CMM - January 2012
contractor success Marketing To Different Markets Targeting specific accounts uniquely will increase your likelihood of success By Michael Schaffer S tractor is structured to deliver consistent quality services that are designed to meet the customers needs and expectations Once this step is done many school districts will actually take all the approved vendors on a group bus tour visiting each building they will maintain if selected This means that for a couple of hours you will be sitting next to your competition Contractors are then provided with bidding packages that include square footage cleaning needs and other details that Selling to different vertical markets such as schools governments health care facilities or retail operations can vary considerably Some such as school districts and many government facilities tend to have a buying season usually in the spring or at the end of summer For JanSan distributors it is during this buying season that these types of facilities consider making larger purchases for example floor machines and carpet extractors After the season is over the JanSan distributor may provide them with small products cleaning chemicals paper goods and the like but will typically have to wait a year to market the bigger goods again unless the district needs to replace equipment or experiences significant growth For building service contractors BSCs in these markets the same buying season will likely apply What usually happens first is the school district selects BSCs who have asked to bid on the districts cleaning needs and who meet the districts specific requirements for such items as insurance and workers compensation The district may also ask for financial statements from the BSCs to verify the financial strength of the contractors Why would they do this In some cases the school district may take 45 to 60 days to pay its bills School districts want to make sure the BSC has sufficient funds to meet payroll and operating expenses during this time In addition more and more facilities are requiring BSCs to be Cleaning Industry Management Standard CIMS certified which serves to help ensure that the conmay affect a bid The same or a very similar process is carried out in many state and local government facilities as well Typically bids are due on a specific date and none will be considered after that date The winning bid is usually announced one to three months after the due date The Prized Vendors List For the health care and retail industries as well as many other markets such as Image courtesy of Tornado Industries Inc Touting an offering such as drapery vacuuming might appeal to a hospitality client but would not be so relevant to a retail location 34 CM Cleaning Maintenance Management January 2012
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