Market report · Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
The State of Outbound Sales in Denver, 2026
How outbound selling looks across the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO 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.
- 7,172business sites with 20+ people across the categories trades sell to, #19 of our 100 metros
- 4.6buyer sites per commercial landscaping contractor, #22 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 Denver
Biggest buyer pool
Restaurants: 2,354 sites
with 20 or more people, the largest buyer category in Denver-Aurora, ahead of retail stores (1,506).
Where the metro leans
Wholesale distributors: 1.35x the U.S. mix
Also over-represented: hosting and data processing companies (1.32x) and apartment and residential property managers (1.25x). Trades that serve these buyers have more of them here than the national average suggests.
Most room
Commercial Landscaping: #22 of 100 markets
4.6 buyer sites with 20+ people for each of 955 local commercial landscaping contractors. The most crowded is managed service providers, #96 of 100.
Biggest reason to call
CoreSite DE3 data center, 180,000 sq ft
Topped out; opening 2026. One of 5 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 Denver-Aurora
7,172 business sites in Denver-Aurora have 20 or more people on site in the categories commercial trades sell to. That ranks #19 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 | 2,354 | 6,860 | 0.83x | +243 |
| Retail stores | 1,506 | 8,583 | 0.71x | +188 |
| Medical, dental and outpatient offices | 815 | 7,736 | 1.07x | +648 |
| Wholesale distributors | 630 | 3,797 | 1.35x | +506 |
| Manufacturing plants | 544 | 2,273 | 0.57x | +12 |
| Grocery stores | 276 | 1,401 | 0.70x | +17 |
| Senior living and nursing | 257 | 569 | 0.49x | +11 |
| Bank and credit union offices | 204 | 1,754 | 1.07x | +81 |
| Hotels | 186 | 422 | 0.72x | +16 |
| Churches and religious organizations | 145 | 1,165 | 0.40x | +16 |
Denver-Aurora leans toward wholesale distributors (1.35x), hosting and data processing companies (1.32x) and apartment and residential property managers (1.25x). 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 (0.40x) and golf courses and country clubs (0.46x). 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 (+648), wholesale distributors (+506) and restaurants (+243). New sites have no incumbent vendor yet.
The metro
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO: 9 counties in this report's counts.
Denver County, Arapahoe County and Jefferson County hold 69% of the larger business sites, so most programs start there.
Where the sites are
| County | Sites with 20+ | Share of metro |
|---|---|---|
| Denver CountyStart here | 2,206 | 31% |
| Arapahoe County | 1,518 | 21% |
| Jefferson County | 1,210 | 17% |
| Adams County | 1,157 | 16% |
| Douglas County | 713 | 10% |
| Broomfield County | 170 | 2% |
| Clear Creek County | 12 | 0% |
| Elbert County | 6 | 0% |
Chapter 02 The competition
Which trades have the most room in Denver
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 Denver figure is ranked against the other markets we track.
| Trade | Rank among markets | Sites per contractor | Contractors | 1-yr change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial LandscapingMost room | #22 of 100 | 4.6 | 955 | +50 |
| Commercial Roofing | #46 of 89 | 65 | 61 | +5 |
| Commercial Flooring | #42 of 68 | 63 | 45 | 0 |
| Commercial Construction | #62 of 100 | 3.9 | 521 | +17 |
| Paving & Asphalt | #59 of 94 | 37 | 114 | +5 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | #67 of 100 | 3.3 | 815 | +42 |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings | #62 of 86 | 55 | 75 | +4 |
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | #75 of 100 | 8.1 | 291 | +4 |
| Fire Protection | #77 of 96 | 31 | 152 | +9 |
| Commercial Electrical | #90 of 100 | 6.4 | 481 | +32 |
| Managed Service Providers | #96 of 100 | 1.1 | 3,919 | +310 |
Commercial landscaping (#22), commercial roofing (#46) and commercial flooring (#42) rank best in Denver. For those trades a program can work longer before it calls the same building twice, and fewer competitors have already pitched each owner.
Managed service providers is the most crowded trade here, #96 of 100: 1.1 buyer sites for each of 3,919 local managed service providers. Winning there takes a sharper reason to switch than a lower price.
Open programs
Our availability workbook does not cover Denver 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
5 named, sourced projects and 6 anchor owners in Denver-Aurora. 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 · 180,000 sq ft CoreSite DE3 data center Topped out; opening 2026 CoreSite's third Denver data center, at 4900 Race Street in Denver, built to connect with its existing DE1 and DE2 facilities. Data centers close out with large electrical, cooling and fire suppression scopes, then need ongoing mechanical maintenance and specialized cleaning once halls are energized. CoreSite press release, 2025-10-06
- 02 · 400,000 sq ft Denver International Airport Concourse C-West expansion Approved; program management contract awarded An expansion of Concourse C at Denver International Airport adding up to 11 gates and new concessions, with a seven-year, $700 million program management contract approved by Denver City Council. Completion is projected around 2030 to 2031, so the next several years bring a long sequence of concourse packages for mechanical, electrical, fire protection and finish contractors. Mile High CRE, 2026-01-06
- 03 UCHealth and AdventHealth Broomfield hospitals Proposed; in city review Two hospitals planned on opposite corners of Baseline Road and I-25 in Broomfield: a UCHealth hospital of about 330,000 square feet and an AdventHealth hospital of 443,880 square feet, each with a medical office building. UCHealth says construction could begin in 2026 with a 2029 target opening; two hospitals at one interchange would put sitework, paving and full mechanical and electrical packages out to bid in the same window. KUNC, 2026-01-26
- 04 · $81 million AdventHealth Aurora Highlands ER and medical office building Opening September 2026 An 88,000-square-foot, three-story freestanding emergency room, imaging center and clinic building in The Aurora Highlands south of Denver International Airport, planned as the first phase of a future hospital. Opening shifts the building to service contracts (cleaning, landscaping, geothermal HVAC maintenance), and the shelled third floor and planned hospital phase point to more interior and mechanical work later. AdventHealth, 2025-01-29
- 05 · $1 billion Philip Morris International U.S. manufacturing campus Opened 2026 A 780,000-square-foot manufacturing, packaging and distribution campus on 148 acres at 25315 E. 48th Ave. in Aurora, between I-70 and Denver International Airport. A plant this size needs recurring industrial cleaning, roof maintenance, parking lot upkeep and grounds care, and the company plans investment of $1.2 billion through 2028, which signals more build-out work. Commercial Property Executive, 2026-07-28
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 Denver-Aurora. One relationship with a facilities team here can cover many buildings.
Health system · Aurora, Adams and Arapahoe counties
UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital
UCHealth's fiscal 2025 Metro Denver fact sheet lists 829 available beds at University of Colorado Hospital and 16,056 employees in the Metro Denver region.
The Anschutz Medical Campus hospital plus Highlands Ranch and Broomfield hospitals run around the clock and carry heavy mechanical, life-safety, cleaning and flooring workloads.
UCHealthAirport · Denver, Denver County
Denver International Airport (DEN)
The Greeley Tribune describes DEN as one of Colorado's largest employers with 43,000 employees.
Terminal, concourses, parking structures, training facilities and airfield support buildings need constant cleaning, HVAC service, electrical work and pavement upkeep.
Greeley TribuneCampus · Denver, Denver County
Auraria Campus
The Auraria Higher Education Center says the 150-acre campus is shared by Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver and University of Colorado Denver.
One downtown campus serving three institutions means classroom buildings, a shared library, student centers, parking and grounds managed by a single campus authority.
Auraria Higher Education CenterMajor employer · Waterton Campus, Jefferson County
Lockheed Martin Space
The Denver Post reported in May 2025 that Lockheed Martin said it employs roughly 14,000 people in Colorado at its locations in Jefferson County, Boulder and Colorado Springs.
The Waterton Canyon campus near Littleton holds satellite production buildings, clean rooms, offices and open-space grounds with strict electrical, mechanical and fire protection requirements.
The Denver PostIndustrial park · Aurora, Adams County
Majestic Commercenter
Majestic Realty describes the park as a 1,600-acre master-planned business park with over 10 million square feet built and a planned build-out of 21 million square feet.
Large high-cube warehouse and distribution buildings carry big roof areas, truck courts and sprinkler systems that need regular service and replacement.
Majestic RealtyPublic owner · Denver, Denver County
Denver Public Schools
NCES data for the 2024-2025 school year lists 191 schools and 90,471 students in the district.
Close to 200 school buildings, with gyms, kitchens, roofs and parking lots, are maintained by one public owner that bids facility work.
National Center for Education StatisticsAnchor facts checked 2026-10; each source is linked on its card.
Which trades the work touches
| Trade | Projects and owners |
|---|---|
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | 10 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | 8 |
| Commercial Electrical | 7 |
| Paving & Asphalt | 6 |
| Fire Protection | 6 |
| Commercial Landscaping | 4 |
| Commercial Flooring | 4 |
| Commercial Construction | 4 |
| Commercial Roofing | 3 |
Chapter 04 The calendar
The Denver selling calendar
Outbound runs every month, but the weather changes what a buyer wants to hear. These are the NOAA records for the Denver-Aurora 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 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 237 | 412 | 201 | 128 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Cooling degree daysaverage month | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 76 | 152 | 112 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Heating degree daysaverage month | 1,149 | 999 | 877 | 670 | 416 | 163 | 64 | 89 | 234 | 579 | 881 | 1,154 |
| Average high (°F)average month | 41 | 42 | 50 | 56 | 66 | 77 | 83 | 80 | 73 | 61 | 49 | 40 |
NOAA logged 810 hail reports of 1 inch or larger and 198 damaging wind reports across the metro's counties from 2015 to 2024: #3 of 100 markets for hail and #65 for wind. May, June and July carried 84% 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 382 cooling degree days a year (#89 of 97 markets) and 7,274 heating degree days (#3 of 97). Cooling load peaks in July and August; heating in January, February, March, April, October, 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.
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 Denver, 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 Denver program
Before a program starts we size the list: the decision-maker records Abstrakt can prospect for each trade in the Denver-Aurora territory.
- 9,352Commercial Roofing
- 9,352Commercial Construction
- 3,491Commercial HVAC & Mechanical
- 2,647Commercial 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 Denver
Before you hire a sales development rep in Denver, price the whole job, not just the salary.
The salary is the smallest part of the decision. About 24,480 people hold the role in the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO 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 Denver 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: 2,354 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: 1,506 sites here
From our landscaping talk track. Store appearance and snow safety. In shopping centers the landlord usually controls the contract, so qualify who buys.
- Is this a freestanding store, or does the shopping center landlord handle the grounds?In centers the landlord usually buys, so this qualifies whether you are talking to the right company.
- Is grounds and snow bought store by store or through a regional or national program?Regional programs need a different conversation and a different contact than a single store.
- How is snow and ice handled before the store opens?Opening-time snow coverage is a safety and liability issue that gets attention fast.
Medical, dental and outpatient offices: 815 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.
- How are walkways and parking handled when it snows or ices over?Patient access and slip risk are the strongest reasons a practice will act.
- Have patients complained about the entrance, parking or grounds?Complaints give the practice administrator a reason to push for a change.
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, Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO.
- 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 Denver-Aurora 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.
