Dormant contact.
£45k won.
How a structured outreach process reactivated a dormant relationship — and turned it into closed business in three months. The connection opened the door. Ascend kept knocking.
How it unfolded
A mutual connection opened the door. A structured process kept it open.
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0112 February 2025
The cold email — researched, timed, deliberate
A mutual contact had been mentioned in passing — but nobody had acted on it. Ascend built the outreach around that hook: referenced the contact, noted the career history, and made a specific case for why the timing was right. Every element of the email was chosen intentionally.
Sent cold, built around a research-led hook. The connection was the opener — the process was what made it work.
The same structured approach was used with several other contacts at similar brands simultaneously. Not all replied. A warm connection is an opener, not a guarantee — which is why the cadence, timing and follow-up process matter just as much as the first email.
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0218 February 2025
Follow-up — structured, not desperate
Six days of silence. Most BD efforts stop here. Instead, a follow-up was sent — brief, warm, professionally timed. Not a chase. A signal that the outreach was serious and that the agency was worth hearing from twice.
Follow-up sent on day six. Tone kept human and low-pressure — presence without pestering.
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036 March 2025
Reply — warm but not yet ready
Three weeks after the first email, the reply arrived. She'd been ill and was deep in a product launch. Not a no — a not yet. She asked for credentials and flagged she'd be back once she'd aligned internally on scope and budget.
First response after three weeks. Requested credentials and flagged internal alignment needed first.
Reply
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0427 March 2025
Check-in — staying present without pressure
Three weeks of silence after the credentials were sent. Rather than going quiet or pushing hard, a carefully timed check-in was sent — referencing her recent product launch to show the relationship had been tracked, not just filed.
Check-in timed around her launch — showed attention to detail and kept the relationship warm without applying pressure.
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0515 April 2025
RFP received — NDA signed
A formal brief arrived. An NDA was signed the same day it was requested. The brief was for a UK Summer Campaign — a live pitch opportunity with a decision timeline of mid-May.
RFP issued unprompted. NDA signed same day. Full brief followed immediately after.
RFP & NDA
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069 May 2025
Pitch presented
Full pitch presented to the PR Manager and four senior members of the Yoto team. The pitch covered the Summer Campaign brief in full — strategy, creative direction, execution and budget.
5Senior Yoto stakeholders in the pitch meeting including PR, Marketing and senior brand team -
07May 2025
Business won — ~£45k
The pitch was successful. Yoto appointed the agency for the Summer Campaign. A dormant connection, activated through a structured and persistent outreach process, converted into closed business.
From a mutual contact nobody had acted on, to a won brief worth ~£45k. The difference wasn't the connection — it was the deliberate, patient process that turned a warm name into a live opportunity.
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