[sparky9365]

Hello All, I'm trying to figure out how do I get some maintenance contracts. Is there a service that I can pay to help me get them? Or is it all leg work, going out and setting up meetings with property managers and building owners?

 

[owl]

There are companies that sub out the work for various chain stores. Someone who has done this will answer.

 

[rewire]

if you want to do retail store maintenance then you will need to finds out from the store manager who they use and a contact phone number. Most will need a certificate of insurance and the liability amount varies. When we dealt with them the money was good our DNE was set at 300.00 and if we needed more we could request an increase. The drawback was 90-120 waits on payment were common.

 

[CaptainSparky]

We do a lot of apartment complex maintenance & repair work. To get it started we put together a list of all the types of things with could do to help them with upkeep, repairs etc. We sent our best communicator out with a list of Apartments and he would introduce himself to the resident manager and talk with them.

Some had authority to hire for work up to a certain dollar amount, others referred us to a main office. We did this 2 or 3 days a week for a 6 months. It was slow going and was lots of red tape, forms etc. Little by little we were able to get enough that It kept a truck busy on a daily basis. Now we almost need 2 trucks for it, but not quite.

After you get in the door it gets easier. We make friends with their in house maintenance guys and they find us work so they have less to do.

Like Rewire said its typically 60-90 days to get paid.

 

[bobelectric]

Malls I do have a level of electrical service they provide,Mall guys bids other work, then the renter can get their own electric guys or go with the mall dudes.

 

[Kryptes]

There are companies that sub out the work for various chain stores. Someone who has done this will answer.

We are doing work for 2 facility management companies taking care of 2 chain stores. They found us so never contacted any myself but google some and not necessarily in your area. I am in Alberta and we do work for one in Florida and one in Georgia. They require a crap load of paper work up front and have alot of rules to follow. They pay on time (45 days is how they do it) which is not something to worry about. One requires invoices within 3 days (with photos of work done) and the other in 5, get them in late and your not getting paid.

They have software that calculates your ranking for service calls. Its based off hourly rate, travel charge, minimum charge, markup and emergency call out charges. If you jump through their hoops with no issues that also improves your chance of getting the call before the next guy on the list.

 

[flyboy]

We do a lot of apartment complex maintenance & repair work. To get it started we put together a list of all the types of things with could do to help them with upkeep, repairs etc. We sent our best communicator out with a list of Apartments and he would introduce himself to the resident manager and talk with them.

Some had authority to hire for work up to a certain dollar amount, others referred us to a main office. We did this 2 or 3 days a week for a 6 months. It was slow going and was lots of red tape, forms etc. Little by little we were able to get enough that It kept a truck busy on a daily basis. Now we almost need 2 trucks for it, but not quite.

After you get in the door it gets easier. We make friends with their in house maintenance guys and they find us work so they have less to do.

Like Rewire said its typically 60-90 days to get paid.

What kind of margins are seeing on this type of business?

 

[99cents]

We do a lot of apartment complex maintenance & repair work. To get it started we put together a list of all the types of things with could do to help them with upkeep, repairs etc. We sent our best communicator out with a list of Apartments and he would introduce himself to the resident manager and talk with them.

Some had authority to hire for work up to a certain dollar amount, others referred us to a main office. We did this 2 or 3 days a week for a 6 months. It was slow going and was lots of red tape, forms etc. Little by little we were able to get enough that It kept a truck busy on a daily basis. Now we almost need 2 trucks for it, but not quite.

After you get in the door it gets easier. We make friends with their in house maintenance guys and they find us work so they have less to do.

Like Rewire said its typically 60-90 days to get paid.

Prospecting is something we can do when business is slow. I maintain a list of people I want to contact and, when time is available, I contact them. I use email as well but the hit rate is usually very low. I did land one good account through email, however. They were pi$$ed off at their EC and I hit them at just the right time. I booked an appointment and two weeks later I was doing my first job with them.