With thousands of janitorial and custodial contracts expiring this summer, there’s a massive opportunity on the horizon—but most vendors are still stuck playing catch-up, chasing bids that are already halfway out the door. In GovSpend’s sixth and latest Beyond the Bid webinar, Paige Mockler, Director of Relationship Management & Revenue Recovery, broke down how suppliers in the cleaning services space can stop reacting and start influencing procurement before a bid even posts.
Here’s a closer look at the trends, tools, and tactical insights shared in the session.
Sustainability, Specialization, and the Shift Toward Strategic Sourcing
One of the most striking takeaways? Agencies aren’t just looking for the lowest-cost custodial vendor anymore. They’re evaluating partners based on sustainability practices, value-added services, and their ability to adapt to increasingly complex facility needs.
Paige highlighted how environmentally friendly solutions—particularly those with third-party certifications like Green Seal or EPA Safer Choice—are gaining traction, especially in coastal and urban districts. Beyond product choice, agencies are showing increased interest in vendors who can deliver innovative services like UV-C disinfection or robotic cleaning in high-traffic areas such as airports and public schools.
At the same time, more agencies are consolidating facility management and janitorial needs under fewer vendors. This bundling approach favors providers who can either scale independently or form partnerships to offer seamless, end-to-end services across multiple locations. Paige urged attendees to consider how these shifts affect their positioning—agencies are thinking holistically, and vendors should too.
Why You’re Missing Contracts You Never Knew Existed
Waiting for a bid to hit a portal is too late. In fact, Paige shared that roughly 80% of public sector purchases never go out to bid at all. These are often smaller contracts, renewals, or urgent needs filled through existing cooperative agreements.
Many vendors lose out not because their service isn’t strong, but because they didn’t know the right contract was up for renewal—or that the agency was open to a new supplier. Paige walked through how to use GovSpend’s historical spend data and contract modules to get ahead of these moments. By identifying who an agency is currently buying from, how much they’re spending, and when that contract is set to expire, vendors can plan outreach campaigns that are timely and strategic, rather than generic and reactive.
She also noted a common roadblock: even if you find the right contact, that person might no longer be in the role. Using GovSpend’s contact tracking tools helps ensure your outreach lands with the person who can say yes—or at least get you in the room before specs are written.
Turning Data Into Action with GovSpend
Throughout the webinar, Paige demonstrated how GovSpend’s platform can act as an always-on sales assistant. Want to quickly see what custodial bids are open in your state? Set filters using over 50 curated industry keywords and instantly surface dozens of relevant opportunities. Curious about who bought disinfecting services last year in your region? Historical purchase orders give you exact vendors, prices, and product lines—down to the SKU.
She also spotlighted newer features that help users cut through the noise. One standout is GovSpend AI, which scans bid documents and returns digestible summaries including scope of work, deadlines, and even draft emails for agency outreach. This is particularly useful when you’re trying to evaluate dozens of opportunities quickly and decide which are truly worth your time.
Another powerful tool? Meeting Intelligence. By scanning the minutes and transcripts of public agency meetings, vendors can spot early-stage discussions about increased cleaning frequency, budget allocations for new services, or dissatisfaction with a current vendor—months before a bid is posted. As Paige noted, these are the signals that smart vendors use to get ahead.
A Proactive Playbook for Janitorial Vendors
If there’s one message vendors should take away from this session, it’s that data-driven prospecting isn’t just for tech companies. Janitorial and custodial providers who use GovSpend to analyze spend patterns, track expiring contracts, and monitor agency conversations can build a sales pipeline that’s both deeper and more predictable.
Whether you’re selling daily janitorial services, floor care, disinfection, or supplies, this approach helps you focus on agencies that are actively buying, or are about to. It also helps you differentiate your value when competing with legacy vendors who may have gotten comfortable but aren’t evolving with agency expectations.
Ready to Go Beyond the Bid?
If you’d like help customizing any of these approaches in your own GovSpend account, reach out to your relationship manager or email support@govspend.com. The GovSpend team can assist with optimizing bid alerts, building historical spend reports, or generating targeted contact lists.
Did you miss the live session? Don’t worry! A full replay of the webinar—along with a link to the slides—is available here.
If you are not yet a customer, request time with our experts to learn how GovSpend can help you go beyond the bid and win more contracts.
Stay tuned for future sessions of the Beyond the Bid series to be announced, or read a recap post of one of our previous sessions.
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