Parking lot cleaning is a service that is required anywhere there is a parking lot. But who exactly are you trying to contact when you go out or answer the phone? And what kind of facilities are you trying to target?

The most obvious would be the big box retailers. These companies are a bit difficult to work with because they have strict guidelines that vendors must adhere to. Their contracts usually have requirements of 1 million and more in general liability insurance. They also like to work with providers that have a large regional or national reach, such as all of Northern California, an entire state, or an entire metropolitan area. To address these facilities, you’ll want to address the General Managers and Store Directors. Most corporate retail and supermarket chains have a purchasing department. A procurement department is a fancy way of saying “the department that manages all external vendors.” These departments generally deal with outside janitorial service, outside repair, carpentry, electrical, painting, and plumbing services; everything needed to maintain a building. Would you like to walk into a large retail or supermarket chain and ask the general manager, “Do you run the parking lot sweeping service, do you have a purchasing department, or does the property management company run the service?”

There are also shopping malls, malls, office buildings, and office parks. These types of properties often have different retail, grocery, or professional service businesses as tenants on the property. These types of facilities are generally managed by property management companies. And, when a property management company is responsible for a property, they assign property managers to manage the vendors used to maintain that property. When you’re targeting these types of properties and want to start a business on the property you’re targeting, tell one of the business managers that you’re trying to find out which property management company is responsible for maintenance. Enter the business for both commercial and office properties. You will want to be very courteous and respectful when entering a professional service office, this type of business may never have any visitors and may be very surprised by your visit. Make sure you are as respectful and courteous as possible, explain why you are there and if they would take two minutes to help you. Take note, I only ask for the company name, then call the company and ask which property manager is directly responsible for the property I’m addressing. In my experience, people are reluctant to give you the property manager’s contact information, but asking which company manages the property is much easier, and you can still find out who the actual property manager is. You can also Google a property management company and by searching the site or calling, determine who the property managers are.

Finally, there is a parking management company. These companies operate large multi-story garages on behalf of airports, municipalities, business owners and associations of owners. These types of parking facilities are generally located near the city center, near public transportation hubs, and near office parks. Parking management companies are responsible for managing the day-to-day parking payout operations, this includes vendor vendors for parking lot sweeping and pressure washing. When you head to these types of facilities, you’ll want to go directly to the parking lots you’ll be heading to and ask two questions. If it’s not obvious, ask which company manages the parking, second, ask who is the regional manager responsible for the parking. Parking managers are generally responsible for multiple parking lots, and you should keep that in mind when you talk to them. You can also google a parking management company and call to ask who the parking managers are.

Finally, there are some unique opportunities to aim. You can target farmers markets and flea markets. These types of events usually have a management organization responsible for managing who sells what products at the flea or farmer’s market. Many organizations responsible for specific markets belong to networks that oversee dozens of markets in the region. Go to a market and ask a vendor who you would talk to for a market stall, the person you are referring to is the person you would offer the service to. You can also contact this person by googling the flea market and determining the organization responsible for the flea or farmers market. There is also post-event cleanup, for example after a concert. To sign up for these opportunities, you want to contact the facilities manager at the event center. You would call the event planning phone number for a particular stadium or event venue, explain the service it offers, and ask who you would talk to about your service offering. They will usually refer you to the facility manager.