How do you get cleaning contracts with educational facilities?

Educational facilities always have areas that need cleaning, such as classrooms, locker rooms, and lobbies. That’s why they rely on consistent, reliable janitorial services.  

However, landing a school cleaning contract requires a slightly different approach compared to other industries. From strict safety standards to formal bidding processes, schools follow more structured procurement methods.

Here’s how you can stand out and win school cleaning contracts:

1. Ensure you have the right crew for the job

Before bidding on a school cleaning contract, ensure your janitorial staff can pass a criminal background check. This is a crucial requirement for many schools, as your team will work in child-centered environments. 

Educational institutions prioritize cleaning companies that have vetted, trustworthy workers. As such, you must ensure the crew is cleared in advance to demonstrate professionalism and improve your chances of getting the contract.

2. Maintain a low turnover rate

Schools prefer stable cleaning agencies that demonstrate professionalism, reliability, and security for students, teachers, and other staff. Having a steady cleaning crew before applying for a contract is essential to securing a good deal. 

High employee turnover rates are a huge red flag that highlights instability, poor vetting, inadequate training, and a lack of trust. To be considered, you must show the institution that your company is a low-risk, long-term partner.  

3. Research opportunities

With a vetted, stable team, your next step is to research local schools and identify potential opportunities for your company.

Here’s how to do it effectively:

• Define your target area. How far can the cleaning crew travel? Then, decide what kind of institution—public, private, college, or charter school—you’d like to target.  

• Search for schools using online directories, e.g., State Department of Education websites, local school district websites, Google Maps (search ‘schools near me’), private school directories, and university and college databases.

• Visit each school’s website for requests for proposals, open bids, or vendor registration forms. 

• Find out who is responsible for decision-making in those schools, e.g., the facility manager, principal, administrator, procurement officer, or operations director. 

• Reach out in person to express interest. You can also email or call. 

4. Prepare documents and draft proposals

Next, compile everything you’ll need to draft a proposal. This includes: 

• Insurance documents

• References

• Certifications

• Specific services offered

• Breakdown of fees

• Experience with cleaning educational facilities

Familiarize yourself with the school’s procedures for hiring contractors and ensure the documents comply with the requirements.

Write the proposal following their process, including detailed cleaning plans covering different areas of the school, the cost of each service, and safety protocols to protect occupants.

To make the proposal stand out, it needs to:

• Be tailored to the school's specific needs

• Showcase a deep understanding of industry trends and standards

• Incentivize the decision maker, e.g., through a discount

5. Close the deal with a follow-up

Check in regularly with the school to demonstrate your interest in getting the contract. This can be done with a visit, email, or phone call. 

Remain patient and professional during the process, and ask if there is additional information you need to provide.  

To seal the deal, ensure everyone understands the contract’s terms and conditions before signing.

What are the requirements to qualify for educational building cleaning contracts?

Your business needs to meet the required safety, health, compliance, and service quality standards to secure cleaning contracts. 

The key criteria often required include:

Compliance and legal requirements

There are numerous safety regulations schools must adhere to regarding cleaning, such as the chemicals and cleaning supplies they use. Your business needs to comply with these rules to secure a contract. Here are a few of them:

• COSHH Compliance: The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) requires that cleaning products and procedures prioritize the safety of children and staff. Your cleaning crew must be familiar with these regulations, and your bid must reflect this expertise. 

• Background checks: Cleaning staff must undergo checks for sexual misconduct and child abuse, because they’ll be working in the presence of children. 

• Insurance: Your business must provide liability insurance and workers’ compensation coverage to protect your company and the institution. 

Experience and track record

Next, you need to strongly highlight your experience in cleaning educational or similar institutions.

Include evidence of past contracts (without divulging sensitive information) and share references. Show your company’s quality-maintenance procedures to strengthen the application. 

Staffing and management

Educational facilities prefer companies that can provide on-site supervision and help maintain high cleaning standards. 

Schools also favor businesses with consistent, long-term staff. This ensures continuity and prevents unauthorized individuals from accessing their property.

Scope of services

Show the educational institutions a comprehensive overview of your services—daily cleaning, deep cleaning, or ad hoc janitorial services. Explain how flexible the team can be in adjusting their schedule for school events and emergencies.   

If you use sustainable products and cleaning methods, highlight that in your proposal.

Proposal quality

Finally, ensure that you prepare a clear, detailed proposal that includes the building plans, cleaning method and specifications, pricing, references, and insurance documents. Tailor it to the facility’s needs. 

Before writing a proposal, visit the site to understand the property’s layout. This highlights your commitment to providing high-quality services and maintaining a safe and healthy educational environment. Plus, it will help your proposal stand out.  

What should be included in an educational cleaning proposal?

While meeting the requirements places your company in a strong competitive position, securing the contract ultimately depends on drafting and submitting a compelling proposal. 

Here’s what to include in yours: 

• Cover letter and executive summary: This is the section to dazzle decision-makers with compelling copy. Introduce your company and expand on your interest in providing cleaning services to the institution. Highlight its needs and how you intend to address them, demonstrating what sets you apart.

• Company profile: Share additional information about the cleaning business—years of experience, past clients and projects, mission, and details about the cleaning team. Include certifications obtained and background checks.

• Scope of work: Specify all the cleaning services offered, how often they’ll be performed, the cleaning methods to be used, and other special cleaning services provided.

• Health and safety practices: Outline your company’s cleaning process, including compliance with health regulations, use of approved chemicals, and sustainability initiatives. 

• Staffing and supervision: List the personnel on your team, including their qualifications, experience, training, and certifications. Explain how you intend to monitor their performance and maintain quality standards.

• Insurance: Provide proof of business licenses, permits, liability, and workers’ compensation coverage. Outline how your company adheres to federal or state regulations.  

• Pricing and payment terms: Include a detailed estimate for each service, along with any additional charges or optional services. Explain how and when payments should be made.

• Terms and conditions: Highlight key information, including contract duration, renewal terms, satisfaction guarantees, quality commitments, and termination clauses, in the proposal. 

• Case studies and testimonials: Share positive feedback from past educational clients. 

• Next steps: Provide clear steps the client should take after reviewing the proposal. Should they sign for approval or contact your business?

What are the common challenges when securing school cleaning contracts?

A strong proposal could help you secure a school cleaning contract. However, specific bottlenecks along the way could make the process difficult. 

Below are some challenges you could face:

Let’s look at each one in more detail:

1. High competition

The cleaning industry is a $110 billion market, and it’s highly competitive. 

This makes it difficult for clients to choose a service provider easily. Many actually pick cleaning vendors based on price, driving down profit margins and instigating price wars.  

You need a unique selling point to stand out in such a competitive market. Ask yourself: what would make a client choose my service? 

This can be: 

• Offering niche cleaning services, e.g., green cleaning and disinfection.

• Investing in a reputable online presence rife with real-client testimonials that inspire prospects to trust you.

• Providing personalized service to each client.

2. High labor shortage and turnover rate

Do you know that 63% of cleaning companies have recruiting and retention challenges?

One of the main reasons for this challenge is the idea that cleaning is a low-skill job. Janitorial staff consider it a transitional role, leading to constant turnover and greater hiring, training, and onboarding costs. 

Furthermore, inconsistent workers make it difficult for the cleaning company to maintain high-quality standards. 

Most schools don’t want to hire a firm with a high turnover rate, as it means working with unvetted individuals who pose a security risk to their institution.    

Here’s how you can attract labor and reduce turnover: 

• Offer a competitive salary.

• Provide a clear career path to grow within the company.

• Create a great working environment where opinions are heard, concerns are resolved, and hard work is recognized fairly.

3. Strict budget limitation

Despite the high cleaning requirements schools typically demand, many, especially public institutions, have a limited budget. 

You’d have to adjust your pricing to align with their budgets, which could mean a small profit margin. The solution is to find ways to offer value without compromising quality, e.g.:

• Tiered-service pricing allows schools to select a cleaning program based on their needs and budget. 

• Find ways to reduce labor costs, e.g., smart scheduling or cross-training employees. 

• Demonstrating your value to the school community and what you offer compared to other short-term alternatives.

4. Complex bidding process

Schools follow strict cleaning and safety regulations, which are often built into their procurement processes. 

To win a cleaning contract, janitorial companies need to understand these standards and meet the school’s bidding requirements. 

This means tailoring your application to align with their expectations, and that can be tough. In fact, overlooking the tiniest bid details could disqualify your business. 

Here’s how you can address these challenges: 

• Review the school’s procurement guide and take note of essential documents and evaluation criteria.  

• Customize bidding templates to reflect the client’s request rather than using generic wording. 

• Visit the site before creating and sending your bid.

5. Proving long-term value

Schools don’t typically invest in one-off cleaners; they go with partners who can be with them for the long haul. You need to show you can deliver consistent value over time, or you may lose the bid to cleaning providers offering similar services.

One of the best ways to do that is to showcase your expertise and experience by providing references that the clients can contact.

Mistakes to avoid when pursuing school cleaning contracts

With high competition in the cleaning industry, it’s crucial to avoid actions that can hurt your chances of securing a school cleaning contract or negatively harm your business. 

These avoidable errors include:

• Underpricing a bid to win the contract: This might secure the contract, but you’ll lose profits and likely run into a loss. Remember you’re running a business, and it’s through constant cash flow that the company can grow. So price the contract correctly, with healthy profit margins. 

• Missing proposal deadlines: It’s never a good sign to miss a proposal deadline, as it reflects untrustworthiness and disorganization on your part. If you can, plan to submit the proposal at least two days before the deadline. This helps you identify and correct mistakes before submitting. 

• Submitting a generic proposal: Clients know when applicants don’t do their homework and submit generic bids. It highlights insufficient attention to detail, which reflects poorly on your proposal. Let prospective clients see that you’ve taken the time to understand the property and can be trusted to maintain its hygiene and safety. 

• Failing to attend pre-bid meetings: While these meetings are typically optional, skipping them could affect your application. You miss the chance to ask vendor questions, clarify expectations, and build rapport with decision-makers.

How does janitorial management software help in managing school cleaning contracts?

Winning and managing school cleaning contracts requires more than just doing the work; you must stay organized, consistent, and professional to succeed.  

Janitorial management software helps you do just that. Here’s how it supports and manages your operations:

Winning contracts

Cleaning management tools like Aspire help you win cleaning contracts by streamlining the bidding process. Instead of starting from scratch, you have access to customizable estimate templates to create and send proposals quickly. 

Aspire’s CRM feature simplifies collecting prospects’ information and tracking leads through the pipeline. 

There’s also the invoicing feature for easy payment collection. 

Real-time analytics and reporting

Wouldn’t it be nice to know what specific services in your cleaning contracts generate the most revenue? Which cleaning service is in high demand? How much profit do existing contracts generate monthly? Which cleaning crew brings in the most money?

That’s what the analytics and reporting feature of janitorial management software like Aspire offers. 

It provides actionable insights into your cleaning company’s operations to help you adapt and grow. 

No more guessing what could work for your janitorial business. Instead, you track real performance metrics and job cost data to monitor how every aspect of your company operates, enabling you to make informed decisions. 

Contract management

In addition to the estimate templates for creating branded proposals, Aspire’s janitorial management tool simplifies contract renewal for existing clients. Customers can visit the client portal and get that sorted in minutes.

How do you retain school cleaning contracts?

Retaining clients means steady income for your cleaning company. But when it comes to educational institutions, you need to go beyond doing a decent job. 

Here’s what a robust retention strategy includes:

• Proactive communication: Schedule regular meetings with school staff to keep them updated on the project. Share monthly updates on completed work, including pictures and videos when possible. 

Discuss issues with the client and have regular calls to review satisfaction and expectations. This shows the school that you’re concerned about its needs. 

• Maintain a consistently high level of service quality: Ensure your crew uses an educational building cleaning checklist as a guide during cleaning. 

Ask clients for their feedback on completed work and address concerns. You should also train your staff on new methods and cleaning equipment to maintain consistency.   

• Upsell additional services: Train your cleaning staff to spot upsell opportunities. If you’re only hired to clean the bathroom, offer add-on services to deep clean the windows, sinks, or urinals once a month. 

• Be open to feedback: Ensure you’re rarely on the defensive when the client provides feedback. Always endeavor to stay calm, respectful, and focused on finding a solution for everyone. This builds trust and helps maintain a positive, long-term relationship.

Over to you!

Getting a school cleaning contract is relatively straightforward:

• Research local educational facilities

• Ensure you have what it takes to send a proposal

• Prepare a robust proposal document and send it 

Bottom line? You always need to know what’s going on in your company. 

However, that’s easier said than done. 

With the amount of meetings, training, commuting, and cleaning you must do, keeping track of everything can be tough. 

Aspire helps you simplify that process with its analytics and reporting features, which provide operational insights. It also simplifies estimates and contract management, helping you send project-winning proposals to potential clients. 

Schedule a demo to get first-row seats to see how Aspire can help manage your company.