Is it Acceptable to Email Your Commercial Cleaning Proposal?
The modern age has brought with it the wonders of technology and automation. Even the cleaning industry, for years known as an industry that lags behind the times, is leveraging the Internet to become more efficient. We now automate everything from online training to submitting commercial cleaning proposals. The latter can be a point of animated discussion among cleaning business owners, as there are varying opinions on whether or not you should email your proposal.
Most building service contractors agree that presenting your proposal in person is the best way to convert prospects to clients. But what happens when the prospect asks you to email it? Should you go ahead and do what they ask or stand your ground and insist on an in-person meeting? This article explores the pros and cons of emailing your proposal to the prospect versus presenting it in person.
Benefits of Emailing Commercial Cleaning Proposals:
- Prospect Preparedness for Next Meeting: Cleaning business owners are receiving more and more requests to email proposals, and some have even found that emailing proposals are a convenient option. One of the benefits of doing so is that it allows your prospects more time to read and understand the proposal. Not only does it make the subsequent meeting more fruitful but it also allows your prospects time to prepare any questions they may have.
- Saves Time: While it is true that some prospects who ask you to email a proposal are simply “price shopping” there are some who are simply short on time. Emailing proposals works as a way to save time for both the prospect and the cleaning contractor. Rather than conducting several time consuming meetings, an emailed proposal gives a comprehensive presentation of your capabilities and can be a good way to demonstrate your efficiencies.
- Visual Aids: One of the other benefits that email brings is the ability to add visual presentations. Besides attaching a PDF Proposal to the email, you could also include a video presentation that walks them through the proposal. One way to do that is to create a PowerPoint audio/video. This can take your proposal to a new level that can be both comprehensive and impressive to your prospects.
Drawbacks of Emailing Commercial Cleaning Proposals:
While there are a number of advantages of emailing your proposal, there are also considerable drawbacks associated with an email-only communication. The major disadvantages include:
- Can't Explain the Details: An emailed proposal oftentimes fails to convey what you want to say. This is because face-to-face meetings offer a better opportunity to control how your prospect will view the proposal. It is too tempting for prospects to immediately flip to the pricing page, completely ignoring the rest of the proposal. This makes it easy for them to reject the proposal based on price alone. When presenting in person, you control the flow of how the information is presented and can answer any questions the prospect has along the way.
- Losing Traditionalists: For those whose prospects include the “Traditionalist” client base, the practice of emailing proposals may hinder your ability to win the prospect. Traditionalists differ from younger generations that may prefer email over in-person meetings. They are looking for clues as to your integrity and reliability and can only do that with a face-to-face meeting. Email reduces the chance of building that relationship and may result in the loss of Traditionalist prospects.
So Should You Email Your Cleaning Proposal? Or Not?
In this situation it might seem difficult to ascertain whether or not to choose email over in-person meetings. Here are a few pointers that allow you to combine email and real-time meetings in order to improve your cleaning proposal submission process:
- Set up a Face-to-Face Initial Meeting: The purpose of this initial meeting is to learn more about the prospect and his or her individual needs. At the same time it allows you to walk through the location, gathering notes and measurements for your proposal.
Before leaving, set up the next meeting to present your proposal in-person. This is where you will learn if they want another meeting or if they prefer email. If they are open to the next meeting, then get it on their calendar before you leave.
If they don't want an in-person meeting and you feel they aren't simply price shopping, then oblige them by emailing the proposal on the agreed upon date. I would also add one more thing to your conversation before you leave. Let the prospect know that you will call the day after emailing the proposal (state a time that works for the prospect), so you can review any questions they may have. You can then take this opportunity to either close the sale by phone or set up the next meeting. - Email the Proposal: Email the proposal no later than the agreed upon date and time, reminding them that you will be calling the next day to follow up.
A couple notes about email, since we know it's not always reliable. If you have a read-receipt email service, use it to be notified when the recipient opens your email. That way you know if and when they received it. I use a Gmail plugin called Sidekick that lets me know when a person has opened an email I sent. That is so much better than waiting and wondering if they ever received the proposal. If your attachment has a very large file size, you might consider sending the proposal (and video presentation if you include one), through a large file transfer service like Dropbox or SendThisFile.
The question of whether to email janitorial cleaning proposals is a tough one for building service contractors who have always insisted on in-person follow up meetings. But in these changing times, we must decide if we can make adjustments to our preferred method of submitting proposals in order to accommodate their preference for receiving proposals via email. When you can tailor your communications to their needs, yet still find a way to stay connected, then you've found a winning formula for closing the sale.
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