How to sell to Heads of Operations at Hospitality companies
Heads of Operations in the hospitality industry focus on optimizing guest experiences while managing operational costs. They respond to outreach that demonstrates a clear understanding of their challenges, such as improving staff efficiency or reducing booking errors. A well-researched email that highlights specific operational pain points will capture their attention 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 548 hospitality company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- staffing shortages during peak seasons
- inefficient booking processes
- high guest complaint rates
- operational cost overruns
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent guest satisfaction declines
Research online reviews and customer feedback for hotels or restaurants in your target area. Look for specific mentions of service delays or booking issues in the last 30 days. This insight can help you tailor your outreach to address their immediate concerns.
- 02
Analyze staffing changes in peak seasons
Use LinkedIn to track recent hiring or layoffs within your target companies, especially around busy seasons. A sudden staffing change may indicate operational strain, making them more receptive to solutions that streamline processes or improve team productivity.
- 03
Research technology adoption gaps
Investigate the current technology stack used by your target companies, focusing on booking systems and operational tools. Identify any outdated systems that could lead to inefficiencies. Highlighting how your solution can modernize their operations will resonate with their goals.
- 04
Connect after industry events
Monitor industry events and conferences relevant to hospitality operations. Reach out to Heads of Operations shortly after these events, referencing discussions or insights shared. This demonstrates your engagement with their industry and positions you as a knowledgeable partner.
- 05
Follow up on unresolved service issues
If you notice a company has been actively addressing service complaints, follow up with a message that addresses those specific issues. Offer insights or solutions that show your understanding of their operational challenges, making it easier for them to see the value in a conversation.
Can hospitality companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 548 hospitality 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: 15.6% of 1–10-person companies against 73% of the largest — 57 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 guest satisfaction
- Streamlining your booking process
- Addressing operational challenges
Questions
- Why do Heads of Operations in hospitality ignore outreach?
- Heads of Operations often receive numerous outreach messages that lack relevance to their specific challenges. Many ignore outreach that doesn't directly address their operational pain points, such as staffing issues or technology inefficiencies, making it crucial for sales efforts to be highly targeted and personalized.
- What operational metrics do Heads of Operations prioritize?
- Heads of Operations typically prioritize metrics like guest satisfaction scores, staff turnover rates, and operational cost efficiency. These metrics directly impact their ability to deliver quality service and maintain profitability, making them critical areas of focus in their daily operations.
- How can I demonstrate value to a Head of Operations?
- To demonstrate value, focus on providing insights that directly relate to their pain points, such as reducing booking errors or improving team productivity. Sharing relevant case studies or success stories that illustrate tangible results can also help build credibility and interest.
- What common objections do Heads of Operations have?
- Common objections include concerns about implementation costs, disruption to existing operations, and skepticism about ROI. Addressing these objections upfront by providing clear evidence of cost savings and operational improvements can help alleviate their concerns and encourage engagement.
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