BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROCESS FOR MARKETING AND ADVERTISING AGENCIES

Most agency principals know they need a stronger new business program. The problem isn’t ambition, it’s bandwidth. Between running accounts, managing the team, and doing the actual work, new business falls to the bottom of the list. When it does get attention, it’s often reactive, inconsistent, and built around whoever has a few hours to spare.

That’s where we come in. We bring a structured, end-to-end business development process built specifically for marketing and advertising agencies. We handle the outreach, build the lists, set the meetings, and help you get to close. Our goal isn’t just to generate activity. It’s to help you win business.

Positioning and Growth Alignment

“We know what we do. We just struggle to explain it in a way that makes prospects want to meet with us.”

Every program starts with a focused alignment session led by senior RSW/US leadership. This is typically a three-hour working session with your key principals.

Before we meet, we review your capabilities presentations, existing collateral, proposals, and any other materials that show how you currently describe your agency to the outside world. During the session, we dig into the specifics of your work, your growth goals, the kinds of clients you want, and the business problems your agency actually solves.

We’re also looking for your “reasons to believe” — the things about your agency that would genuinely compel a prospect to trust you over someone else. Some of those are functional (category experience, a specific methodology, a unique insight process). Others are more emotional (the feel of your creative, the way you think about clients’ businesses). We pull all of that together into a clear story about what makes your agency different.

What Comes Out of This Phase

Target Company Parameters
A well-defined profile of the kinds of companies you should be pursuing, aligned with your capabilities, experience, and growth ambitions, so your new business effort is focused where you actually have a right to win.
A Communications Strategy / Brand Story
A clear, concise framework for how to talk about your agency in a way that resonates with decision-makers. This isn’t marketing copy. It’s the foundation for every outreach message, every conversation, and every follow-up your New Business Director will have on your behalf.
A Prospecting Plan
A practical plan for how we’ll approach the market, what we’ll need from you in terms of content and collateral, and where we might recommend refinements to strengthen your positioning and drive more engagement.

This phase ensures everything that follows is grounded in clarity. Outreach is more relevant, conversations are more productive, and the whole program stays aligned with how your agency actually wins.

Sales Readiness and Internal Alignment

“We’ve gotten meetings before. But then they didn’t go anywhere.”

Generating interest is only part of the equation. This phase ensures your team and your New Business Director are aligned and prepared before any prospect conversation happens.

Your New Business Director will immerse themselves in your agency before the program officially begins. That means studying your kick-off notes, your website, existing collateral, case studies, and proposals. They’ll also meet with you and key members of your team to understand your culture, your work, and the way you operate.

To the outside world, your New Business Director looks like a member of your agency. They have a dedicated phone number, voicemail, and email address under your firm’s name.

What Comes Out of This Phase

New Business Director Immersion
A thorough understanding of your services, your differentiators, and the buying scenarios you most often encounter, so outreach and early conversations feel informed and on-brand.
Clear Roles and Handoffs
Alignment on when your NBD leads the conversation, when agency leadership steps in, and how follow-up gets handled once a prospect shows interest.
Meeting Preparation and Insight
Before every meeting, your New Business Director will send you a Client Meeting Form that covers contact details, company background, relevant news, LinkedIn intel, and any other context gathered during prospecting so you can walk in prepared.

This phase also includes our First Call Optimization program. We provide a guideline document and checklist that covers how to approach first meetings with prospects, how to handle the conversation itself, and what to do in follow-up. As meetings come in, we also offer recorded call reviews, written coaching recommendations, and joint sessions with your NBD to sharpen your approach over time.

Target Market and Account Strategy

“I don’t want to spray my agency’s name everywhere. I want to go after the right companies, the ones where we’d actually do great work.”

Strong new business programs don’t succeed because of volume. They succeed because of focus.

In this phase, we work with you to define the specific types of companies your agency should be pursuing, based on industry, company size, geography, decision-maker titles, and revenue profile. From there, we build and maintain a prioritized list of target companies that fit those criteria.

We build these lists ourselves, using a combination of human research and supporting technology, one company at a time. We’re not pulling bulk extracts and hoping they’re accurate. Every contact is verified and every list is reviewed and approved by you before any outreach begins.

We also ask for two things at the start of every program: a list of past clients you’d like us to reach back out to, and an export of your first-level LinkedIn contacts. Both of those are often the fastest way to generate early traction.

Supporting Technology

Our list-building team works alongside a carefully selected tech stack that includes:

ZoomInfo / Discover.org
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Purchase intent tracking platforms
AI-assisted list building and intelligence tools
Zoho CRM
New hire and new funding activity reporting

Technology supports the process. Human judgment drives it. Every account we pursue is intentional.

Multi-Channel Outreach and Relationship Building

“We need introductions that respect the market we’re in. We can’t afford to come across as pushy or generic.”

This is where your New Business Director actively works the market, using a coordinated, multi-channel approach designed to build awareness, relevance, and trust with the right companies over time.

Every five to six weeks, we introduce a new group of approximately 70 target companies into the outreach effort. Your NBD engages these companies politely and persistently across email, phone, LinkedIn, and direct mail over that same window. Outreach isn’t generic. It’s guided by real-time signals, including who’s clicking on content, who’s visiting your website, who’s been recently hired into a relevant role, and which companies are showing intent signals tied to services like yours.

All of our programs also include a direct mail piece that introduces your agency, your expertise, and examples of your work. When that piece is sent, your NBD follows up with a voicemail, then an email, then additional outreach over the days that follow.

The goal is to turn cold prospects into warm conversations, not to generate volume for the sake of a report.

How Outreach Is Executed

Your New Business Director:

Engages prospects across email, phone, LinkedIn, and direct mail
Prioritizes follow-up based on engagement signals tracked through CRM, email activity, and website visitor data
Monitors weekly new hire and new funding reports to catch trigger-based opportunities
Maintains consistent, respectful follow-up designed to stay visible without being intrusive

Meeting Conversion: Getting You Closer to Close

We typically start seeing meeting activity after the first month of prospecting. Once the program is ramped up, agencies can expect to see an average of two to three meetings per month with qualified decision-makers.

When a meeting is set, we don’t just hand it off and move on. We help you prepare. Your NBD provides a full brief on the prospect, assists with follow-up strategy after the meeting, and stays involved in the nurturing process to help keep opportunities moving.

We also review proposals, pitch decks, and RFP responses before they go out, and we’re available to weigh in on website and social media recommendations when they’re relevant to the program.

How We Support Momentum

Your New Business Director:

Shares prospect context and intelligence ahead of every meeting
Helps shape follow-up strategy after first conversations
Supports ongoing nurturing for longer-cycle opportunities
Assists with proposal and RFP reviews to strengthen your chances

Historically, 30 to 50 percent of the meetings we deliver turn into bid, pitch, or proposal situations within a few months of the initial engagement. About 95 percent of our clients see some form of closed business within the first twelve months. That’s the result of structuring programs so there’s genuine skin in the game. Our NBDs receive bonuses for setting quality meetings and additional incentives when clients actually close business.

Visibility, Accountability and Optimization

“We’ve invested in new business before. But we never really knew what was working or why.”

Transparency matters. This phase ensures you always have clear visibility into what’s happening, what’s working, and where we need to adjust.

Every week, your New Business Director sends a written update covering outreach activity and prospect engagement. That’s paired with a standing weekly call to review priorities and talk through any active opportunities.

Approximately every other month, senior RSW/US leadership checks in separately to discuss program performance and make sure everything is meeting expectations.

How We Stay Aligned

Weekly updates and calls with your New Business Director covering outreach activity and prospect status
Ongoing refinement of targeting, messaging, and outreach approach based on what’s actually getting traction
Leadership check-ins to ensure the program is delivering at the level you expect

This structure keeps the program focused, honest, and adaptive as market conditions and your agency’s priorities evolve.

See below for more content focused on business development

The RSW/US Agency Identity Guide: 5 Pillars of Effective Positioning and 10 Rules for AI Search Success

10 Things Every Agency Owner and Biz Dev Team Should Take Away from Our 2026 Conference

March 6, 2026/by Lee McKnight Jr

State of the Union – 2026 Edition

February 6, 2026/by Mark Sneider

Everyone’s a Salesperson When New Business Slows

January 9, 2026/by Lee McKnight Jr

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