Initial Findings, How were yours?

[bfenne 14]

Hello All,

I just thought I would post my pre start up feelers...tried calling several builders in my area small and large alike to see if they were excepting new bids for post construction clean up. I was was met with tight lipped responses. Basically, they all had someone doing this work and not looking for bids.

Have you found this to be the case in your areas?

Do these builders contract with larger janatorial firms such as servpro or service master or do they look for the independents?

Thanks

[PressurePros 248]

Brian, usually you end up getting referred by someone. I just hooked up with a big builder in my area. Funny thing is I called this company and faxed them at least 20 times and never a response. I met up with a painter whom I did some work for, he knew the owner of the company and wham, instant request for a bid from this builder. You have to remember, there are many people that do not venture into this carefuly. They buy a cheap machine and start banging on doors. The building contractors I have built relationships with have all told me their opinion of pressure washing companies is very low. One guy said to me upon first contact, "you guys are a dime a dozen and you never last more than a year" It took awhile before he trusted me enough to say "just do the job and send me the bill"

You really have to market yourself in this business. It takes time to have your name known and tossed around with confidence. The first couple of years you barely make enough to pay the bills. Perseverence is the key to making anything work. Don't get discouraged, keep putting your feelers out there. One day you will be turning down jobs and thats a nice feeling.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Visiting the job site has been the best for us.

We contact the project manager or superintendant and introduce ourselves.

We provide them with a flyer listing our services, before and after photos and references.

One tip to remember: These people are being pulled in many directions and they are on a tight schedule, respect this upfront by asking them if this is a good time to talk or if you can set up another time. This goes a long way and often they will speak with you while you are on site. They are used to on the spot resolutions and can make decisions based upon their conversation with you and feeling you really know your stuff. But, they do appreciate the respect for their schedule.

Rod~