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Using Buyer Intent Data to Win More Commercial Cleaning Contracts
Erika Carmichael
Introduction
A few years ago, the commercial cleaning and janitorial landscape was simpler—there were only a handful of established companies in any given city.
But when COVID-19 hit, the demand for disinfecting and sterilization services surged, opening doors for smaller residential cleaners to expand into the commercial market.
The boom didn’t stop there: leaders from industries like tech, marketing, and sales also saw the growth potential and brought their expertise to the table, increasing competition even more.
Today, the commercial cleaning space is packed with diverse players, each eager to stand out.
Traditional prospecting, lead generation, and sales tactics like canvassing and cold outreach aren’t working nearly as well as they used to, and with workforce shortages, just keeping up with attrition can be a challenge.
To win more contracts, businesses looking to grow need to tap into data-driven insights to create a warm selling environment. They need to be able to see potential deals before the competition does. Understand who’s actively searching for services like commercial cleaning, janitorial services, and office space cleaning in their market.
Buyer intent data is one of the most powerful tools for doing just that.
In this article, we’ll discuss what intent data is, and how you can use it to find qualified leads that turn into sales and grow your commercial cleaning business.
What is Buyer Intent Data, and Why is it Important?
Have you ever been on a website and seen the little cookies tab pop up at the bottom of the page? It can be irritating, but this little tool helps Google and other search engines provide search results that are better tailored to your needs.
When collected on commercial accounts, like companies and properties, buyer intent data shows you when a prospect is actively looking for your services. By tracking online activity, it captures signals—such as specific search terms or website visits—that indicate when a company has a high likelihood of making a purchase.
In commercial cleaning, intent signals can reveal if a property owner or manager is looking for options like green cleaning, regular cleaning services, post-construction cleaning, or more.
Using these signals as triggers for sales outreach can create a “warm selling” environment, saving time and helping you reach high-quality leads that are more likely to convert into clients.
The Benefits of Using Buyer Intent Data for Commercial Cleaning Contracts
Sales software for prospecting and lead generation used to be expensive, and buying a list of names to cold call or email was “cheap”—today, those roles are completely reversed.
Today’s data-driven sales tools can be used for a few hundred dollars per month or less, and they can find highly qualified leads in minutes. When you compare that to the cost of paying a salesperson to “canvas,” do lead research, and make 100 dials per week, all in the hopes that they’ll find one new qualified lead per day—it’s a no-brainer.
How to Use Buyer Intent Data to Win More Contracts
Here are three ways that buying signals can help you close more deals:
Identify High-Quality Leads
With buyer intent data, you’re not guessing about who might be interested in your services—you’re identifying companies actively searching for terms like commercial cleaning quotes or floor cleaning services.
This is one of the best ways to win a cleaning contract because you’re already meeting potential clients halfway by connecting with those already expressing interest in what you offer.
Time Your Outreach Perfectly
When a business is actively exploring options for “office cleaning” or “building maintenance cleaning,” reaching out right away puts you in the best position to secure that contract.
Buyer intent data helps you catch leads during their search phase so you can position your services before they consider other providers. Timing your outreach to align with their interest increases your likelihood of winning the contract.
Customize Your Approach Based on Lead Interests and Needs
Buyer intent data not only tells you who’s looking but also what they’re looking for. If a lead shows interest in green cleaning services or janitorial services near me, you can tailor your pitch to highlight these specific solutions.
Answering the question “How do I succeed in a commercial cleaning business?” starts here—with an understanding of what potential clients want and showing them how you meet those needs.
Practical Steps to Leverage Buyer Intent Data
1. Monitor Signals of Buyer Interest
Platforms like Convex help you track Signals that show you when a company is interested in cleaning services. Simply log into the portal, and you can see each salesperson’s territory on a map, with points indicating new insights and new leads.
You can target specific web searches or content views that focus on “local commercial cleaners,” “office cleaning in (your city),” or “commercial cleaning .” These signals indicate that a prospect might soon need cleaning services, giving you a prime opportunity to reach out.
And, with Convex’s Signal tool, you can actually track the “strength” of these signals as searches increase or decrease in frequency.
2. Create Targeted Campaigns Based on Client Needs
Next, you can circle an area on the map and target properties within that zone. This allows you to create targeted sales and marketing campaigns that speak directly to a specific market.
If buyer intent data shows that several businesses in your area are searching for “commercial cleaning near me” or professional office cleaning services, design campaigns around these needs.
Your messaging should showcase how your company offers exactly what they’re looking for—whether that’s green cleaning options or post-construction cleaning services. But I’m actually going to show you a shortcut with the next point.
3. Use Generative AI for Outreach
Convex’s Generative AI tools will draft high converting email and call scripts for you based on data. Our system uses all of the data collected from our sales intelligence solution, property intelligence software, the buying signals of your prospective accounts, as well as your own company and contact data to write the email or script for you.
This can save you hours of time writing and editing templates, allowing you to focus on other important aspects of your commercial cleaning business.
4. Reminders, Follow-Ups, and Automation to Maintain Engagement
Once a lead has shown interest, staying engaged is key. In Convex you can create reminders and schedule follow-ups or you can upload the lead to your CRM for nurturing cadences and sales automations.
Automation tools can help keep your business “top-of-mind” without overwhelming your team. For example, if a business is interested in regular cleaning services, set up an automated follow-up a few days after your initial contact, if they still don’t reply, add them to a nurture cadence that delivers valuable content to them over a 30- 60 day period and then try to follow-up.
This ensures that opportunities don’t fall through the cracks and that you stay visible to individuals in the sales pipeline without relying on manually tracking each lead.
5. Leverage CRM Integration for Enhanced Targeting
Integrate buyer intent data with your CRM to give your team a complete view of each prospect’s journey. For example, a prospect searching for “commercial cleaning quotes” could be entered directly into a campaign that automatically follows up with a customized quote.
Convex even integrates into Aspire’s proposal tool PropertyIntel, which delivers sales proposals based on accurate building specs. This way, you can deliver valuable resources to your leads as early as the first touch.
Top Questions on Winning Commercial Cleaning Contracts with Buyer Intent Data
- How to Win Commercial Cleaning Contracts? Buyer intent data identifies the best leads to target, saving you time and increasing your chances of securing new clients.
- How do you get cleaning contracts for specialty property types like offices or banks? Use Convex’s property intelligence features to filter all those building types and check Signals to spot businesses in these sectors actively searching for services like office cleaning or floor cleaning services.
- Free Ways to Get Cleaning Contracts for Small Business: Free ways to get commercial cleaning customers generally end up being far more expensive than paying for a good Intent data platform, but here are a few if you’re just getting started. Do some deep research on the prospect and send a super-personalized cold email. Follow it up a few days later with a call, then wait 2- 3 days and send the prospect a LinkedIn message. If they don’t respond, try and find similar groups or communities that you’re both part of and comment on posts that they’re following, now, try calling them again. Repeat this sequence, experimenting with different tactics until you get results… which will take a lot of work.
If you’re paying a salesperson to do this (or) you’re doing it and place a high value on your time, choosing an option like Convex can yield far better results in a much shorter time frame.
Case Study: Using Buyer Intent Data to Win a Major Contract
JAN-PRO’s sales team encountered difficulties in organizing their sales process and efficiently generating leads. Traditional methods were time-consuming and often led to missed opportunities.
Cassie Clark, their Director of Sales, uses the campaign feature to outline a territory on a map and focus on finding properties that need commercial cleaning services in that area, streamlining sales operations.
Convex provided valuable property intelligence, buying signals, and market insights, enabling the team to identify high-potential prospects and tailor their outreach effectively.
The collaboration with Convex led to a more organized sales process and a notable increase in lead generation. The sales team could now focus on engaging with prospects showing genuine interest, resulting in higher conversion rates and business growth.
JAN-PRO’s experience with Convex highlights the importance of leveraging advanced sales tools to optimize processes and achieve growth objectives. This case underscores how technology can transform sales strategies in the commercial cleaning industry.
For more details, you can watch the video here: (Convex)
Conclusion
Winning more commercial cleaning contracts is no longer just about working hard; it’s about working smart.
Buyer intent data lets you focus on the leads that matter—those actively searching for services. By tracking these signals, timing your outreach, and personalizing your approach, you’re well on your way to securing more contracts and growing your business. Ready to see how a data-driven approach to winning cleaning contracts can accelerate sales? Schedule a free demo of Convex today to see how our tools can help you grow your commercial cleaning business today.