How to sell to CFOs at Construction companies
CFOs in construction are primarily measured on project profitability and cash flow management. They respond positively to outreach that shows a clear understanding of the financial challenges unique to construction, such as fluctuating material costs or project delays. Demonstrating knowledge of how to improve financial forecasting in the context of specific projects can capture their attention.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 564 construction company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- cash flow disruptions
- rising material costs
- project budget overruns
- delayed payments from clients
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent project delays
Search for construction companies that have publicly reported project delays in the last 3-6 months. Use industry news websites or construction project tracking platforms to filter for companies that are likely facing cash flow issues due to these delays.
- 02
Find CFOs of affected companies
Once you have a list of companies with project delays, use LinkedIn or company websites to identify the CFOs or finance leaders. Focus on those who have been in their roles for at least two years, as they are more likely to have established processes and pain points.
- 03
Craft a message around cash flow challenges
Write an email that addresses the specific cash flow challenges caused by project delays. Reference a common issue like rising material costs and how it impacts budgeting. Make it clear that you understand the construction industry's cyclical nature and how it affects financial planning.
- 04
Anticipate objections about timing
Prepare to address objections regarding timing, such as 'We're too busy right now.' Offer to provide insights or resources that can help them manage their current challenges, emphasizing that a brief discussion could yield valuable strategies without demanding much of their time.
- 05
Suggest a specific time for a call
In your follow-up, propose a specific date and time for a call, such as 'How does Thursday at 2 PM work for you?' This reduces the back-and-forth and makes it easier for the CFO to agree to a meeting.
Can construction companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 564 construction companies, sampled evenly across company sizes, to see how many authenticate their own email. It matters in both directions: a domain that does not authenticate is a domain whose team is used to mail going missing — and if your own domain is in the gap, yours is the mail going missing.
Publishes a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject — the domain actually asks receivers to act on failures.
The gap is the finding: 19.2% of 1–10-person companies against 73% of the largest — 54 points apart. Small companies are where the unauthenticated domains are, and small companies are who most cold outreach is aimed at.
Where does your domain sit?
Same three lookups, run live against your domain. Nothing is stored and nothing is emailed to you.
How this was measured
Company domains were sampled within employee-count bands, then queried over public DNS for SPF (TXT at the apex), DMARC (TXT at _dmarc.) and MX. One domain per company, deduplicated. Anyone can reproduce any single row of this with dig.
DKIM is deliberately absent. A DKIM key lives under a selector that cannot be enumerated from outside the domain, so a company with flawless DKIM under a name we did not guess would be counted as having none. That would measure our guess list, not the industry.
Domains with no MX record are excluded rather than counted as failures — parked and redirect-only domains would otherwise drag every figure down and make the result an artefact of the sample.
Sampled within bands, so this describes the population of companies, not of employees: a 10-person company counts once, as does a 10,000-person one. Each band is at least 60 domains; bands below that are not published. Figures are percentages of the sample, not of the whole industry, and we publish no company names — only counts.
Measured 2026-09-03. Re-measured monthly.
The full census across every industry — sortable, with sample sizes, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Subject lines that fit
- Managing cash flow in construction
- Addressing project delays
- Improving financial forecasting
Questions
- Why do CFOs in construction ignore outreach about financial tools?
- CFOs in construction often receive numerous outreach messages, many of which lack relevance to their specific challenges. If the outreach does not directly address issues like cash flow management or project-specific financial forecasting, it is likely to be overlooked.
- What financial metrics do construction CFOs prioritize?
- Construction CFOs prioritize metrics such as project profitability, cash flow forecasts, and cost variances. They focus on these metrics to ensure that projects remain financially viable and to manage the financial health of the company effectively.
- How can I demonstrate value to a construction CFO?
- To demonstrate value to a construction CFO, provide insights or case studies that showcase how your solution has helped similar companies improve cash flow management or reduce financial risk. Tailoring your message to address their specific pain points is crucial.
- What common objections do construction CFOs have?
- Common objections from construction CFOs include concerns about budget constraints, timing of implementation, and skepticism about the ROI of new financial solutions. Understanding these objections allows you to prepare responses that resonate with their priorities.
Or have it run itself
SoloRiff does every step above on its own — finds the companies, finds the people, writes each of them individually, and handles the replies. Drop your URL and watch it work before you sign up for anything.
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