PressureWashingBossPro Blog — Commercial Accounts

Pricing Monthly Commercial Pressure Washing Work Your Crew Can Actually Hit

Pricing commercial work is where a lot of pressure washing companies go wrong. The temptation is to bid low to win the account, figuring the monthly repeat will make up for it. Sometimes it does. Often it locks the company into a year of 4am visits that barely cover fuel and chemicals. A good commercial price is one the account will pay and your crew can deliver every month without cutting corners.

Price for Twelve Visits, Not One

Keeping accounts, as covered in Keeping Commercial Pressure Washing Accounts Renewing Year After Year, depends on doing the work well every visit. That is only possible if the price supports it.

A one-time house wash can absorb a surprise. A monthly commercial account repeats any mistake in the price twelve times a year. Before setting a monthly number, think about the whole year: early starts, travel time, weather skips that need a return trip, and the extra effort the first visit takes when the surface has not been washed in years.

The Pieces of a Commercial Price

Every commercial price is built from a few pieces. Your rates are your own, but the pieces are the same for everyone:

• Square feet. Measure from the satellite view on the property map. It is the base of most flatwork pricing.
• Condition. Heavy gum, grease or oil means more time and possibly hot water.
• Frequency. A surface washed monthly stays easier to clean than one washed twice a year. More frequent visits can often be priced lower per visit.
• Access. No water on site, a long walk from the rig, tight time windows or a manager who has to let you in all add time.
• Hours. Overnight and early-morning work costs more in crew time and wear on people.
• Drive time. An account surrounded by your other work is cheaper to service than one across town.

Setting Up a Commercial Service List

In PressureWashingBossPro, estimates are built from your own service list. Set up commercial services with your prices so bids come out the same way every time:

• Storefront and sidewalk, monthly (for example, $95 for a short front walk)
• Drive-thru lane, monthly
• Dumpster pad add-on, monthly
• Parking deck, per square foot
• Pool deck, quarterly
• Fleet wash, per van and per box truck
• Gum removal and first-visit restoration, one-time

Those example prices are just that. Set yours from your own costs and your own market. Estimate templates and packages, like a drive-thru package with the lane, pad and entry, keep bids consistent.

The First Visit Is Different

The first wash on a commercial account is usually the hardest. Years of gum, a pad nobody has touched, oil stains baked into the apron. Pricing that first visit the same as every monthly visit after it means losing money on day one. Many companies add a one-time first-visit restoration charge to the bid, then the monthly price covers maintenance from there.

Put it on the estimate as its own line from your service list. The manager approves it online with the rest of the bid, and it bills once. Bidding is covered in Quoting Commercial Pressure Washing Bids With Online Approval.

Check the Price Against Reality

After a few months on an account, compare what it bills to what it takes. The crew app records when each stop was started and completed, and reports by account show what each client has been billed and paid. If a drive-thru you priced as a quick stop is taking twice as long as expected every month, the price is wrong, and the renewal is the time to fix it.

Watch the skips as well. An account that gets skipped every few months because the lot is full or the gate code keeps changing costs you return trips that were never in the price. Either fix the cause with the manager or price the extra trips into the next renewal.

Do the same for drive time. Look at where the account sits on the Waiting List map compared to your other commercial work. An account out on its own may need a higher price, or more nearby accounts to share the drive.

Raising Prices Without Losing the Account

Costs go up, and commercial prices have to follow eventually. The best time to raise a price is at renewal, with history to back it up: a year of on-time visits, a set of before-and-after photos, and a clear explanation. Managers are far more likely to accept a fair increase from a vendor who has been reliable and visible than from one they barely know.

A well-priced commercial account is one you are glad to see on the route every month. To see how pricing fits with bids, statements and the rest of commercial work, go back to the commercial pressure washing software overview.