How to sell to Heads of Operations at Developer tools companies
Heads of Operations in developer tools prioritize efficiency and system reliability, often measured by uptime and deployment speed. They respond to outreach that demonstrates a clear understanding of their day-to-day operations, particularly how tools can streamline CI/CD processes or enhance observability without adding complexity.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 587 developer tools company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- deployment delays
- system downtime
- integration challenges
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent CI/CD tool updates
Search for news articles or press releases about companies that have recently updated their CI/CD tools. This can indicate a need for improved reliability or new integrations, making them more open to discussing solutions that can enhance their current setup.
- 02
Pinpoint operational inefficiencies
Utilize LinkedIn to identify posts from operations leaders discussing operational challenges. Look for mentions of deployment delays or issues with observability, and tailor your outreach to address these specific pain points directly.
- 03
Highlight integration capabilities
When crafting your message, focus on how your solution integrates with existing tools they use, like API platforms. Mention specific integration benefits that can save time or reduce errors, as this will resonate with their daily responsibilities.
- 04
Leverage industry events
Check for upcoming industry conferences or webinars where operations leaders will be present. Use these events as a reason to reach out, suggesting a brief chat to discuss insights or challenges faced in the developer tools space.
- 05
Address common objections upfront
Prepare for potential objections related to budget constraints or existing vendor commitments. In your outreach, acknowledge these concerns and offer insights on cost-effective solutions or how your offering can complement their current stack.
Can developer tools companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 587 developer tools 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: 27.4% of 1–10-person companies against 94.9% of the largest — 68 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 CI/CD efficiency
- Streamlining operations today
- Enhancing observability tools
Questions
- Why do Heads of Operations avoid new vendor discussions?
- Heads of Operations often face pressure to maintain system stability and minimize risk. They may avoid discussions with new vendors due to concerns about potential disruptions or the time investment required to evaluate new solutions.
- What factors influence a Head of Operations' decision-making?
- Decisions are heavily influenced by the need for operational efficiency, team feedback, and the potential for cost savings. They prioritize solutions that can seamlessly integrate with existing systems and demonstrate clear ROI.
- How can I make my outreach more relevant to Heads of Operations?
- To increase relevance, tailor your messaging to address specific operational challenges they face, such as deployment speed or system reliability. Citing industry trends or recent updates in developer tools can also capture their attention.
- What common mistakes do salespeople make when reaching out?
- Salespeople often make the mistake of being too generic in their outreach. Failing to mention specific operational pain points or not demonstrating an understanding of the developer tools landscape can lead to quick rejections.
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.
Try it on your site