How to sell to Heads of Operations at Manufacturing companies
Heads of Operations in manufacturing are primarily measured on production efficiency, often quantified by overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). They respond to outreach that demonstrates a clear understanding of their current production bottlenecks, such as machine downtime or supply chain disruptions, and offers actionable insights or solutions to improve these metrics.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 552 manufacturing company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- machine downtime
- supply chain delays
- staffing shortages
- inefficient processes
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent production disruptions
Search for news articles or press releases about manufacturing companies that have recently faced production delays or equipment failures. Use Google News or industry-specific sources. These disruptions are critical pain points that make Heads of Operations more receptive to solutions that promise to reduce downtime.
- 02
Analyze operational efficiency metrics
Utilize resources like industry reports or benchmarking studies to identify common operational efficiency challenges in manufacturing. Focus on metrics like OEE or cycle time. Tailor your outreach to address specific inefficiencies that align with the metrics they are actively trying to improve.
- 03
Craft a message around cost savings
When contacting Heads of Operations, emphasize potential cost savings from improved production processes. Reference specific examples or case studies that demonstrate how similar companies reduced costs by optimizing their operations. This appeals directly to their responsibility for managing the operational budget.
- 04
Address common objections about change
Prepare to counter objections related to the risks of implementing new processes or technologies. Acknowledge their concerns about disruption and provide evidence of successful transitions in similar manufacturing environments. This reassures them that change can be beneficial without significant operational risk.
- 05
Follow up post-event or conference
If you notice a manufacturing company has attended a relevant industry conference, reach out shortly after. Reference the event and any discussions around operational challenges that were highlighted. This creates a timely connection and shows you are engaged with their industry.
Can manufacturing companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 552 manufacturing 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: 24.3% of 1–10-person companies against 83.1% of the largest — 59 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 your production efficiency
- Reducing machine downtime
- Addressing supply chain challenges
Questions
- Why do Heads of Operations ignore outreach about new technologies?
- Heads of Operations often ignore outreach about new technologies due to concerns about implementation risks and potential disruptions to existing processes. They prioritize solutions that can be seamlessly integrated without causing downtime or requiring extensive training for staff.
- What operational metrics are most important to Heads of Operations?
- Heads of Operations focus on metrics like overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), cycle time, and production yield. These metrics directly impact their ability to meet production targets and manage costs, making them critical in any operational discussion or outreach.
- How can I get a response from busy Heads of Operations?
- To get a response, your outreach should be concise and highlight a specific pain point relevant to their operations. Offering a clear value proposition that addresses immediate challenges, such as reducing downtime or improving efficiency, can help capture their attention.
- What are common challenges faced by Heads of Operations in manufacturing?
- Common challenges include managing machine downtime, optimizing supply chain logistics, and ensuring workforce efficiency. Additionally, they face pressure to reduce costs while maintaining quality, making it essential for them to find effective solutions that address these operational hurdles.
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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