WindowBossPro Blog — Storefronts & Commercial

Quoting Commercial Window Cleaning Work and Getting It Approved Online

A storefront owner can say yes on the sidewalk. A property manager, an office manager or a dealer group usually cannot. They need a written quote, often need to show it to someone else, and want to approve it without printing, signing and scanning. Online approval fits how commercial clients already work.

Commercial Work Starts With a Quote

Repricing an account, covered in Reports by Account: Seeing What Each Commercial Window Cleaning Client Is Worth, ends with a new quote. So does almost every new commercial account. The quote is where you set the price, the scope and the frequency, and getting it right saves arguments later.

Do a Walk-Through First

Before you write anything, walk the building. For commercial work, you want to know:

• The number of panes, counted by side and by floor
• The stories and what you need to reach them: ground, ladder or water-fed pole
• Which sides the client wants: outside only, inside and outside, or inside only
• Extras: screens, tracks, hard-water spots, skylights
• Access and timing: when you can work and how you get in
• How often they want it: every two weeks, monthly, quarterly

Take photos during the walk-through. They help you price later and help settle questions about what was included.

Build the Estimate From Your Service List

In WindowBossPro, estimates are built from your service list. Set up your services once with your own prices: per window outside, per window inside, per screen, story add-ons for second and third floors, hard-water removal. Then add them to the estimate as line items with the counts from the walk-through.

That keeps your commercial pricing consistent. Two similar office buildings get similar quotes, and when you raise a price on the service list, new estimates use it.

For multi-location accounts, quote each address on its own lines so the manager sees what each building costs. That also makes it easy to start some locations now and add others later.

Spell Out the Frequency

A commercial quote should say how often the work happens, not just what it costs. “Outside glass, all ground floor storefronts, every two weeks” is clearer than a price with no schedule. If parts of the building run on different cycles, say so: entry glass every two weeks, full outside monthly, inside twice a year.

When the quote is approved, those frequencies become the minimum days between visits on each recurring service: 14, 30, 90 or 180.

Online Approval

Send the estimate and the client approves it online. There is nothing to print or sign. The manager can forward the link to whoever needs to see it, and when it is approved, you know right away.

Here is the part that saves the most time: the approved estimate becomes scheduled service. The line items turn into the services on each address. Recurring services start coming due on the Waiting List on their own. Nobody retypes the quote into the schedule, so nothing gets lost between what was sold and what gets done.

Following Up on Open Quotes

Commercial quotes often sit for a while. The office manager is waiting on the owner, or the property manager is waiting for the budget. A short text through two-way texting a week later is usually enough: “Checking on the window cleaning quote for Harbor Offices. Happy to answer any questions.”

If they want changes, edit the estimate and send it again. For more on texting managers, see Two-Way Texting With Property Managers About Window Cleaning.

One-Time Commercial Work

Not every commercial quote is recurring. Post-construction cleanups, move-in cleans for a new tenant, and a dealership's pre-event clean are one-time jobs. Quote them the same way. When approved, they become a scheduled one-time job, and if the client is on Monthly billing, the work appears as its own line on that month's statement.

One-time jobs are also a good way to start with a new manager. Do the move-in clean well and the recurring quote is an easy next step.

Put the Terms in the Quote

The quote is also the place to set expectations that prevent arguments later. A few short lines cover most of it: how the client will be billed (card on file per visit or one monthly statement), what happens when you cannot get in, whether weather delays move the visit to the next available day, and how much notice either side gives to end the service. Clients approve those terms along with the price, so there is a written record of what everyone agreed to.

Quote, Approve, Schedule

A clear quote built from your service list, approved online and turned straight into scheduled service is the cleanest way to start any commercial account. For everything that happens after approval, visit the WindowBossPro commercial window cleaning software page.