When it comes to landing a bid for window washing services, there are many ways to make yourself stand out as top-rate contractor.

While your first impression starts with your walkthrough, the way you design and present your service proposal is extremely important to the success of your bid.

Don’t make the mistake of using a generic-sounding proposal that took little time or creativity to write. Create a personalized document for your prospect that highlights your amazing talents and services as a window washing contractor and watch the bids pour in time and time again.

This article aims to give window washing professionals a helpful guide to proposal writing. We’ll cover several important topics such as design tips for creating memorable service agreements, language guides to make you sound as great as your services truly are, and proposal drafting strategies that will help you write faster, better, more accurate bids that will benefit everyone involved in the process. If you’re ready to land more window washing service bids, let’s get started.

Writing Window Washing Service Proposals: The Upfront

One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a window washing service contractor is to skimp out on the personal details of your company in your proposal. Some contractors do nothing more than list a menu of the services and the total price they plan to charge. While that’s not wrong, it’s also not necessarily right.

Your business is first and foremost a service-based industry. One of the key components of a service job is interpersonal interaction and relatability to your client. Would you want to do business with someone who gave you only a list of prices but never introduced themselves? Probably not.

When writing a window washing service proposal, start by writing a cover letter before you present the contract.

What does that mean for you a window washing contractor?

A cover letter is simply a letter of introduction you present to potential prospects to introduce your company and explain your suitability for the job.

Your cover letter should be about one page in length (no more) and should outline who you are, why you do what you do, and why you’re the best window washing contractor for the job.

Start by writing a mission statement for you window washing company. If you already have a mission statement, fantastic. If you have never written one before, don’t worry, it’s easy.

A good way to structure a mission statement is to break into three parts; mention something about the type of work you do, highlight your commitment to the job and your personal work philosophy, and finish by talking about your employees and clients.

If that is still overwhelming, we can break it down further.

Here’s an example of a window washing mission statement you can follow:

“____Window Washing is a highly experienced window washing service company that exists to provide the highest quality window washing and glass treatment options for our clients. Our employees are enthusiastic about customer service and pride themselves on making all your windows shine inside and out.”

Let’s look at the first sentence. Here we see that we have mentioned our company name and also given our reasons for doing the work. The second sentence highlights the great staff we employ and how they will be a benefit to the prospect’s business. It really doesn’t need to be any more complicated than that.

It may take some practice, so write several different mission statements and have your staff look at them for clarity and accuracy. It is very helpful to get input from your team when writing broad statements about their abilities and services.

The rest of your cover letter can highlight things like how much experience you have, who some of your clients are, and you can finish by giving real testimonials from current or former jobs. If you are using Route, you can pull up past client reviews and incorporate them into your letter- this can give you a lot of credibility in the realm of customer satisfaction.

After you’ve crafted a great mission statement and cover letter, it’s time to create an outline for the rest of your window washing service proposal.

Window Washing Service Proposals: Writing and Design

There are numerous ways to outline the rest of your window washing service proposal but we will give an example of one kind of format for you to follow.

In this case, we are going to construct our proposal in a “problem/solution” manner.

Get out your notes you saved in the Walkthrough Builder™ in the Route app. Route’s Walkthrough Builder™ tool saves everything you captured in your walkthrough in one place, including any pictures or videos you took. These notes are extremely useful in helping you assess what the prospect’s problem is.

This is also why using Route is so beneficial to window service contractors- this is an industry where it helps to see the problem as you are drafting a proposal. Having your pictures saved with your notes helps you remember what areas need the most attention.

After carefully reviewing your walkthrough, write a brief statement about the problems you saw that your window washing company could remedy.

Here is an example of a “problem” statement.

Problem:

“Upon reviewing the condition of your facility, it appears that your current contractor has not done a thorough job cleaning your windows. Many of the rooms only had one side of the glass cleaned and none of them appeared to have the sills touched. We understand your frustration as a professional business and are happy to help you solve these issues. Our superb window cleaning service professionals will provide you with exemplary window cleaning services you’ll be proud to show the world.”

We already started to touch on the solution in a general sense in this statement, but let’s take it a step further in the next section. Below is an example of a “solution” statement.

Solution:

“At __ Window Cleaning Service, we understand that your windows are the first impression many people have when visiting your facility. We will deliver unparalleled window cleaning services that always includes interior and exterior cleaning, window sill detailing, regular service hours, and routine maintenance calls for heat, weather, or other emergencies.”

These statements serve as a general overview of your company’s services, which is great- now you don’t have to explain as much later in the actual proposal, as the prospect already knows what window cleaning services you will be offering. They can always expect you to be doing the things you mention in your statements.

Now it’s time to write a statement of approach. This will outline what methods and considerations you will take when performing the window cleaning job. Let’s do an example of an approach together.

Cleaning Approach

“We will utilize any and all means necessary to complete your window washing services. This includes interior and exterior detailing using eco-friendly detergents, pure water technology, screen cleaning, and “nose-to-glass” ladder work to ensure every detail has been carefully inspected by professional hands. We also work within the guidelines of the ANSI I-14 Window Cleaner’s Safety Standard to ensure safe and reliable services for all.”

If you like, you can also add a “benefits” section where you tell the prospect what measurable differences they will see in their windows after you are done, but this is not always necessary- the obvious benefit is clean windows, which doesn’t need repeated or explained.

A time where it might be appropriate to write a “benefits” section is if the job is particularly bad or if you’re doing a post-construction window cleaning, but this part is entirely up to you. If it feels repetitive or like it’s not adding anything to your proposal, leave it out. There is plenty of time to upsell your company in other areas of the contract.

Creating an Implementation Plan and Schedule

After you’ve given your prospect your problem-solution statements, it is time to get to the actual service agreement. This part can be extraordinarily simple if you’re using Route.

Open the app on your computer and go to the Proposal Generator. This intuitive tool allows you to create customized service agreements in seconds thanks to drop-down menus where you can select service types and times.

Select the window cleaning service you want to perform from the menu, then select the frequency. You can add additional notes or pictures in each of these areas to help make the scope of work clearer to the prospect.

You can also add in the total cost of each service based on the type of work and frequency you’ve chosen.

It is also wise to add in what additional services will cost outside of your maintenance package.

Determine how many times you will service the windows in your contract and how many touch-up’s you will include. You can use Route’s Estimator Tool to help you come up with a good price margin.

Factor in a little more money than the Estimator gives you to cover unforeseen circumstances in your window cleaning bid. Having a small cushion is a good thing and will prevent you from underbidding.

Then make a note of what it will cost to go beyond what’s outlined in the contract in a separate section. This includes things like emergencies or touch up’s that weren’t included in your main proposal.

You never want to leave the frequency of any service open-ended, or your prospect could be asking you to come out for multiple service calls you didn’t charge them for in your original proposal. If you say you will service the windows 5 times a month, make sure you also add what any additional services will cost.

After you’ve assessed all your costs, add you company’s standard legal verbiage, which can be imported with the click of a button in the Proposal Generator. In seconds, you will have a full service contract that can be saved as a .pdf and sent to your client straight from your phone.

Window Cleaning Service: Wrap Up

Writing an excellent proposal for window cleaning services is almost as detailed as cleaning the windows themselves. Your job as a window cleaning service contractor goes far beyond the act of washing the glass.

To stand out in the top of your field, you need to have good writing skills. Start by crafting a mission statement and cover letter that introduce your company and why you are the best for the job.

Include your experience, your clientele, and happy customer testimonials.

When you are ready to write your proposal, start by addressing the problems you saw and why you are the solution.

Clearly explain your approach to your prospect to explain your services before you get to the contract.

When drafting the service contract, use Route’s Proposal Generator to easily consolidate all the information that needs to be contained in the contract.

Make sure you factor in additional service costs and add a budget cushion to prevent underbidding.

Finally, save your proposal and send it with confidence to your client. You’ll find that your level of detail and professionalism will land you more bids that will make your window cleaning service truly shine against the rest of the competition.