Hey guys,
Still a little new to the business, been working a little under a year now. I was thinking about putting together some business packets for HOAs and Property management companies. Any tips or advice? What’s the best approach? and what should I make sure to include in my packets?
Thanks - Evrett
That’s strange… Here’s the link: https://www.thepowerwashguysfl.com/pricing
It’s loading just fine for me? 
If possible, find the physical location of each management company.
Put on your Sunday best, grab whatever materials you have (I use a tri-fold flyer that list services, has before and after pictures as well as list commercial companies/locations that we service) and go walking in the door.
The best way to get that kind of business is through personal relationships by meeting people, getting to know them and building trust. You may not get any jobs from them right away. Make it a point once a week, to go visit each. Keep it low pressure - you are not a used car salesman. It helps with property management companies to offer more services. I deal with a property manager who has over 100 entities she oversees across a 50 mile radius. I offer her a one-stop shop (windows, pressure washing, landscape, exterior painting, parking lot striping/curb painting, etc. Took a while to gear up with all the different equipment needed to do each job). She is more likely to call me, as I make it easy for her. She doesn’t have to maintain 10 different company relationships, keep up with what each company is doing, etc. She makes one call to me, and I got it.
I have had several property managers straight out say price is not always the biggest concern and they will often use an existing company even if they cost more, only because it is easy for them. Remember, for most property managers, it is not their money. They get a call from a tenant or owner of building wanting “X,Y or Z” done. It is their job to get the work organized and done and they will do it the easiest way possible for them. Upside to offering more services, is you get good at everything you offer as well as you can charge more in certain situations once you build the relationship and trust.
Think about what you are doing. You are walking into an office to offer services to someone who is probably busy as can be with already established contacts for anything you are offering. It takes time, patience, and persistence to keep building relationships. When you are offered something, take it. Might be small, might be crappy work, but take it as your opportunity to show the quality of the results you deliver. It will grow over time, not over night.
Thanks! That was really solid advice, definitely sounds like you have a lot of experience with this. I’m eager to go out and earn my customers and know that i’ll most likely be starting from the bottom (Which is OK - you have to start somewhere.) I never thought about offering additional handyman services, that’s a great idea. I will keep thinking about all this while i’m building the business proposal.
Thanks again!
Just make sure that whatever you offer, you are able to do well otherwise is will be a negative for you.
I happen to have painted all my life, so I had professional grade Graco airless sprayer, masking machine, brushes, rollers, extensions, etc. Basically everything to be a professional painter. I have painted countless houses, rooms, restaurant interiors, etc. On the flip side, I did a 350 ft fence install recently (Wood privacy fence for residential). I had not installed a fence in 20 years. While how to do it is not hard, not having the “muscle memory” of doing that work, it ended up taking days longer than what I wanted and in the end I still made money, just not has much per hour as I would like but, the homeowner got a beautiful fence and singing the praises to his neighbors. I put in twice as much work as needed for that job but today I am better. If a neighbor called me today to install a fence, I would be twice as fast now.
What is the 11th commandment? Thou shall not fool thyself. Know the limits of what you can do. If you want to offer something you are not confident you can pull off, then start practicing. People will let you do a lot for free to get practice and be forgiving of less than stellar results (crap, they didn’t pay for anything).
Keep in mind, you may take jobs that are not the best paying. For example, I have bank drive-thru lanes that I clean for $100 per branch. Takes anywhere from 45 min to 1 1/2 hour. So pay is good to ok (I like to stay above $100 per hour). But, I have 6-8 locations per month that I do which is money I can count on but more importantly, it has lead to me doing parking lot curb painting (fire lanes) at two branches that paid very well. It led to 3 building washes that have paid well. I have another commercial property manager that my first job was a very small 30 minute job that paid $100. Kept in touch with them over the last 4 months and this month I have gotten 4 jobs for a total of $2500 from them. From that, one of the building owners this property manager handles, liked the work so much, he invited me to bid on a job at his house that would be a $3600 job. It is all about relationships, being real and genuine, delivering superior results even if you have to work harder, stay longer, have increased expense to do so. I don’t believe so much in Karma, but I do believe that if you are a decent human being, put the customer first, over deliver on expectations, etc then in the end you will be successful.
Know your limits, that is the truth. Do you mind me asking how you got the contract with the banks? Ive applied with a number on banks online through their vendor app but is there a more direct way that works better?
I walked in the front door.
The outside was a limestone building with mold all over. Asked for the branch manager. Introduced myself and asked if they have considered the exterior appearances of the mold and how I could help them (if you are going to point out a problem, always offer a solution). Gave her my card, had a nice conversation and left. A month later I got a call from their facilities manager and it has gone from their.
I have walked into 20 banks and only this one responded.
Be ready for rejection, no response, etc. It is a numbers game. You have to walk into 100 businesses to get 5 accounts. You have to go back to the other 95 on a regular basis (monthly) and keep talking with them and building a relationship. Some times, that relationship will not produce anything on the surface, but you never know who that person knows that needs you and ask that person if they know someone.
When building relationships, you can not make it a “I have this to offer and you need it” proposition. That will not work most of the time. If they feel like you are only there to get a job, then you are NOT building a relationship. You are a salesperson who quickly becomes a PITA. Play the slow game, be patient, be cool…
I just this morning went to talk to a guy who runs a concrete joint sealing business. He thinks he as a revolutionary device for that industry. The conversation went from him handing off power washing jobs to me that he really does not want to do, to feeling like he was trying to recruit me to work for him to me offering opinions on how he should capitalize on his invention through licensing and distribution of the device and get out of the service side of the business. Who knows what will come from this. But I will stop by every week or two and say Hi just to continue to build that relationship and see where it goes.
Building a successful business is not only about delivering results. A lot of people can do that. The $99 house wash guy can clean a house. We all joke that they will be gone next year. Maybe they will maybe they won’t. Doesn’t matter, good or bad, who you know and the relationships you build with those people will be what ultimately will drive your business. If you are strictly residential, then word of mouth between neighbors is critical - better be talking to your clients and building relationships with them. If you are commercial, even in the biggest of markets, it is still a close circle. I live in a 2 million pop market and am amazed at how so many people know so many other people - 7 degrees of separation.
Relationship building 101 -
That’s enough for now…
I would give you some pointers but your in my service area and going after my market. Sorry
@CFH - Michael, some great advice in your posts that every new guy should bookmark and read every 6 months.
I’m happy you responded with such an abundance of information, I wasn’t expecting responses like this when I initially posted the question. It’s awesome to know we’re all trying to help each other in this industry. I’m very grateful and will keep your words with me. Thanks again (again) Ha!
I appreciate your wisdom, saving this information so I can reread at another time.
You’re coming from a scarcity mindset. There is an abundance of business out there and one company can’t do them all
This was Definitely a post worth reading! Great Information, And I learned from it! A great read Indeed! Thanks!
Locally I’m bidding against the same 10-15 guys most of the time . Now take that situation and times it by all the areas I work in TAMPA /ORLANDO /SARASOTA/ FT MYERS /WEST PALM /JACKSONVILLE /OCALA /GAINESVILLE . All areas I bid on work in . I have no issues help other guys . I spent as much time helping local guys as I do on here. No less than 2 or 3 hours a week. I’ve got vendors around here that have been making a bad habit of giving guys my number when they need help or honest advice. Because vendors have little to no field experience.
But the one thing I won’t do is teach them how to steal work from me . If you think I’ve got the wrong mindset for that I don’t know what to tell ya .
everything you said makes total sense. I just really wanted to hear your marketing advice, that’s all.
I’ve never marketed you don’t get HOA’s that way
I know this is an old thread, but we’re actually about to start donating out time and work. We’ll be doing a few of the animal shelters and cleaning the GoodWill in town.
Stick with the animal shelters - Goodwill one of the most profitable companies in the universe.
Thank you, good to know!
