Getting steady work from apartments and resident associations

Steady work from a housing society starts with a first message the secretary can forward without being questioned: a reference the committee can ring, a small trial job, and a question that leads to whoever handles vendors. A contractor can lose the society in that message, long before any committee meets. The secretary forwards it to two people, and nobody can answer the questions that come back. This post takes an invented first message, from a firm that cleans overhead tanks and sumps for apartment blocks, and rebuilds it line by line. The names, the block and the outcome are made up to show the method.

The message that went out

Here is the original, sent on WhatsApp to the secretary of an imagined block of about sixty flats in Jabalpur:

"Good morning sir. We are ABC Tank Cleaning Services, number one in the city. We clean water tanks with latest machines at lowest rates. Call us for best offer this month only. Brochure attached."

It reads as friendly and it fails four ways. "Number one" cannot be checked, so the committee discounts everything else. "Lowest rates" invites a comparison on price alone. "This month only" asks a volunteer secretary to decide something that the whole committee must decide. And the brochure is a large file that opens badly on a phone.

The secretary did not reply. The silence was not necessarily rudeness. There was nothing in the message that could be forwarded without the secretary being questioned.

The message that went out next

The owner keeps the idea and replaces every claim with something a member could check:

"Good morning, Mr Tiwari. I am Ravi Shukla of Shukla Tank Services. We clean overhead tanks and sumps for apartment blocks. I can give you the name and number of the secretary at one block we work for, who has agreed to be called. I would like to propose one tank, on a day and time that suits the facility manager, so the committee can see the work before deciding anything. Our one-page profile is attached as a short PDF. Who handles vendors for your block?"

Compare the two. A name replaces "sir". A reference the committee can ring replaces "number one". A trial of one tank replaces "this month only". The last line sends the message towards the person who actually handles vendors, which matters because the secretary often does not.

What each change is doing

The reference. Ask the other society first. A named contact who has not been told will be a bad surprise for both of you. Offer to be called, rather than quoting what they said.

The trial. A committee cannot judge a contractor from a quote, but it can judge a morning. Choose a job small enough that nobody has to take a risk to approve it, and price it fairly. A trial you resent will show in your face on site.

The question at the end. It gives the secretary an easy reply that does not commit the secretary. A question is easier to answer than a pitch.

The profile. One side of one page: firm, owner, the work, the other block you serve, how many people come, what they bring, how waste is taken away, and two phone numbers. Keep it under a few hundred kilobytes so it opens on any phone.

Why the committee still takes its time

Even a good message goes to a meeting. One member will say a cousin knows someone. Another will ask who is answerable if the job goes wrong. The treasurer will want a second quote. This is normal, and it is the reason your message must make you the easy name to defend. A volunteer who proposes a contractor is risking their standing, so give them something to say: here is who the contractor is, here is who uses the firm, here is who we call.

Do not go to the president over the secretary's head. It can send the matter back to the secretary, with a worse start. If the facility manager handles vendors, start there.

What the trial must include

Agree the date with the facility manager and tell the facility manager how many people will come, when they will arrive and where the water will be drained. Ask a named member to see the finished tank with you and to take their own photographs. Leave the area as you found it, and do not leave anything behind on the terrace. Then send a thank-you the same evening and a short written note of what was done.

In the Jabalpur case, the owner adds one thing the committee had not asked about: the supervisor's number and the owner's own number printed on the profile, with a line saying who answers when. The secretary mentions this at the next meeting, and the block asks for a quote for its other tanks. The treasurer's second quote comes in lower, so the block gives the firm two of the five tanks and keeps the rest with the cheaper vendor for a season.

Where this does not work

If your crew is stretched over house customers, do not propose a trial at a society you cannot staff properly. A good first morning followed by a missed visit is worse than no trial. Skip the approach altogether where a society has a standing contract with a large facility company; you will only waste the secretary's time.

Also be careful with anything involving water quality, safety or health. Describe the work you do and leave claims about outcomes out, because rules differ by place and change. Check with your own adviser before you state what a cleaning achieves.

What gets a contract ended

Three habits end an arrangement quietly: a different crew every visit, rubbish left behind, and a price that moves after the first month. Put the scope in a short agreement, with the start and end dates, what is included, what is extra and how notice is given. Name two people who answer: the supervisor on site and the owner when the supervisor does not.

Our post on how to advertise to apartment residents covers reaching households, which is a different job from winning the committee. Community marketing covers the wider neighbourhood.

Rewrite your own first message

Take the last message you sent to a society. Underline every claim the secretary cannot check, replace each with a name, a number or a small offer, and end with a question. Then ask one existing customer for permission to name them. Other trades that serve societies are grouped under home services. If you want help with the profile and the approach, tell us what you need.