Education Sales Playbook

EDUCATION SALES

YOUR GUIDE TO SELLING COMMERCIAL CLEANING SERVICES

TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS, CHARTER

SCHOOLS, HIGHER - EDUCATION

ENHANCING THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

OUR SERVICES

ServiceMaster Clean offers a robust set of commercial cleaning services that ensure healthy and safe facilities that enhance the student experience.

CUSTODIAL

HARDSURFACE

FLOOR CARE

SURFACE DISINFECTION

CARPET CLEANING

PROJECTSWINDOW CLEANING

DORM TURNS

KITCHEN CLEANING

THE BUYING PROCESS

WHY EDUCATION CUSTOMERS OUTSOURCE

Improve Quality

Today, the student experience is a priority. With that in mind, clients are often interested in contracting cleaning services to gain access to better processes and leverage the experience of cleaning professionals to improve the appearance of their schools.

Focus on Students

Outsourcing custodial services helps give education institutions time back, allowing these organizations to focus on their core competencies, educating students.

Replace Aging Staff

The challenges in the labor market have impacted education clients in a big way. With limited ability to recruit beyond their walls, self-operated clients face aging staff and a looming retirement bubble. These institutions often look to outsourcing to alleviate these personnel issues.

Cost-Savings

Operating with relatively fixed budgets, education clients often seek to increase the funds available applied directly to their student's educations. This type of client frequently looks to outsourcing as a means to produce costsavings.

THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

THE BUYER’S JOURNEY

HOW CLIENTS PROCURE COMMERCIAL CLEANING SERVICES.

Receive and evaluate responses

Down-select vendor finalists

Request and evaluate final vendor presentations

Request BAFO

Select cleaning vendor & get board / committee approval

Start services and evaluate servicedelivery

Identify need

Define scope

Issue an RFP

Align internal stakeholders

Note: Only public institutions are required by law to go out to an open bid (i.e., Request for Proposal (RFP)). However, even these organizations can contract your services directly through a purchasing cooperative. This is because cooperatives have already run an RFP on their client's behalf and selected qualified vendors, thus negating the need for a district or university to run their own process. Good examples of purchasing cooperates include 1GPA, Buyboard, and Sourcewell.

Private customers can purchase your services directly without issue. However, unless coached otherwise (by you), most will procure your services through an RFP as they want several proposals to compare and make an informed decision.

BUYER PERSONAS

While pursuing an education sale, you're most likely to encounter the personas and profiles depicted on the following pages. However, each institution is unique, and as the seller, you must determine the roles and responsibilities related to your specific opportunity. One of the most common mistakes is confusing the end user with the ultimate decision-maker. This must be avoided at all costs, as their goals and opinions may drastically differ.

Also, there may be more than one of the depicted personas types within an opportunity. For example, it’s possible to have two users or multiple decision-makers as authority can be shared via committee decisions. Additionally, these personas are not mutually exclusive. For example, sometimes, a User can also be a champion and decision-maker.

DECISION- MAKER

ECONOMIC BUYER

TECHNICAL BUYER

USER

The person who makes the final decision. Usually, also the person who signs the cleaning contract.

The individual who owns financial responsibility for purchasing their organization’s commercial cleaning services. They also approve the terms of the deal.

The technical buyer assesses the technical point of your cleaning proposal. They also facilitate the purchasing process by ensuring regulatory and RFP standards compliance.

They are focused on the Return on investment (ROI) and your proposal's total cost of ownership.

They want enough bids that comply with RFP requirements so that others can make informed decisions.

This is your day-to-day client. The person responsible and directly impacted by the purchase of cleaning services.

They are concerned about the quality, safety, and impact on the student/staff experience of your services.

INFLUENCER

Influencers are individuals who play a part in the decisionmaking process. However, they may not make the final call. They can be champions, enemies, or neutral in the purchasing of your services.

THE SCHOOL BOARD DECISION MAKERS

A school board is elected officials from the local community who volunteer their time to review and approve academic, legal, and financial agenda items. These include purchasing decisions like commercial cleaning services

OPERATIONS / FACILITIES

THE SUPERINTENDENT DECISION MAKER

Superintendents are the administrators or managers responsible for a school district. Their scope of responsibility could be as little as a single school or domain over 100 locations.

PROCUREMENT / PURCHASING TECHNICAL BUYER

This is likely your day-to-day client that directly oversees custodial services. They are concerned that their schools are clean and safe.

A procurement official oversees the RFP process and facilitates the purchase of cleaning services, along with all other items required to operate the district.

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFER ECONOMIC BUYER

A CFO’s responsibilities include things like managing the district's budget, ensuring that the bills are paid, purchasing services and supplies, and keeping the district in compliance by preparing for financial audits.

CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER

/ INFLUENCER

This person is tasked with the overall responsibility of overseeing the dayto-day administrative and operational functions of a school district.

K - 12 BUYER PROFILES

DIRECTOR USER 2 / INFLUENCER

USER

THE PRESIDENT / CHANCELLOR

Presidents are the administrators or managers responsible for a college or university. It’s also important to remember that an institution might be part of the system, in which case decisions may also be made by stakeholders outside of the university.

PROCUREMENT / PURCHASING TECHNICAL BUYER

A procurement official oversees the RFP process and facilitates the purchase of cleaning services, along with all other items required to operate the institution

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFER ECONOMIC BUYER

A CFO’s responsibilities include things like managing the organization’s budget, ensuring that the bills are paid, purchasing services and supplies, and keeping the college or university in compliance by preparing for financial audits.

Athletic directors have tremendous influence at colleges and universities. Moreover, they may even have purchasing authority for services that occur within their facilities.

CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER USER / INFLUENCER

This person is tasked with the overall responsibility of overseeing the dayto-day administrative and operational functions of a college or university.

OPERATIONS /

FACILITIES

USER 2 / INFLUENCER

This is likely your day-to-day client that directly oversees custodial services. They are concerned that their institution is clean and safe.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUYER PROFILES

ATHLETIC DIRECTOR USER 3 / INFLUENCER

DIRECTOR

DECISION MAKER

HOW CLIENTS MEASURE QUALITY

LEVEL 1

Orderly Spotlessness

Floors and base moldings are bright and clean, and the colors are fresh. Vertical and horizontal surfaces look freshly cleaned or polished. There is no build-up in corners. The lights work, and the fixtures are clean —washroom and shower fixtures and tiles gleam. Adequate cleaning supplies are on hand. Trash containers contain only daily waste.

LEVEL 3

Casual Inattention

Floors are swept or vacuumed clean, but close observation may reveal stains and dirt build-up may be apparent in corners and along walls. In addition, there may be dull spots, matted carpet, and streaks on base molding. Vertical and horizontal surfaces have dust, dirt, marks, smudges, and fingerprints. Lamps work, and fixtures are clean. Trash containers have daily waste only.

LEVEL 2

Ordinary Spotlessness

Virtually the same as level one, but there may be up to two days of dust, dirt, stains, or streaks.

LEVEL 4

Moderate Dinginess

Floors are swept and vacuumed clean but may be stained. Dirt buildup is evident. Carpets show paths of use. Molding is dirty. The surfaces are dusty and dirty. Trash containers have old trash and may give off a sour smell.

LEVEL 5

Unkempt Neglect

Dull, dirty, scuffed floors and carpets. The corners and base moldings are dirty. Dirt has accumulated on all vertical and horizontal surfaces. Light fixtures are messy, and some lamps are burned out. Trash containers are overflowing and have begun to smell.

HELPFUL RESOURCES

Bid Notifications:

• National Procurement Registry: https://ionwave.net

• Texas Solicitations: https://www.txsmartbuy.com

• Virginia Association of State College & University Purchasing Professional: https://vascupp.org

• Education and Government Services Paid Distribution List: https://rfpschoolwatch.com/plans.php

• Free Online Search Groups: https://www.facebook.com/NegociosDeLimpieza

Education Databases: Generates a list (i.e., potential target list) of all institutions, both higher education and K -12, within a state that you can export as an Excel file. These are quite large lists; you must determine where you want to play (size, geography, etc.) to ensure you are effective with your sales efforts.

• National Center for Education Statistics: https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch

Alert Notifications: It may be helpful to create a google alert specific to your franchise to stay informed of activities within your market.

Google Alerts: https://www.google.com/alerts

THE SELLING PROCESS

How

EMBRACE WINNING, AVOID BIDDING

“Selling is an art. Many fall into the trap of looking internally and only considering what’s required to operate and bid on the business. To win consistently, one must ask about the customers' goals and ensure your proposal aligns with these objectives.”

1. Establish contact

STAGE 1 STAGE 2

PROSPECT

1. Obtain the current contract through a FOIA request. Understand when the contract first expires. More specifically, when the initial term ends, not the extension years.

2. Prospect the target. This can include networking events, emails, or cold calls.

3. Establish a connection with the client. Before you travel to meet them in person, you should schedule an introductory call so you can learn more about what they want and ensure you can perform the requested scope of services.

4. Obtain BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, and Timeline) from the client. This ensures that the opportunity is valid. Qualification goes beyond just initial interest by the client and confirms that there is a pathway to purchase your services

5. Define the customer goals. Ask them what’s required to make a switch from their current vendor or what winning looks like.

6. Ask and determine the client's decision-making process (i.e., specific buyer's journey).

QUALIFIED

1. Define scope

2. Align stakeholders

3. Draft RFP

1. Continue to develop relationships and enhance understanding of the decision-making process. Attempt to meet and speak with everyone involved.

2. Help the customer define a scope that makes sense for SMC and the client.

3. Offer assistance in developing the RFP. Many customers will welcome the help. If afforded the chance, attempt to insert items that steer the decision-making criteria towards the ServiceMaster Clean model. A good example is weighting grading criteria more heavily towards quality rather than price.

4. Determine the project budget. Some customers may not give you this information, but you can still ask them to guide you as to where you need to be financially.

1. Release RFP

STAGE 3 STAGE 4

RFP RELEASED PROPOSAL PENDING

2. If necessary, conduct site tour

1. Receive and review RFP. Ensure you immediately align resources based on scope and requirements. Examples include reserving a spot on the bid walk and requesting bid or performance bonds if required.

2. Review terms and conditions, preferably using a paralegal. Essential items to consider are the impacts of termination clauses and liability requirements.

3. Develop solution model using SMC pricing tool. This tool is just a guideline, it’s still a good idea to do a feasibility check based on cost per square foot at similar nearby accounts.

1. Review proposals

2. Down-select vendors

3. Request final presentations SELLER

4. Price condition the customer based on your initial costing effort. If client feedback dictates, you may need to revise the financial model.

5. Draft and review your proposal. It is highly advised that you prepare a customized transition plan to include with your proposal.

1. Finalize and submit your proposal, or alternatively submit a tactful no-bid letter explaining why you cannot participate.

2. Request client feedback. Don’t lose track of the opportunity –ensure you stay in contact with the customer, touching base every few weeks.

3. Once the client requests a presentation, ensure you have their requested agenda and attendees so you can prepare adequately.

4. Draft and rehearse the sales final presentation. Ensure your team has clear roles and responsibilities for the event. Also, it’s advised that you develop a plan for items that may arise in the conversation.

5. Conduct final sales presentation.

NEGOTIATING TERMS

1. Request Best and Final Offer (BAFO)

2. Review terms

1. Refine terms based on the client's request for Best and Final Offer (BAFO). It may be worth mentioning with your submission that you’re flexible, and if there’s a way to meet their needs better, you’re open to further discussion. Thus leaving the door open if they would like to circle back again.

2. Continue to stay connected to the client.

1. Issue verbal award of contract.

2. Provide contract feedback

1. Draft contract based on discussed terms and conditions.

2. Review and refine the contract with the client. To streamline this process, you should review this together to quickly get aligned and avoid drawing the process out over email.

3. Prepare the contract for execution (i.e., signatures).

4. Conduct transition planning with the client. Refine the plan and timeline based on the most recent feedback.

5. Align resources for transition anything from placing job postings to ordering equipment.

CLOSE & TRANSITION

CUSTOMER ACTIONS

1. Execute the contract (i.e., sign the document)

SELLER ACTIONS

1. Execute the contract. Ensure you store both the digital and physical copy in a secure area that you can easily access, as the chances are you’ll be referring to this document at some point in the future.

2. Conduct transition operations following the plan you’ve created. Ensure you have weekly progress checks with the client to keep them informed. This allows you to communicate any obstacles or potential delays and establishes a good relationship early in your tenure with the customer.

3. Once fully operational, conduct an after-action review with the client to ensure their satisfaction.

RESEARCHING A TARGET: PROSPECTING GUIDE

PROSPECTING

Overview: Researching a target should be your first step. The information provided through this research should confirm a target’s viability. Viability means the right size, need, and financial means to be a partner with SMC. Secondly, it provides you with the information necessary to craft a customized prospecting message (cold emailing/phone call). The latter increases your chances of client engagement and elicits a positive response.

Example: You are targeting a large district in Texas, Lake Travis Independent School District (website listed below). You’ve also heard rumors that the district is outsourced, giving you an indication that this might be an attractive district to target.

Lake Travis ISD Website Link

Exercise: Take ten (10) minutes to research the district and answer the following questions.

1. Is the target viable?

2. What solutions would be appropriate for the district?

3. Who in the organization would you reach out to?

Tip: What are the district’s open positions?

RESEARCHING A TARGET

Answers: Listed below are the answers to the exercise questions.

1. Is the target viable? – Yes, the district is large and in good financial standing. Also, outsourcing is already a proven model in the district, avoiding any reservations associated with an in-house conversation.

2. What services would be appropriate for the district? – Based on recent job postings, it can be assumed that the district outsources its custodial services to SSC Service Solutions (i.e., Compass Group). One should target this specific contract.

3. Who in the organization would you reach out to? – Pamela Sanchez is the district’s assistant superintendent for business services. Also, the district’s website states that she is responsible for the facilities department. Thus, Pam is likely the Economic Buyer and a User of the commercial cleaning services contract. Lastly, K12 email addresses are typically listed directly on a district's website and - LTISD's superintendent's cabinet. In consequence, she can easily be prospected with little time and effort.

Tip: What is in Pam's background that could prove helpful in your messaging? Think about the timing of the contract. More specifically, she started with the district in 2020. Consequently, she likely wasn’t part of the last RFP process and, as a result, she may have fewer ties to SSC and be more open to speaking to you.

Additional Resources: Listed below are just a few other resources that could prove helpful.

1. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request: We recommend that you don't submit a FOIA under your name or an SMC-affiliated email address. You can submit a request using a generic email or a third-party service such as FOIA Professional Services.

2. LinkedIn: Although Pamela might not be on LinkedIn, it’s always good to run a quick web search to understand if you have any mutual connections.

3. Job postings: Running a quick web search for job postings can be revealing. Numerous vacancies could mean that the current provider, SSC, is struggling. Thus increasing the response rate of your prospecting efforts.

PAMELA SANCHEZ ECONOMIC BUYER

CRAFTING A COLD EMAIL

AN EXAMPLE THAT HELPS MODEL HOW TO INCREASE YOUR PROSPECTING EMAIL RESPONSE RATE.

Overview: Prospecting is an art and is necessary for creating a healthy and sustainable pipeline. A compelling prospecting message is clear, concise, and capitalizes on a customer's critical business issue. Using customer research in your messaging goes a long way in grabbing a potential client's interest and invoking a response.

Scenario: You are targeting a large district in Texas, Lake Travis ISD (website listed below). Through your research (slides 18 and 19), you've decided that this is an excellent target for a traditional cleaning contract, and you'd like to reach out to the Assistant Superintendent, Pam Sanchez.

Lake Travis ISD Website Link

Pam Sanchez Article & Profile

Exercise: Take ten (10) minutes to develop a prospecting email to Pam. Please ensure you follow the format listed below.

1.Subject:

2.Email Body:

3.Postscript:

Tip: What is the district's critical business issue? Also, what personal connection with Pam can you highlight to create further interest?

Attention-grabbing and highlights the “need”.

Whether or not an RFP is about to be released, it’s likely to capture their attention as it’s under Pam's direct sphere of responsibility

Immediately focuses on the need, no small talk

Creates or reinforces “pain”

Clear call to action with proposed next steps

Subject: LTISD Custodial Services RFP

Email Body:

Hi Pam,

Postscript attempts to make a personal connection and create possible relationship outside of work

I couldn't help but notice SSC has several job postings for custodial positions at Lake Travis ISD. I know that staffing has been a struggle for many competitors in the Austin area. To that end, are you available for a quick five-minute conversation so I can learn more about your district, any upcoming RFPs, as well as consult possible solutions?

Thanks for the help, and I look forward to our conversation.

Postscript: I also saw that you graduated from Texas State. I’m also a Bobcat. By chance, are you going to the alumni watch party at Latchkey Patio this weekend?

YOUR ELEVATOR PITCH

CUSTOMERS WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY ASK YOU TO TELL THEM ABOUT SERVICEMASTER CLEAN. YOU MUST CONCISELY HIGHLIGHT OUR SERVICES AND PRIMARY DIFFERENTIATOR, THE FRANCHISE MODEL. Example Elevator Pitch:

ServiceMaster Clean is one of the nation’s leading facilities services partners in the education space. We offer our clients a full suite of cleaning services, from cleaning to project work and even supplemental labor solutions. What sets us apart is that we’re an organization with global resources but local ownership. This means we’re not just a stretched-thin manager working long hours assigned to your institution with little incentive to do more. We’re truly a part of the communities we serve, and our relationship with our clients is our livelihood - we will always strive to deliver on our promises and ensure the utmost quality of services.

We also understand it's not a one-size-fits-all approach, and we customize our solutions to address your specific needs and challenges.

QUESTIONS TO ASK

DETERMINING WHAT’S REQUIRED TO WIN FROM THE CLIENT’S PERSPECTIVE.

Questions to Ask:

1. What is going well with your program that you want to sustain with the next contract?

• What is the current contract value?

2. What are the areas of improvement with your current program?

• How would you assess the quality of your program?

• How do you measure quality? How is your current provider holding themselves accountable?

• What are your current staffing levels?

• Do you have a dedicated manager that works well with your team?

• If outsourced, how is the level of communication with your stakeholders

• What are your goals for this next cleaning contract?

3. If they’re outsourced today, what precisely is required to make a switch?

• Who from your team is involved in the decision-making process, and how does this look?

• What is your timeline?

• To ensure we meet your expectations, do you have an overall price in mind

THANK YOU