How to get commercial cleaning contracts: targets, bids and outreach

To get commercial cleaning contracts, list every business of the types you clean best inside the area your crews can reach (offices, medical and dental practices, gyms, daycares, dealerships, churches and the property managers who run many buildings), then contact the person who manages the facility with a specific offer and a free walkthrough. In parallel, register on SAM.gov and on your state and city procurement portals so you see public cleaning bids when they open. Most private contracts come from steady, local outreach; most public ones come from reading bid notices carefully.

Which businesses hire commercial cleaners?#

Any business with a fixed location, regular visitors and nobody whose job is cleaning. The best first targets have three traits: they're open on a set schedule (so you can clean after hours), they care how the space looks to customers, and the decision maker is on site.

Property managers deserve their own campaign. One property manager can oversee several buildings, so a single good relationship can lead to several contracts, and they're also the people tenants ask when they need a cleaner.

How do I build a list of commercial cleaning prospects?#

Start from where your crews can work, not from a city name. Driving time between sites eats margin on nightly routes.

1. Draw your service area. A polygon or radius around where your crews already work, or a few ZIP codes you want to grow into.
2. Search every target type from the table inside that area. Use several terms per type: "dentist", "dental clinic" and "orthodontist" are different Google Maps categories.
3. Search in pieces. One Google Maps search shows only about 120 results, so a metro needs several searches by neighborhood or ZIP code. See why Google Maps stops at 120 results.
4. Export to one spreadsheet with business, category, address, phone, website, email, hours and reviews.
5. Qualify by size proxy. Maps doesn't list square footage or headcount, so use proxies: review count (more customers through the door), hours (long hours, more cleaning) and category (dealerships and gyms are large floor areas).
6. Find a contact. Office and practice managers often have an email on the practice's website; small businesses without one get a call or a visit.

Worked example: one service area, one quarter#

Assumptions, for illustration only: you clean offices and medical practices in a 12-mile radius. After deduplication you have 900 target businesses, half of them with a usable email.

If an average contract is worth $1,200 a month (an assumption; price from your own costs and local rates), two new contracts add $2,400 a month, or $28,800 a year if they stay 12 months. Every rate in the table is an assumption. Track your own numbers by business type and drop the types that don't convert.

Where do I find commercial cleaning bids and RFPs?#

Public cleaning work is posted on procurement portals: SAM.gov for federal agencies, and separate portals or purchasing pages for states, counties, cities, school districts and public universities. Each one has its own vendor registration.

Federal: SAM.gov#

1. Register your entity on SAM.gov. Registration gives you a Unique Entity ID and lets you bid on federal contracts as a prime contractor. GSA's checklist says there's no charge to get a Unique Entity ID, register, or keep the registration current. Ignore companies that offer to do it for a fee.
2. Search Contract Opportunities for "janitorial" or "custodial", or by NAICS code 561720 (Janitorial Services). Filter by your state and set saved searches so new notices arrive by email.
3. Read the whole solicitation. Look at the place of performance, the cleaning frequency, the evaluation criteria, the site-visit date and the question deadline before you price anything.
4. Get free help. APEX Accelerators (formerly Procurement Technical Assistance Centers) help small businesses register and prepare bids at no cost.

State and local#

Most states run an e-procurement site, and many counties, cities and school districts post bids on their own purchasing page or a hosted bid portal. Search "[your state] procurement portal" and "[your city] bids and solicitations", register as a vendor under janitorial or custodial services, and check the notifications weekly. Public bids often require a pre-bid site visit, proof of insurance and references, so prepare those once.

Public contracts are slower and more price-competitive than private ones. Many cleaning companies use them to add steady base volume while private outreach builds higher-margin work.

What should my outreach say?#

Lead with a free walkthrough and a written quote, and mention something specific about their type of business. Cleaning is a trust purchase: managers worry about keys, after-hours access and staff turnover more than price.

Email: office or practice manager#

Subject: cleaning for {{business}}

Hi there,

We clean {{category}} offices around {{city}} after hours, so your
team walks into a clean office every morning without anyone
having to manage it.

I'd like to do a free 15-minute walkthrough and send you a written
quote with a fixed monthly price. Same crew every visit, insured,
and you can cancel with 30 days' notice.

Is there a week that works for a quick look?

[Name] · [Company] · [Postal address]
Not interested? Reply "no" and I won't write again.

Email: property manager#

Subject: common-area cleaning for your buildings

Hi there,

We handle common-area and tenant cleaning for commercial buildings
around {{city}}. If you manage more than one property, we can quote
them together and give you one point of contact for all of them.

Can I send a short capabilities sheet and a sample checklist?

[Name] · [Company] · [Postal address] · Reply "no" to opt out.

Call or walk-in opener#

"Hi, who handles your cleaning contract? ... I run a commercial
cleaning company nearby. I'm not asking you to switch today. I'd
like to leave a card and, if it ever helps, do a free walkthrough
and quote."

Make your promises match your agreement. If the email says "cancel with 30 days' notice", the contract has to say that too. For medical sites, know which of your crew's tasks could involve blood or other potentially infectious materials: OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens standard (29 CFR 1910.1030) applies to employers whose workers have that exposure.

What rules apply to cold outreach for cleaning services?#

Commercial email in the US falls under CAN-SPAM: accurate headers and subject lines, a physical postal address and a working opt-out honored within 10 business days. Calls to business lines are mostly exempt from the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule and the National Do Not Call Registry, but the ban on misrepresentations now covers business-to-business calls, and autodialed or prerecorded calls and texts to cell phones need consent; see how to find businesses to cold call. Google's Maps Platform terms restrict scraping and building lists from Maps content, which is a contract issue separate from these laws. Get legal advice for your situation, and see cold email laws.

If you'd rather not build the list by hand, Leadraft finds every business of the types you clean inside the area you draw and checks the emails it finds against the live mail server. Businesses outside your area or in the wrong trade are never charged. Try it on your service area on the free plan, or read how it works for local sales teams.

FAQ#

How do I find commercial cleaning clients?#

Pick the building types you clean best (offices, medical and dental practices, gyms, daycares, dealerships, churches), list every one of them inside the area your crews can reach, and contact the person who manages the facility. Add property management companies, because one relationship can cover many buildings. Run public bids on SAM.gov and your state and city portals in parallel.

Where can I find commercial cleaning bids and RFPs?#

Federal opportunities are posted on SAM.gov; search for janitorial services or NAICS 561720. States, counties, cities, school districts and public universities post their own bids on procurement portals or purchasing pages. Register as a vendor on the ones near you so you're notified when a cleaning bid opens.

Does it cost money to register on SAM.gov?#

No. Getting a Unique Entity ID and registering and renewing an entity on SAM.gov is free. Be wary of companies that charge to register you. APEX Accelerators offer free help with registration and bidding.

Who decides on cleaning services at a business?#

At a small office or practice, usually the owner or office manager. At larger sites, the facilities manager or operations manager. In multi-tenant buildings, the property manager often hires cleaning for common areas and sometimes for tenants. Ask the front desk who handles the cleaning contract.

Is cold email or cold calling better for cleaning contracts?#

Use both, plus walk-ins. Email reaches office and practice managers at scale; calls and short visits work well with small businesses that have no findable email. Calls to businesses for business services are mostly outside the National Do Not Call Registry, but other rules still apply.

Sources#

1. SAM.gov, Entity registration (registration lets you bid on federal contracts; a Unique Entity ID is assigned).
2. GSA / SAM.gov, Entity registration checklist (no charge to get a Unique Entity ID, register or maintain registration).
3. U.S. Census Bureau, NAICS 561720 Janitorial Services.
4. U.S. Department of Defense Office of Small Business Programs, APEX Accelerators (formerly PTACs; help with SAM registration and bids).
5. OSHA, Bloodborne Pathogens standard, 29 CFR 1910.1030.
6. Federal Trade Commission, CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business and Complying with the Telemarketing Sales Rule.
7. Google, Google Maps Platform Terms of Service.