How to sell to Heads of Sales at Developer tools companies
Heads of Sales in Developer Tools are primarily measured on quarterly revenue growth. They respond to outreach that demonstrates a clear understanding of their current sales challenges, particularly around integrating CI/CD solutions or enhancing API platform capabilities. Highlighting how your offering can streamline their sales process or improve team efficiency can prompt a response.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 587 developer tools company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- long sales cycles
- low lead conversion rates
- inefficient sales processes
- team struggles with integration
The playbook
- 01
Identify teams expanding their CI/CD capabilities
Use platforms like LinkedIn and company news to find companies investing in CI/CD tools. Filter for recent funding announcements or product launches that indicate growth. This signals a potential need for enhanced sales tools to manage increased demand.
- 02
Research current sales metrics and pain points
Look for public data on sales growth or challenges faced by target companies. Identify specific metrics they might be struggling with, such as lead conversion rates or sales cycle length, to tailor your messaging around solutions that address these issues.
- 03
Craft a message around sales team efficiency
Draft an email that highlights how your solution can enhance the efficiency of their sales team, particularly in managing API integrations. Use insights from your research to create a narrative that resonates with their current objectives and challenges.
- 04
Anticipate objections around budget constraints
Prepare to address concerns about budget by showcasing ROI from similar companies in the developer tools space. Be ready to discuss flexible pricing models or trial periods that mitigate financial risk, making it easier for them to consider your solution.
- 05
Follow up with insights on industry trends
If you haven't received a response within a week, send a follow-up email that includes recent industry trends or case studies relevant to their business. This positions you as a knowledgeable partner and keeps the conversation focused on their evolving needs.
Can developer tools companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 587 developer tools 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: 27.4% of 1–10-person companies against 94.9% of the largest — 68 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
- Boost your sales efficiency
- Challenges in CI/CD sales
- Streamline your sales process
Questions
- Why do Heads of Sales ignore outreach about new sales tools?
- Heads of Sales often prioritize immediate revenue goals over new tool adoption. They may perceive outreach as irrelevant if it doesn't directly address their current challenges or if they are already overwhelmed with existing solutions.
- What common metrics do Heads of Sales focus on?
- Heads of Sales typically focus on metrics like quarterly revenue growth, lead conversion rates, and sales cycle length. These metrics help them gauge the effectiveness of their sales strategies and tools, making them critical for outreach discussions.
- How can I get a response from Heads of Sales?
- To engage Heads of Sales, tailor your outreach to their specific pain points, such as sales process inefficiencies or integration challenges. Providing insights or solutions that directly address these issues increases the likelihood of a response.
- What objections should I prepare for when selling to Heads of Sales?
- Common objections include budget constraints, existing tool fatigue, and doubts about ROI. Being prepared with data or case studies that demonstrate clear benefits can help you effectively address these concerns during your outreach.
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.
Try it on your site