How to Get Commercial Cleaning Contracts (And When to Say No)

My sister Jen and I have commercial clients at Oak Bay Clean. So do Sandra in North Carolina, Thomas in Wyoming, Darren in Minnesota, and John in Austin. I have asked them how they got their first commercial contract. Most of them did not go looking for it. Commercial found them, and it found them through their residential reputation.

The short answer

• If you are just starting: build the residential business first. Get the Google reviews. Commercial clients search for the best-reviewed cleaning company in town and call you.
• If you have residential running and cash in the bank: say yes when commercial calls, and negotiate the payment terms before you say yes to anything else.
• If you have no cash reserve: do not take a commercial contract yet. You will pay your cleaners for 30 to 90 days before the client pays you.

How every owner we know got their commercial contracts

Thomas runs 307 Maid in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He has a contract cleaning move-outs on the local Air Force base, and he re-signed it for another four years. Here is how he won it: the base's previous contractor got complacent, the base called around town looking for a replacement, and several cleaning companies did not pick up the phone. Thomas did.

"We were very lucky that we are always here picking up our phones, and if we miss a call, we call back right away." Thomas, 307 Maid

That is the whole origin story of a four-year federal contract. He answered the phone.

Sandra runs Maid Knows Best in North Carolina. She has three commercial contracts: a chain of 7-Elevens, an apartment complex called the Bryce, and a company called Spruce that services luxury apartment buildings. The 7-Eleven contract started when a man called her out of the blue and asked for an estimate. She had never priced a commercial job in her life. She showed up in a skirt and heels, walked a gas station full of construction dust, and gave him a number.

John runs Swept Up in Austin. His biggest commercial month came from a nonprofit that turns community centres into shelters when the temperature drops below freezing. They found him through his Google Local Services ad, which was running for residential work. That one relationship billed $12,000 in January.

At Oak Bay Clean, our commercial clients all found us the same way: they searched for the best cleaning company near them, they read our reviews, and they called.

We do email property managers and realtors, every day. That outreach is how we get move-in and move-outs, which is a different animal from a recurring commercial contract. One of those emails went to a realtor named Danielle in September 2021. She has booked 47 cleans with us since, worth $16,718.34.

So the emails work, and what they bring you is a steady flow of one-time jobs from people who send you clients for years. The recurring commercial contract is the thing that arrives on its own, after the reviews are in place.

The cash flow trap

Residential clients pay by card. You hit charge, and the money is in your bank in a couple of days. Commercial clients pay on invoice, on terms. Net 30 is standard. Net 60 and net 90 exist. Meanwhile your cleaners want paying this week, because they have rent too.

So you are funding the gap out of your own pocket. That is fine when you have money. It is a slow disaster when you do not.

Numbers from owners who live this:

• Sandra has had $7,000 outstanding on the Bryce contract at one time, waiting on net 30 that sometimes was not even 30.
• We have months at Oak Bay Clean where we are $17,000 short, waiting on one commercial client. We know it is coming. It is still stressful.
• We took on a well-known company that then went bankrupt. We found out from the newspaper. We were owed three thousand dollars and eventually recovered $1,600. Jen's verdict: should have said no.
• Jake and Emmy in Dubuque, Iowa took an 8,000-square-foot commercial building in their first month. They were 6 to $8,000 of their own money in before the first cheque arrived. They told us that without the commercial job, they could have started the whole business for about $2,000.

The cash test: are you ready for commercial?

Before you sign anything, answer this. If this client pays you 90 days late, or never, can you still pay every cleaner on time and keep the lights on?

If the answer is no, you are not ready. Keep building residential. The commercial work will still be there, and you will be in a far stronger position to negotiate when you are not desperate for it.

"If you can't afford to wait that long, then just don't. All business is not good business." Darren, Divine Shine Cleaning

Negotiate the terms before you negotiate the price

Owners assume commercial terms are fixed. They are not always. Daniel at Clean Co Greenville assumed net 30 was the law until he asked for something better.

"I said, I'm going to need payment in net 10. And they said, sure, we usually turn around our invoices in 48 hours. I'm nobody's bank. I'm a little bitty business, I can't hold on to thousands of dollars for over a month." Daniel, Clean Co Greenville

What to ask for, in order:

• Card payment. If they will pay by card, take it and skip everything below. This is rare and worth asking for anyway.
• Net 10 or net 14. Ask. The worst they say is no, and some finance departments turn invoices around in 48 hours regardless of the stated terms.
• A late fee written into the contract. Darren has one in his commercial contract. It changes the conversation from a favour into a term.
• A deposit or first month up front on any contract large enough to hurt you.

Darren's framing is the one to carry into the room: you are not doing me a favour, I am doing you a favour. Price and terms both follow from that.

How to price a commercial job when you have never done one

Sandra had no idea what to charge for a 7-Eleven. She picked a number, the client countered with what he paid his crew in Virginia, and she said yes and then went and worked out whether the number made sense.

That is book and scramble applied to commercial, and it is how most owners learn. If you want a less nerve-wracking version:

• Walk the site. Always. Measure or pace the square footage. Sandra learned to read ceiling tiles because an electrician told her each block was two feet across.
• Work out how many cleaner-hours the job takes, then price so your cleaner earns well and you keep a margin that survives a slow month.
• Price windows and extras separately. Sandra charges per pane.
• Do not discount to win the first one. A cheap commercial contract that eats your cash and your cleaners is worse than no contract.

At Oak Bay Clean our commercial work is around 5 to 10% of revenue, we charge at least $50 an hour, and the cleaner takes 60% of that. Some contracts are $75 an hour. Our cleaners like commercial work.

Government contracts and certifications

Government work is the long game. It is slow, the paperwork is heavy, and the payment terms are exactly the ones that will hurt you if you are thin on cash. It is also steady, and it renews.

Darren is pursuing his MBE (Minority Business Enterprise) certification, which costs a few hundred dollars and opens doors on public contracts. Similar certifications exist for women-owned and veteran-owned businesses. If you qualify, get certified, because a lot of public bodies have targets to hit and they are looking for you.

Thomas's Air Force base contract came without any of that. It came from a phone call he answered.

If you want to go outbound anyway

One owner we know does chase commercial deliberately, and his system is worth stealing. Darren calls it the Golden Groove, and it runs on a four-week loop:

• Week 1: a personalised sales letter in a heavy black envelope, because a plain white one goes in the bin.
• Week 2: postcards.
• Week 3: a cold email and a cold Instagram message.
• Week 4: another round of postcards. Then it repeats.

His virtual assistants scrape target buildings into HubSpot: car dealerships, private schools, bowling alleys and hospitals. The theory is seven touches. A law firm he had been nurturing for six months eventually called him, said their existing cleaner had stopped communicating, and asked for a walkthrough. He cleans their office every week now. Envelopes cost him about 65 dollars for 250 on Amazon. Stamps are the expensive part, and it is still cheaper than Google Local Services.

That system works because he is already established and has the cash to fund the gap. It is not where you start.

The order that works

Build residential. Get the reviews. Answer the phone. Bank some cash. Then say yes to commercial when it calls you, on terms you set.

Jen and I did it in that order. If someone else has already done it, why can't you?

Frequently asked questions

How do you get your first commercial cleaning contract?

In practice, commercial finds you. Build your residential business, get reviews on your Google Business Profile, and answer the phone. Property managers and business owners search for the best-reviewed cleaning company in town and call. Thomas won an Air Force base contract because he picked up the phone when several other companies in town did not, and has since re-signed it for another four years.

How much should I charge for commercial cleaning?

Walk the site, work out the cleaner-hours, and price so your cleaner earns well and you keep a margin. At Oak Bay Clean we charge at least $50 an hour for commercial and some contracts are $75 an hour, with the cleaner taking 60%. Price windows and extras separately.

What payment terms should I accept on a cleaning contract?

Ask for card payment first. Then ask for net 10 or net 14 rather than assuming net 30 is fixed. Daniel at Clean Co Greenville asked for net 10 and got it. Put a late fee in the contract, and take a deposit on anything large enough to hurt you if it goes unpaid.

Why is commercial cleaning risky for a new business?

Cash flow. Commercial clients pay on invoice, typically 30 to 90 days after the work. Your cleaners still need paying now. You fund that gap yourself. Sandra has had $7,000 outstanding at once, and we have had months at Oak Bay Clean where we were $17,000 short waiting on one client.

What happens if a commercial client goes bankrupt?

You lose what you are owed. We took on a well-known company that went bankrupt, and we found out from the newspaper. We were owed three thousand dollars and recovered $1,600. That risk is why we keep commercial to a small share of revenue and keep residential as the engine.

Should I cold call property managers for cleaning contracts?

You can, and Darren does it well with a four-week direct mail and email loop he calls the Golden Groove. It works because he is established and has cash to fund the payment gap. If you are starting out, your time is better spent on residential clients who pay by card in two days.

Do I need certifications to get commercial cleaning contracts?

Not for most private contracts. For public and government work, certifications like MBE (Minority Business Enterprise) can open doors, and similar programs exist for women-owned and veteran-owned businesses. Many public bodies have targets to hit and are looking for certified suppliers.

What percentage of my revenue should be commercial?

At Oak Bay Clean commercial is around 5 to 10% of revenue, and we like it there. Residential pays in two days by card and carries no bankruptcy risk. Commercial is a useful supplement once you have a cash cushion, and a dangerous foundation before you do.