Outsourced business development for agencies, without a $150K hire or a rate nobody will quote you.
VA Horizon runs your agency's new-business outreach through Human + AI SDRs holding real SMS conversations, booking double-confirmed meetings with prospects who match your target-client profile, for a $300 one-time setup plus $250 to $450 per held meeting. The two existing paths, hiring an in-house Director of New Business or signing with a consulting-style outsourced firm like RSW/US or Catapult, either cost six figures a year with a documented turnover problem or come with no published price at all.
Pay per booked meeting. No retainer.
Hire a director you might lose in under two years, or sign a retainer nobody will price for you.
Neither figure below is VA Horizon's number. Both are sourced from vendors and research tracking this exact function, worth knowing before you commit to either path.
The in-house hire costs six figures before a meeting is booked
Catapult's own site states plainly that hiring a dedicated Director of New Business costs agencies $150,000-plus a year before technology, bonuses, benefits, and ramp-up time. That number holds before the hire's first quota-carrying month even starts.
Most new-business directors do not stay
Three out of four new-business directors, 76%, last fewer than two years in the role, per RSW/US's 2024 Agency New Business Report. Every director who leaves takes months of prospect relationships and pipeline knowledge with them.
The category alternative is a consulting relationship, not a productized service
RSW/US has run outsourced Director of New Business engagements since 2005. Catapult calls itself the number-one outsourced business development team for agencies, adtech, media, and sponsorship, with case studies citing $3.5 million won for one client and $950,000 won in 30 days for another. Neither discloses pricing anywhere on-site; both read as a high-touch retainer relationship, not a service you can compare on price before a call.
"Outsourced business development for agencies" is a thin field either way
RSW/US and Catapult are the two real players confirmed for this exact phrase family. There is no third, productized, transparently priced option in the category we reviewed, and both existing options require a sales call before you learn what anything costs.
How the function runs without a hire or a retainer.
The same job a director would do, run as a system instead of a headcount line.
Your target-client profile, defined at kickoff
The industry, size band, and service-line need that actually match who your agency wins, the same targeting work a new-business director would start with.
In-house prospect list
We source and qualify the list ourselves against that profile, not a rented data file resold across other clients.
SMS conversation, run by a real person
Human + AI SDRs open a two-way text conversation with each prospect, checking target-client fit and real need against your written criteria. A trained VA is behind every conversation.
Double-confirmed booking, transcript included
The prospect confirms once when they pick a time, again as the meeting approaches, and every held meeting arrives with the SMS transcript and confirmation log behind it.
Pay per held meeting. No salary, no ramp, no consultation-gated quote.
$300 one-time setup, then typically $250 to $450 per held meeting, exact rate quoted after a fit call.
The $300 setup covers your target-client profile, list build, and calendar integration. After that, $250 to $450 per held, double-confirmed meeting, exact rate set on a fit call. Compare that against a $150,000-plus fully loaded annual cost for an in-house director with a documented 76% two-year turnover risk, or against RSW/US and Catapult's engagements, neither of which lists a price until after a sales call.
Double-confirmed
Every meeting is confirmed twice before it counts toward billing: once when it is booked, once as it approaches.
Pay per held meeting
You pay when a qualified, double-confirmed meeting actually happens on your calendar.
No retainer
No monthly minimums and nothing owed between held meetings.
Small one-time setup
Covers your list build, campaign, and calendar integration, quoted on a fit call.
The same bar you would hold a director to.
Written down before the first text goes out, not negotiated after a weak meeting.
Fits your target-client profile
Industry, company size, and service-line need that match who your agency actually wins, not a generic business-owner list.
Decision-maker or real influence reached
The meeting is with someone who can greenlight a new vendor relationship, not a gatekeeper screening inbound requests.
Real, current need confirmed
An active reason to look at your services now, checked live in the SMS conversation before a time is ever offered.
Budget or timeline context
Where relevant, the conversation surfaces enough context that you are not opening the meeting from zero.
Why this beats both existing options.
Not a hire you might replace in under two years. Not a retainer relationship that will not tell you a price until after a call.
No salary, no ramp, no turnover risk
You are not carrying a $150,000-plus salary or managing an exit if a director leaves inside two years. If the arrangement stops working, you just stop, no severance conversation required.
A published rate, unlike the category
$250 to $450 per held meeting, on this page. RSW/US and Catapult both require a consultation before you learn what their engagement costs.
Double-confirmed, no-show never billed
Two checkpoints before a meeting counts, and a no-show is replaced free, not invoiced.
Human + AI SDRs, receipts included
A trained VA runs every SMS conversation. AI supports the system behind them, and the transcript ships with every meeting you are billed for.
Outsourced new business development, answered.
How much does outsourced new business development cost for an agency?
How is this different from hiring a Director of New Business?
How is this different from RSW/US or Catapult?
Do you cold call prospects?
What counts as a qualified meeting?
What if a prospect does not show up to the meeting?
Skip the hire and the consultation gate. See your rate this week.
Book a 15-minute call. We map your target-client profile, confirm your exact per-meeting rate inside the $250 to $450 range, and give you a launch date inside the week.
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