The Work Bench · Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel

Monitor the market and competitors

The task, from O*NET: Monitor market conditions, innovations, and competitors' services, prices, and sales.

Typical length 50 minutes. Time split: documents 100%. About 191,391,809 hours a year of desk work across the US go to this task.

Passes, one attempt by Claude Fable 5.1. The rubric was written 2026-10-01 03:28 UTC, before the attempt (2026-10-01 03:44 UTC); the grade came last (2026-10-01 03:51 UTC).

One attempt at one task on one date, with constructed material: it is not a statement that the job, or this task in a given workplace, can be done by AI. The rubric, the attempt and the grade were made by the same model in one session, in that order; a person's check of a sample of grades will be published beside them.

The brief

You sell commercial cleaning contracts for Keystone Facility Services in a mid-size metro. Your sales director wants a one-page market brief for Monday: what the three main competitors now offer and charge, what changed since last quarter, and what it means for the two proposals due next week, a 40,000 square foot office building and a 12,000 square foot medical clinic. Use only the material below. Put the implications as options for the director to choose among, not as instructions.

The material

Constructed for this example; the names, figures and documents are invented.

LAST QUARTER'S PRICE NOTES (July)
Keystone: office nightly cleaning $0.11 per square foot per month; medical $0.16.
Metro Shine: office $0.10; medical $0.15.
Brightpath Janitorial: office $0.12; no medical offering.
CleanWorks Co: office $0.095; medical $0.14; 12-month contracts with a 90-day exit.

CURRENT COMPETITOR INFORMATION (October)
Metro Shine rate card, October 1: office $0.105 per square foot per month on a 3-year contract, or $0.115 on a 1-year contract; medical $0.16; a 'green certified' program now included at no charge; day porter add-on $28 an hour.
Brightpath announcement, September 20: entering medical cleaning with a certified team, introductory $0.145 per square foot per month for the first year; office $0.12, unchanged; new electrostatic disinfection add-on at $0.02 per square foot per month.
CleanWorks Co website, September 28: office $0.10 (up from $0.095); medical $0.14; month-to-month now available at $0.11 office; '24-month price lock' on contracts.
News item, September 30: the regional minimum wage rises 6% on January 1.

CUSTOMER COMMENTS
Facilities manager at a current Keystone office client: 'Metro Shine pitched us at $0.105 with the green program. We stayed because your crew is reliable, but the gap is noticeable.'
The clinic prospect: 'We need documented disinfection protocols and proof of staff training. Price is second.'

The rubric, written before the attempt

1. Each competitor's current position is stated correctly with the figures. Evidence: Metro Shine $0.105 three-year or $0.115 one-year office, $0.16 medical, green program free, porter $28 an hour; Brightpath medical at $0.145 introductory, office $0.12, electrostatic $0.02; CleanWorks office $0.10, medical $0.14, month-to-month $0.11, 24-month price lock.
2. The changes since July are identified. Evidence: Metro Shine's office cut on three-year terms and the green program; Brightpath entering medical with an introductory price and the disinfection add-on; CleanWorks raising office from $0.095 to $0.10 and adding month-to-month and the price lock.
3. Implications for both proposals are given as options, at least two each, tied to the figures and the customer comments. Evidence: Office: Keystone's $0.11 against Metro Shine's $0.105 and CleanWorks' $0.10, with options such as a term-based price, the reliability case, or a bundle; clinic: Keystone's $0.16 against $0.145 and $0.14, with options leaning on documented protocols and training proof, which the prospect said comes first.
4. The 6% minimum wage rise on January 1 is noted as a cost pressure for multi-year pricing. Evidence: A sentence connecting the wage rise to any term-based pricing option.
5. Nothing beyond the material: no invented competitor facts, market shares, or figures. Evidence: Every figure traces to the notes, rate cards, announcements or comments.
6. One page, clearly sectioned. Evidence: About 350 to 600 words with headings for positions, changes and implications.

The attempt, one pass, unedited

Claude Fable 5.1, written 2026-10-01 03:44 UTC from the brief and the material only.

MARKET BRIEF, commercial cleaning, for Monday
Prepared for the sales director. Sources: the July price notes, competitor rate cards and announcements dated September 20 to October 1, and two customer comments.

Where the competitors stand now
- Metro Shine (rate card, October 1): office $0.105 per square foot per month on a 3-year contract, $0.115 on 1 year; medical $0.16; a 'green certified' program included at no charge; day porter add-on $28 an hour.
- Brightpath Janitorial (announcement, September 20): now in medical cleaning with a certified team at an introductory $0.145 for the first year; office $0.12, unchanged; a new electrostatic disinfection add-on at $0.02 per square foot per month.
- CleanWorks Co (website, September 28): office $0.10; medical $0.14; month-to-month office at $0.11; a 24-month price lock on contracts.
- Keystone, for reference (July): office $0.11, medical $0.16.

What changed since July
- Metro Shine moved office from a flat $0.10 to a term structure: cheaper than before on 3 years ($0.105), dearer on 1 year ($0.115). Medical went from $0.15 to $0.16. The green program is new and free.
- Brightpath entered medical, where it had no offering, at $0.145 for year one, and added the disinfection add-on.
- CleanWorks raised office from $0.095 to $0.10, kept medical at $0.14, and added month-to-month at $0.11 and the 24-month price lock.
- On costs: the regional minimum wage rises 6% on January 1. That presses on every competitor's labor cost and on ours, and it lands inside any 2-year or 3-year price we quote now.

What it means for next week's proposals, as options

Office building, 40,000 square feet. At $0.11 we sit above Metro Shine's 3-year $0.105 and CleanWorks' $0.10, and a current client has told us the gap is noticeable even though our reliability kept them. Options: (1) a term-based price, for example a lower rate on a 3-year term, with the January wage rise built into the math so we are not locked in below cost; (2) hold $0.11 and sell the reliability the client named, with service measures written into the proposal; (3) a bundle at or near $0.11 that includes something Metro Shine charges for or does not offer, such as day porter hours or disinfection, if our costs allow it.

Medical clinic, 12,000 square feet. At $0.16 we are above Brightpath's $0.145 introductory rate and CleanWorks' $0.14, but the prospect said documented disinfection protocols and proof of staff training come first and price second. Options: (1) hold $0.16 and lead the proposal with the protocols and the training records; (2) mirror Brightpath's structure with a first-year rate and a stated second-year rate, again with January's wage rise in the math; (3) make the protocol documentation a contract deliverable so the comparison is not on rate alone.

Things to watch. Brightpath's medical price is introductory, so its second-year rate is unknown. CleanWorks' 24-month price lock may be something prospects ask us to match.

The grade

Graded 2026-10-01 03:51 UTC against the rubric above, by the same model.

Overall: passes. The brief does what a director would want: the figures, the deltas, and choices rather than a recommendation. It assumes Keystone has training records to show, which the material implies through the prospect's request but does not state.

How the examples are made and graded: the method. Every task of this job, with its length and when it comes within reach: Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel.