Cleaning company contracts define an agreement between a client and the cleaning company. All cleaning services contracts are different, but most usually contain the following information:

  • How much the cleaner will be paid.
  • When the cleaner will be paid.
  • What services the cleaner will perform.
  • Responsibility in the event of an accident, including property damage or injuries.
  • Any insurances the cleaner is required to have.

In most contracts, there is an indemnity section that goes into greater detail on what each party can be held legally liable for. Typically, this section is non-negotiable for the cleaning company. Most contracts state that the cleaner will be responsible for any injuries, theft, or property damage that occurs during the job.

Types of Cleaning Contracts

The most common types of cleaning contracts include:

  • Vendor agreements, which define a cleaner's relationship with the various vendors that supply them with cleaning equipment, cleaning agents, and other materials.
  • Client services contracts, which define the type of cleaning a cleaner will perform. This might include office cleaning contracts, janitorial cleaning contracts, or another commercial cleaning contract.
  • Lease agreements, which is when the cleaner rents an office or storefront to act as their headquarters. In many cases, these contracts require general liability insurance to protect the building in case of an accident.

Obtaining a Cleaning Contract

If you are a cleaning company looking for a contract, you know how difficult it can be. Simply hanging up flyers or passing out business cards isn't enough anymore. Instead, you need to develop a systematic approach that utilizes a combination of public relations, referrals, networking, and online marketing. To better visualize the approach, pretend you are a cleaning company that wants to sell janitorial services.

Identify Your Target Market

Your first step would be to identify the target market and tailor advertisements to this demographic. For example, a cleaning company that wants to work with small businesses should not utilize a marketing campaign directed towards large offices.

Next, you should take a look at who your existing customers are and which accounts are the most profitable, which are the most satisfied, and which give you the most referrals. Focus on these clients and do everything you can to keep them happy. If you don't have any clients yet, try to network with other cleaning companies and businesses in your area.

The goal is to find out what your customers want. Once you've established their needs, you can use this information to better guide your marketing strategy. In all marketing materials, your pricing should be consistent and your services should be clearly defined in all different package levels.

Help Your Company Stand Out

After establishing your customer base and creating consistent marketing materials, you'll need to give your company something that differentiates it from the competition. There are a lot of cleaning companies out there, so you need something that makes prospective clients choose you over someone else. One method is to take a green-cleaning approach by using only natural products that are environmentally friendly.

Develop an Online Presence

A statistic from the Janitorial Store states that 57 percent of customers make decisions on a company before contacting that company. This means that your online presence is essential to marketing your cleaning business.

You'll want to provide both new and old customers all the information they need on your business. You should keep your website and social media pages filled with useful, trustworthy, and up-to-date content.

On social media in particular, you may want to share videos, articles, or news stories about your services. Your website is a great place for a blog with regular updates. You can even create a frequently asked questions page that answers the inquiries you get the most.

Learning how to do all this can be intimidating, especially if you're not as familiar with computers. However, it's not something you can just gloss over. Having an online presence is critical to landing the best contracts.

Networking and Lead Generation

Networking is another great way to meet new clients. To start, attend as many local events as possible, acting as a sponsor if you have the funds. You want everyone in the community to know your name. Even if they aren't currently looking for an office cleaning service, you'll be the first company that pops into their head when they do.

If you need help with cleaning company contracts, you can post your legal need on UpCounsel's marketplace. UpCounsel accepts only the top 5 percent of lawyers to its site. Lawyers on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law and Yale Law and average 14 years of legal experience, including work with or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb.