Market report · Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
The State of Outbound Sales in Philadelphia, 2026
How outbound selling looks across the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro right now: who the buyers are, which trades have room, what is being built, what a rep costs to hire here. Then a 4-tool kit to work the market this month.
- 14,355business sites with 20+ people across the categories trades sell to, #7 of our 100 metros
- 53buyer sites per paving contractor, #15 of 94 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 Philadelphia
Biggest buyer pool
Retail stores: 3,420 sites
with 20 or more people, the largest buyer category in Philadelphia-Camden, ahead of restaurants (3,323).
Where the metro leans
Grocery stores: 1.64x the U.S. mix
Also over-represented: senior living and nursing (1.61x) and private K-12 schools (1.51x). Trades that serve these buyers have more of them here than the national average suggests.
Most room
Paving & Asphalt: #15 of 94 markets
53 buyer sites with 20+ people for each of 150 local paving contractors. The most crowded is commercial landscaping, #66 of 100.
Biggest reason to call
New South Philadelphia Arena, $1.5 billion
Construction managers selected; opening 2030. 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 Philadelphia-Camden
14,355 business sites in Philadelphia-Camden have 20 or more people on site in the categories commercial trades sell to. That ranks #7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail storesLargest pool | 3,420 | 18,474 | 1.13x | -285 |
| Restaurants | 3,323 | 13,453 | 1.24x | +256 |
| Medical, dental and outpatient offices | 1,919 | 12,649 | 1.17x | +443 |
| Manufacturing plants | 1,502 | 4,708 | 0.91x | +50 |
| Wholesale distributors | 1,244 | 6,873 | 0.88x | -79 |
| Grocery stores | 715 | 3,953 | 1.64x | +71 |
| Senior living and nursing | 708 | 2,181 | 1.61x | -6 |
| Private K-12 schools | 429 | 624 | 1.51x | +7 |
| Bank and credit union offices | 344 | 3,001 | 1.13x | -44 |
| Churches and religious organizations | 344 | 3,044 | 1.23x | -8 |
Philadelphia-Camden leans toward grocery stores (1.64x), senior living and nursing (1.61x) and private K-12 schools (1.51x). 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 hotels (0.57x) and hosting and data processing companies (0.67x). 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 (+443), restaurants (+256) and grocery stores (+71). New sites have no incumbent vendor yet.
The metro
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD: 11 counties in this report's counts.
Montgomery County, Philadelphia County and Bucks County hold 49% of the larger business sites, so most programs start there.
Where the sites are
| County | Sites with 20+ | Share of metro |
|---|---|---|
| Montgomery CountyStart here | 2,673 | 19% |
| Philadelphia County | 2,592 | 18% |
| Bucks County | 1,767 | 12% |
| New Castle County, Delaware | 1,489 | 10% |
| Chester County | 1,230 | 9% |
| Delaware County | 1,181 | 8% |
| Camden County, New Jersey | 1,086 | 8% |
| Burlington County, New Jersey | 1,061 | 7% |
Chapter 02 The competition
Which trades have the most room in Philadelphia
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 Philadelphia figure is ranked against the other markets we track.
| Trade | Rank among markets | Sites per contractor | Contractors | 1-yr change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paving & AsphaltMost room | #15 of 94 | 53 | 150 | 0 |
| Commercial Roofing | #18 of 89 | 87 | 90 | -2 |
| Commercial Construction | #29 of 100 | 5.8 | 791 | +2 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | #34 of 100 | 4.3 | 1,473 | +30 |
| Commercial Electrical | #34 of 100 | 12 | 591 | +1 |
| Commercial Flooring | #25 of 68 | 80 | 68 | -3 |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings | #37 of 86 | 73 | 112 | -2 |
| Managed Service Providers | #48 of 100 | 2.8 | 3,025 | -46 |
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | #49 of 100 | 9.8 | 562 | -3 |
| Fire Protection | #56 of 96 | 40 | 193 | +5 |
| Commercial Landscaping | #66 of 100 | 3.2 | 2,613 | +41 |
Paving & asphalt (#15), commercial roofing (#18) and commercial construction (#29) rank best in Philadelphia. 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, #66 of 100: 3.2 buyer sites for each of 2,613 local commercial landscaping contractors. Winning there takes a sharper reason to switch than a lower price.
Managed service providers (-46) and commercial flooring (-3) lost contractor establishments over the past year, so the same buildings are split among fewer firms than a year ago. Commercial landscaping (+41) and commercial cleaning & janitorial (+30) added them.
Open programs
Our availability workbook does not cover Philadelphia 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 Philadelphia-Camden. 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 · $1.5 billion New South Philadelphia Arena Construction managers selected; opening 2030 A multipurpose arena in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex to be shared by the Flyers, the 76ers, and a new WNBA team. Turner Construction and AECOM Hunt are leading construction with local partner firms, and the arena targets a 2030 opening. Arena work runs through every major trade package, especially HVAC, electrical, and fire protection, and the venue will need ongoing event cleaning. ConstructConnect, 2026-01-07
- 02 · 335,000 sq ft Cooper University Health Care patient tower (Project Imagine phase 1) Under construction; completion 2028 A 10-story patient tower with 125 private rooms, operating rooms, and research and education space on Cooper's Camden, New Jersey campus, the first phase of a $3 billion expansion. The tower is scheduled for completion in 2028, and later phases of the expansion are planned after it. Hospital towers bring sustained mechanical, electrical, and fire protection work, followed by flooring and painting during interior fit-out. REBusinessOnline, 2025-02-19
- 03 Amazon data center complex at Keystone Trade Center Under construction; more than half built A 250-acre data center complex with up to 10 new buildings and 1 million square feet of retrofitted warehouse space at the former U.S. Steel site in Falls Township, Bucks County. The project was more than half built as of July 2026, and state regulators plan to approve 280 gas-fired backup generators. That signals large electrical, mechanical, and fire protection scopes, plus site paving across a 250-acre campus. WHYY, 2026-07-15
- 04 · 150,741 sq ft Drexel University healthcare and life sciences facility (3201 Cuthbert St.) Under construction; occupancy mid-2027 Lab and research space for the Drexel University College of Medicine on four floors of an 11-story building at 3201 Cuthbert Street in University City, Philadelphia. Drexel plans to move in by mid-2027, consolidating its medical school research there. Lab fit-outs need heavy HVAC and exhaust, dedicated electrical service, and specialty flooring, all scheduled over the next year. REBusinessOnline, 2026-02-18
- 05 Caroline Kimmel Pavilion for Arts and Communication, Temple University Under construction; structural frame complete, opening fall 2027 A new building at 1801 N. Broad Street on Temple University's campus in North Philadelphia for the Klein College of Media and Communication, the School of Theater, Film and Media Arts, and the opera theater. The steel frame topped out in May 2026, so interior trades take over through the fall 2027 opening. Performance and media spaces need precise HVAC, theatrical electrical work, and acoustic finishes including flooring and painting. Temple University Campus Operations, 2026-05
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 Philadelphia-Camden. One relationship with a facilities team here can cover many buildings.
Health system · Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (Penn Medicine)
Wikipedia, citing Penn Medicine's 2023 Facts & Figures, lists the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania at 1,200 beds.
Penn Medicine's flagship hospital plus its other hospitals and outpatient centers run large HVAC, electrical, life-safety and cleaning operations.
WikipediaCampus · Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
Temple University
Temple says it has over 33,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students worldwide across 17 schools and colleges, with its main campus at 1801 N. Broad Street.
A large urban main campus on North Broad Street needs cleaning, HVAC, roofing and floor care across classroom, lab and residence buildings.
Temple UniversityMajor employer · Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
Comcast Center Campus
Wikipedia, citing Liberty Property Trust, lists the Comcast Technology Center at 1,566,000 square feet; Comcast calls it and the Comcast Center one block east its Comcast Center Campus headquarters.
Two Center City towers with offices, studios, a hotel and parking run large mechanical, electrical, janitorial and life-safety programs.
WikipediaIndustrial park · Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
Philadelphia Navy Yard
The Navy Yard says PIDC acquired the 1,200-acre site in 2000 and that it is now a community of 15,000 employees and 150 employers occupying 8 million square feet of office, retail, industrial, R&D and institutional space.
Corporate headquarters, labs, manufacturers and Navy engineering centers on one waterfront campus share needs for roofing, HVAC, paving and grounds care.
Philadelphia Navy Yard (PIDC)Logistics hub · Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
PhilaPort (Port of Philadelphia)
PhilaPort lists 7.4M metric tonnage annually and 54,805 jobs generated in Pennsylvania, and calls itself the largest refrigerated port in the U.S.
Marine terminals such as Packer Avenue and Tioga carry heavy paving, roofing, electrical and fire protection needs.
PhilaPortAirport · Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
American Journal of Transportation reported that PHL welcomed more than 30.1 million passengers in 2025 and handled more than 482,000 tons of airmail and freight, up 7.4 percent.
Terminals, cargo buildings, parking and airfield pavement need constant cleaning, HVAC service and paving work.
American Journal of TransportationAnchor 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 Electrical | 9 |
| Fire Protection | 7 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | 5 |
| Commercial Flooring | 5 |
| Paving & Asphalt | 4 |
| Commercial Roofing | 3 |
| Commercial Construction | 2 |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings | 2 |
| Commercial Landscaping | 1 |
Chapter 04 The calendar
The Philadelphia selling calendar
Outbound runs every month, but the weather changes what a buyer wants to hear. These are the NOAA records for the Philadelphia-Camden 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 | 87 | 86 | 209 | 161 | 818 | 635 | 397 | 58 | 58 | 101 | 0 |
| Cooling degree daysaverage month | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 54 | 206 | 364 | 304 | 121 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Heating degree daysaverage month | 1,001 | 844 | 704 | 362 | 127 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 32 | 282 | 573 | 855 |
| Average high (°F)average month | 41 | 44 | 52 | 64 | 74 | 82 | 87 | 85 | 78 | 67 | 55 | 46 |
NOAA logged 165 hail reports of 1 inch or larger and 2,445 damaging wind reports across the metro's counties from 2015 to 2024: #25 of 100 markets for hail and #2 for wind. June, July and August carried 71% of the reports. Storm calls are a real door-opener here, and the contractor who is already known before the season gets the inspection.
The metro averages 1,062 cooling degree days a year (#51 of 97 markets) and 4,783 heating degree days (#43 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.
7 months average a high of 60°F or more (April, 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 Philadelphia, 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 Philadelphia program
Before a program starts we size the list: the decision-maker records Abstrakt can prospect for each trade in the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden territory.
- 12,441Commercial Roofing
- 12,441Commercial Construction
- 6,767Commercial HVAC & Mechanical
- 4,033Commercial 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 Philadelphia
Before you hire a sales development rep in Philadelphia, price the whole job, not just the salary.
The salary is the smallest part of the decision. About 19,260 people hold the role in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 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 Philadelphia 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.
Retail stores: 3,420 sites here
From our paving talk track. First impressions and liability. Many stores lease, so confirm who controls the lot before pitching.
- Does the store control the parking lot, or does the landlord or shopping center manage it?This is the first qualifying question, since many retail lots belong to the landlord.
- Are there potholes, cracks or faded striping customers have complained about?Visible problems in front of customers drive action and point to a first job.
- Is a remodel or refresh planned for this location?Remodels are when lot work often gets funded and scheduled.
Restaurants: 3,323 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.
Medical, dental and outpatient offices: 1,919 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, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD.
- 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 Philadelphia-Reading-Camden 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.
