Market report · Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
The State of Outbound Sales in Boston, 2026
How outbound selling looks across the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH 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.
- 12,333business sites with 20+ people across the categories trades sell to, #10 of our 100 metros
- 66buyer sites per fire protection contractor, #12 of 96 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 Boston
Biggest buyer pool
Restaurants: 3,550 sites
with 20 or more people, the largest buyer category in Boston-Cambridge, ahead of retail stores (2,737).
Where the metro leans
Commercial property managers: 1.45x the U.S. mix
Also over-represented: grocery stores (1.37x). Trades that serve these buyers have more of them here than the national average suggests.
Most room
Fire Protection: #12 of 96 markets
66 buyer sites with 20+ people for each of 118 local fire protection contractors. The most crowded is commercial landscaping, #79 of 100.
Biggest reason to call
Phillip and Susan Ragon Building, Massachusetts General Hospital, 1.05 million sq ft
Under construction; first tower opens 2027, second tower 2030. One of 4 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 2026-09; 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 Boston-Cambridge
12,333 business sites in Boston-Cambridge have 20 or more people on site in the categories commercial trades sell to. That ranks #10 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 | 3,550 | 12,319 | 1.04x | +206 |
| Retail stores | 2,737 | 15,568 | 0.92x | -247 |
| Medical, dental and outpatient offices | 1,444 | 9,306 | 0.79x | +310 |
| Manufacturing plants | 1,317 | 4,046 | 0.77x | +30 |
| Wholesale distributors | 968 | 4,982 | 0.74x | -256 |
| Senior living and nursing | 607 | 1,990 | 1.11x | -2 |
| Grocery stores | 495 | 3,514 | 1.37x | -1 |
| Bank and credit union offices | 312 | 2,553 | 0.86x | -48 |
| Auto dealerships | 269 | 696 | 0.89x | +3 |
| Hotels | 250 | 499 | 0.57x | +8 |
Boston-Cambridge leans toward commercial property managers (1.45x) and grocery stores (1.37x). 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 churches and religious organizations (0.15x) and trucking companies (0.43x). 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 (+310), restaurants (+206) and manufacturing plants (+30). New sites have no incumbent vendor yet.
The metro
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH: 7 counties in this report's counts.
Middlesex County, Suffolk County and Norfolk County hold 64% of the larger business sites, so most programs start there.
Where the sites are
| County | Sites with 20+ | Share of metro |
|---|---|---|
| Middlesex CountyStart here | 3,985 | 32% |
| Suffolk County | 2,013 | 16% |
| Norfolk County | 1,878 | 15% |
| Essex County | 1,788 | 14% |
| Plymouth County | 1,201 | 10% |
| Rockingham County, New Hampshire | 977 | 8% |
| Strafford County, New Hampshire | 274 | 2% |
Chapter 02 The competition
Which trades have the most room in Boston
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 Boston figure is ranked against the other markets we track.
| Trade | Rank among markets | Sites per contractor | Contractors | 1-yr change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fire ProtectionMost room | #12 of 96 | 66 | 118 | +5 |
| Commercial Roofing | #15 of 89 | 91 | 78 | +2 |
| Commercial Construction | #17 of 100 | 7.2 | 557 | +7 |
| Paving & Asphalt | #18 of 94 | 53 | 135 | +5 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | #38 of 100 | 4.2 | 1,285 | +3 |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings | #33 of 86 | 74 | 101 | +1 |
| Commercial Electrical | #50 of 100 | 10 | 580 | 0 |
| Commercial Flooring | #34 of 68 | 71 | 71 | +3 |
| Managed Service Providers | #51 of 100 | 2.7 | 2,614 | -112 |
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | #59 of 100 | 8.9 | 520 | -13 |
| Commercial Landscaping | #79 of 100 | 2.9 | 2,652 | +60 |
Fire protection (#12), commercial roofing (#15) and commercial construction (#17) rank best in Boston. For those trades a program can work longer before it calls the same building twice, and fewer competitors have already pitched each owner.
Commercial landscaping is the most crowded trade here, #79 of 100: 2.9 buyer sites for each of 2,652 local commercial landscaping contractors. Winning there takes a sharper reason to switch than a lower price.
Managed service providers (-112) and commercial HVAC & mechanical (-13) lost contractor establishments over the past year, so the same buildings are split among fewer firms than a year ago. Commercial landscaping (+60) and commercial construction (+7) added them.
Open programs
Our availability workbook does not cover Boston 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
4 named, sourced projects and 6 anchor owners in Boston-Cambridge. 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 · 1.05 million sq ft Phillip and Susan Ragon Building, Massachusetts General Hospital Under construction; first tower opens 2027, second tower 2030 A new clinical building at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston's West End with 482 private inpatient rooms, the Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute, and the Corrigan Minehan Heart Center. Construction is phased over about 8.5 years, with the first tower opening in 2027 and the second in 2030. That keeps hospital mechanical, electrical, and fire protection work going through the end of the decade, with interior flooring and painting as each tower finishes. Mass General Brigham, 2026-09
- 02 · 180,000 sq ft The Bolt Topped out; completion Q2 2027 A manufacturing and innovation building on a former Superfund site along the New Boston Street corridor in Woburn, Middlesex County, near the Anderson Regional Transportation Center. The structure topped off in September 2026 and is due in the second quarter of 2027. Flexible manufacturing space needs heavy electrical service, process HVAC, and roofing, with tenant buildouts adding fire protection and floor work. Boston Real Estate Times, 2026-09-14
- 03 · 445,200 sq ft 840 Columbus Avenue residence hall, Northeastern University Under construction A 23-story residence hall with 1,215 student beds, community space, and ground-floor retail on a former parking lot at 840 Columbus Avenue in Boston, built by American Campus Communities with Blackstone. Ground broke in February 2026. A high-rise dormitory needs HVAC, electrical, and fire protection work now, and ongoing flooring, painting, and cleaning once students move in. Boston Real Estate Times, 2026-02-04
- 04 · Approximately $76 million New Countryside Elementary School Under construction; opening January 2027 A replacement elementary school in Newton, Middlesex County, built on the same site as the existing school with Massachusetts School Building Authority funding. The building enclosure was finished in September 2026, and mechanical and electrical systems are being installed ahead of a January 2027 move-in. After that, the old school comes down and the site gets new athletic fields, which means paving and landscaping work in 2027. Boston Real Estate Times, 2026-09-17
Projects current as of 2026-09; 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 Boston-Cambridge. One relationship with a facilities team here can cover many buildings.
Health system · Boston, Suffolk County
Mass General Brigham
Mass General Brigham says it is the largest private employer in Massachusetts, with 85,000+ employees and 14 hospitals including 5 nationally ranked teaching hospitals.
Flagship campuses at Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women's plus community hospitals and outpatient sites run central plants, sprinkler systems and constant environmental services.
Mass General BrighamCampus · Boston, Suffolk County
Boston University
BU's Facts & Stats page lists a student body of 38,093, 11,532 total employees, 345 buildings and 141 campus acres for fiscal year 2025.
Hundreds of academic, lab and residence buildings along Commonwealth Avenue and the medical campus need cleaning, mechanical service, flooring and painting on a rolling schedule.
Boston UniversityAirport · East Boston, Suffolk County
Boston Logan International Airport
Massport's 2025 Year in Review says Logan served 43.2 million passengers in 2025.
Passenger terminals, garages and airside support buildings run by Massport carry heavy cleaning, HVAC, electrical and pavement needs.
MassportLogistics hub · South Boston, Suffolk County
Conley Container Terminal
Massport says Conley Container Terminal handled 245,000 TEUs in 2025.
New England's container terminal runs yard pavement, crane power, reefer plugs and maintenance buildings that need paving and electrical work.
MassportIndustrial park · Portsmouth, Rockingham County, NH
Pease International Tradeport
The Pease Development Authority describes the Tradeport as a 3,000-acre business and industrial park of 250 companies employing more than 10,000 people in 4 million square feet of office and industrial space.
Office, lab and industrial buildings on a former Air Force base share parking lots, roofs and grounds that tenants and the authority maintain.
Pease Development AuthorityMajor employer · Lynn, Essex County
GE Aerospace Lynn
GE Aerospace describes its Lynn site as a manufacturing hub for military aircraft engines spread over 100 acres and home to roughly 2,500 employees.
An engine plant with test cells, machining halls and older industrial buildings on one large site needs electrical, mechanical, roofing and fire protection work.
GE AerospaceAnchor facts checked 2026-10; each source is linked on its card.
Which trades the work touches
| Trade | Projects and owners |
|---|---|
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | 9 |
| Commercial Electrical | 8 |
| Fire Protection | 5 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | 5 |
| Commercial Flooring | 5 |
| Commercial Roofing | 4 |
| Paving & Asphalt | 4 |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings | 2 |
| Commercial Landscaping | 2 |
| Commercial Construction | 1 |
Chapter 04 The calendar
The Boston selling calendar
Outbound runs every month, but the weather changes what a buyer wants to hear. These are the NOAA records for the Boston-Cambridge 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 | 0 | 37 | 14 | 0 | 51 | 186 | 300 | 191 | 65 | 19 | 7 | 3 |
| Cooling degree daysaverage month | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 81 | 224 | 181 | 37 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Heating degree daysaverage month | 1,192 | 1,022 | 901 | 547 | 254 | 43 | 5 | 12 | 99 | 420 | 707 | 1,018 |
| Average high (°F)average month | 36 | 38 | 46 | 58 | 68 | 77 | 83 | 81 | 74 | 62 | 51 | 41 |
NOAA logged 95 hail reports of 1 inch or larger and 778 damaging wind reports across the metro's counties from 2015 to 2024: #40 of 100 markets for hail and #15 for wind. June, July and August carried 78% 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 532 cooling degree days a year (#81 of 97 markets) and 6,218 heating degree days (#25 of 97). Cooling load peaks in July and August; 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.
6 months average a high of 60°F or more (May, June, July, August, September and October). 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.
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 Boston, 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 Boston program
Before a program starts we size the list: the decision-maker records Abstrakt can prospect for each trade in the Boston territory.
- 13,068Commercial Roofing
- 13,068Commercial Construction
- 5,399Commercial HVAC & Mechanical
- 4,246Commercial 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 Boston
Before you hire a sales development rep in Boston, price the whole job, not just the salary.
The salary is the smallest part of the decision. About 25,310 people hold the role in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH 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 Boston 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: 3,550 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: 2,737 sites here
From our roofing talk track. Leaks in front of customers. Qualify early whether the store or the landlord owns the roof.
- Does the store or the landlord own the roof under your lease?This is the first qualifying question, since many retail roofs are the landlord's responsibility.
- Where have leaks hit, the sales floor, the stockroom or around rooftop units?Leak location shows how much they affect customers and inventory, which drives urgency.
- Is a remodel or refresh scheduled for this location?Remodels are when replacement or major repair gets funded and scheduled.
Medical, dental and outpatient offices: 1,444 sites here
From our paving talk track. Patient safety and accessibility. Many practices lease, so the landlord or property manager is often the buyer.
- Does the practice lease the building, and if so, who manages the lot?Many practices lease, so this tells you whether the landlord or property manager is the real buyer.
- Have patients mentioned trip hazards, potholes or trouble with accessible parking?Patient safety concerns and accessibility issues drive action quickly at medical offices.
- Are your accessible spaces, ramps and curb cuts in good condition and up to current requirements?Accessibility updates are a common, well-defined scope for paving and concrete work.
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, Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH.
- 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 2026-09.
- 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 Boston 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.
