A prospecting guide for commercial landscaping contractors in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR metro: which buildings to target, where they are, when to call, and how Abstrakt books the meetings.
Ask Ava anything about landscaping in Memphis
The Memphis metro has 1,578 larger buildings in landscaping-buying categories, led by retail stores (585), and 311 landscaping services companies working them. It over-indexes on hotels, which should anchor a target list. Call all year and push hardest for meetings in Dec–Feb, ahead of the work season. Start in Shelby County, where 80% of them sit.
These are the 10 industries Abstrakt's SDRs call for landscaping work, with how many of each are in the Memphis metro and who to ask for. Compared with the U.S. as a whole, Memphis leans toward hotels (2.15x), retail stores (1.64x) and apartment property management firms (1.16x). Build the list around those categories. Churches and religious organizations and colleges and universities are thinner than the national mix, so treat them as selective targets.
Locations are establishments with 20 or more employees (U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023); property management and similar companies are counted in full, whatever their size. Change and concentration: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2025 Q2.
Buildings per contractor: Memphis and nearby markets
311 landscaping services companies are based in the Memphis metro. That is 18 fewer than a year ago. When a contractor closes or sells, its customers go looking for a new one. The trade is at about the national concentration. 5.1 larger landscaping-buying buildings per contractor puts Memphis 17 of 100 markets, and 2 of 4 in Tennessee. That is more room per contractor than most metros, so systematic prospecting tends to find accounts nobody is working. Memphis has more larger buildings per contractor than the nearest markets.
| Market | Contractors | Larger buildings per contractor |
|---|---|---|
| Memphis, TN | 311 | 5.1 |
| Little Rock, AR 115 mi | 251 | 3.9 |
| Huntsville, AL 190 mi | 200 | 3.1 |
| Birmingham, AL 236 mi | 413 | 3.7 |
| Nashville, TN 242 mi | 714 | 4.3 |
| Market | Contractors | Larger buildings | Largest buyer group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chattanooga | 138 | 765 | Retail stores |
| Nashville | 714 | 3,100 | Retail stores |
| Knoxville | 325 | 1,234 | Retail stores |
Who to call first in Memphis
Tier 1 covers retail stores, ambulatory health care offices and clinics and churches and religious organizations with 50 or more people on site.
Your outsourced sales development team works the numbers above under your name. Here is the plan for Memphis commercial landscaping contractors.
Your ideal customer profile becomes a target list drawn from the 1,578 larger landscaping-buying buildings in the metro, starting in Shelby County. That is close to the 1,500-account list a Foundation program starts with, so one program can cover the whole metro.
For landscaping, that starts with the regional facilities manager at retail stores, then two or three contacts at each of the 393 Tier 1 sites. Calls, email and LinkedIn run together; Growth adds direct mail and intent data.
Your SDR calls all year. Dec–Feb is the push for bid meetings ahead of the work season (Mar–Nov); the other months lead with service problems, renewals and budgets, so the pipeline never stops filling.
Every meeting passes Right Company, Right Contact and Right Timing, and arrives with the property list, the incumbent and the contract end date.
The Results Portal shows every call, email, conversation and booked meeting in the Memphis program, around the clock.
Guaranteed. We agree the activity or qualified-appointment number in writing before launch. If we miss it, we keep working at no additional cost until we hit it.
Exclusive. We run one program per trade per market, so we will not run landscaping appointment setting for a direct competitor in Memphis.
Flat monthly pricing. Foundation is $5,000 a month (best for $2M to $10M revenue), Growth $8,500 (best for $10M to $50M), Enterprise custom. See what each plan includes.
Shelby County holds 80% of the larger landscaping-buying sites across the 8-county metro. The other 7 counties split the remaining 20%, which is where Tier 1 accounts justify the drive and smaller sites do not.
Named, sourced projects in the metro, current as of 2026-09. Each one is a reason to call before the work is awarded.
A rebuild of the west side of the University of Memphis football stadium in Memphis, replacing about 15,000 seats with suites and a plaza.
With the west tower done, the stadium needs suite and concourse cleaning, HVAC service for premium spaces and upkeep of the new plaza.
FOX13 Memphis, 2026-06-17 →Health systems, campuses, large employers and industrial parks hold the biggest concentrations of buildings in the metro. Each fact links to its source, checked 2026-10.
The University of Memphis, founded in 1912, says it welcomes more than 21,000 students to campus every year.
A large urban campus with classroom, lab, housing and athletic buildings, parking lots and grounds that need recurring maintenance and capital work.
University of Memphis →The DeSoto Times described Crossroads Distribution Center in 2019 as a 475-acre, master-planned industrial park totaling over 7 million square feet.
Big-box Class A warehouses on the Mississippi side of the metro, each with large roofs, truck courts, dock areas and fire sprinkler systems.
DeSoto Times →In this category the usual openings are bid calendar, campus expansion, commencement and admissions events. New properties start without a landscape contractor, and new owners often rebid the one they inherited.
Consolidation moves buildings to new owners and operators, who usually rebid service agreements.
Buildings whose contractor closed, retired or sold are open to a new relationship.
Start with: Is this a freestanding store, or does the shopping center landlord handle the grounds?
What usually opens the door here: remodel, regional vendor consolidation, contract end.
Start with: Do you own the building, or does a landlord or property manager handle the grounds?
What usually opens the door here: patient complaints, building sale, new location.
Start with: When does your landscape contract end, and is it bid community by community or across the portfolio?
What usually opens the door here: acquisition, renovation, leasing season, contract end.
More questions for every prospect type, and how to follow up after the meeting, are in the landscaping prospecting playbook.
Average lows sit at or above 40°F for 9 months a year (Mar–Nov); January bottoms out at 32°F. That is the work season. Budgets, bids and contracts for it get decided in Dec–Feb, the push months for bid meetings; in-season calls build next year's list while the work is visible.
Your SDR calls every month. The calendar changes the message, not the effort: push for bid meetings in the red months, lead with service problems in peak months, and build the renewal list the rest of the year.
A prime contractor bidding landscaping projects of $25,000 or more directly to the owner needs a contractor's license with the Landscaping (BC-29) classification. Landscaping subcontractors working for a licensed contractor do not need a contractor's license. Source.
Confirm current rules with Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors.
The Memphis, TN-MS-AR metro has 311 landscaping services companies as of 2025 Q2, down 18 from a year earlier. The trade is about the national concentration.
By count of sites with 20 or more employees: retail stores (585), ambulatory health care offices and clinics (368), apartment property management firms (164) and churches and religious organizations (111). Relative to the national mix, hotels are the standout.
Dec–Feb, before property and facility teams are absorbed by peak season (Mar–Nov).
Shelby County holds 80% of the larger landscaping-buying sites across the 8-county metro. The other 7 counties split the remaining 20%, which is where Tier 1 accounts justify the drive and smaller sites do not.
No. Abstrakt runs one program per trade per market and will not run the same program for a direct competitor in your territory.
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