When bidding on a carpet cleaning job, you want to make sure that you’re putting your best foot forward — literally.

Carpet cleaning is a highly customer-service based profession in which you will have a lot of direct contact with your client throughout the entire process.

From making a good first impression to writing an accurate estimate that reflects your abilities as a businessperson, there is a lot that goes into landing a carpet cleaning bid.

You must show you have a variety of skills that go beyond just cleaning and servicing the carpets. You must be an excellent wordsmith, you must show your experience in a relevant and memorable way, and you must take the time to come up with a price for your carpet cleaning services that not only provides your client with a fantastic service, but allows you to hit your profit margin.

This article will show you the steps to take in order to improve your carpet cleaning proposals. We will discuss how to structure your proposal by writing an introduction, the necessary information you should include to set yourself apart from your competition, and some useful tips to help you price your services so you come out on top with every bid you make.

If you’re ready to take your carpet cleaning proposals to the next level, let’s get started with a strong introduction.

Introducing Your Carpet Cleaning Proposal

Perhaps you have looked through the content on our site and read some of our other proposal articles. If so, great! Each of these articles starts by stressing the importance of a good introduction.

This article is no different. Building Service Contractors (BSC’s) are not only doing manual labor, but they are also engaging in high levels of customer service, as well.

Because we are taking the time to introduce ourselves and create an entire proposal package, we are assuming that the job you are trying to land is a fairly large project that required a walkthrough and meeting with the prospect in advance.

We have a fantastic series just on performing walkthroughs, but the general idea is that you take a tour of a prospect’s space to assess the layout and scope of work.

Throughout the walkthrough, you will be taking notes. Route has a great tool for this called the Walkthrough Builder™ that you can access from the Route app on your phone. Here you can compile notes, pictures, and videos that you can use later to write the proposal, but we’ll come back to this later.

After you’ve gone back to your office, you will look at these notes and begin your proposal by writing a cover letter to your prospect.

A cover letter is simply a letter of intent you send to someone you want to do business with. All of the articles in our proposal series begin with a cover letter; there are many different ways to write one, so don’t feel pressured to do it exactly like we do.

Since most carpet cleaning jobs are residential, one good way to start is to thank your prospect for letting you into their home.

Begin by addressing them by name, then state your thanks. After that, briefly go into some of your findings from the walkthrough. Here is an example:

“During our tour, we discussed doing a professional cleaning of the living room, dining room, den, and two bedrooms. I assessed your carpet for rips and damages and found none. Since you have pets and children, I recommend doing a deep clean with a protectant to ensure the life and quality of your carpet.”

Include only the most relevant details in your cover letter; you don’t want to go over one page in length.

After you’ve discussed the scope of work, you can conclude with a nice statement about your own business or credentials if you like. Don’t go overboard—remember, your prospect just wants you to do a good job, the proof is going to be in your work, not your words. But adding a little touch about yourself can be nice.

Finish by telling your prospect that the estimate is enclosed at the end, then sign your name at the bottom.

Examples Of Your Carpet Cleaning Work

If you document the jobs you do, you may want to include some of your work with your proposal. You might have compelling before and after shots, or examples of your restoration services you want your prospect to see.

If you want, you can compile a sheet of your work to include after your cover letter. Only include these examples if they are relevant to the job you are bidding on.

Another way to compile your work is to create a social media page for your business. You can leave your profile information with your prospect so they can see photos of your work on their own time.

This is also a great way to spread the word about your business in a fast and inexpensive manner. Another good way to get more prospects is to ask your current clients to leave you reviews, either on Route, or on a different online review platform.

Calculating Costs

Before you write your final estimate, do some research on your own to determine what you should be charging.

First decide if you are going to charge by room or by square foot. If this is a simple, fast job without any extra work, you may want to charge by room. In this case, you’ll give your prospect a flat fee, and that’s it.

You can also choose to charge by square foot. The average cost for cleaning carpet is $0.25 per square foot, with the median price per room being around $50.00. A three-bedroom home usually costs the client around $175.00, but larger homes can be way more expensive, all the way up to $600.00 or more.

Another thing you might add into your total cost is furniture moving. If you are going to have to move large pieces of furniture, you should factor this into your estimate. This may mean you need another person to help you.

There may be special considerations in some of the jobs you do, for instance, heavily soiled carpet cleanings or pet odor removal. These services can cost hundreds of dollars more and take far more time than ordinary jobs, so always take this into account in your estimate.

The type of carpet your prospect has could affect your price, as well. Berber is the easiest carpet to clean and is therefore the cheapest, while cotton and wool is the most difficult and comes at a higher price.

And with any cleaning job, if there are difficult areas to get to or strange places or objects with carpet that need cleaned, those are all worth adding into the final estimate.

Writing Your Carpet Cleaning Estimate

After you’ve calculated the total cost you’re going to charge your prospect, the last step is to write an estimate that is ready to be signed so you can get to work.

There are many ways to write an estimate, but we’ve created a great template program in Route called the Proposal Generator that allows you to write your own custom contract in minutes.

To use the Proposal Generator, first locate it in the Route software and open the program. You will see an editor menu on the left of the screen and a preview menu on the right.

Give your proposal a name, then start filling in the boxes with all the information you’ve gathered so far.

You can start by adding your logo if you like. Below your logo, there is a text box for service charges. Here you should list out all the charges you determined in the previous section.

There are some sections in the Proposal Generator you may not need to fill out for every estimate. For instance, if you don’t need to add service frequency days, you can deselect that box in the editor.

After you’ve added all your basic cleaning charges, make sure to input any additional fees or areas of special concern so your prospect knows exactly what is included in the final price. Then put the total cost at the bottom.

The Proposal Generator will automatically import the standard legal verbiage necessary to complete the contract for you when you click the “import legal” button.

And that’s it! You’ve just completed the last piece in your carpet cleaning proposal package. All you need now is a signature from your client and you’re ready to get to work.

Carpet Cleaning Proposals: Conclusion

Writing a good carpet cleaning proposal can help you land more bids and will help give your company a professional reputation.

Writing a good proposal involves doing some prep work and practice, but it is well worth it in the end.

A good proposal starts with a good introduction. Craft a cover letter for your prospect that details your intent as a carpet cleaning professional. Writing a cover letter is also a good way to let your prospect know you’ve enclosed the estimate at the back.

Depending on the type of job you are bidding on, you may want to include some examples of your work in the form of photographs on a separate page. Alternatively, you could showcase your work online by creating a social media profile for your business.

When assessing your costs, first decide if you are going to charge by the room or by the square foot. Then make a detailed list of all the additional charges, such as stain removal, pet odor removal, or cleaning long staircases.

Once you’ve factored in your costs, it’s time to write the estimate. You can easily create a contract in minutes by using the Proposal Generator available from Route.

Once it’s complete, you can save your contract and send it to your team or prospect.

Keep this article handy as you practice writing carpet cleaning proposals. Every proposal will be different, but this is a great guide that can help you structure your proposal every time you write one.

As always, practice makes perfect, so don’t worry if your first draft doesn’t sound quite right. You’re already a professional in the carpet cleaning business and you do a great job at what you. All you need to do is convey that on paper, and you’ll be landing more carpet cleaning bids than ever before.