Market report · Cleveland, OH
The State of Outbound Sales in Cleveland, 2026
How outbound selling looks across the Cleveland, OH 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.
- 5,773business sites with 20+ people across the categories trades sell to, #28 of our 100 metros
- 5.4buyer sites per commercial cleaning company, #12 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 Cleveland
Biggest buyer pool
Restaurants: 1,500 sites
with 20 or more people, the largest buyer category in Cleveland, ahead of manufacturing plants (1,108).
Where the metro leans
Commercial property managers: 2.17x the U.S. mix
Also over-represented: senior living and nursing (1.79x) and manufacturing plants (1.70x). Trades that serve these buyers have more of them here than the national average suggests.
Most room
Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial: #12 of 100 markets
5.4 buyer sites with 20+ people for each of 504 local commercial cleaning companies. The most crowded is commercial landscaping, #83 of 100.
Biggest reason to call
Cleveland Browns Dome (Brook Park), $2.4B
In development. One of 9 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 Cleveland
5,773 business sites in Cleveland have 20 or more people on site in the categories commercial trades sell to. That ranks #28 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 | 1,500 | 4,781 | 1.33x | +15 |
| Manufacturing plants | 1,108 | 2,951 | 1.70x | -25 |
| Retail stores | 1,101 | 6,468 | 1.22x | -168 |
| Medical, dental and outpatient offices | 527 | 3,732 | 1.08x | -70 |
| Wholesale distributors | 527 | 2,876 | 1.30x | -172 |
| Senior living and nursing | 325 | 777 | 1.79x | +2 |
| Grocery stores | 214 | 1,053 | 1.34x | -19 |
| Auto dealerships | 150 | 341 | 1.33x | -13 |
| Private K-12 schools | 121 | 214 | 0.84x | -5 |
| Churches and religious organizations | 112 | 1,101 | 0.32x | 0 |
Cleveland leans toward commercial property managers (2.17x), senior living and nursing (1.79x) and manufacturing plants (1.70x). 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 (0.32x) and hotels (0.71x). A program built around those buyers runs out of fresh accounts sooner here.
Growing fastest over the past year, by establishment count: restaurants (+15), hospitals (+6) and senior living and nursing (+2). New sites have no incumbent vendor yet.
The metro
Cleveland, OH: 6 counties in this report's counts.
Cuyahoga County, Lake County and Lorain County hold 84% of the larger business sites, so most programs start there.
Where the sites are
| County | Sites with 20+ | Share of metro |
|---|---|---|
| Cuyahoga CountyStart here | 3,581 | 62% |
| Lake County | 643 | 11% |
| Lorain County | 617 | 11% |
| Medina County | 433 | 8% |
| Geauga County | 203 | 4% |
| Ashtabula County | 176 | 3% |
Chapter 02 The competition
Which trades have the most room in Cleveland
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 Cleveland figure is ranked against the other markets we track.
| Trade | Rank among markets | Sites per contractor | Contractors | 1-yr change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial Cleaning & JanitorialMost room | #12 of 100 | 5.4 | 504 | -44 |
| Commercial Construction | #14 of 100 | 7.5 | 303 | +1 |
| Fire Protection | #17 of 96 | 63 | 58 | -3 |
| Commercial Electrical | #19 of 100 | 13 | 231 | -13 |
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | #27 of 100 | 12 | 202 | +4 |
| Managed Service Providers | #27 of 100 | 4.0 | 848 | -67 |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings | #32 of 86 | 76 | 45 | 0 |
| Commercial Roofing | #47 of 89 | 65 | 49 | +1 |
| Commercial Flooring | #49 of 68 | 58 | 32 | +4 |
| Paving & Asphalt | #78 of 94 | 30 | 86 | +6 |
| Commercial Landscaping | #83 of 100 | 2.7 | 1,047 | -23 |
Commercial cleaning & janitorial (#12), commercial construction (#14) and fire protection (#17) rank best in Cleveland. 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, #83 of 100: 2.7 buyer sites for each of 1,047 local commercial landscaping contractors. Winning there takes a sharper reason to switch than a lower price.
Managed service providers (-67) and commercial cleaning & janitorial (-44) lost contractor establishments over the past year, so the same buildings are split among fewer firms than a year ago. Paving & asphalt (+6) and commercial HVAC & mechanical (+4) added them.
Open programs
Our availability workbook does not cover Cleveland 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
9 named, sourced projects and 7 anchor owners in Cleveland. 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 · $2.4B Cleveland Browns Dome (Brook Park) In development A domed stadium complex that will anchor years of construction and event-services demand. clevelandmagazine.com
- 02 · ~$2B I-90 Innerbelt Rebuild Multi-year program One of Ohio’s largest highway undertakings, reshaping downtown access. clevelandmagazine.com
- 03 · $3B Cleveland Hopkins Airport Program Multi-phase modernization Terminal modernization that touches every commercial trade. clevelandmagazine.com
- 04 · $3.5B Bedrock Riverfront Development Phased build-out A generational riverfront district on the Cuyahoga. clevelandmagazine.com
- 05 · Major capital program Cleveland Clinic Expansion 2026 milestones announced One of the world’s largest health systems keeps building, and hospital campuses buy every trade on permanent cycles. hconews.com
- 06 · $678 million Downtown at Valor Acres Nearing completion; apartments opening August to September 2026 A mixed-use development in Brecksville in southern Cuyahoga County with 221 apartments in its downtown core, office buildings, an AC Hotel by Marriott under construction and a planned Cleveland Clinic outpatient facility. Streetscaping is mostly done but the final layer of asphalt is still to be paved, and lawns, courtyards and street landscaping now need grounds contracts; apartment turnover, the hotel finish-out and new tenant spaces keep painters and cleaning crews in demand. NEOtrans, 2026-09-28
- 07 · $140+ million East Stokes tower at Circle Square Under construction; completion targeted for June 2028 A 24-story tower at 10700 Chester Avenue in University Circle with 281 apartments, about 17,682 square feet of ground-floor retail and 315 structured parking spaces. Sitework started in September 2026, so MEP and electrical packages follow through 2027 and interior painting lands before the mid-2028 opening; the adjoining Stokes Boulevard section is being rebuilt with a streetscape that includes benches and landscaping. NEOtrans, 2026-09-30
- 08 · $64 million Warner & Swasey redevelopment Under construction; completion 2028 Adaptive reuse of the vacant 194,000-square-foot Warner & Swasey factory at 5701 Carnegie Avenue in Cleveland's MidTown neighborhood into 112 affordable apartments in a first phase, with about 28 more units and 20,000 square feet of commercial space to follow. A historic factory rehab runs heavy on interior finish work: painting, flooring and new mechanical systems through 2027 and 2028, and the site plan adds landscaping, outdoor gathering spaces and a second-floor rooftop terrace that will need grounds care once residents move in. NEOtrans, 2026-06-02
- 09 · $217.6 million (financing for residential and hotel components) Erieview Tower and Galleria redevelopment Financing closed September 2026; opening scheduled for 2027 Conversion of the mostly vacant 40-story Erieview Tower at East 9th Street and St. Clair Avenue in downtown Cleveland from offices into a 210-key W Cleveland hotel and 215 W Apartments, with a ballroom, spa and fitness center. C-PACE money funds VRF mechanical systems, curtain wall and elevator modernization, and an office-to-hotel and apartment conversion of this size means floor-by-floor painting and flooring before the 2027 opening, then hotel housekeeping and common-area cleaning contracts after. NEOtrans, 2026-09-08
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 Cleveland. One relationship with a facilities team here can cover many buildings.
Health system · Cleveland, Cuyahoga County
Cleveland Clinic main campus
Cleveland Clinic's main campus near downtown Cleveland covers 173 acres.
The clinic is planning the next phase of its main campus master plan, including a new central utility plant, new parking structures and two new research buildings totaling 300,000 square feet.
Cleveland ClinicHealth system · Cleveland, Cuyahoga County
University Hospitals
University Hospitals runs an integrated network of 21 hospitals (including five joint ventures) and more than 50 health centers and outpatient facilities in northern Ohio.
A second large hospital owner in Northeast Ohio with an academic medical center, community hospitals, outpatient buildings and physician offices.
University HospitalsCampus · Cleveland, Cuyahoga County
Case Western Reserve University
CWRU reports fall 2026 enrollment of 12,145 students (headcount, all programs).
A 267-acre campus in University Circle with research labs, residence halls and athletic facilities.
Case Western Reserve UniversityAirport · Cleveland, Cuyahoga County
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
CLE served 10,003,833 passengers in 2025.
Ohio's busiest airport, with terminal, airfield, parking and support buildings owned by the City of Cleveland.
Cleveland Hopkins International AirportLogistics hub · Cleveland, Cuyahoga County
Port of Cleveland
The Port handled more than 6 million tons of cargo in 2025.
Maritime terminals, docks, warehouses and yard space on the Cleveland lakefront, with more than $105 million invested in maritime infrastructure over the past decade.
Port of ClevelandMajor employer · Cleveland, Cuyahoga County
Sherwin-Williams global headquarters
Sherwin-Williams opened its new downtown Cleveland headquarters on 11 May 2026, with a 36-floor office tower, a two-storey pavilion and a multi-level parking facility.
A new high-rise office campus on Public Square with a parking structure, a building type that needs janitorial, mechanical and life-safety service.
European CoatingsPublic owner · Cleveland, Cuyahoga County
NASA Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field
Glenn's Lewis Field main campus in Cleveland covers 350 acres.
A federal research campus next to Cleveland Hopkins with test facilities, labs and office buildings.
Federal Reserve Bank of ClevelandAnchor facts checked 2026-10; each source is linked on its card.
Which trades the work touches
| Trade | Projects and owners |
|---|---|
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | 11 |
| Commercial Construction | 10 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | 9 |
| Commercial Electrical | 8 |
| Fire Protection | 6 |
| Paving & Asphalt | 6 |
| Commercial Landscaping | 5 |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings | 4 |
| Commercial Roofing | 3 |
| Commercial Flooring | 3 |
Chapter 04 The calendar
The Cleveland selling calendar
Outbound runs every month, but the weather changes what a buyer wants to hear. These are the NOAA records for the Cleveland 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 | 14 | 0 | 36 | 43 | 59 | 94 | 119 | 190 | 44 | 16 | 37 | 1 |
| Cooling degree daysaverage month | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 130 | 227 | 186 | 63 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Heating degree daysaverage month | 1,187 | 1,021 | 875 | 504 | 228 | 38 | 7 | 16 | 94 | 381 | 697 | 1,014 |
| Average high (°F)average month | 34 | 37 | 46 | 59 | 70 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 74 | 62 | 50 | 39 |
NOAA logged 67 hail reports of 1 inch or larger and 586 damaging wind reports across the metro's counties from 2015 to 2024: #49 of 100 markets for hail and #28 for wind. June, July and August carried 62% of the reports. Storms are not the main driver here, so roof age, leaks and budget timing carry the roofing conversation.
The metro averages 652 cooling degree days a year (#67 of 97 markets) and 6,061 heating degree days (#28 of 97). Cooling load peaks in June, 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 Cleveland, 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 Cleveland program
Before a program starts we size the list: the decision-maker records Abstrakt can prospect for each trade in the Cleveland-Akron-Canton territory, which reaches past the Cleveland metro.
- 10,665Commercial Roofing
- 10,665Commercial Construction
- 5,175Commercial HVAC & Mechanical
- 4,105Commercial 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 Cleveland
Before you hire a sales development rep in Cleveland, price the whole job, not just the salary.
The salary is the smallest part of the decision. About 7,710 people hold the role in the Cleveland, OH 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 Cleveland 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: 1,500 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.
Manufacturing plants: 1,108 sites here
From our cleaning talk track. Audits and shift schedules. Ask which areas the production crew cleans and which they wish someone else did.
- Which areas does your production crew clean, and which do you wish someone else handled?Work that pulls operators off the line is the scope a plant manager will pay to hand off.
- What shifts do you run, and when could a cleaning crew work without getting in the way?Shift schedules decide staffing, access and whether the job fits your crews.
- Do you have customer or safety audits coming up that look at housekeeping?An upcoming audit creates a date and makes high dusting or floor scrubbing an easy yes.
Retail stores: 1,101 sites here
From our electrical talk track. Lighting cost and fast repair. For chains, decisions often sit in a regional facilities office, so find who owns vendors for your area.
- Who handles electrical service for this store, the store, a regional facilities office or a national provider?For chains, decisions often sit outside the store, so this tells you who to call next.
- Is a lighting retrofit or remodel planned for this location?Remodels and retrofits are defined projects with budgets.
- How fast does your current electrician respond when lights or signs go out?Slow response during business hours is a common reason to add a vendor.
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, Cleveland, OH.
- 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 Cleveland-Akron-Canton 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).
- Cover photo: Cleveland skyline with Terminal Tower, by DJ Johnson on Unsplash, Unsplash License.
- The toolkit's discovery questions come from our trade talk tracks; the plan and checklists are sales practice, not data.
