How to sell to Heads of Sales at Agencies companies in United States
The Head of Sales at an agency is primarily measured on client retention rates. They respond to outreach that demonstrates an understanding of their unique challenges, such as managing client expectations and ensuring consistent revenue growth. Show them how you can provide solutions that streamline their sales process and improve client satisfaction, making it easier for them to achieve their retention goals.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 558 agencies company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- high client churn rates
- inconsistent revenue streams
- pressure to meet sales targets
- managing client expectations
The playbook
- 01
Identify agencies with high client turnover
Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to filter for agencies with recent employee changes or negative reviews. This indicates potential client dissatisfaction. Target these agencies, as the Head of Sales may be looking for solutions to stabilize their client base.
- 02
Research recent client wins or losses
Check news articles or press releases for agencies that recently secured or lost major clients. Mentioning these events in your outreach can demonstrate your awareness of their current situation and the urgency they may feel to improve sales strategies.
- 03
Craft a message around client satisfaction improvements
Create an email that highlights how your offering can enhance their client relationship management. Use phrases like 'reduce client churn' or 'improve client engagement' to align with their goals. Make it clear that you understand the pressure they face to retain clients.
- 04
Follow up after major industry events
Identify key industry events or conferences that the agency attends. Schedule your follow-up outreach shortly after these events, as the Head of Sales will likely be reflecting on their sales strategies and may be more open to new ideas.
- 05
Offer a workshop or consultation on sales strategies
Propose a free workshop tailored to their specific challenges, such as upselling or client retention techniques. This approach positions you as a partner rather than a vendor and allows the Head of Sales to see the value you can provide firsthand.
Can agencies companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 558 agencies 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: 16.8% of 1–10-person companies against 55.4% of the largest — 39 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 client retention
- Strategies for higher sales
- Boosting agency revenue
Questions
- Why do Heads of Sales at agencies ignore outreach?
- Heads of Sales often receive numerous outreach messages that don't address their specific pain points. If your message doesn't clearly relate to their immediate challenges, such as client retention or revenue stability, it may be overlooked.
- What triggers a Head of Sales to respond to cold outreach?
- A Head of Sales is likely to respond when outreach highlights a solution to a pressing issue, such as improving client satisfaction or reducing churn. Demonstrating a clear understanding of their industry and specific challenges is crucial.
- How can I demonstrate value to a Head of Sales in an agency?
- Demonstrating value involves showcasing your understanding of their unique challenges, such as managing client expectations and maintaining consistent revenue. Providing insights or strategies that directly address these issues can capture their attention.
- What common objections do Heads of Sales have to new solutions?
- Common objections include concerns about the implementation process, potential disruption to current workflows, and the cost of new solutions. Addressing these objections proactively in your outreach can help to alleviate their concerns.
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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