When you are bidding on a big company, it is important that you have a very good “bid packet”. Usually small businesses are not particular with this and they are used to receive only a one-page bid. But if you are dealing with big companies, make your bid as comprehensive as possible. Put complete detail of your services. If ever you win the bid, it only means that you had prepared a very good bid packet. But remember that your actual cleaning performance must be good as your bid.

The things to include in a good bid packet are:

Cover Page – Put your logo and the name of your business. Include in the title the company name of your customer like “A Cleaning Proposal for MMB Corporation”.

Table of Contents – This is helpful especially if your bid has many pages. This would facilitate easy access to the specific information your customer is interested with.

Information About Your Business – Give information about your business for the potential client's reference. Imply that your company can solve their cleaning concerns. Make a justification how unique your business is and indicate particular types of services that your company is good at.

Cover Letter for Your Bid Proposal – Include a brief introduction and the information about counting days of bid, duration of service, and the price. Also indicate other provisions like the restrooms. Show gratitude for giving you a chance to participate in their bidding process.

List of Specifications – If they provided you list of specifications, you have to include it in your bid package. But if there is no list available, give your own criteria. Often times the customers do not know the details of the cleaning jobs they want to be done, so you can offer services based from your list.

Contract – Make your contract short and easy to understand. One page or two is enough because a longer one will have more jargon terms which may confuse your customer. Again state your list of prices with the terms of payment, duration of effectivity of the contract, date of the start of cleaning service, procedures on termination the contract, and a space for the signature of both parties.

References – Include a list of referrals from your customers. Put columns on other information about their referral like the name of company, address, name of contact person, and contact number.

Carefully package your Bid Packet to make it elegant and impressive. You may put it in a nice binder depending on your creativity. Use a plain cover to show your logo in the cover sheet during your presentation. When you submit your revised proposal, if possible, give the proposal personally to your customer. To do this you need to first set an appointment with him.

For sure you will receive positive comments if you carefully prepare your bid packet and you will be happier if your prospective client chooses your cleaning company.

For more: How to start a cleaning business