How to sell to Heads of People at Recruiting companies
Heads of People in Recruiting companies are primarily measured on talent retention rates. They respond positively to outreach that acknowledges the specific challenges of high turnover and the need for effective onboarding solutions. Demonstrating an understanding of their unique hiring processes and the impact of staffing shortages on overall productivity will capture their attention.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 562 recruiting company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- high turnover rates
- ineffective onboarding processes
- increased recruitment costs
- staffing shortages
The playbook
- 01
Identify talent retention struggles
Search for companies that have recently reported high employee turnover rates in the past quarter. Use platforms like LinkedIn or industry news to find reports or articles mentioning staffing issues. This will give you a clear indication of where your outreach can be most impactful.
- 02
Target companies with recent hiring spikes
Filter for organizations that have recently expanded their workforce significantly, as evidenced by job postings or press releases. These companies often face challenges in onboarding and integration of new hires, making them more receptive to solutions that enhance retention.
- 03
Craft messages around onboarding efficiency
When reaching out, focus your message on how your solution can streamline the onboarding process. Reference specific pain points, such as the time taken to onboard new hires or the impact of poor onboarding on retention rates, to show you understand their priorities.
- 04
Anticipate objections about budget constraints
Be prepared to address concerns about budget limitations, especially in a competitive hiring environment. Frame your solution as a long-term investment that can reduce turnover costs and improve overall team performance, providing a clear ROI.
- 05
Follow up after key industry events
Schedule follow-ups with prospects after major industry conferences or hiring events. These occasions often spark new initiatives in talent management, making it a prime time to reconnect and discuss how your solutions can support their new goals.
Can recruiting companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 562 recruiting 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: 20.2% of 1–10-person companies against 75% of the largest — 55 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
- Tackling high turnover rates
- Solutions for staffing challenges
Questions
- Why do Heads of People prioritize retention strategies?
- Heads of People focus on retention strategies because high turnover not only disrupts team dynamics but also incurs significant costs related to recruitment and training. A stable workforce leads to better performance and morale, making retention a critical metric for success.
- What are common objections from Heads of People?
- Common objections include concerns about budget constraints, skepticism about the effectiveness of new solutions, and hesitation to change established processes. They may also express doubts about the time required for implementation and training.
- How do Heads of People assess new recruitment tools?
- Heads of People evaluate new recruitment tools based on their ability to solve specific pain points, such as improving candidate experience or reducing time-to-hire. They look for solutions that offer measurable improvements and align with their strategic goals.
- What factors influence hiring decisions for Heads of People?
- Factors influencing hiring decisions include the current labor market conditions, the organization's growth plans, and the need for specialized skills. They also consider the company's culture and how new hires will fit within existing teams.
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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