1. Qualify the opportunity
Confirm that the account fits your service area, facility experience, staffing capacity, schedule, insurance, equipment, and minimum revenue. Ask who is deciding, why the account is open, when service should begin, how proposals will be evaluated, and whether a walkthrough is required.
A poor-fit opportunity is not improved by spending more time on the proposal. Record the reason if you decline it so your future prospecting becomes more selective.
2. Walk the facility as operating zones
Square footage is useful, but it is not the scope. Separate offices, restrooms, break rooms, lobbies, corridors, stairs, production areas, clinical spaces, floor types, and exterior touchpoints. Capture traffic, soil load, fixture counts, waste flow, security constraints, storage, water access, and cleaning windows.
Confirm who supplies paper, soap, liners, chemicals, equipment, keys, badges, and disposal containers. Ask about periodic floor work, windows, high dusting, events, day porter coverage, and emergency requests.
3. Translate facts into labor and cost inputs
Estimate the time required for the agreed tasks and frequencies using methods your company understands and can defend. Apply your wage, payroll burden, supervision, supplies, equipment, travel, overhead, contingency, and margin rules. Test whether the staffing plan is possible inside the access window.
Do not treat a competitor's price or a generic price-per-square-foot table as proof that the account works for your company. Those references may omit the very responsibilities that drive your cost.
4. Write a scope that matches the estimate
Organize work by area and frequency. Distinguish routine work from periodic and add-on services. State responsibility boundaries, assumptions, exclusions, and the process for scope changes. A buyer should understand what is included without relying on verbal memory from the walkthrough.
5. Package, verify, submit, and follow up
Present the facility-specific plan, relevant proof, price, terms, and next step. Then compare the final document against the request and your estimating worksheet. Check names, dates, totals, attachments, signatures, links, file name, delivery method, and deadline.
After submission, confirm receipt and set a professional follow-up date. Record the outcome and any feedback. Win or lose, the information should improve the next bid.