How to sell to Heads of People at Manufacturing companies
Heads of People in manufacturing are primarily measured on employee retention rates. They respond to outreach that demonstrates an understanding of the unique challenges in workforce management, such as high turnover due to industrial job demands. Highlighting solutions that directly address these issues will increase your chances of engagement.
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
- high employee turnover
- skills gap in workforce
- compliance with labor laws
- inefficient training programs
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent turnover spikes
Research recent news or reports indicating high turnover rates in manufacturing companies. Use tools like LinkedIn to find companies that have recently announced layoffs or restructuring. These events often signal a need for improved talent management solutions.
- 02
Target companies investing in automation
Focus on manufacturing firms that are adopting new technologies or automation. These companies often need to reskill their workforce and may be looking for innovative talent solutions. Use industry reports or press releases to identify these firms.
- 03
Highlight workforce development initiatives
Craft your outreach to emphasize how your solutions can support workforce development and training. This is crucial for Heads of People who are tasked with upskilling employees in a changing manufacturing environment. Reference specific training programs or partnerships in your messaging.
- 04
Address compliance with labor regulations
In your communication, mention how your solutions help ensure compliance with labor laws and safety regulations in manufacturing. This is a significant concern for Heads of People, as non-compliance can lead to costly fines and operational disruptions.
- 05
Follow up on industry events
After reaching out, keep track of industry events relevant to manufacturing HR. If a prospect attends a conference or seminar, follow up with insights or takeaways from that event. This shows your engagement with their industry and can lead to a more meaningful conversation.
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 retention in manufacturing
- Addressing workforce challenges
- Solutions for skills development
Questions
- Why do Heads of People in manufacturing ignore outreach about HR software?
- Heads of People often receive numerous outreach attempts that lack specificity to their industry. If the outreach does not address the unique challenges of manufacturing, such as high turnover or compliance issues, it is likely to be overlooked.
- What common objections do Heads of People have when approached about talent solutions?
- Common objections include concerns about the cost of new solutions, skepticism about the effectiveness of proposed strategies, and the challenge of integrating new tools into existing HR processes. Addressing these concerns directly in your outreach can improve engagement.
- How can I make my outreach relevant to Heads of People in manufacturing?
- To make your outreach relevant, focus on their specific challenges, such as compliance with safety regulations and the need for effective training programs. Use industry-specific language and examples to demonstrate your understanding of their environment.
- What are the key responsibilities of a Head of People in manufacturing?
- A Head of People in manufacturing is responsible for managing talent acquisition, employee training, retention strategies, and compliance with labor laws. They also focus on fostering a safe and productive work environment, which is critical in industrial settings.
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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