Okay, the economy is in a rough state. We’re seeing costs fluctuate wildly for just about everything. Maybe you just started a cleaning business or you’re trying to keep your existing cleaning business going. Either way, you might be at a loss for how to price your cleaning services, without ending up at a loss.
Here, we’ll explain commercial cleaning service pricing strategies, charging for different services, other pricing factors, and how to keep new contracts flowing through your business pipeline. Stay until the end for the answers to all your FAQs.
Pricing Strategies for Your Commercial Cleaning Business
Before we break everything down, here are some principles to consider when deciding on a payment structure for your commercial cleaning business:
Transparency
You want to build trust and rapport to turn new clients into long-term customers. So don’t cover up the truth about your prices and surprise clients later with hidden fees. Instead, demonstrate your unique value and selling points as a cleaning business, because you know your services are worth the cost.
Flexibility
Give clients some wiggle room in what services they do and do not want, and charge accordingly. Also, it offers lower rates for more frequent cleaning jobs and sensible discounts for referrals, brand-new clients, etc. Promotions like these sacrifice some of your short-term profits for long-term gains.
Flat Fee vs. Square Footage vs. Other Pay Structures
Depending on your commercial cleaning business, some pricing strategies might be more advantageous than others.
If you plan on charging by the square foot, rates typically vary based on the size of the space. Using a sliding scale is common, charging more per square foot for smaller spaces and offering more economical rates for larger facilities.
Alternatively, it might benefit you to have flat monthly rates that scale according to office size, with smaller offices paying significantly less than larger facilities.
How to Charge Clients for Various Types of Cleaning Services
Here’s a breakdown of how to charge clients for various kinds of cleaning services:
Janitorial Cleaning
Janitorial services are slightly different, and prices typically vary based on the scope of work. A client may request individual extra tasks from janitorial services, which would be priced separately:
- Appliances: Priced per appliance
- Floor stripping/waxing: Higher rates due to specialized equipment and labor
- Machine-cleaning tile or concrete floors: Priced according to square footage
- Buffing: Varies based on floor type and square footage
- Spot and stain cleaning: Priced based on size and complexity
Deep Cleaning
Those occasional deep cleans will vary greatly in cost depending on the type of space, its features, commercial cleaning scope, and intensity. Commercial deep cleanings are typically priced based on square footage, with costs increasing proportionally as the size of the space increases.
Kitchen Cleaning
Smaller, break room-type kitchens may be priced per room or square foot. Large commercial kitchens tend to cost more to clean, with additional costs if any specialized tasks like kitchen hood cleaning are needed.
Window Cleaning
You should price windows separately, with rates varying depending on their size and height. Higher or more difficult-to-access windows typically command premium rates.
Carpet Cleaning
There are different carpet cleaning methods, such as steam cleaning, shampooing, encapsulation, hot water extraction, and stain treatment. Pricing varies based on the method used, with more intensive treatments commanding higher rates.
Floor Cleaning
Let’s itemize by different hard flooring materials and procedures:
- Concrete/tile/grout scrubbing: Priced based on square footage and condition
- Floor polishing/waxing: Higher rates due to multi-step process
- Marble/terrazzo refinishing: Premium pricing reflecting specialized expertise required
Regular Disinfection
Commercial cleaners often have a tiered pricing scheme for regular disinfecting, too. Standard disinfection prices typically decrease per square foot as the total area increases, reflecting the efficiency gained when servicing larger spaces.
Four Factors to Consider When Pricing Commercial Cleaning Services
Your commercial cleaning service prices should leave you with ample profit margins after you pay for labor, resources, and insurance. So strategically calculate your prices based on these determining factors:
Building Type, Size, and Rooms
The type of commercial space and rooms play an important role because these factors impact the amount of work, staff, and resources required to clean the space.
Rates per square foot are one of the more common pricing schemes, especially for larger offices. You might charge more per square foot for smaller offices to cover the base amount of effort required to clean small spaces and cramped layouts.
Adjust for the amount of kitchen/break room space and restrooms, because they’re more demanding to clean.
Frequency
When you often clean a certain commercial space, each visit takes less work, so you might charge less per cleaning. On the other hand, infrequent or one-time cleanings often involve more cleaning, meaning more effort and costs.
Resources and Cleaning Utilities
Factor in all transportation costs, cleaning products, supplies, equipment, and maintenance. Your business costs might be going up these days. This may slightly increase your commercial cleaning prices unless your business and profits are growing fast enough to cancel out your operating costs.
Labor Costs and Insurance
If you have employees, you have to be able to pay their wages, plus any related taxes, overtime, benefits, and liability insurance. It’s important to be insured because there are occupational hazards in the cleaning industry.
How to Keep Your Commercial Cleaning Company’s Pipeline Full
Secure your commercial cleaning company’s future and counteract those seemingly inevitable increases in operating costs. The best way to do it is to constantly upscale your business sustainably as much as possible.
You must focus on efficiently feeding your pipeline towards new client contracts. Becoming a subcontractor is one of the most reliable ways to gain more commercial cleaning contracts as a budding or small business.
Then, a more established company can handle all the business technicalities and provide you with a pipeline of new clients. Contact Dallas Janitorial Services if you’re interested in janitorial subcontractor opportunities in the DFW area.
Frequently Asked Questions About Commercial Cleaning
How do you quote an office cleaning job?
Before providing an office cleaning quote, you should do an on-site walkthrough and consultation about the services and their costs.
What is the profit margin for commercial cleaning?
Commercial cleaning companies typically maintain healthy profit margins when properly structured and managed.
How much should I charge for cleaning?
Charge enough to cover your labor, resource, transportation, insurance, and other operating costs with healthy profits left over.
How much should I charge for a one-off cleaning?
It depends on the factors above, but you’ll likely charge a little extra for one-time cleanings because they tend to be more labor-intensive and less efficient business-wise.
How do you determine your cleaning prices?
Do you charge a flat rate, by the square foot, or another pricing structure? Did you learn anything you could do differently for your commercial cleaning company?
If you’re considering becoming a vendor, contact us at Dallas Janitorial Services for more information.
