Not much luck getting into commercial cleaning... hwe? Encap? What can I do?

[encapman]

I have been giving prices, based on my hwe price of about .25 per square foot.  Each time I end up too high...example:

Both examples pretty trashed...

2600 Sq ft of Chinese Buffet-- $600 with them moving everything.  Told they got a hwe price of $400...

3000 Sq ft Chicken Wing place--$700 with me moving everything.  Told they currently pay $350 for hwe.  Said my price was way way too high.

So, what can I do to compete?  

 First of all,  you might want to get more fussy about the type of accounts that you are going after. A chicken joint and a Chinese buffet would not even be on my radar. 

Target accounts that can be productive. Restaurants are normally some of the worst customers out there. Typically they are greasy, under cleaned, under paying, late night work, with ridiculous amounts of furniture to move.  Who wants that? 

Shoot for stores, offices, hotels, schools, doctors offices, hospitals,  bowling alleys, airports, etc. 

After you consider going for a higher end client… Next you'll want to look at your pricing. Generally speaking, .25 per square foot is on the higher end for commercial carpet cleaning.  You might get that sometimes but normally it falls between .10-$.20 per square foot. That's more in range with the averages we see around the country.

 Next, get out and get in front of the decision-maker. Drop off a good-looking flyer. Direct them to your website. Do a free demo. Inspect their carpet and show them how you will improve things. Write up a proposal.  Let them know about your satisfaction guarantee. Explain how you will solve their commercial carpet cleaning problems. Continue to call back on them. Good follow-through pays off. 

 Those are just a few ideas that might help. Hope you get things rolling!