How to sell to CFOs at Real estate companies
CFOs in real estate are primarily measured on cash flow management. They respond to outreach that demonstrates a clear understanding of their financial pressures, such as fluctuating property values and the impact on liquidity. Showcasing insights on optimizing operational costs or improving financial forecasting can capture their interest and prompt a response.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 562 real estate company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- cash flow variability
- regulatory compliance stress
- budget overruns
- property valuation fluctuations
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent real estate acquisitions
Use news sources or industry reports to find companies that have recently acquired properties. This often indicates an increased need for financial oversight and can lead to discussions about financial management tools. Target companies that have expanded their portfolios in the last three months.
- 02
Segment by property type
Filter your list to focus on CFOs managing commercial real estate versus residential properties. Each segment has distinct financial challenges and regulatory environments. Tailor your messaging to address specific pain points relevant to the property type they oversee.
- 03
Highlight cash flow optimization
Craft your outreach to emphasize solutions that enhance cash flow management. Mention specific strategies like expense reduction or revenue forecasting that resonate with CFOs. This approach will show that you understand their core responsibilities and can provide value.
- 04
Address compliance concerns
Acknowledge the regulatory landscape that impacts real estate finance in your messaging. CFOs are often concerned about compliance risks. Demonstrating knowledge of current regulations and how your insights can help mitigate those risks will make your outreach more appealing.
- 05
Follow up with financial insights
After your initial outreach, send a follow-up that includes a recent financial trend or report relevant to the real estate sector. This positions you as a valuable resource and not just a salesperson. Timing your follow-up within one week of the initial contact can increase response rates.
Can real estate companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 562 real estate 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: 25.2% of 1–10-person companies against 83.6% of the largest — 58 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
- Improving cash flow management
- Insights on property valuation
- Navigating compliance challenges
Questions
- Why do CFOs in real estate ignore outreach from vendors?
- CFOs may overlook outreach due to an overload of generic messages that fail to address their specific financial challenges. They prioritize communications that offer clear, actionable insights related to cash flow management and compliance, rather than vague pitches.
- What financial metrics do real estate CFOs prioritize?
- CFOs in real estate typically focus on metrics like net operating income, cash flow forecasts, and return on investment. These metrics are critical for assessing the financial health of properties and making informed investment decisions.
- How can I effectively engage CFOs in real estate?
- Engaging CFOs requires a targeted approach that speaks directly to their financial pain points. Use industry-specific data and case studies that illustrate how you can help optimize cash flow and manage compliance risks effectively.
- What challenges do CFOs face in the current real estate market?
- CFOs are currently grappling with rising interest rates, fluctuating property values, and increased regulatory scrutiny. These challenges necessitate agile financial strategies and robust forecasting capabilities to ensure long-term profitability and compliance.
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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