First commercial bid and need help

[jwfeathe]

Heey,

I am new... and i dont know what to dooooo... (joe dirt quote)...

I have a bid on 8 gas stations in about a 50 mile radius, they are wanting the pads and sidewalks done at each station once a month for the warm months probably thru October for now (I am hoping to extend it to a full year, giving him the benefits of all year round cleaning, as soon as I know what those are, lol..)

So basically I have a total of 40 jobs I need to get done now thru October. I have no contract forms at this time, and have no idea how to make one, so I am needing some help on this, basically up till now, I have only been doing some small residential jobs with a small pressure washer, and plan to upgrade to a decent rig if I am able to land this contract.

My main questions are going to be, how much should I charge, or how should I go about deciding what to charge, how do I put together a good contract, how much should I ask for upfront?

I have extensive experience in sales and marketing, so I have no issues with presentation and closing and actually enjoy that process, so that I wont need help with, I just need help with putting together what I am going to present to close the deal.

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated, and SOOOOOON.. as I will probably be submitting my proposal on Monday.

Thanks in Advance..

Jude

[John-Clean County PW]

Jude fill our your signature so we know where your from. Its part of the rules. There is so much we can say but I'll start with this... Get a hot water Powerwasher if your going to deal with Gas Stations. You may also want to look into reclaiming or at the very least make sure your dirty water is blocked from going down the storm drains because if not you stand to get heavily fined if some one reports you for not being Environmentally Compliant.

[jwfeathe]

John,

Thanks for the information. I found a rig I am planning on getting if I get the job, but getting the job is my biggest concern now, if I dont get it, then cant get the rig, lol.. SO, I need some information, mainly a good example of a winning proposal, so I have something to go by to write up something good.

Thanks

Jude

[bigbadwolf]

If want give me a call to talk @ (386)756-0630 Bryan

[Russ Spence]

Gas stations are a tuff way to start out but a great tool for learning. First you need to learn the lingo, down here in Alabama and Florida we refer to the pump stations as "MPD" or Multiple Pump Dispinser" you will need to know that! Also I bid by the station and not by the square foot, in my experience they dont like to be pencil whipped, keep it simple and easy for them.

I charge by the MPD, example - 2 to 6 mpd's is one price, 7 to 12 is another price, ect .......

If they are a good customer I do it on a flat rate all for one price.

[Ron Musgraves]

Great Advice but its almost a 99% you have no worries on reclaim usless your stupid city or local authoritys are Stupid and made some dumb Law!

Most fueling stations are complient built.

Johns right hot water is a must.

Russ gave you the truth about they will likely want and inclusive price per location. They will not care about travel or one store being smaller or larger to some extent.

My one time cleanings are very high. 1200 to 1800

If your on a 30 day they could be as low as 425 each.

Average is 525 to 725 on 90 day schedule

Jude fill our your signature so we know where your from. Its part of the rules. There is so much we can say but I'll start with this... Get a hot water Powerwasher if your going to deal with Gas Stations. You may also want to look into reclaiming or at the very least make sure your dirty water is blocked from going down the storm drains because if not you stand to get heavily fined if some one reports you for not being Environmentally Compliant.

[jwfeathe]

Thanks for the info.

Those who said to call, I will try to get to that, but those that posted information or sent me some, I greatly appreciate it, all of it was great.

This is a much better reception then I received on other forums.

Thanks a lot.

If i have anything I may be unable to do, I will share it with those of you on this forum..

Thanks again

Jude

[Russ Spence]

Jude if you need anything and I mean that! Just call Ron anytime after midight.

[precisionpower]

Alright Jude: Here's my 2 cents. I think it is not a good thing that you have been doing jobs with a cheaper machine. i do not think it is a good thing that you want to cut your teeth on a solid contract like these stations, when you have basically said you don't own the equipment to properly do the job, nor the experience. You may want to check the availability of your name, because there at least two (2) other AmeriClean's just here in my town, so who knows about the rest of the state.

With that being said, go get the equipment. Your lack of confidence is on full display here. And if I knew I was bidding against a competitor who didn't have the proper equipment, I would point that out to the PM, GM, or DM and display our equipment along with an explanation of why we're 100 times better than you will ever be. I'm sure Russ, Ron, and many others would as well. Just keepin' it real with ya.

[precisionpower]

Russ, your profile says you're in Fairhope. I thought you were in Prattville. Man, I'm coming down there real soon. Have friends down there. The high school football coach, you may know him.