Should Your Cleaning Company Sell Supplies?

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Supply Sales - Should You? I was recently asked for my take on whether or not you should be promoting supply sales to your janitorial clients. The answer is yes. There are a few do's and don'ts involved. Don't try to be something your not. Don't promise outstanding pricing unless you know you can deliver it. If you can offer competitive pricing, while taking the inventory or ordering burden away from the client, it will provide them a tangible benefit. Customers also appreciate the benefit of reducing their costs by processing fewer invoices, checks and 1099's. For operators small and large, you can provide this as a value added service to your clients and improve your profit line across the board.
Hopefully most of you already know that you can typically get a 10 to 20% discount off shelf pricing just by asking when you set up an account with your supplier. You can usually improve these savings when you can increase your volume with your supplier by providing products to your clients. This will save you money on the products you have to buy for your operations and provide a profit on the product you sell. When you negotiate with your vendor, set them up to do deliveries (when appropriate), with a packing slip that doesn't disclose the prices that you are being provided. You can resell the product for shelf price and your customer shouldn't complain. As your business grows, you can continue to negotiate better pricing from the vendor and pass these on to your accounts when appropriate. Many vendors will supply you with dispensers at no or little cost, or on a lease, as your purchasing power and relationship improves. You can in turn offer this as a benefit to potential clients when offering your cleaning services.