The Challenge: Strong Work, Inconsistent Pipeline
Like many specialized agencies, this brand preference shop built a focused specialization across CPG, outdoor living, and food and beverage, and a portfolio of work that moved product and built loyalty in highly competitive retail environments.
What they didn’t have was a reliable way to grow.
The principals were too busy doing the work to consistently prospect for more of it, and a previous attempt at internal business development hadn’t gained traction.
They needed qualified meetings with the right decision-makers at the right brands and a system that would keep running even when the agency was busy.
Why Outsourced New Business Made Sense
For most agencies, the problem is consistency.
Running a new business program means daily prospecting, carefully built lists, and follow-up that doesn’t stop when client work heats up.
It’s a full-time function most agencies can’t sustain internally.
As an outsourced new business partner working exclusively with marketing communications firms, RSW/US assigns a dedicated New Business Director to each client.
Someone who prospects consistently on the agency’s behalf, looks like part of the agency to the outside world, and stays invested in the outcome to get clients closer to the close.
How RSW/US Built the Program and Refused to Give Up
The engagement began with a deep-dive: RSW/US reviewed the agency’s positioning, past proposals, and capabilities materials, then spent three hours with the principals identifying what made them different.
In a crowded branding landscape, their edge was specificity: deep experience with brands where lifestyle identity and emotional resonance drive purchase.
That distinction became the backbone of all outreach messaging.
From there, RSW/US built a custom prospect list: a contact-by-contact build using human intelligence, ZoomInfo, and AI-driven list tools, filtered to the agency’s specific targeting criteria and approved before any outreach began.
The New Business Director then worked across phone, email, LinkedIn, and direct mail to build awareness and generate genuine interest among decision-makers at brands that fit.
One prospect stood out early as a strong fit and an initial outreach generated interest, and then silence.
The NBD followed up, re-engaged, and got the conversation moving again. Then, frustratingly, it happened a second time, another stretch of silence.
Most programs would have moved on, but we did not.
The NBD stayed patient and strategic, and when the prospect came back to the table, the relationship was already warm, and our client was prepared.
The conversation that started months earlier ended with a signed AOR relationship.
The Result: A $1.16M AOR and a Program That Proved Its Worth
The AOR win was significant on its own, but what it illustrated was more valuable: what a sustained, professional new business effort actually looks like when it has the patience and structure to see things through.
This was not a referral, but a prospect who went dark twice over several months and still ended up signing on, because our new business director had enough backbone to stay in the game without being aggressive, and enough intelligence to know when and how to re-engage.
In year one, the agency closed a relationship worth $1.16M across three brands.
More importantly, they had a functioning new business engine for the first time, one generating qualified meetings consistently while the principals stayed focused on doing the work.
Is Your Agency Leaving Opportunities on the Table?
Most agencies have the talent to win more business. What they lack is a consistent, professional system to go get it. RSW/US builds that system for you.
Want to see exactly what’s included in a full program? Explore Our Offerings
