How to Get Your First Meeting with a Prospect: 20+ Practical Tips for Ad Agencies, PR Firms & Marketing Services Companies
Breaking Through: The RSW/US First Meeting Blueprint
Getting a first meeting with a prospect is one of the hardest business development challenges an agency faces consistently.
Most agencies get their new business from referrals and repeat clients, which is great when it’s happening, but not a growth strategy.
At some point, you have to break into new relationships, and that means figuring out how to reach people who don’t know you yet and have no particular reason to respond.
The RSW/US First Meeting Blueprint is a practical, channel-by-channel collection of tips built around what actually works in today’s outreach environment.
Scroll all the way down download it.
Bonus: Watch the Full Day 2 Conference Session
The Blueprint provides the framework, while this session adds the essential texture. At our annual conference, veteran New Business Directors Brandon Buttrey and Chad Dills detailed the RSW/US approach to securing first meetings.
With a combined 19 years of daily experience across diverse categories, they cover mistakes to avoid and tactics that work today. The session includes:
Tactical Training: Strategies for physical mail, email cadence, and opening lines.
Expert Q&A: Insights on AI tools, LinkedIn, video brochures, and cell phone outreach.
Navigational Help: Key timestamps below allow you to jump to specific segments or share them with your team.
Jump to What Matters Most
- 03:26:00 Topic Selection – Why “first meeting with a cold prospect” matters
- 05:05:00 Defining the Cold‑Prospect Challenge
- 08:00:00 Prospecting Pain: Loneliness & the grind of cold outreach
- 08:41:00 Why Prospecting is Hard Now – saturation, AI‑flood, noise
- 10:26:00 RSW Outreach Framework – Mail, email, phone & creative tactics
- 11:16:00 Physical Mailer Deep‑Dive – why it works and how to use it
- 14:22:00 Physical Mailer Benefits & Real‑world examples
- 17:23:00 Mailers as Conversation Starters – “Did you get it?”
- 19:24:00 Creating Effective Mailers – teamwork, batch size, bright envelopes, intro note
- 22:36:00 7 Practical Mailer Tips (overview)
- 24:30:00 Email Outreach Best Practices – research, AI‑assist, 80% rule, brevity
- 33:14:00 Crafting a Strong Call‑to‑Action in Cold Emails
- 36:15:00 Email Deliverability – avoid links, PDFs, signatures in first blast
- 38:17:00 Plain‑Text vs. Rich‑Media Emails – when to use each
- 40:47:00 Phone‑Call Outreach – why it still matters & intro video
- 45:01:00 Phone‑Call Script & Practice – write, rehearse, voice‑mail tip
- 48:40:00 Optimal Call Timing – best windows & days of the week
- 51:19:00 Phone‑Call Block Scheduling – 2‑hour focused calling session
- 52:02:00 Marketer Feedback on Outreach Methods – what works & what doesn’t
- 01:01:02 Phone‑Call Start Script Exercise – write your opening line
- 01:01:20 Creative Outreach Ideas – Loom videos, QR‑codes, gift boxes
A Note on What You’ll watch
A live poll during this session revealed that 52% of attendees rarely use physical mail, and 70% have never called a prospect.
While these channels are challenging, sticking only to common methods leads to average results.
Our directors speak candidly about the difficulty of the “hunt,” from days with no responses to the mental shift required for cell phone outreach.
This session demonstrates how staying consistent across multiple channels helps agencies reach prospects that others miss—the same work we perform for our clients daily.
Is Your Firm Getting in Front of the Prospects That Need What You Do?
RSW/US can help you get in front of the right decision-makers.
We build the program, generate the right meetings, and help move opportunities forward.
Want to see exactly what’s included in a full program? Explore Our Offerings
