Looking for a more effective business development strategy?
The default advertising agency business development strategy? Referrals.
And they should be a part of every marketing services firm, PR firm, and advertising agency business development strategy.
But you can’t rely on them as your ONLY business development strategy.
Our outsourced business development programs are designed with one goal in mind: getting you closer to close.
We apply our deep expertise in the advertising, marketing and public relations industries, alongside our consistently updated Tech Stack, and in conjunction with our full team of tenured professionals to get you qualified, high-interest prospect meetings, better position your agency brand in the marketplace, create a more consistent stream of new business opportunities, and ultimately, help you move closer to close.
Pre-Prospecting Preparation
A critical piece of every program, and one firms often struggle with. Hand-in-hand with each client, we ensure a strong business development foundation that speaks to prospects in a meaningful way: directly, with authority, and in keeping with each client’s unique reasons to believe.
Pre-Prospecting Preparation Includes:
- Kick-Off Meeting: An initial deep dive into current challenges, work, and agency growth goals
- Communications Strategy/Brand Story Development: Recommendations on positioning and messaging for program
- Prospecting Plan Development: Recommendations, and where needed, involvement in, assets needed to drive success
- Targeted Prospect List Development: List development backed by a team of 12 list operations specialists
Prospecting Support
The engine that drives every program: experienced individuals who are solely focused on getting clients more quality at-bats, and ultimately, closer to closing more business.
Prospecting Support Includes:
- Dedicated New Business Director with over 15-20 years of sales and marketing experience.
She/he is responsible for:- Setting face-to-face, video, or phone meetings
- Assisting with follow-up to help move prospects closer to close
- Coaching/Strategy Planning Pre-Meeting
- To make certain each meeting is as productive as possible
- New Business Director Immersion: Prior to the program’s official start, immersion into your expertise, culture, and overall work.
- Coaching/Strategy Planning Pre-Meeting: To make certain each meeting is as productive as possible
Prospect Research
Another factor that sets RSW new business programs apart: the ongoing prospect research that’s part of prospecting with intent, showing prospects we’ve done our homework, know their category, and can help solve their business challenges.
Prospect Research Includes:
- Prospect/Company Research: Researching prospects and their companies to make outreach more relevant/meaningful
- Ongoing Value-Added Email Development: Monthly outreach created by your Marcom team member, created specifically for ongoing awareness and thought leadership reinforcement
- Company/Prospect Snapshot: Meeting forms for each meeting set, which outlines insights/opportunities
RSW Tech Stack
Our tech stack compliments our experienced teams. While the human element is critical to our success, our tech stack is instrumental in making our processes more efficient
Here’s what our current tech stack is comprised of:
- Website visitor identification (Visual Visitors)
- Business intelligence platform to identify new hires and new funding opportunities (Lead411)
- Ad spending research (Kantar)
- Sales intelligence (multiple platforms below):
- ZoomInfo/Discover.org – a market leading business contact database with millions of contacts across a range of industries and locations.
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator – to help unearth news/opportunities about prospects and identify new leads that are right fits for our clients.
- RSW/EarlyAccess – our proprietary system for tracking marketer interest in content topics related to finding new agencies.
Post-Meeting Support
Breaking through to your prospects is, of course, a critical step, but post-meeting follow up is equally critical. As part of every program, here are a few of the ways we help get clients closer to close.
Post-Meeting Support Includes:
- Post-Meeting Strategy Discussion: After initial meetings, next steps are discussed and apportioned between the client and RSW team where needed
- Post-Meeting Follow Up Support: After each first meeting, potential opportunities identified where the RSW new business director can help set second or third meetings, help nurture a lead, or continue to pursue a prospect if they go dark
- Proposal/RFP Review: Consulting support for proposals, presentations, RFP responses
- Pre/Post Tradeshow Prospecting: Specific prospecting tracks dedicated to physical and virtual trade shows
We would love to talk about your current new business strategy and business development challenges, and how we might help solve them
Frequently Asked Questions About Our Outsourced Business Development Program
What type and size of firm do you typically work with?
We work across and with all types of advertising agency, marketing services firms and PR Firms. Our clients are predominantly small to mid-sized agencies; however, we do work with larger firms as well.
What is your prospecting method/what channels do you use?
We find success with, and know it’s critically important, to use all channels/platforms in concert with each other when prospecting. If not, you’re leaving opportunities on the table. So that means phone calling, email, social (where it makes sense) and physical mail.
Do you have expertise in our vertical/verticals?
In our almost two decades, we’ve worked across all major verticals, however, if we work together, your new business director (NBD) may not have expertise in your given vertical/verticals, but each new business director must be able to prospect successfully with any client and any vertical. Which is why we hire individuals that have 15-20 years of sales and marketing experience.
Do you prospect as RSW/US, or as my firm?
We reach out as a part of your team, so RSW/US is never mentioned. Your prospects’ experience must be seamless, so we’ll have an email protocol and voicemail set up, for example, within your system, in order to prospect effectively.
Do I have access to my team at RSW?
Yes, absolutely, that’s a critical component of working with us. We know there are some competitors whose team you never meet or rarely correspond with. Our goal is to have you work with the same team ongoing, for example, our average NBD tenure is 8 years, a rarity in our industry. Minimally you’ll meet on a weekly basis with your NBD.
Does our new business director handle the writing of ongoing prospecting communication, or do we provide that?
Your new business director handles all communication outreach creation, however, we work hand-in-hand with you early in the process to ensure we’re on-target and reaching out with intent.
If we have a database of prospects, can RSW/US incorporate that into the prospecting effort?
Yes, absolutely. Many clients come on board with existing prospect lists. We’re flexible: we can incorporate those lists in whole or in part. We will want to review and make sure they’re clean, and with the majority of our clients, there are typically companies we’ll need to include on a Do Not Call list, in order to avoid conflicts, or because you have reason you would rather not work with that company.
Do you charge an extra fee for the prospect lists your team builds?
No, in fact, apart from a small monthly postage fee, you won’t be charged any other fee throughout our working relationship.
If necessary, do you also review case studies, content and websites?
Yes. As part of every program, we’ll review any content related to new business, at no extra cost.
How do you handle conflicts?
Each new business director has a total of 4 clients, and those clients may not conflict with each other. Any list we build for you, will not have the same companies as any of your new business director’s other three clients.
Advertising Agency New Business Strategy
Looking for a more effective business development strategy?
