[benny donnelly]

OK so I have been trying to get some government contract work like the dole offices, schools, health centres etc and tbh am getting nowhere..

I cant even get talking to the right person as no-one seems to know who deals with this, one person told me to watch for tendering in the local paper and on there website but thats not really much help.

In my areas there is 1 company that seem to have it all sewn up and seem to be getting more and more work all the time, I want a slice of the action or even an attempt to try get some of the work but I make no ground on any attempt.

Has anyone done/tried something similar?

I dont care how I p off are upset tbh all I want is an opportunity to put my case on the table to at least be considered.

[windiewasher]

Mate i have took a telesales person on.first day today and already have 3 quotes to do.2 schools and a restaurant/bar very large.
Shes doing 4 hours a week and got me them 3 meetings in 2 hours.
Yes,theres no guarantee they will accept my quotes but i have the chance to get them jobs i wouldnt normally get.
 im pushing the commercial side.ive got some very nice commercial work but more the merrier in my opinion.

[Llaaww]

They have no money. Simples. They will do the bare minimum, and washing windows is very low down the food chain.

[dave0123]

I wouldnt bother, they want the cheapest quotes they will drop you like a shot when someone comes along a pound cheaper.. and you can wait around 1-2 months for your money!

[roundbuilder]

Mate i have took a telesales person on.first day today and already have 3 quotes to do.2 schools and a restaurant/bar very large.
Shes doing 4 hours a week and got me them 3 meetings in 2 hours.
Yes,theres no guarantee they will accept my quotes but i have the chance to get them jobs i wouldnt normally get.
 im pushing the commercial side.ive got some very nice commercial work but more the merrier in my opinion.

What company are you using mate? Anychance you could pass her my way after??.

[windiewasher]

Mate i have took a telesales person on.first day today and already have 3 quotes to do.2 schools and a restaurant/bar very large.
Shes doing 4 hours a week and got me them 3 meetings in 2 hours.
Yes,theres no guarantee they will accept my quotes but i have the chance to get them jobs i wouldnt normally get.
 im pushing the commercial side.ive got some very nice commercial work but more the merrier in my opinion.

What company are you using mate? Anychance you could pass her my way after??.

Ofcourse I will,give me your email address and I will pass you on aswell as the price.
cheers

[windiewasher]

They have no money. Simples. They will do the bare minimum, and washing windows is very low down the food chain.

Keep believeing that lol,i certainly haven't found that!

[formb]

Dotgov do tenders for government buildings, universities etc

£100 ish pa

Worth a look? Maybe?

http://www.dgss.co.uk

I tried it one year. The tenders all looked like reasonable work but were too far away from me to tender for (I am in the middle of nowhere though).

I have no idea what the winning tenders prices were like but like I said there was a lot of quality looking work.

[JamesAJF]

I wouldnt bother, they want the cheapest quotes they will drop you like a shot when someone comes along a pound cheaper.. and you can wait around 1-2 months for your money!

correct dave u can wait a long time to get payed i wouldn't push it mate let it come to u and stick with domestics 

[windiewasher]

commercial work is far better than commercial,yes most you wait 30 days to be paid,so what?
if your earning lots doing commercials and also a good residential round it doesn't matter.

[JamesAJF]

commercial work is far better than commercial,yes most you wait 30 days to be paid,so what?
if your earning lots doing commercials and also a good residential round it doesn't matter.

think you were meant to say domestic lol yer your right commercial is better but its hard to get it and it is good to have a good domestic round while your waiting to get payed buy the commercial work all my commercial work has come to me i never really hunted for it but it took a while for it to come in.   

[PoleKing]

Commercial work isn't better.
It's different.
They both have their place.

[windiewasher]

commercial work is far better than commercial,yes most you wait 30 days to be paid,so what?
if your earning lots doing commercials and also a good residential round it doesn't matter.

think you were meant to say domestic lol yer your right commercial is better but its hard to get it and it is good to have a good domestic round while your waiting to get payed buy the commercial work all my commercial work has come to me i never really hunted for it but it took a while for it to come in.   

Yes lol meant domestic
Ive never hunted for it and picked up a lot.
But after trying telesales its opened a new world up realising how much work is out there.
I have 20 follow ups from 45 that was contacted.

[Griffus]

OK so I have been trying to get some government contract work like the dole offices, schools, health centres etc and tbh am getting nowhere..

I cant even get talking to the right person as no-one seems to know who deals with this, one person told me to watch for tendering in the local paper and on there website but thats not really much help.

In my areas there is 1 company that seem to have it all sewn up and seem to be getting more and more work all the time, I want a slice of the action or even an attempt to try get some of the work but I make no ground on any attempt.

Has anyone done/tried something similar?

I dont care how I p off are upset tbh all I want is an opportunity to put my case on the table to at least be considered.

A hard nut to crack, but knock on doors, meet those at the pointy end and get them onside. You'd be surprised how well this can work.

Your case on the table isn't what they care about as such. You will need to prove you can do the job and the volume. Cost is in most cases about 90% of the weighting, so be ready for a bit of a shock when you find the right mark 

[Whizz-Bizz]

http://www.canvassers4cleaners.co.uk/ give kate a call say whizz sent you, shes very good

[CleanClear]

OK so I have been trying to get some government contract work like the dole offices, schools, health centres etc and tbh am getting nowhere..

I cant even get talking to the right person as no-one seems to know who deals with this, one person told me to watch for tendering in the local paper and on there website but thats not really much help.

In my areas there is 1 company that seem to have it all sewn up and seem to be getting more and more work all the time, I want a slice of the action or even an attempt to try get some of the work but I make no ground on any attempt.

Has anyone done/tried something similar?

I dont care how I p off are upset tbh all I want is an opportunity to put my case on the table to at least be considered.

 You have to jump through a lot of hoops to be considered for this type of tendering. Many companies employ consultants specifically to do just this. They will often require all your financial history and guarantees etc. This alone puts most people off, leaving the contracts to a select few who can be bothered to go through the rigmarole. There is very complex EU law regarding the tendering process for public procurement ( thats what its called). Contracts over a certain amount need a very detailed anyalasis of your business and lots of research and guarantees etc.. and have to follow a set procurement regime. Smaller contracts are a bit easier, i think the threshold for a 'small contract' is about 15k ( but thats a rough guess). All a procurer has to do with no public scrutiny is to have claimed they have got the best of three quotes from suppliers on their books.
 If you can just get registered as a supplier with any of them that will be a start and its not easy to do this, its very time consuming. Then maybe after a year or two you might get asn enquiry off them. Thats how it works, unless of course you joing your local FSB, local business start ups, do a lot of business networking meetings etc. If you don't do all this stuff then the people that do will continue to get the work they do and you won't get a look in.
 Or maybe just keep ringing on spec like you do and you'll get lucky one day?  

[CleanClear]

http://www.canvassers4cleaners.co.uk/ give kate a call say whizz sent you, shes very good

Does Kate do the whole tendering process?

[JamesAJF]

commercial work is far better than commercial,yes most you wait 30 days to be paid,so what?
if your earning lots doing commercials and also a good residential round it doesn't matter.

think you were meant to say domestic lol yer your right commercial is better but its hard to get it and it is good to have a good domestic round while your waiting to get payed buy the commercial work all my commercial work has come to me i never really hunted for it but it took a while for it to come in.   

Yes lol meant domestic
Ive never hunted for it and picked up a lot.
But after trying telesales its opened a new world up realising how much work is out there.
I have 20 follow ups from 45 that was contacted.

sounds good mate well done might have to give a go myself 

[Mike #1]

http://www.canvassers4cleaners.co.uk/ give kate a call say whizz sent you, shes very good

OH NO their back  . Mike

[Mike #1]

Quoted some commercial work almost 4 weeks ago now and not heard a thing back , It took five hours just to do visits to different locations for one .

Its a lot initial work for no money but you got to stay optimistic and it will come . Mike

[windiewasher]

commercial work is far better than commercial,yes most you wait 30 days to be paid,so what?
if your earning lots doing commercials and also a good residential round it doesn't matter.

think you were meant to say domestic lol yer your right commercial is better but its hard to get it and it is good to have a good domestic round while your waiting to get payed buy the commercial work all my commercial work has come to me i never really hunted for it but it took a while for it to come in.   

Yes lol meant domestic
Ive never hunted for it and picked up a lot.
But after trying telesales its opened a new world up realising how much work is out there.
I have 20 follow ups from 45 that was contacted.

sounds good mate well done might have to give a go myself 

If you need her contact details email and i wi pass you on to her.
Cheers
contact@cleanerbrighterwindowcleaners.co.uk

[Rogue Trader]

If you want a decent commercial canvasser that is reliable and produces results then call Kate as mentioned before, i have used her for ages on and off and she has provided me with some really good ops

[benny donnelly]

Cheers for all the replies on this one folks!

Tomorrow morning I am calling in person to each place and I wont be leaving without either getting talking to the person I should be dealing with or at least get a correct name, they seem to be only to happy to fob you off over the phone.

I will keep you all posted on how tomorrow goes, it may prove fruitful you never no!

[windiewasher]

Cheers for all the replies on this one folks!

Tomorrow morning I am calling in person to each place and I wont be leaving without either getting talking to the person I should be dealing with or at least get a correct name, they seem to be only to happy to fob you off over the phone.

I will keep you all posted on how tomorrow goes, it may prove fruitful you never no!

You wont get nowhere m8
You need telesales to get you the meetings.

[robertphil]

a good line to get into is big private nursing homes . they have money ,  every towns got em and small 1 man banders cant get a look in  i have discovered .

[benny donnelly]

a good line to get into is big private nursing homes . they have money ,  every towns got em and small 1 man banders cant get a look in  i have discovered .

I actually have a private nursing home as a customer and the owner isnt so quick when it comes to payment, it was actually one of the first commercial jobs I got, its an easy clean all ground level windows and they are 99% clean anyway, he took me straight up on the quote I give on the day and I was surprised he hadnt a cleaner before me, but from first payment due ive had to chase and chase them all which got me thinking maybe his last cleaner just dropped him just not worth the time and energy

[robertphil]

a good line to get into is big private nursing homes . they have money ,  every towns got em and small 1 man banders cant get a look in  i have discovered .

I actually have a private nursing home as a customer and the owner isnt so quick when it comes to payment, it was actually one of the first commercial jobs I got, its an easy clean all ground level windows and they are 99% clean anyway, he took me straight up on the quote I give on the day and I was surprised he hadnt a cleaner before me, but from first payment due ive had to chase and chase them all which got me thinking maybe his last cleaner just dropped him just not worth the time and energy

ah i see .
 erly on this year  i picked up a big home that is part of a chain, or group im not sure . i had to tender for it and altho i pitched in fairly low turns out i wasnt the lowest .  im thinking that these places could pad out the diary nicely  if they are big enough to have a manager /not an owner/ in place . searching the homes website will tell you that and reveal if its a chain home  . my own seaside town has at least a dozen big homes ,iv only got 3  , first i got as a nurse is a mate of mine and at first was unsure whether to take them on  and got hostile reception from some of the staff at  the 2nd  of these, but their bite was worse than their bark oops wrong way round,i told my workers shout back and stick a few FFF into them,theyll respect you more  !

[PoleKing]

a good line to get into is big private nursing homes . they have money ,  every towns got em and small 1 man banders cant get a look in  i have discovered .

I actually have a private nursing home as a customer and the owner isnt so quick when it comes to payment, it was actually one of the first commercial jobs I got, its an easy clean all ground level windows and they are 99% clean anyway, he took me straight up on the quote I give on the day and I was surprised he hadnt a cleaner before me, but from first payment due ive had to chase and chase them all which got me thinking maybe his last cleaner just dropped him just not worth the time and energy

Depending on how much you need the dollar, tell them that from next clean you'll only be cleaning if on a standing order payment.
S/O to arrive in your account on the first if the month (so you're paid in advance)
Be prepared to walk away (if you can afford it)
I do ok these days and have started pricing higher.
Lots of customers have said that I'm expensive. I've replied words to the effect if 'you get what you pay for' or 'you have to ask yourself, if someone can do it cheaper, why?'
Every time I've walked off, politely, saying "I'll leave it with you"
Every single one-except 2 have come on board.

When you don't actually NEED the money, it does wonders for your confidence.
Confidence in turn begets customers.