A commercial landscaping call is mostly about one date: when the property manager next rebids the grounds contract. Ask for it in the first 30 seconds. If it is within six months, book a site walk. If it is a year out, ask permission to call back three months before. Everything else, your equipment, your crews, your insurance, goes in a one-page sheet you send after the date is on your calendar.
The example is invented. Gwen Abernathy runs Cobblestone Grounds, a commercial maintenance company with four crews that cuts, trims, mulches and plows lots for office parks, medical buildings and retail centers. She calls property managers and facility directors, not homeowners, and not the volunteer boards of homeowner associations. The reason for that is in the legal section at the end.
Find the manager, not the property
A commercial property rarely has a phone number that reaches the person who hires the grounds contractor. Look up the owner or management company on the building's website, the leasing signage or the county records, then call the management company's main line and ask, "Who handles grounds and snow contracts for the Northridge Medical Plaza?" The answer is a name. Write it down. A longer playbook on getting past the person who answers is in how to get past the gatekeeper when cold calling.
The call
Hi, is this Terrence? Gwen Abernathy with Cobblestone Grounds. I'm a commercial maintenance contractor, and this is a sales call. Who handles the grounds contract for Northridge Medical Plaza, and when is it next up for bid?
Three answers come back, and each has its own next line.
- "It's up in the next few months." "Perfect. Can I walk the property this week and send you a proposal in writing, so I'm in the pile when you bid it? It will take 30 minutes and I'll bring a one-page scope."
- "It's not up until next year." "When do you start collecting bids? I'll call you three months before that. May I send you a one-page sheet about us so you have it on file?"
- "I don't know. Someone else decides." "Who is that? I'd like to be on the list when they do."
A date and a name are the two things you want, and the call rarely needs to run more than two minutes.
What to say on the site walk
If the manager agrees to a walk, spend ten of the 30 minutes asking. What are the biggest complaints from tenants or visitors? What does the current contractor do well, and what do they miss? Is snow service part of the same contract? What would the manager change? Then take photographs of the areas that show wear, such as bare turf near entrances, overgrown beds and drain grates blocked with leaves. In the proposal, tie each item to a line in your scope. A property manager reads a proposal that names her trouble spots differently from one that lists services.
Objections from property managers
- "We have a long-term contractor." "I'm glad you do. I'd like to be the second bid at renewal. A written proposal costs you nothing, and gives you something to hold against theirs."
- "Price is all that matters." "Understood. I'll price the scope you give me, line by line, so the numbers compare. What does your current scope include?"
- "Send me your information." "I will. What should I put in it to make it useful: references, proof of insurance, a sample scope?" Whatever she names, send. Ask for a time to follow up.
- "Corporate chooses the vendor." "Who? And are they open to bids on individual properties, or only on the whole portfolio?" Get the name and the answer.
A fuller look at winning this kind of work is in how to get commercial landscaping contracts.
Voicemail and the one-page email
Terrence, Gwen Abernathy at Cobblestone Grounds, 555-0159. I'm a commercial grounds contractor and I wanted to ask when the Northridge Medical Plaza contract is next up for bid. I'll send a one-page sheet about us. I'll try you again Thursday.
Subject: Grounds bid at Northridge Medical Plaza
Hi Terrence, here is the one-page sheet I mentioned: crew size, equipment, insurance, and three commercial references. When you open the grounds contract for bid, I would like to be on the list. Could I walk the property in the next two weeks? Gwen Abernathy, Cobblestone Grounds, 6 Ridge Road, Madison. Reply "stop" and I won't write again.
When to call
Property managers are in their office and on the phone through the business day, so the window is wide. Avoid Mondays, when the manager is clearing the weekend's tenant complaints, and Fridays after lunch. The better calendar question is which month: ask each manager their bid date and log it, and then call each one three months before. After a year of this, your log tells you which months to call, which is better than any rule of thumb. Timing for other buyers is in best time to cold call.
The law for contractors who call
A call from a contractor to a property management company is a business call, and the Federal Trade Commission's Telemarketing Sales Rule exempts most of those (16 CFR 310.6(b)(7)). The exceptions: no false or misleading statements about what you sell (16 CFR 310.3(a)(2) and (a)(4)), and calls selling nondurable office or cleaning supplies. The rule's calling hours are 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the called person's location (16 CFR 310.4(c)); that text is about residences, but stay inside it. Calling a homeowner association's volunteer board member on a home or personal cell number is a different matter, since that may not be a business call, so call the management company instead and ask a lawyer before you do otherwise. And in February 2024 the Federal Communications Commission ruled that AI-generated voices are artificial under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which brings in consent rules, especially for mobile phones. Your state may add its own rules. This is general information, not legal advice.
If you would rather be out on the lots than on the phone, Rocketship's Launch plan and up has AI phone calls that say they are an AI assistant and can book the site walk on the call, and the follow-up email goes from your own Gmail. Launch is $24.99 a month, and the pricing page lists the rest.