How to Write a Commercial Cleaning Proposal That Wins Contracts

You nailed the walkthrough. Your pricing is solid. Your labor hours are dialed in. Then you email over a one-page quote in a plain spreadsheet — and lose to a competitor who charges more than you.

This happens constantly in commercial cleaning. The company with the better proposal wins, not the company with the lower price. Facility managers evaluate professionalism, clarity, and confidence before they ever compare numbers. Your proposal is the first impression of what it would be like to work with you.

Here's how to write one that closes.

What You'll Learn

The 6 sections every winning proposal needs
How to write a scope of work that eliminates disputes
How to present pricing without triggering sticker shock
Terms and conditions that protect your business
The formatting and presentation details that matter
Common proposal mistakes and how to avoid them

The 6 Sections of a Winning Proposal

Every commercial cleaning proposal should include these sections, in this order:

Introduction / Cover Letter
Company Overview
Scope of Work
Pricing
Terms & Conditions
Signature / Acceptance

Skip any one of these and you look less professional than whoever includes them all. Let's break each one down.

1. Introduction / Cover Letter

This is your first paragraph — the one most BSCs skip entirely. Don't just jump into numbers. Start with a brief, professional letter that:

Thanks them for the opportunity to bid
References the facility walkthrough date
Names the specific property and address
Summarizes what you're proposing at a high level

Example:

Thank you for the opportunity to provide a cleaning proposal for Riverside Office Park, located at 4200 Commerce Drive, Suite 100-300. Following our walkthrough on February 10, we have prepared a comprehensive cleaning program tailored to your 28,000-square-foot facility. Our goal is to maintain a clean, healthy environment for your tenants while providing reliable, consistent service.

Keep it to 2-3 short paragraphs. No fluff, no mission statements. Just confidence and specifics.

Pro Tip

Personalize every proposal. Mention something specific from the walkthrough — a concern they raised, a problem area you noticed, or a requirement they emphasized. This signals that you listened and aren't sending a cookie-cutter template.

2. Company Overview

One short section about your company. Facility managers want to know:

How long you've been in business
What types of facilities you service
Number of employees
Insurance coverage (general liability + workers comp)
Any certifications (ISSA CIMS, GBAC STAR, etc.)
References (optional — but powerful if you have them)

Keep this to half a page maximum. They'll Google you anyway — this section just needs to establish baseline credibility.

What NOT to include:

Your full company history
Generic mission/vision statements
Stock photos
Anything that doesn't help them decide to hire you

3. Scope of Work

This is the most important section. The scope of work (SOW) defines exactly what you will clean, how often, and to what standard. A vague scope leads to disputes. A detailed scope protects both sides.

Structure Your Scope by Area

Break the facility into areas and list the tasks for each one:

| Area | Tasks | Frequency | |------|-------|-----------| | General Office (12,000 sqft) | Vacuum carpet, empty trash, dust surfaces, spot-clean glass | 5x/week | | Restrooms (6 units) | Clean and sanitize fixtures, mop floors, restock supplies, disinfect touchpoints | 5x/week | | Lobby / Common Areas (3,200 sqft) | Dust mop hard floors, clean glass entry doors, wipe furniture, vacuum walk-off mats | 5x/week | | Break Room / Kitchen (800 sqft) | Clean counters and sink, wipe appliances, mop floor, empty trash | 5x/week | | Hard Floors (8,000 sqft VCT) | Dust mop and damp mop | 5x/week | | Hard Floors (8,000 sqft VCT) | Strip and wax | 2x/year |

Include Frequencies

Every task needs a frequency. The standard options:

Daily (or X times per week) — routine cleaning
Weekly — detail tasks like high dusting, glass cleaning
Monthly — carpet spot treatment, deep restroom cleaning
Quarterly — window washing, hard floor maintenance
Semi-annually / Annually — strip and wax, carpet extraction

Specify What's NOT Included

This is just as important as what's included. Common exclusions:

Exterior window cleaning above first floor
Pressure washing
Pest control
Snow removal
Hazardous waste or biohazard cleanup
Supply restocking (paper products, soap) — clarify who provides these

If you don't call out exclusions, the client will assume everything is included. Then you're doing free work or having an uncomfortable conversation later.

The Scope Narrative

Above your task tables, include a brief narrative paragraph that summarizes the overall cleaning program. This gives context before the reader dives into the details:

We propose a comprehensive five-day-per-week cleaning program covering all interior spaces of Riverside Office Park. Our team will perform nightly cleaning between 6:00 PM and 10:00 PM, focusing on high-traffic areas, restroom sanitation, and floor care. Periodic services include quarterly carpet extraction and semi-annual hard floor refinishing.

This paragraph sets expectations for the entire engagement in 3-4 sentences.

4. Pricing

How you present your price matters as much as the number itself.

Lead with Monthly Price

Always present pricing as a monthly number. Never lead with the annual total — it triggers sticker shock. A facility manager can easily process "$3,200/month" but "$38,400/year" feels like a bigger decision, even though it's the same.

Show What's Included

Present your pricing in a clear summary:

| Item | Monthly | |------|---------| | Routine cleaning (5x/week) | $2,850 | | Restroom supply restocking | $200 | | Quarterly carpet extraction (amortized) | $150 | | Total Monthly Investment | $3,200 |

Use the word "investment" instead of "cost." Small language choice, but it frames the relationship differently.

Don't Itemize Your Cost Breakdown

Your proposal should never show:

Your hourly labor cost or burden rate
Number of labor hours per visit
Your profit margin
Supply cost per square foot
Any internal cost data

These numbers are for your internal calculations. The client sees the price and the value — not your margins. If they ask for a cost breakdown, provide a task-level breakdown (what you're doing), not a cost-level breakdown (what it costs you).

Offer Options (Optional but Effective)

Some BSCs include 2-3 pricing tiers:

| Plan | Frequency | Monthly Price | |------|-----------|---------------| | Standard | 3x/week | $2,100 | | Professional | 5x/week | $3,200 | | Premium | 5x/week + day porter | $5,400 |

This gives the client control and often leads them to pick the middle option. It also prevents the binary yes/no decision — instead, they're choosing which level.

5. Terms & Conditions

This section protects your business. Keep it professional but clear:

Essential Terms

Contract term: 12, 24, or 36 months (with auto-renewal clause)
Payment terms: Net 15 or Net 30 from invoice date
Price escalation: Annual increase tied to CPI or a fixed percentage (2-3%)
Cancellation: 30-day written notice required from either party
Insurance: Specify your coverage amounts (general liability, workers comp, bonding)
Scope changes: Additional services outside the SOW will be quoted separately
Access: Client provides keys, access codes, and alarm instructions

Terms to Include for Protection

Indemnification: Standard mutual indemnification clause
Force majeure: Protection for events outside your control
Dispute resolution: Specify mediation before litigation
Late payment: 1.5% monthly interest on overdue invoices

If you don't have a lawyer review your terms, at minimum use the standard language from your industry association. Bad terms — or no terms at all — can cost you far more than a lost contract.

6. Signature / Acceptance

End with a clear acceptance section:

Restate the monthly price and contract term
Two signature lines (your company and the client)
Date fields
A simple statement: "By signing below, both parties agree to the terms outlined in this proposal."

Make it easy to say yes. If signing requires printing, scanning, and mailing back — you're creating friction. Use a digital signature tool or at minimum accept email confirmation.

Formatting and Presentation

Details that separate professional proposals from amateur ones:

Branding

Your company logo on every page
Consistent colors that match your brand
Professional font (not Comic Sans, not Times New Roman)
Clean header and footer with your contact info

Length

Sweet spot: 4-8 pages for a standard commercial cleaning proposal
Under 4 pages feels thin and unsubstantial
Over 10 pages and nobody reads it

Delivery Format

PDF only. Never send a Word doc (they can edit it) or Excel file (it looks like a quote, not a proposal)
Name the file professionally: BidLoom_Cleaning_Proposal_Riverside_Office_Park.pdf
Send with a brief, professional email — not just an attachment with no context

Common Proposal Mistakes

1. The one-page quote A single page with a price and a few bullet points. This isn't a proposal — it's a napkin estimate. You'll lose to anyone who submits a real proposal.

2. Vague scope of work "General cleaning services 5x per week" is not a scope. What areas? What tasks? What frequency? Vagueness breeds disputes and scope creep.

3. Showing your cost breakdown Never reveal your labor rates, margins, or internal costs. The client doesn't need this information and it only weakens your negotiating position.

4. No terms and conditions Operating without terms means no cancellation protection, no late payment recourse, and no price escalation. You're betting on a handshake.

5. Generic copy-paste Facility managers can spot a template that wasn't customized. Reference their specific building, their concerns from the walkthrough, and their unique requirements.

6. Slow follow-up Send the proposal within 48 hours of the walkthrough. Every day you wait, your win probability drops. The first professional proposal on their desk has an enormous advantage.

Build Proposals Faster

Writing a professional proposal for every bid is time-consuming. That's the reality — most BSCs spend 1-2 hours per proposal on formatting, scope writing, and layout alone.

BidLoom automates this entire process. The 5-step bid wizard calculates your labor hours from ISSA production rates, applies your full burden rate, and generates a branded PDF proposal with your scope of work, pricing, and terms — in minutes instead of hours. The AI proposal writer can draft your introduction, scope narrative, and terms automatically, which you can review and customize before sending.

Build your first proposal free — no credit card required.

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