Before you send your first office cleaning quote

1. Check that every document describes the same job

Open the latest scope and the estimate together. Compare the site, included areas, task frequencies and proposed visit schedule. If the client added a room after the walkthrough, confirm that the change reached the estimate. If a periodic task is priced separately, make that distinction visible in the proposal.

Use a date or version label that you can recognize later. A quote based on an older scope can look plausible because most of the document is still correct. Reviewing the changed parts first helps, but read the full final scope too. A small revision can affect another assumption elsewhere in the plan.

2. Trace the inputs behind the estimate

For each major input, ask where it came from. Your labor time, business costs, supplies and overhead assumptions should be numbers you can explain for this job. An example in a workbook is there to show how the tool works; it is not a recommended rate or a substitute for your own information.

Keep units visible. An amount per visit and an amount per month cannot be compared without understanding the schedule used to connect them. If your tool has a markup or margin input, read its instructions carefully; the labels describe different calculations. Recheck the result after changing a major input, and do not use an estimate you cannot interpret.

3. Read the proposal from the client’s side

Set aside the calculation sheet and read only the document you plan to send. Can the client identify the location, proposed schedule, included work and price basis? Could they tell whether the quoted amount refers to one visit, a defined period or another stated unit? Put essential information where it is easy to find.

For an illustrative example, a proposal headed “monthly service” needs a clear explanation of the service arrangement behind that phrase. Do not assume the client will reconstruct it from a total. State your actual offer and use your own appropriate business terms for validity, payment and changes.

• Correct client, site and contact details.
• A clear description of the proposed work and schedule.
• A stated price basis and your reviewed treatment of applicable taxes.
• Important assumptions, exclusions and unresolved conditions.
• A clear next step for reviewing the proposal.

4. Decide what must be confirmed before sending

Some unanswered questions are significant enough to pause a quote. If access arrangements could change the workable schedule, or an included area has not been inspected, decide whether you need that information first. Do not let the pressure to send something turn an unknown into a confident statement.

Other items may be clearly described as conditions in an appropriate proposal. The key is that the reader can recognize them. Keep a separate list of what you need to confirm, who will answer and when you will follow up. Do not treat a client’s silence as agreement to a detail they have not actually reviewed.

5. Check the actual file you will send

Open the exported or saved document, not only the editing view. Look for unfinished placeholders, missing pages, cut-off tables and an old client name left in a copied template. Confirm that the attachment is the intended version and that any supporting scope is included when your proposal refers to it.

Save a copy of that final file alongside the scope and assumptions used to produce it. If the client asks for a change, create a revised version and explain what changed. This gives the next conversation a reliable starting point and makes it easier to avoid discussing two different versions as if they were one.