Market report · Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
The State of Outbound Sales in Atlanta, 2026
How outbound selling looks across the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA metro right now: who the buyers are, which trades have room, what is being built, what a rep costs to hire here. Then a 4-tool kit to work the market this month.
- 14,502business sites with 20+ people across the categories trades sell to, #6 of our 100 metros
- 3.9buyer sites per commercial landscaping contractor, #42 of 100 markets: the best rank of any trade here
Sites: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023; rank among the 100 metros on our market pages. Room: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 sites per contractor in U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2026 Q1, among markets with at least 10 contractors.
Executive summary Read this if nothing else
5 things to know about outbound sales in Atlanta
Biggest buyer pool
Restaurants: 4,531 sites
with 20 or more people, the largest buyer category in Atlanta-Sandy Springs, ahead of retail stores (2,971).
Where the metro leans
Warehousing and distribution: 1.54x the U.S. mix
Also over-represented: nonresidential building owners (1.51x) and commercial property managers (1.41x). Trades that serve these buyers have more of them here than the national average suggests.
Most room
Commercial Landscaping: #42 of 100 markets
3.9 buyer sites with 20+ people for each of 2,056 local commercial landscaping contractors. The most crowded is commercial electrical, #92 of 100.
Biggest reason to call
Data-Center Construction Wave, 2,076MW under construction
Ongoing, facilities lease as soon as they deliver (2% vacancy). One of 2 named, sourced projects in this report.
Hiring locally
$124,700 for an in-house SDR's first year (illustrative)
At a $55,000 base salary, once commission, payroll taxes and benefits, tools, recruiting and training, turnover and manager time are added, before ramp time.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2026 Q1; project sources as of 2026-07; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Full list at the end.
Chapter 01 The market
Who buys in Atlanta-Sandy Springs
14,502 business sites in Atlanta-Sandy Springs have 20 or more people on site in the categories commercial trades sell to. That ranks #6 of the 100 metros we publish. Here is what those buyers are and where they sit.
The largest buyer categories
Sites with 20 or more people are the ones worth an SDR's time: big enough to have a facility lead, a service budget and a contract that comes up for renewal. The "vs. U.S. mix" column compares each category's share of local employment with its national share (1.00x is the U.S. average).
| Category | Sites with 20+ | All sites | vs. U.S. mix | 1-yr change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RestaurantsLargest pool | 4,531 | 13,369 | 1.05x | +178 |
| Retail stores | 2,971 | 18,625 | 0.95x | -485 |
| Medical, dental and outpatient offices | 1,639 | 14,357 | 1.16x | +600 |
| Wholesale distributors | 1,409 | 8,164 | 0.93x | -143 |
| Manufacturing plants | 1,268 | 4,023 | 0.90x | -23 |
| Grocery stores | 530 | 2,734 | 0.97x | -17 |
| Senior living and nursing | 382 | 796 | 0.55x | +24 |
| Churches and religious organizations | 382 | 3,092 | 0.67x | -17 |
| Bank and credit union offices | 337 | 3,299 | 0.98x | +29 |
| Trucking companies | 333 | 3,346 | 0.99x | -272 |
Atlanta-Sandy Springs leans toward warehousing and distribution (1.54x), nonresidential building owners (1.51x) and commercial property managers (1.41x). A trade that already sells to those buyers elsewhere has a deeper pool here than the national numbers suggest, and a case study from one of them travels well on the phone.
It is thinner than the U.S. mix in colleges and universities (0.54x) and senior living and nursing (0.55x). A program built around those buyers runs out of fresh accounts sooner here.
Growing fastest over the past year, by establishment count: medical, dental and outpatient offices (+600), restaurants (+178) and warehousing and distribution (+67). New sites have no incumbent vendor yet.
The metro
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA: 28 counties in this report's counts.
Fulton County, Gwinnett County and Cobb County hold 53% of the larger business sites, so most programs start there.
Where the sites are
| County | Sites with 20+ | Share of metro |
|---|---|---|
| Fulton CountyStart here | 3,618 | 25% |
| Gwinnett County | 2,202 | 15% |
| Cobb County | 1,935 | 13% |
| DeKalb County | 1,501 | 10% |
| Forsyth County | 528 | 4% |
| Cherokee County | 509 | 4% |
| Henry County | 485 | 3% |
| Clayton County | 452 | 3% |
Chapter 02 The competition
Which trades have the most room in Atlanta
Buyer sites per contractor is a rough read on how crowded a trade is: more sites for each local competitor means more doors nobody else is knocking on. Each trade's Atlanta figure is ranked against the other markets we track.
| Trade | Rank among markets | Sites per contractor | Contractors | 1-yr change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial LandscapingMost room | #42 of 100 | 3.9 | 2,056 | -49 |
| Fire Protection | #52 of 96 | 41 | 208 | -1 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | #63 of 100 | 3.4 | 1,562 | -29 |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings | #56 of 86 | 59 | 131 | +1 |
| Commercial Flooring | #45 of 68 | 59 | 87 | +2 |
| Paving & Asphalt | #67 of 94 | 35 | 232 | +3 |
| Commercial Roofing | #71 of 89 | 47 | 162 | +1 |
| Commercial Construction | #81 of 100 | 3.0 | 1,336 | +24 |
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | #83 of 100 | 7.2 | 651 | +6 |
| Managed Service Providers | #90 of 100 | 1.4 | 5,397 | +107 |
| Commercial Electrical | #92 of 100 | 6.2 | 1,012 | +26 |
Commercial landscaping (#42), fire protection (#52) and commercial cleaning & janitorial (#63) rank best in Atlanta. For those trades a program can work longer before it calls the same building twice, and fewer competitors have already pitched each owner.
Commercial electrical is the most crowded trade here, #92 of 100: 6.2 buyer sites for each of 1,012 local electrical contractors. Winning there takes a sharper reason to switch than a lower price.
Commercial landscaping (-49) and commercial cleaning & janitorial (-29) lost contractor establishments over the past year, so the same buildings are split among fewer firms than a year ago. Managed service providers (+107) and commercial electrical (+26) added them.
Open programs
Our availability workbook does not cover Atlanta yet. We take one client per trade per territory, so ask before you plan around it.
Chapter 03 The projects
What is being built, and who owns the buildings
2 named, sourced projects and 6 anchor owners in Atlanta-Sandy Springs. Each one is a reason to call that has nothing to do with your company and everything to do with the buyer's building.
The projects
- 01 · 2,076MW under construction Data-Center Construction Wave Ongoing, facilities lease as soon as they deliver (2% vacancy) Atlanta trails only Northern Virginia in data-center inventory, and the pipeline keeps growing. ajc.com
- 02 · $3.7B and $17B proposals Proposed Hyperscale Campuses In planning/entitlement Multiple campus-scale proposals are moving through Georgia approvals, including one larger than three shopping malls combined. Proposals are not guarantees, but they signal where the market is heading. ajc.com
Projects current as of 2026-07; each source is linked on its card. Values are as reported by the source.
The anchor owners
Health systems, campuses, large employers and industrial parks hold the biggest concentrations of commercial buildings in Atlanta-Sandy Springs. One relationship with a facilities team here can cover many buildings.
Health system · Atlanta, DeKalb County
Emory Healthcare
Emory Healthcare says it has more than 3,800 physicians in 70 different subspecialties at over 580 provider locations.
Hospitals, clinics and medical office buildings spread across the metro each carry mechanical systems, life-safety systems, floors and parking that need ongoing service.
Emory HealthcareHealth system · Atlanta (Buckhead), Fulton County
Piedmont Atlanta Hospital
Piedmont describes its Peachtree Road campus in Buckhead as a 643-bed, private, not-for-profit hospital.
A large acute-care campus on Peachtree Road runs around the clock, with heavy HVAC, cleaning, roofing and fire protection needs.
Piedmont HealthcareMajor employer · Atlanta, Fulton County
Delta Air Lines
Metro Atlanta CEO reported that Delta topped Atlanta's largest-employers list with a full-time employee count of 42,300 as of Dec. 31, 2022.
The headquarters campus, hangars, training and support buildings near the airport carry large electrical, mechanical, roofing and pavement scopes.
Metro Atlanta CEOAirport · Atlanta, Fulton and Clayton counties
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
Airports Council International rankings show Atlanta handled about 106.3 million passengers in 2025, the most of any airport.
Terminals, concourses, parking decks and airside buildings need constant cleaning, HVAC service, electrical work and pavement upkeep.
CBS News AtlantaCampus · Atlanta, Fulton County
Georgia State University
Georgia State lists 53,000+ students and operates a 100-acre downtown Atlanta campus plus five Perimeter campus locations.
A dense downtown campus plus suburban Perimeter campuses in Clarkston, Decatur, Dunwoody, Newton and Alpharetta means classrooms, labs, housing and parking decks to clean, condition and maintain.
Georgia State UniversityIndustrial park · Southwest Fulton County
Fulton Industrial District
The Fulton Industrial Boulevard CID says the district has more than 55 million square feet of industrial space, 1,000+ businesses and 4,800 acres of land.
Warehouses, distribution centers and plants along Fulton Industrial Boulevard need roof replacements, dock and lot paving, electrical upgrades and sprinkler work.
Fulton Industrial Boulevard CIDAnchor facts checked 2026-10; each source is linked on its card.
Which trades the work touches
| Trade | Projects and owners |
|---|---|
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | 7 |
| Commercial Electrical | 6 |
| Fire Protection | 5 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | 5 |
| Paving & Asphalt | 3 |
| Commercial Roofing | 3 |
| Commercial Construction | 3 |
| Commercial Flooring | 2 |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings | 1 |
Chapter 04 The calendar
The Atlanta selling calendar
Outbound runs every month, but the weather changes what a buyer wants to hear. These are the NOAA records for the Atlanta-Sandy Springs metro's counties, month by month.
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail and damaging wind reportstotal, 2015 to 2024 | 121 | 44 | 137 | 158 | 88 | 508 | 369 | 356 | 34 | 10 | 20 | 45 |
| Cooling degree daysaverage month | 5 | 2 | 20 | 29 | 152 | 320 | 429 | 400 | 227 | 49 | 5 | 3 |
| Heating degree daysaverage month | 692 | 524 | 379 | 159 | 39 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 143 | 403 | 614 |
| Average high (°F)average month | 53 | 58 | 65 | 74 | 81 | 87 | 89 | 88 | 83 | 74 | 64 | 56 |
NOAA logged 224 hail reports of 1 inch or larger and 1,666 damaging wind reports across the metro's counties from 2015 to 2024: #20 of 100 markets for hail and #6 for wind. June, July and August carried 65% of the reports. Storm calls are a real door-opener here, and the contractor who is already known before the season gets the inspection.
The metro averages 1,641 cooling degree days a year (#30 of 97 markets) and 2,962 heating degree days (#68 of 97). Cooling load peaks in June, July, August and September; heating in January, February, March, November and December. Peak months are when HVAC calls lead with service and response times; the rest of the year they lead with planned work and budgets.
9 months average a high of 60°F or more (March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October and November). That is when exterior painting, paving and landscaping crews are busiest, so in-season calls catch owners while they can see the work that needs doing. The contracts themselves are bid on each property's own dates, so the selling runs all year.
Trades with no weather season
Cleaning, construction, electrical, flooring and fire protection sell on contract end dates, budgets and inspection cycles. Learn each account's date on the first call and come back before it.
Roofing demand spikes after hail and wind events, when owners want an inspection and documentation for their insurer, so be the known contractor before the storm, not one of many calling after it. Planned work follows each owner's budget: inspections feed capital requests, and replacements are approved ahead of installation. Outbound runs every month, keyed to each building's roof age and budget date.
Chapter 05 The numbers
What one meeting takes, trade by trade
What booking a meeting has taken on our own calling floor for the trades we run in Atlanta, next to the records we can prospect here. The sales center figures are national; it does not break them out by city yet.
| Trade | Dials per appointment | Reached proposal | Proposals won | Dials for 10 meetings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fire ProtectionFastest to book | 78 | 21.6% | 13.2% | about 780 |
| Paving & Asphalt | 86 | 32.2% | 7.4% | about 860 |
| Commercial Landscaping | 88 | 18.8% | 12.7% | about 880 |
| Commercial Electrical | 96 | 14.6% | 21.1% | about 960 |
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | 98 | 16.6% | 24.9% | about 980 |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings | 115 | 31.2% | 14.4% | about 1,150 |
| Commercial Flooring | 122 | 30.8% | 9.8% | about 1,220 |
| Commercial Roofing | 140 | 25.9% | 16.1% | about 1,400 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | 142 | 23.9% | 21.7% | about 1,420 |
| Managed Service Providers | 162 | 10.0% | 20.5% | about 1,620 |
All of these trades together: 122 dials per appointment
The records behind a Atlanta program
Before a program starts we size the list: the decision-maker records Abstrakt can prospect for each trade in the Atlanta territory.
- 16,580Commercial Roofing
- 16,580Commercial Construction
- 10,619Commercial HVAC & Mechanical
- 4,425Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial
Source: Abstrakt territory record counts, as of October 2026: estimated decision-maker records Abstrakt can prospect for each program in the territory. Shown for the programs the count covers.
Read it this way
Divide the records by the dials one meeting takes and you see how long a list lasts before it repeats. A thin list means a program has to work every record well, not just call more.
Chapter 06 Build or buy
What an in-house SDR costs in Atlanta
Before you hire a sales development rep in Atlanta, price the whole job, not just the salary.
The salary is the smallest part of the decision. About 33,900 people hold the role in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA metro, and every one of their employers is competing for the same hires.
| Cost | Year one |
|---|---|
| Base salary | $55,000 |
| Commission and bonus | $15,000 |
| Payroll taxes and benefits (25% of pay) | $17,500 |
| Tools and data ($550 a month) | $6,600 |
| Recruiting and training | $7,000 |
| Turnover (35% a year, rehiring) | $2,450 |
| Manager and QA time (5 hours a week) and admin (4 hours a month) | $21,150 |
| Total, before ramp time | $124,700 |
Headcount: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services and travel (SOC 41-3091). The cost lines are the starting values of our SDR cost calculator: $15,000 commission, 25% payroll taxes and benefits, $550 a month in tools, $7,000 recruiting and training, 35% yearly turnover, and manager, QA and admin time. Change any of them there.
$124,700
for one in-house SDR's first year at a $55,000 base salary.
That buys one rep. It does not buy the list, the manager's coaching system or cover when the rep leaves.
Part two Apply this
The Atlanta market toolkit
4 working tools built from the chapters above. Tick the boxes as you go (they stay ticked in this browser), copy the scripts into your CRM, or save the whole guide as a PDF and print this part as a worksheet.
Tool 01
Account scorecard
Before an account goes on the call list, check every line that fits. Call the accounts with the most ticks first, and leave the ones with none for later.
Tool 02
Discovery question bank
Ask fewer, better questions. Pick three or four for the call and save the rest for the meeting. Each one comes with the reason it earns its place.
Restaurants: 4,531 sites here
From our fire protection talk track. Staying open and passing inspection. Multi-unit operators are worth more than single locations.
- When was your hood suppression system last inspected, and when is the next one due?Due dates tell you when to call and what to offer.
- Have you had a failed inspection or a citation recently?Failed inspections threaten the ability to stay open and create urgency.
- How many locations do you operate, and does each one use a different vendor?Multi-unit operators are more valuable and often want one vendor across locations.
Retail stores: 2,971 sites here
From our painting talk track. Night work that does not close the store. Chains often run repaints as multi-site programs from regional facilities.
- Is painting bought store by store or through a regional or national remodel program?Program work needs a different contact and often a vendor registration process.
- Can the work be done overnight without closing the store?Night work capability is often the deciding factor for retail painting.
- Are remodels, brand refreshes or new stores planned in this area?Planned programs give you a timeline and a defined scope.
Medical, dental and outpatient offices: 1,639 sites here
From our landscaping talk track. Patient access and safety. Many practices lease, so the landlord or property manager is often the buyer.
- Do you own the building, or does a landlord or property manager handle the grounds?Many practices lease, so this tells you whether to keep selling here or move to the landlord.
- Have patients complained about the entrance, parking or grounds?Complaints give the practice administrator a reason to push for a change.
- When does the current grounds contract end?The date sets your follow-up timing.
Any first meeting
Plain practice that works in every market.
- How are you handling this today, and what would you change about it?The gap between today and what they want is the whole reason to meet.
- What happens if nothing changes this year?Tells you whether there is a cost to waiting, or only curiosity.
- Who else would need to agree before anything moves?Names the people who can stall the deal, while you can still invite them.
- When does the current contract or budget come up for review?Gives you the date to plan around, even when the answer today is no.
- What would make a first meeting worth your time?Lets the buyer set the agenda, which is the agenda they will show up for.
Tool 03
Trigger watchlist
Each of these changes gives a buyer a reason to take the call this month instead of next year. Tick the ones you will track, and set a news alert or CRM field for each so you hear about it first.
Tool 04
30-day action plan
4 weeks, 15 steps, nothing you need to buy. Tick each one off as you finish it; your progress stays in this browser.
Week 1Draw the territory
Week 2Check the rules, then write the talk track
Week 3Make the calls
Week 4Measure and decide
Sources and notes
- U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023: business sites by category, size and county, Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2026 Q1: contractor establishments, one-year change and concentration (location quotient).
- Projects: named public sources linked on each card, current as of 2026-07.
- Anchor owners: sources linked on each card, checked 2026-10.
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 2015 to 2024: hail and damaging wind reports by month across the metro's counties.
- NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county monthly series, 1991-2020 averages: degree days and average highs by month.
- Abstrakt sales center, Performance Intelligence, national, as of October 2026: dials, appointments, proposals and wins by trade. Method.
- Abstrakt territory record counts, as of October 2026: decision-maker records per program in the Atlanta territory.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025: Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services and travel (SOC 41-3091).
- The toolkit's discovery questions come from our trade talk tracks; the plan and checklists are sales practice, not data.
