Market report · Manchester-Nashua, NH
The State of Outbound Sales in Manchester, 2026
How outbound selling looks across the Manchester-Nashua, 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.
- 1,141business sites with 20+ people across the categories trades sell to, #95 of our 100 metros
- 7.3buyer sites per commercial general contractor, #15 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 Manchester
Biggest buyer pool
Restaurants: 290 sites
with 20 or more people, the largest buyer category in Manchester-Nashua, ahead of retail stores (286).
Where the metro leans
Auto dealerships: 1.71x the U.S. mix
Also over-represented: golf courses and country clubs (1.45x) and manufacturing plants (1.43x). Trades that serve these buyers have more of them here than the national average suggests.
Most room
Commercial Construction: #15 of 100 markets
7.3 buyer sites with 20+ people for each of 53 local commercial general contractors. The most crowded is commercial landscaping, #90 of 100.
Biggest reason to call
Catholic Medical Center central energy plant, $43 million
Under construction; broke ground February 2026. One of 7 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 Manchester-Nashua
1,141 business sites in Manchester-Nashua have 20 or more people on site in the categories commercial trades sell to. That ranks #95 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 | 290 | 899 | 1.28x | +5 |
| Retail stores | 286 | 1,488 | 1.34x | -47 |
| Manufacturing plants | 194 | 492 | 1.43x | -9 |
| Medical, dental and outpatient offices | 124 | 791 | 1.03x | -41 |
| Wholesale distributors | 84 | 502 | 1.08x | -36 |
| Senior living and nursing | 61 | 128 | 1.23x | -12 |
| Grocery stores | 47 | 184 | 1.13x | -4 |
| Auto dealerships | 34 | 90 | 1.71x | -5 |
| Private K-12 schools | 25 | 45 | 1.25x | +2 |
| Bank and credit union offices | 25 | 205 | 0.96x | -12 |
Manchester-Nashua leans toward auto dealerships (1.71x), golf courses and country clubs (1.45x) and manufacturing plants (1.43x). 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.
Growing fastest over the past year, by establishment count: restaurants (+5), apartment and residential property managers (+5) and private K-12 schools (+2). New sites have no incumbent vendor yet.
The metro
Manchester-Nashua, NH: 1 county in this report's counts.
Chapter 02 The competition
Which trades have the most room in Manchester
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 Manchester figure is ranked against the other markets we track.
| Trade | Rank among markets | Sites per contractor | Contractors | 1-yr change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial ConstructionMost room | #15 of 100 | 7.3 | 53 | +2 |
| Commercial Electrical | #42 of 100 | 11 | 55 | 0 |
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | #44 of 100 | 10 | 43 | -2 |
| Managed Service Providers | #46 of 100 | 2.9 | 235 | +3 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | #57 of 100 | 3.6 | 144 | -3 |
| Fire Protection | #85 of 96 | 26 | 26 | -1 |
| Commercial Landscaping | #90 of 100 | 2.4 | 256 | 0 |
Commercial construction (#15), commercial electrical (#42) and commercial HVAC & mechanical (#44) rank best in Manchester. 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, #90 of 100: 2.4 buyer sites for each of 256 local commercial landscaping contractors. Winning there takes a sharper reason to switch than a lower price.
Commercial cleaning & janitorial (-3) and commercial HVAC & mechanical (-2) lost contractor establishments over the past year, so the same buildings are split among fewer firms than a year ago. Managed service providers (+3) and commercial construction (+2) added them.
Not ranked here: commercial flooring (6 contractors), commercial painting & coatings (8 contractors), commercial roofing (8 contractors) and paving & asphalt (8 contractors). With fewer than 10 local contractors the ratio is noise, though a thin field is itself a sign of open ground.
Open programs
Our availability workbook does not cover Manchester 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
7 named, sourced projects and 6 anchor owners in Manchester-Nashua. 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 · $43 million Catholic Medical Center central energy plant Under construction; broke ground February 2026 A new central energy plant at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, part of a $157 million capital commitment by HCA Healthcare. A hospital energy plant is mostly boilers, chillers, switchgear and controls, so this is mechanical and electrical work through 2026 and 2027. A further $27 million infrastructure program, phased over five years, will upgrade many of the hospital's windows and roofs. Business NH Magazine, 2026-07-13
- 02 · $306 million Manchester School District Priority One middle school program Under construction; McLaughlin Middle School completed 2026 Renovation and expansion of all four Manchester middle schools and a new Beech Street Elementary School, including a 40,000-square-foot, three-story addition at Southside Middle School. With McLaughlin open and Southside topped out in April 2026, the remaining schools bring MEP, fire protection, flooring and painting packages over several years, plus new parking and site work. The new Beech Street Elementary School and the three-story Southside addition are new structures that each need a full roof system. New Hampshire Union Leader, 2026-04-07
- 03 · $85 million BAE Systems Hudson campus modernization Announced 2026 A renovation that will modernize and reconfigure 65,000 square feet of workspace at BAE Systems' defense electronics site in Hudson. Reconfiguring engineering and test space is interior work: electrical, HVAC, flooring and painting, done inside an operating campus with about 1,052 workers. NH Business Review, 2026-05-20
- 04 · $360 million Cemetery Brook Drain Tunnel Under construction; completion 2028 A 2.25-mile, 12-foot-diameter stormwater tunnel under Manchester with seven drop shafts and two vent shafts to cut combined sewer overflows. Tunnel boring started in 2026, and each shaft site and the street separation projects that feed the tunnel need surface restoration, paving and electrical work through 2028. Engineering News-Record, 2026-04-15
- 05 · 92,860 square feet of gaming space Gate City Casino Hotel expansion at Sheraton Nashua Approved August 2026; Phase 1 expected to finish in 2027, Phase 2 to begin in 2030 A two-story addition with Gate City Casino, four restaurants and a five-story parking garage built on the front parking lot of the 357-room Sheraton Nashua at 11 Tara Boulevard in south Nashua, owned by Delaware North. Phase 1 alone is 65,900 square feet of gaming area and an 865-space garage, so roofing, sprinkler, electrical and garage deck work land in 2026 and 2027, with $5 million in Tara Boulevard road improvements and a second garage phase to follow. Nashua Ink Link, 2026-08-07
- 06 · 73,240 sq ft Revo Casino redevelopment Site plan before the Manchester Planning Board, August 2026 A proposed 73,240-square-foot charitable gaming facility with 1,086 parking spaces on five combined lots at 1279 South Willow Street, John E. Devine Drive and Gold Street in Manchester, Ward 9, replacing the current Revo Casino. The existing casino stays open until the new building gets occupancy and is then razed to finish the parking field, so the work runs as a new roof and mechanical systems first, then a large lot to pave, stripe and light. Manchester Ink Link, 2026-08-17
- 07 Manchester high school boiler and roof capital work Under review by the Board of School Committee Replacement of failing heating systems at Manchester West and Central high schools, where three of West's five hot water boilers failed within six months and Central is down to one steam boiler, alongside design work and roof replacement at West. District estimates put a Central steam boiler at about $1.6 million and a full digital controls conversion at about $4.9 million, against about $5.8 million available for capital projects, so boiler, controls and roof replacement work at West and Central is likely to be bid in phases. Manchester Ink Link, 2026-03-15
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 Manchester-Nashua. One relationship with a facilities team here can cover many buildings.
Health system · Manchester, Hillsborough County
Elliot Hospital (Elliot Health System)
Elliot Health System calls itself the largest provider of comprehensive healthcare services in southern New Hampshire; its flagship Elliot Hospital is a 296-bed acute care facility established in 1890.
The flagship hospital plus urgent care, imaging and physician office sites across the region all need HVAC service, cleaning and life-safety upkeep.
Elliot Health SystemHealth system · Manchester, Hillsborough County
Catholic Medical Center
CMC says it is licensed for 330 beds, has more than 3,000 employees and serves more than 180,000 patients each year.
A hospital campus runs mechanical, electrical and fire protection systems around the clock, with daily cleaning and floor care.
Catholic Medical CenterCampus · Manchester, Hillsborough County
Southern New Hampshire University
SNHU says it has more than 3,000 on-campus students and over 200,000 online students, with a 300-acre campus in Manchester.
Residence halls, academic buildings and athletic fields on the Manchester campus need cleaning, HVAC, grounds and snow-season paving work.
Southern New Hampshire UniversityMajor employer · Nashua, Hillsborough County
BAE Systems, Nashua
NBC News reported in December 2023 that BAE's Nashua microelectronics center is a 110,000-square-foot building and that the company has a 3,700-person workforce in southern New Hampshire.
Defense electronics plants, clean rooms and engineering offices in and around Nashua depend on precise HVAC, electrical and fire protection systems.
NBC NewsIndustrial park · Manchester, Hillsborough County
Manchester Millyard
Valley News reported in March 2026 that ARMI, headquartered in the Millyard, broke ground on December 15, 2025 for a biomanufacturing facility and workforce training center at 150 Dow St., slated for completion in 2027.
Former mill buildings converted to labs, offices and light manufacturing carry old roofs, masonry, sprinklers and mechanical systems that need constant work.
Valley NewsAirport · Manchester, Hillsborough County
Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT)
WMUR reported that, according to airport data, more than 1.38 million people flew in and out of MHT in 2025 and the airport processed nearly 240 million pounds of cargo, a record.
Terminal, cargo buildings, parking and airfield pavement need cleaning, HVAC, paving and snow-season upkeep.
WMURAnchor 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 Electrical | 9 |
| Commercial Construction | 6 |
| Fire Protection | 6 |
| Commercial Roofing | 6 |
| Paving & Asphalt | 6 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | 5 |
| Commercial Flooring | 3 |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings | 2 |
| Commercial Landscaping | 1 |
Chapter 04 The calendar
The Manchester selling calendar
Outbound runs every month, but the weather changes what a buyer wants to hear. These are the NOAA records for the Manchester-Nashua 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 | 6 | 0 | 21 | 26 | 71 | 32 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Cooling degree daysaverage month | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 61 | 176 | 134 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Heating degree daysaverage month | 1,307 | 1,117 | 983 | 594 | 279 | 57 | 11 | 26 | 145 | 493 | 794 | 1,128 |
| Average high (°F)average month | 32 | 35 | 44 | 57 | 68 | 77 | 82 | 80 | 72 | 60 | 48 | 37 |
NOAA logged 30 hail reports of 1 inch or larger and 144 damaging wind reports across the metro's counties from 2015 to 2024: #66 of 100 markets for hail and #67 for wind. June, July and August carried 74% of the reports. Storms are not the main driver here, so roof age, leaks and budget timing carry the roofing conversation.
The metro averages 398 cooling degree days a year (#87 of 97 markets) and 6,932 heating degree days (#10 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.
5 months average a high of 60°F or more (May, June, July, August and September). 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 Manchester, 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 Manchester program
Before a program starts we size the list: the decision-maker records Abstrakt can prospect for each trade in the Manchester - Concord - Portsmouth - Nashua territory.
- 2,747Commercial Roofing
- 2,747Commercial Construction
- 1,005Commercial HVAC & Mechanical
- 802Commercial 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 Manchester
Before you hire a sales development rep in Manchester, price the whole job, not just the salary.
The salary is the smallest part of the decision. About 1,540 people hold the role in the Manchester-Nashua, 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 Manchester 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: 290 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: 286 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.
Manufacturing plants: 194 sites here
From our construction talk track. Building around live operations and hitting a production start date. Ask what growth is planned and where.
- What growth is planned, such as new lines, added capacity or a new site?Planned growth defines the project and the timeline.
- What production start date does the project have to hit?A fixed start date changes how the owner weighs schedule against price.
- How will construction work around live operations?Your answer to this is often the deciding factor for plant managers.
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, Manchester-Nashua, 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 Manchester - Concord - Portsmouth - Nashua 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: Manchester, New Hampshire and the Merrimack River in winter, by Andri Kyrychok on Unsplash, Unsplash License.
- The toolkit's discovery questions come from our trade talk tracks; the plan and checklists are sales practice, not data.
