the terms.
I don’t know who your dealing with in terms of decision makers personality type but I’ve found that the majority of people in those positions tend to be too busy to read through terms and conditions pages.
I got ya. What happens thigh when you are in a position where you jace to move all the furniture An take out all the screens An if herr is a lot of fungus
Do you just bid it to do all of that, An Write it in the estimate what your doing ?
I guess you could just leave it out about furniture an beakables then before you do the job. just give a phone call an say please have all furniture An breakanles moved away from windows so we can jace access . It is common sense that that’s not part of window cleaning
Pretty much. Yes. I bid them high enough to cover any obstacles I come across and if I manage to avoid them it’s more money in my pocket. That said, if I have to remove all the screens with a scewdriver my price is going to reflect that.
I keep my proposals spelled out as plain and simple as possible. The simpler they are the higher the close rate.
I’m leaning towards leaving out. Just do the phone call week of to remind them to move breakable an furniture
Charge for the screen removal an if it’s just a little bit of fungus don’t even mention it just remove it with a blade. Get a scratch waiver
I am newer to the forum and profession but perhaps I can throw in my 2-cents. In my FT “job” I write many court documents, affidavits, proposals, policies, etc. I understand presentation. I noted your question was more about sounding negative. My thought is if you worded your proposal in a manner that you rid the “musts” to more of a backdoor approach yet saying the same thing it may loose much of the negative sound. I played with your initial part of the proposal a bit and added it below to show my thoughts. Please forgive me if I overstepped my place.
. Window Cleaning – $2768
Thank you for the opportunity to submit this proposal. Our company prides itself on knowledge of the industry, and professionalism with excellent results. The following will outline the details of the services we will provide:
All exterior glass and surrounding frames will be scrubbed and rinsed with a pure water cleaning system. However, the glass cleaning does not include glass restoration techniques such as hard water stain removal or scratch removal. This is partly due to the composition of modern glass, and our experience in the area of window restoration when using razor blades greatly increases the possibility of scratching and damaging glass. Therefore our company does not use razor blades to remove impacted debris such as artillery fungus and paint overspray.
All interior glass will be cleaned with traditional squeegee tools. We do require that access be made available to resident’s rooms for the glass cleaning and that any large objects which obstruct a window such as a dresser or desk please be removed by the time of our technicians arrival. In addition, due to the liability inherent in handling delicate articles, we also require that objects be removed from window sills in advance of the interior glass cleaning. Regretfully, objects left on window sills will not be moved and therefore the glass behind them cannot be cleaned. Your property is very important to us and we would hate to have anything accidently damaged. Thank you for your understanding.
Thank you all. These perspectives are very helpful. For some background info, the bid is going through a property manager, who will review it with a facilities manger before approving. The property manager and I are on friendly terms, so the fine print is mostly to make sure the facilities manager understands what exactly needs to happen and what he can expect with the cleaning. I do think @IronLionZion has a valid point about brevity, so perhaps the best route would be to trim down the verbiage on paper, then, if the proposal price is appealing enough to land the job, I can hammer out the details with the facilities manager myself before starting the work.
So here is what I’m leaning toward now
BID PROPOSAL FOR WINDOW CLEANING SERVICE
TO: The Windsor of Venice
1600 Center Rd
Venice, FL 34292
Window Cleaning – $2750
All exterior glass and surrounding frames will be scrubbed and rinsed with a pure water cleaning system.
All interior glass will be cleaned with traditional squeegee tools.
Track Cleaning - $525
Windows with tracks will be opened, and the tracks cleaned by vacuuming if necessary, then scrubbing, rinsing and wiping to remove dirt and debris. Track cleaning can not guarantee the removal of mildew, mold or fungus.
Screen Cleaning - $345
Screens will be collected and mechanically washed and rinsed outdoors to remove dirt and pollen from the mesh. Screen frames will be wiped by hand.
Total - $3620
Services are priced individually for your consideration. Please note that screens must be removed in any event to facilitate exterior glass cleaning.
Majority of the bids we submit are to property managers and the description of services is generally basic. Communication at walk thru or if awarded the bid when scheduling we’ll go over the expectations of removing breakables from the windows and clearing obstructions.
