Quoting for contract cleaning for Apartment Complexes
I’m currently looking to expand into contract cleaning for apartment complexes and would love to hear how others in the industry approach pricing and structuring these types of agreements. I understand that apartment contracts can vary a lot depending on factors like unit size, condition, frequency of service, and whether it’s turnover cleans, common areas, or full-property maintenance. I want to make sure I’m pricing competitively while still protecting my time, labor, and overall business profitability. For those of you with experience in this area: How do you typically structure your pricing for apartment complexes (per unit, hourly, or flat contract rate)? Do you offer different pricing for standard turns vs. deep cleans or heavily soiled units? How do you account for things like pet hair, excessive buildup, or damages when quoting? Do you build long-term contracts with set pricing, or adjust pricing based on each unit’s condition? What’s your approach to quoting common areas like hallways, offices, or laundry rooms? Do you require walkthroughs before giving a final quote, or provide estimates upfront? How do you ensure you’re not underbidding larger contracts? I’m especially interested in learning how to balance competitive pricing with maintaining high-quality, detailed work—since we focus more on deep, time-intensive cleaning rather than quick surface-level jobs. Any advice, examples, or lessons learned would be greatly appreciated!Client Communications
I would like to see space to log our own client communications - not in notes! For example, when we chase quote, we sometimes email but other times we call the client. Unfortunately there is no where to log that they were called including date and time unless i put it in the notes on the quote. Or the notes on client page, which then does not include the items sent via Jobber. It would be handy to have a communications area that we could add communications too that also included the quote number to so we could search and see only communications related to that particular quote. This feature would be particularly handy when dealing with property managers who have 10 sites in quote stage.
Quotes can be the wrong tool. Estimates avoid disputes, protect margins, and elevate professionalism
Quotes and Estimates are fundamentally different, and not having both options is genuinely problematic for us. Fudging it by adding exception language to a document labeled as a Quote communicates that we aren’t committed to the quote, that we can’t accurately assess or execute our own services, and that we don't have the basic ability to simply send the correct type of sales form. Every workaround risks the sale and our professional image. How do you protect yourselves when a job clearly requires an Estimate instead of a Quote? Would having the option to create either a Quote or an Estimate, so you can send the correct sales document for each job, help you run your business more effectively? I believe some people are employing entirely different software for quotes and estimates. Considering that the ability to send an Estimate is a critical and basic business requirement, would it make sense for Jobber to add the simple option of changing the word "Quote" to "Estimate" when needed? They could still fall under the heading of "Quotes" in the UI, because only the word on the form being sent to the client, and the word used in the related message, needs to change. That's simply front-end work to implement and not a major feature update. The beauty of web-based applications is that it is programmatically easy to add simple functionality to expand the capabilities of basic features that affect nearly all users, requiring only a willingness to spend a little time improving the product's core functionality: helping us grow and manage our businesses.
New to Jobber, Quotes including pictures worth it?
Hey guys, I wanted to hear your thoughts on jobber quotes not including pictures for estimates in the core package? We are a full service property maintenance & Landscaping company. Anybody switch from core to grow because of it? We have a small team but growing. Last crm did have this feature on their middle plan and our clients loved it. It was extempore helpful to us as well. Was wondering if this is something we should switch to that would make a huge difference?
Request for Quote building using hidden subtotals
As a handyman/general contractor, I only base my quotes per job/task and not time and materials. I do not want the client to see the price of labor, cost of materials, or other line items except the Job task itself and the price. In order to build an accurate quote, I have to build all of this in a spreadsheet (labor, materials, etc) and copy over the grand total. If I need to make a revision, I have to go back to the spreadsheet and redo the calculations. It would be very helpful to have a way to build a quote with hidden sub line items that can be changed. Quickbooks has a estimate feature called bundling. Example: Tile Backsplash Installation $2,575 (hidden below) Labor 12 $165 $1,980 Tile 1 $350 $350 Mastic 1 $30 $30 Grout 1 $30 $30 Misc 1 $20 $20 Does anyone else struggle with this or have an efficient workaround?
How do locksmith businesses handle vehicle key pricing with hundreds of SKUs? What's your quoting strategy?
Hello, I run a locksmith company and Jobber has been fantastic beyond description for my business for Residential and Commercial work. However I do an extraordinary number of vehicle keys. My problem here becomes that there are Thousands and thousands of skus for car keys. I have one of the smallest inventories I know and its still almost 600 SKUs of just car keys for various Y/M/M. To put it into perspective, my supplier has 165 different Keys just for Ford. The pricing for them is all over the place too from a few cents to several hundred dollars. My old system was designed around this so while you did have to build the pricing database, you could quickly quote by Year, Make, and Model. Does anybody have any ideas I can try to implement to help with this pricing strategy because right now my workflow is flawed. I have to put all the information into the old system to pull the price out, then transfer that data over to jobber after the phone call is over. I use the custom fields for Y/M/M so that if I need to find Honda keys I can search "Honda" but I need a way to quickly set up jobs because this is about 50% of my business. Some examples below: 2016 Honda Civic: If your car has a Push-To-Start, we can make you a key for $260.00. If your car used a key to turn the ignition, we can make you a Remote key for $205.00 or a basic key with no buttons for $175.00. If you have a working key and want a spare, we can make a Push Start key for , a Remote key for $175.00 or a basic key for $145.00. All prices are before tax and this price may change if additional parts or service are required. 2005 Cadillac Escalade Your key should cost $95.00 plus tax if the locks are factory original and you had one key that opened the doors and started the ignition. If you just need a spare key cut, the price is $85.00 plus tax. This price may change if additional parts or service are required. 2007 Mazda CX-7 If your car has a Push-To-Start, we can make you a key for $325.00. If your car used a key to turn the ignition, we can make you a Flip key for $265.00 or a basic key with no buttons for $165.00. Your vehicle originally required 2 keys to run correctly and we may not be able to bypass this. If you have a working key and want a spare, we can make a Push Start key for $295.00, a Flip key for $235.00 or a basic key for $135.00. All prices are before tax and this price may change if additional parts or service are required.
Suggestion: Quotes / Invoices Sub Items for Main Line Item
Hello Jobber Team, 🛠️ Why We Use Sub-Items in Our Quotes & Invoices When it comes to handyman and construction work, no two jobs are exactly alike — and we believe your quote should reflect that. That’s why we organize our quotes and invoices with main line items and sub-items, and here’s why that matters: ✅ Customizable Work Scopes Sometimes a project includes optional jobs based on your preferences or budget. For example, your quote might include: • Job 1: Deck Repair - Materials - Labor • Job 2 (Optional): Flooring Install - Materials - Debris Disposal Fee - Labor You can easily see what's included and choose what fits your needs. ✅ Transparency You Can Trust No vague charges or confusing totals. Every part of the job is broken down so you can see exactly what you're getting — from screws and wood planks to disposal and labor. ✅ Smoother Approvals & Communication Want to move forward with just one section of the job for now? No problem. Sub-items make it easy to discuss, approve, or remove parts without reworking the entire quote. ✅ Budget-Friendly Flexibility This system lets us work with you on cost — you can prioritize essential work and schedule optional items for later, all while keeping track of the big picture. At the end of the day, we want your estimate to be as clear, flexible, and tailored as the work we provide. 🧰📋Maximizing Your Quotes: Jobber Tips for Accurate Pricing”
Quoting jobs can be one of the trickiest parts of running a business. I’ve been using Jobber to send professional estimates with markups, optional line items, and follow-ups, which has helped streamline the process. For anyone using Jobber, how do you set your pricing? Do you use markups on materials, and how do you handle follow-up quotes if a client doesn’t respond right away?”*
