SoloRiff

How to sell to Heads of Operations at SaaS companies

Heads of Operations in SaaS companies are primarily measured on operational efficiency, specifically reducing churn rates. They respond positively to outreach that demonstrates a clear understanding of their daily challenges, such as optimizing customer onboarding processes or improving team productivity through better resource allocation.

Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 559 saas company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.

What actually hurts

  • high customer churn rates
  • inefficient onboarding processes
  • resource allocation issues
  • team productivity challenges

The playbook

  1. 01

    Identify churn triggers

    Research recent customer feedback or churn data to identify specific pain points. Use tools like G2 or Trustpilot to find common complaints about onboarding or support. This will help you tailor your outreach to address these specific issues directly.

  2. 02

    Segment by team size

    Filter your prospect list for SaaS companies with 50-200 employees. This size typically has established operations teams but may lack the resources for extensive process optimization. Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to refine your search based on company size.

  3. 03

    Highlight operational bottlenecks

    Craft your messaging to emphasize how your solution can alleviate specific operational bottlenecks, such as delayed feature releases or inefficient resource allocation. Mention real-world examples of similar companies that improved their processes through targeted strategies.

  4. 04

    Anticipate budget constraints

    Be prepared to address budget concerns, especially if your solution requires upfront investment. Offer flexible pricing models or ROI projections that demonstrate long-term savings and efficiency gains, making it easier for them to justify the cost.

  5. 05

    Schedule follow-ups after product updates

    If you learn that a prospect has recently launched a new feature or product, follow up within a week. This is a prime time for them to evaluate their operational processes and consider improvements, making your outreach more relevant.

Can saas companies even receive your mail?

We measured the DNS of 559 saas 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.

1–10 employees
16.7%
11–50
42.1%
51–200
57.1%
201–1,000
72.2%
1,000+
80.9%

Publishes a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject — the domain actually asks receivers to act on failures.

The gap is the finding: 16.7% of 1–10-person companies against 80.9% of the largest — 64 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 onboarding process
  • Reducing churn in your SaaS
  • Optimizing team productivity

Questions

Why do heads of operations ignore cold emails about process tools?
Heads of Operations often receive numerous cold emails and may perceive them as generic pitches. They prioritize solutions that directly address specific operational challenges, so outreach must be highly relevant and personalized to catch their attention.
What operational metrics do heads of operations focus on?
They typically focus on metrics like customer churn rates, onboarding time, team productivity, and operational costs. These metrics directly impact their ability to deliver value and maintain a competitive edge in the SaaS market.
How can I make my outreach more relevant to heads of operations?
Research the prospect's company and identify recent challenges or changes, such as product launches or customer feedback. Tailor your messaging to address these specific issues, showing that you understand their unique operational landscape.
What objections do heads of operations commonly have?
Common objections include budget constraints, concerns about implementation timelines, and skepticism about the promised ROI. Addressing these objections proactively in your outreach can help build trust and facilitate a more productive conversation.

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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