In short
- Business clients buy reliability and fewer headaches first, price second.
- A list of fifty real, named businesses beats a vague idea of "commercial clients".
- Have your insurance, licence and a one-page summary ready before the first contact.
- Ask for a small first job, not the whole contract.
- Regular, steady contact wins more business clients than one big push.
Decide which businesses buy what you do
"Commercial clients" is too broad to act on. Start by naming the kinds of business that pay for your work over and over, not once. Repeat buyers are where the steady income is.
| Your business | Businesses that buy it regularly | What they usually buy |
|---|---|---|
| Cleaner | Offices, shops, gyms, childcare centres, property managers, builders | Weekly cleans, end-of-lease cleans, builders' cleans |
| Plumber | Property managers, strata managers, cafés and restaurants, facilities managers | Maintenance call-outs, blocked drains, hot water |
| Painter | Property managers, strata managers, real estate agents, builders | Between-tenancy repaints, common areas, pre-sale work |
| Landscaper | Strata and body corporate, builders, commercial property owners | Grounds maintenance, new-build landscaping |
| Photographer | Real estate agents, venues, marketing agencies, local brands | Listings, event coverage, product and staff photos |
| IT support | Accountants, small offices, real estate agencies, trades businesses | Monthly support, setups, security |
Choose two or three kinds to start with. You will write a different first message for a property manager than for a gym owner, so fewer kinds means better messages. Our buyer pages on property managers and facilities managers go into what each kind looks for.
Understand what a business buyer cares about
A homeowner might pick the cheapest quote. A business buyer is usually picking someone they will not have to think about again. Selling to a business is a different job from selling to a household, and the person you deal with is often not the owner of the money. A property manager answers to landlords. A facilities manager answers to a head office. They want a supplier who makes them look good to the people above them.
In practice that means they care about:
- Turning up. On time, every time, and telling them early when you cannot.
- Paperwork. A licence, public liability insurance, and proper tax invoices with your ABN, so they can pay you without chasing details.
- One point of contact. They want to call one person and get an answer.
- No surprises on price. A clear quote, and no extras they did not agree to.
If your first message speaks to those four things, you will stand out from most of the businesses that approach them.
Build a list of real businesses
Now turn your two or three kinds into named businesses. Aim for fifty to start. Spend an hour or two on it, in one sitting.
- Google Maps. Search the kind of business plus a suburb you cover. Work through each suburb in turn.
- Your own jobs. Look at the businesses next door to your current clients, and at the signboards on the sites you work on.
- Industry and local directories. Chambers of commerce and industry associations often list members.
- Who you already deal with. The agent who sold your last client's house, the builder whose site you cleaned up after.
For each one, record the business name, the website, the contact address they publish on their own site, a person's name if the site gives one, and one line about why they fit. That last column matters. It is what you will put in your first message.
Leave off businesses that are clearly too big for you, and chains that buy through a head office in another state. They exist, but they are a different kind of sale.
Get ready before you approach
A business that likes your first message will ask for proof quickly. Have it ready so you can answer the same day.
- Your ABN and business name, written the same way everywhere.
- Your licence number, if your trade needs one.
- A current certificate of currency for public liability insurance, and workers' compensation if you employ people.
- A one-page summary: what you do, the area you cover, how fast you respond, and two or three similar clients or jobs (with their permission).
- Your rates for regular work, or at least a clear way of pricing it.
Make sure you can produce a proper tax invoice. If you are registered for GST, it needs to say "Tax invoice", show your name and ABN, the date, a description of the work, and the GST (or a statement that the price includes GST). For sales of $1,000 or more it must also show the buyer's name or ABN. Stripe's summary of the ATO rules sets this out in plain terms.
Make the first contact
There are three ways in: email, phone, or turning up. Most owners use a mix. Email is easy to do in batches and gives the other person time to look you up. A phone call is quicker but catches people in the middle of something. Dropping in works well for shopfronts and offices nearby.
Whichever you choose, the message is the same: who you are, why you picked them, what you could do for them, and a small next step.
Hi Priya,
I run a commercial cleaning business in Ipswich and look after a few offices along Brisbane Street. I saw your team moved into the new building on Limestone Street.
If you ever need a cleaner who comes after hours, keeps the same person on your site and invoices monthly, I'd be glad to quote. I can come and walk through any afternoon next week.
Thanks,
Mel
It is short, it shows you looked at their business, and it offers one simple next step. If there is no reply, a single polite follow-up a week later is reasonable. After that, leave it and try again in a few months.
If you email businesses you have not dealt with before, follow the commercial email rules: use an address they publish for their business, keep it relevant to their work, say who you are and let them opt out. Our guide to whether cold emailing is legal in Australia explains it.
Win a small first job
Few businesses will hand a new supplier their whole contract. Most will give you something small to see how you go: one clean, one call-out, one unit's repaint. Ask for that.
Treat the first job as the interview. Arrive on time, do exactly what you quoted, leave the site tidy, and send the invoice promptly with the right details. Then ask a plain question: "Is there anything you'd want done differently next time?"
When you meet them in person, go in prepared. Our guide to your first meeting with a business client covers what to bring, what they will ask and how to quote.
Keep the clients you win
A business client is worth far more over a few years than on the first invoice. Keeping them is mostly about small, steady habits.
- Confirm each visit or job in writing, even in one line.
- Tell them about problems you spot on site, like a leak or a broken light. It shows you are paying attention.
- Check in every few months with the person who hired you, and ask if anything has changed.
- Put regular work on a simple written agreement: what you do, how often, the price, how either side can end it.
A happy business client is also your best source of the next one. Ask if they know anyone in a similar position. Property managers know other property managers. Office managers move jobs and take their suppliers with them.
Make it a weekly habit
The owners who win business clients steadily are rarely the best salespeople. They are the ones who keep approaching a few new businesses every week, even when they are busy. A burst of effort in a quiet month, followed by nothing for six months, is the usual pattern, and it is why so many small businesses say commercial work is hard to get.
Block out a regular hour. Add ten businesses to your list, contact five, follow up the ones from last week. If you would rather hand that weekly hour to someone else, Curlew finds businesses that fit and writes to them in your business name. Whoever does it, the work is the same: the right list, a short honest message, and a first job done well.