Finding new customers
Guidance for a pool, lifeguard or porter company on finding community association customers: who hires, where to start, and what to have ready.
This is general, preliminary information to help you get started. It isn’t legal, tax, insurance or financial advice, and rules differ by state, city and situation. Before you decide anything, check with a lawyer, an accountant and a business advisor. They have the final say.
Community work is hired by volunteer boards and the managers who work for them. This guide is guidance on reaching both, and on being ready when they answer.
Who hires
This is guidance, not a formula. A community association is run by a volunteer board, and many boards hire a management company to handle daily business. The manager is often the person who reads your proposal first and the one you will deal with every week.
Some communities have no manager at all. There the board member in charge of the pool, the grounds or the clubhouse is your contact.
Where to start
Start near your yard. A community on your route is easy to add to a day you already work, and its board can ask neighbors who already know your name.
Ask the customers you have now who manages their community and whether they would make an introduction. A warm name beats a cold email.
Keep a simple list: community, manager, contact, date you wrote, what you sent and what they said. Follow up once, and politely.
- CAI says an association board acts for the association by hiring managers, attorneys, contractors and other professionals. (Community Associations Institute (HOAresources), as of Oct 6, 2026)
- CAI lists pool maintenance, landscaping, pest control and similar long-term services as work suited to the bidding process. (Community Associations Institute (HOAresources), as of Oct 6, 2026)
Keep going:
Be ready when they answer
A manager will ask for your W-9 and proof of insurance early. Have both ready, and they will see a company that has done this before.
- Form W-9 is how a person gives their correct Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) to someone who must report payments to the IRS on an information return. (IRS, as of Oct 6, 2026)
- A certificate of insurance is a document that provides information about insurance policies. (ACORD, as of Oct 6, 2026)
Keep going:
Let requests come to you
See requests from communities near you and propose with your documents already checked.
Once your company is approved, browse businesses, management companies and communities by type, and apply to a management company from its tab.
Write up the work and your number for a community that has not asked for it, and send the offer to one email address as a link. Anyone with the link can view it, and only that address can accept it.
Once your company is approved, draft the RFP a community would write and send it to the community’s email address as a link. The community reviews it and decides whether to publish it.
Keep going:
Keep reading
Sources
- Enforce, collect, and hire help: An association board's biggest responsibilities (published 2019). Community Associations Institute (HOAresources). As of Oct 6, 2026.
- How Many Bids Should Your HOA Get for Contract Work? (published 2020-01-07). Community Associations Institute (HOAresources). As of Oct 6, 2026.
- About Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification. Internal Revenue Service. As of Oct 6, 2026.
- What is a Certificate of Insurance? (ACORD FAQ). ACORD. As of Oct 6, 2026.
Official pages change. Each line shows the day we last read it.
Propose on the work communities post.
Joining is free. A person here reads your documents before you propose.