Step 1 — Know the 4 buyer types (and how each one buys)
Almost every commercial contract comes from one of four buyers. Each buys differently. Sell to all four the same way and you'll lose all four:
1. Property management firms. Highest volume for most trades. Buy through vendor compliance portals (Compliance Depot, Net Vendor, RealPage). Decision-maker is the regional facilities manager. Sales cycle: 30–90 days. Win rate on cold: 15–25%.
2. HOA and community association boards. Reputation-driven, price-sensitive. Buy through management companies (Associa, FirstService Residential, RealManage) or by board vote at public meetings. Sales cycle: 60–120 days (board meetings run monthly). Win rate: 25–40% once shortlisted.
3. Facility managers at owner-occupied sites (hospitals, schools, industrial). Value reliability and references over price. Buy via direct email + a shortlist. Sales cycle: 90–180 days but the contracts are 3–5 years. Win rate: hard to break in, easy to keep.
4. Public agencies — federal, state, county, city. Process-driven. Buy through public RFPs on SAM.gov and state portals. Sales cycle: 60–180 days. Win rate depends heavily on set-aside certifications (MWBE, SDVOSB, HUBZone).
- Property managers — high volume, portal-driven, 30–90 day cycle
- HOA boards — reputation-driven, meeting-driven, 60–120 day cycle
- Facility managers — reliability-driven, long cycle, sticky contracts
- Public agencies — process-driven, best-fit for certified vendors
Step 2 — Understand the math on recurring vs one-off
Recurring service contracts (monthly, quarterly, annual) are the goal — not project work. Here's why the math is so lopsided:
Residential one-off. $500 average ticket, 3 hours labor, single sale, 1–3 year customer lifecycle. Requires new lead every job. Marketing cost per job: $80–$150.
Commercial recurring. A single 18,000 sqft strip mall on monthly flatwork at $1,500/month = $18,000/year. Renew for 3 years (typical) = $54,000 lifetime revenue per account. Marketing cost per account: near zero after year one.
One strip mall replaces roughly 36 residential jobs per year — and it doesn't rain out, doesn't ghost, doesn't require a new lead every week. The tradeoff: Net-30 to Net-60 payment terms, so plan cash flow for the ramp. Trade-specific pricing lives in commercial pressure washing and commercial landscaping.
Step 3 — Run the 90-day commercial ramp (week by week)
This is the exact sequence we run with Attano clients. Most contractors overweight bidding and skip asset-building — you can't bid your way past a bad website and no capability statement.
Weeks 1–2 — Build the assets. Form the LLC if you haven't. Upgrade insurance to $1M/$2M GL + $1M umbrella (see insurance requirements). Build the capability statement. Publish a commercial-ready website. Assemble the portfolio.
Weeks 3–4 — Register everywhere. SAM.gov, your state's eProcurement portal, Compliance Depot, Net Vendor, RealPage Vendor Credentialing. Direct-apply on the vendor page of your top 20 local property managers. Follow the registration walkthrough.
Weeks 5–8 — Outreach cadence (10/week). 10 personalized emails per week to regional facility managers you found on LinkedIn. Attach capability statement + portfolio. Follow up day 5 and day 12. Attend at least one HOA board meeting per week in your service area.
Weeks 9–13 — Bid everything you're eligible for. Every RFP that hits your inbox. Track win rate by buyer type in a spreadsheet. Rebid every loss the following cycle. See the bid guide for the estimating and proposal process.
- Weeks 1–2: LLC, insurance uplift, website, capability statement, portfolio
- Weeks 3–4: SAM.gov + state portal + compliance portals + top 20 PM direct apps
- Weeks 5–8: 10 outreach emails/week + 1 HOA meeting/week
- Weeks 9–13: bid everything eligible, track win rate by buyer type
Step 4 — The outreach email that gets replies
Cold outreach to facility and property managers works — but only if the email is short, specific to their property, and doesn't ask for a bid on the first touch. Use this template:
Hi [First Name],
I run [Your Company], a [trade] contractor based in [City]. We already service [1–2 comparable properties they'll recognize by type — e.g. "two multifamily communities off Roosevelt Blvd"].
I drove past [Property Name] last week and noticed the [specific observation — flatwork staining, overgrown beds, roof streaks]. Not a sales pitch — just wanted to introduce myself in case you ever need a second bid or a rebid on your next cycle.
I've attached our capability statement and a couple of past-performance photos. Happy to send more detail on any of it.
— [Name] · [Cell] · [Website]
Send Tuesday–Thursday, 8–10am. Follow up on day 5 with one line ("wanted to make sure this landed"). Reply rates for this template average 8–15% on cold — enough to build a pipeline at 10 emails/week.
Step 5 — The website that gets you shortlisted
Commercial buyers Google every vendor before opening the bid. A Facebook page, a GBP-only presence, or a DIY builder site all read as "not a real business" — see Facebook vs website and GBP vs website for the reasons.
Your commercial-ready site needs five things: commercial project photos, a dedicated commercial services page (not just residential), a downloadable capability statement, a "Request a bid" form on every page, and visible insurance limits + license #. Full template in commercial contractor websites.
Where to go next
Pick the next guide based on where you're stuck. Missing documents? Start with capability statement and portfolio. Documents ready but no bids? Go to vendor registration. Bids arriving but not closing? Work the bid guide and proposal templates.