How to become A Business Development Manager

• BDM
• Development Manager
• Business Developer
• Business Development Executive
• Business Development Specialist 
• Business Development Director
• Chief Business Development Officer (CBDO)

What do Business Development Managers do?
A Business Development Manager would typically need to:

• Build and execute a business development strategy using a business development plan to drive long-term expansion and financial growth by identifying growth opportunities, increasing sales and revenue through marketing strategies and partnerships, and improving market position
• Revisit, understand and strategically establish or reset the overarching corporate aims and objectives
• Understand the company’s product or service, current and target markets, market position, business strategies, competitors, and human resource and other capabilities; pinpoint the company’s unique selling propositions
• Research the needs of customers and other businesses and identify how your company’s product or service could meet them
• Study departmental functions, product development and product distribution; help departments operate with optimal efficiency by offering them new plans and strategies
• Work with the marketing & sales departments to pinpoint effective promotional strategies, those that need improvement, and new ones to streamline the business; produce sales pipelines
• Consult with senior members of the company, and work with other staff to meet company goals and standards
• Find and implement methods of improving business operations to increase efficiency, enhance the company's reputation and strengthen its market position
• Research and spot profitable business opportunities, such as new markets, customers/clients, products and services; identify growth areas and industry trends; find new ways to access current markets
• Share research findings with senior management and relevant departments within the company and confer with them on how and which new services or products to develop or distribution channels to use
• Generate the company’s business development plan and share it with the company
• Ensure that staff are on board across the company with the plan, the need and strategy for change, and their role in implementing the plan; train team members and staff internally or through external programs to deliver the plan
• Meet with current customers/clients in person, via phone or online to develop and maintain healthy relationships with them and boost repeat business and referrals
• Source leads and potential business opportunities and partnerships through advertising and networking; contact prospective clients or customers via email, cold calling or in person
• Create and pitch proposals to current and potential customers/clients/partners, explaining to them how your company’s new and improved services or products will effectively meet their requirements
• Draw up client contracts or help colleagues in doing so; negotiate pricing with customers, clients and suppliers
• Collaborate with team members, finance, warehousing and logistics departments, and technical staff to fulfil customer/client needs
• Monitor and document activity on accounts while taking the organisation towards meeting targets; submit periodic and accurate progress reports
• Receive feedback from customers and clients and make appropriate changes
• Stay up to date with the latest market trends and developments in the business world by attending industry events and conferences organised by associations

Business Development Managers seldom work alone but may lead a team and collaborate with senior management, sales and marketing teams and other departments in the company. They often travel to meet with potential or current clients, business partners, community members and public sector representatives. Since most work with multiple companies simultaneously, they work in multiple offices. They may also work from their personal office or home once they are done with work at a client’s workplace. 

Since attending networking events is also an important task for the Business Development Manager, regular travel and communication are necessary. Some events or clients may be located overseas, necessitating long periods away from home, or you may be relocated on temporary or permanent international assignments if you work for a multinational enterprise.

Therefore, Business Development Managers must be able to balance the needs of multiple clients and attend business and public events, making it necessary to practise time management and organisation.

Time management and organisational skills are necessary for Business Development Managers to balance the needs of multiple clients and the business with public events. 

Typically, a Business Development Manager works longer than the standard 40-hour work week. Depending on their workload, they may work extra hours to meet deadlines. Attending events and conferences and travelling to meet overseas clients can also extend working hours.

Research suggests that flexible hours and generous telework policies appeal more than salary to the younger generation. There has been an incremental increase in employers willing to give promising employees a chance to adjust their schedules per the job demands. Business Development Managers work with multiple companies in multiple offices; therefore, when they are not meeting clients face to face, they can either work from their personal office or home. The recent increase in telework provides a time-efficient alternative to face-to-face meetings, making work schedules and locations more flexible.

Finding a new job might seem challenging. Business Development Managers can boost their job search by asking their network for referrals, contacting companies directly, using job search platforms, going to job fairs, leveraging social media and inquiring at staffing agencies. 

Business Development Managers are generally employed by:

• Banks & Financial Institutions
• Academic Institutions
• IT Firms
• Healthcare Providers
• Manufacturing Firms
• Retail Firms
• Telecommunications Firms
• Pharmaceutical Companies
• Technology & Cybersecurity Firms
• Construction Companies
• Local & National Governments
• Non-Governmental Organisations
• Industry Associations

Professional associations and organisations, such as the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA), are crucial for Business Development Managers interested in pursuing professional development or connecting with like-minded professionals in their industry or occupation. Professional associations provide their members with various continuing education and networking opportunities and mentorship services. Membership in one or more adds value to your resume while bolstering your credentials and qualifications.

• Adapting to change as each business requires business development strategies tailored to its requirements and objectives
• The diverse technical and soft skills required, such as business strategy, marketing, communication and industry knowledge, to effectively work with numerous clients
• Collaborating with team members and training them; ensuring that all employees are on board with changes in sales strategies and business operations 
• The difficulty in meeting targets either because they are unrealistic or require greater effort and persistence when faced with repeated rejection
• Time management and organisation needed to attend to multiple clients and participate in meetings and events 
• High pressure from being responsible for the success of a company and making crucial decisions regarding a company’s sales and business operations
• Filtering through a large number of leads to find the relevant and beneficial ones

Any academic program that a potential Business Development Manager takes up typically requires a period of supervised experience, such as an internship or a year in industry. At the master’s level, you will likely work with a Business Development Manager during the program, which helps prepare you to integrate into the workforce upon graduation.

Business Development Managers will benefit from tasks outside the classroom that align perfectly with lessons inside it. One may hear countless stories and obtain valuable hands-on experience from more experienced professionals who can turn seemingly routine incidents into unique learning moments.

You may also explore summer internships, part-time work at an entry-level position, or short-term paid/voluntary work while working towards your degree. Interning with a company will offer you a taste of the career, give valuable insight into how the company or institution operates, familiarise you with the company’s products, services and business plans and how to generate leads, help build useful contacts and improve your prospects of getting a permanent job, whether an entry-level position or higher, once you graduate.

The experience you acquire may also help you determine whether the public, private or voluntary sector is best suited to realise your ambitions. Your educational provider’s career service department can provide information about viable opportunities for work placements, internships and voluntary work in diverse sectors. 

While work experience focusing on business development and management is the most relevant, you may also find it helpful to acquire formal experience in sales, marketing or business administration. Employees may also climb the ladder in their organisation by acquiring work experience through the sales and marketing route and receiving on-the-job training to become the company’s Business Development Manager.

Graduates with no practical experience may work as junior Business Development Managers or at entry-level positions, although experience in marketing, consumer relationships or sales gives you a competitive edge. On the other hand, relevant experience and soft skills may stand you in good stead if you do not possess a formal degree or have a degree in non-business subjects.

Read about the profession and interview or job shadow experts working in business management development to prove your commitment to course providers and prospective employers.

Aspiring Business Development Managers typically need a combination of educational qualifications and professional experience. 

A bachelor’s degree in business management, business development, business studies, economics, finance, marketing, international relations, accountancy or related subjects is often mandatory and can increase your chances of being hired. You may also pursue a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, information technology, politics, social sciences or law. Given the need for interdepartmental collaboration, it is useful to focus on communications. Furthermore, if you wish to work in a specific sector, it is useful to pursue either a degree in a subject relevant to the sector or a joint degree combining business with a subject related to the sector. 

A master’s degree may not be required but may give you a competitive edge in the job market, particularly an MBA (Master of Business Administration) or a degree in economics, communication or related areas. Additionally, it can be beneficial for candidates with a non-business bachelor’s degree looking to focus on the business sector of their respective fields.

You may also enter into business development management through apprenticeships, combining work with part-time study and earning a stipend.

At any level of education, familiarising yourself with case studies and business plans provides the experience, research skills and current trends, technology and strategies needed to produce successful results in business practice. 

Remember that completing a particular academic course does not guarantee your entry into the profession. Be that as it may, your professional qualifications and transferable skills may open up more than one door. 

If you plan on applying for a bachelor’s degree in a business-related field, you should take high school classes in business, economics, accounting, mathematics, IT and English. Furthermore, since business management involves interacting with and bringing on new clients, sociology, psychology, communications and marketing classes may be helpful. 

Certification demonstrates a Business Development Manager’s competency in a skill set, typically through work experience, training and passing an examination. Business certifications are voluntary, but when acquired from an objective and reputed organisation, they can help you stand out in a competitive job market, carry a significant salary premium of up to 18 per cent, increase your chances of advancement and become an independent consultant. Successful certification programs protect public welfare by incorporating a Code of Ethics. 

You may opt for certifications in areas such as leadership, marketing, customer relationship and business analysis. It is important to research the organisations offering the credentials as some are more acknowledged and valued within the business world than others, such as Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) provided by the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA), Project Management Professional (PMP) by the Project Management Institute (PMI) or relevant Salesforce certification. Internationally recognised qualifications are also provided by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).

Business Development Managers may also need to undergo an employment background check, including but not limited to a person’s work history, education, credit history, motor vehicle reports (MVRs), criminal record, medical history, use of social media and drug screening.

Performance, experience an the acquisition of professional qualifications drive career progression. Employees with consistently high levels of performance may be eligible for promotion every two to three years. 

Due to their overlapping job responsibilities, those with jobs already relating to commerce, sales or accounting may be hired as Business Development Managers.

A Business Development Manager may choose to work with one specific industry sector, such as healthcare, information technology construction or finance education, manufacturing or telecommunications. You may also opt to work across several industries, specialising in B2B (business to business) or B2C (business to consumer).

On acquiring adequate experience or higher education, such as an MBA (Master of Business Administration) degree, Business Development Managers can rise to senior positions, including Senior Business Development Manager, Director or Vice President of Business Development, Chief Executive Officer or Partner. Moving up to higher positions allows you to work with larger teams while focusing on strategic planning to achieve higher targets.

In large companies, you may rise to the role of Chief Partnerships Officer who heads the business development function and is responsible for generating productive and profitable partnerships to grow the company.

Additionally, experience as a Business Development Manager allows you the option to launch your business as a Consultant working with various companies and advising them on how to create and execute their business development plans.

Furthermore, working with an international company could lead to temporary or permanent overseas relocation opportunities.  

The desire to accelerate career growth and personal development has an increasing number of millennials choosing to job hop and build a scattershot resume that showcases ambition, motivation and the desire to learn a broad range of skills.

Studies prove that job hopping, earlier dismissed as “flaky” behaviour, can lead to greater job fulfilment. Employees searching for a positive culture and interesting work are willing to try out various roles and workplaces and learn valuable, transferable skills along the way.

Candidates with the necessary skills, experience and education have the best job prospects. Many employers require a tertiary education degree related to economic development and bus. Even more advantageous to the competitive job environment is an MBA (Master of Business Administration).

Continuing professional development (CPD) will help an active Business Development Manager build personal skills and proficiency through work-based learning, a professional activity, formal education or self-directed learning. It allows you to continually upskill regardless of age, job or level of knowledge.

Business Development Managers typically acquire necessary skills through training on the job, which helps them build knowledge of the company’s products and services, its current and target markets and marketing tactics, competitors and the company’s overarching goals and objectives.

Since you must regularly attend meetings, events and conferences with company executives and public figures, therefore are consistently up to date with business concerns and developments within the general community. 

However, taking courses in business, marketing, sales, management, communication, and customer & client relations allows you to build upon your portfolio. Additionally, staying informed on the latest technologies and trends, market conditions, and business strategies improves your performance, strengthens your skills and boosts your reputation.

You could work towards a master’s degree, particularly an MBA (Master of Business Administration), in preparation for competitive senior business development manager positions.

What Does the Process of Business Development Include?

• Researching the market - Business Development Managers must conduct thorough market research to analyse the demographics of the current market so that they can understand their company’s goods or services. They must also examine the company’s brand equity and competitors. To implement strategies to grow a company, a Business Development Manager must know what they’re already working with.
• Increasing visibility and outreach - To build a wider clientele, forge new partnerships, or boost retention, Business Development Managers must take steps to get their company known to potential customers. Outreach is possible by running an efficient website, updating social media, advertising and finding opportunities to collaborate with leads, prospects and current customers actively. Furthermore, researching clients beforehand and reaching out to them with helpful proposals allows a Business Development Manager to initiate relationships with them. 
• Qualifying leads - Hold conversations with the leads that the Business Development team has connected with to assess their viability and the mutual fit between them and your company’s product or service.
• Building and maintaining a relationship of trust with clients - Keeping current clients is as important as getting new ones, if not more, which may be done by practising exemplary customer service and exerting appropriate effort in producing successful results for clients as an ongoing process. Also, by making their current clients happy, a Business Development Manager may attain new clients through word of mouth and referrals. You can also boost your company’s credibility through other means, such as publishing well-researched and detailed industry-specific blogs and white papers and presenting in webinars.
• Creating sales content - Assuming they have generated success for their clients, a Business Development Manager should compile and advertise these successes to prospective clients, which can be in the form of testimonials and case studies. 

What Does a Typical Business Development Plan Include?

• Growth opportunities 
• Funding plan
• Financial goals
• Operational requirements
• Sales & marketing strategy
• Team need

Levels of Business Strategy

While a company’s strategies are developed at various levels, they all work together to maximise sales growth within the market and improve brand equity. 

• A corporate-level strategy focuses on a company's core vision and values and its overarching mission and purpose, implementing methods to achieve the desired brand perception.
• A competitive or business-level strategy deals with how a company plans to compete against business rivals in the market and aims to support the corporate-level strategy. 
• A functional-level strategy looks at specific divisions within a company and the functions and goals of each. By focusing on how each division achieves its specific and short-term objectives and each manager’s role, a business aims to optimise resource productivity and overall and long-term efficiency. Hence, a functional strategy also serves the competitive strategy of a company. Functional strategies relate to divisions such as marketing, finance, human resources and operations. 
• An operating strategy focuses on departmental functions as subdivisions of a functional strategy. It factors in how the processes, resources and staff in the smaller components or operating divisions within a company contribute to corporate, competitive and functional-level strategies. Departmental objectives are typically short-term and established periodically.

Five Business Strategies

Businesses must remember that even when one of their strategies helps them become dominant players in the market, they must ensure tactical solutions to the remaining strategies. Given below are five business strategies. 

• The strategy to lower costs reduces the prices of a product or service, thereby giving a company a competitive advantage in the market. The loss of quality that sometimes comes with lowering costs may not result in reduced sales if the product or service is priced low enough compared to its competitors. This strategy is relatively easy to maintain, given that it increases the market share of the company’s product or service. 
• The strategy to increase quality is more complicated than reducing costs since it is difficult to control, whether while manufacturing, marketing or partnering with suppliers, especially if operations are outsourced. The workforce, work ethics and long-standing emphasis on quality are vital to implementing a quality strategy. 
• The distribution strategy involves strengthening the company’s distribution network. It is a complicated strategy since it involves building national or international distribution networks, which can be difficult and costly. However, the benefits become apparent once the network is put into use. 
• The technology strategy puts to use up-to-date technology and manufacturing processes. Much like the distribution strategy, it is difficult and costly to set up, mainly because it needs to be done internally. However, it can be the most profitable of all these strategies.
• The IP or intellectual property strategy of selling intellectual property licenses, popular with small startups as an easy and cheap entry route into a market, does not require manufacturing. However, it may sometimes prove risky since the electronics industry prefers to avoid paying for IP. It involves creating, protecting and utilising intellectual property to align with a business plan.

Essential Tools Needed in Business Development

• Sales intelligence tools are technological solutions used by sales and marketing teams to collect, analyse and present the data that help a business make informed decisions regarding selling cycles and potential customers, such as the optimal time to contact leads and prospects.
• CRM or customer relationship management is a set of tactics, software and tech tools marketers use to optimise the relationship a business has with its customers during the customer lifecycle (the phases a customer goes through before, during and after purchasing a product or service). CRM aims to enhance customer loyalty and retention, thereby boosting corporate revenue and customer lifetime value. 
• Social media management involves social media content creation, publication and analysis. By using specialised software, paid or free tools, or professional services, a business can automate its social media posts, publish on multiple accounts simultaneously and analyse user engagement. The overall goal is to boost efficiency and leads.
• A workflow planner outlines a series of tasks that must be completed to accomplish business operations efficiently. It allows a business to organise procedures, track the status of tasks and who they are assigned to, and meet deadlines. Workflow planning can be automated through project management software, which creates triggers that activate tasks and change their status when specific requirements are met.
• Marketing automation is a technology that optimises the efficiency of routine marketing tasks by eliminating human input. Such tasks include analysing behaviour patterns of visitors, detecting what content is popular and targeted marketing. The outcomes of marketing automation are typically improved inter-team collaboration, better time management, and more personalised content for leads, prospects and customers.

Business Development vs Sales

Business development and sales are often grouped together as they both contribute to growth in brand awareness and sales. Sometimes, particularly in small startups, a Business Development Manager may need to take on the role of a salesperson when chasing potential leads, overseeing the complete customer sales cycle. 

However, the two functions typically operate separately within larger businesses. In such a case, business development focuses more on long-term strategy. Instead of being strictly concerned with the research, identification and pursuit of sales leads, it involves creating new distribution channels, partnering with new clients, and identifying and opening up new markets. Business Developers seek to ensure the business’s long-term growth, not just its product or service.

Some Market Entry Strategies

Market entry strategies are part of business development and aim to position a business in a way that it enters new markets, particularly when an existing market reaches saturation. A company may use the sprinkler strategy to enter multiple markets together to achieve a range of likely outcomes. Using the waterfall method, businesses enter a single market at a time, using the lessons learned for the following market entry. When a company uses the wave strategy, it enters more than one market simultaneously but after careful selection and keeping the number limited.

Stages a Prospect Goes Through

Lead generation involves creating interest in a product, service or partnership through methods such as social media, blogging, SEO, email campaigns, cold calling, cold emails, direct mail, trade show attendance and online advertising. Prospecting implies contacting leads to spark such an interest. Qualified leads are potential good fits for the desired business solution based on pre-established criteria. 

Through onboarding, businesses introduce new customers/clients or partners to their product, service or partnership, preparing them to optimise your offerings. By communicating value to potential customers/clients or partners and educating them in an engaging manner, businesses can foster a better understanding of the product or service and nudge them towards a purchasing decision or partnership. 

Sometimes businesses use the referral method whereby third parties recommend new leads or partners. The sales pipeline visually represents the progress of prospects through the various stages of a sales cycle and indicates the current position of each prospect.

Sometimes businesses use the referral method whereby third parties recommend new leads or partners. The sales pipeline visually represents the progress of prospects through the various stages of a sales cycle and indicates the current position of each prospect.

The Sales Funnel

In its entirety, the sales process is referred to as the sales funnel. It can be better understood by breaking it down into three stages. The first is TOFU, or the top of the funnel, which includes the preliminary stages during which customers or clients seek solutions to problems that may concern your product or service. Then comes MOFU, or the middle of the funnel, when your business takes its position in the market as the answer to what the consumer seeks. Finally, the sales process ends when it reaches BOFU or the bottom of the funnel, with the consumer or client ready to make a purchase.

Net Profit vs Net Loss

Net profit is the revenue remaining after subtracting all business costs, not just costs directly related to the product or service being sold, but operational, tax, and interest costs, too. The business has a net loss if the total expenses surpass the revenue. This calculation is an important indicator of whether a company is financially stable and whether it should cut costs or expand in the future. 

Some Key Terminology

The field of business development is vast enough to touch diverse functions and thereby uses an extensive vocabulary. Given below are a few typically used terms and their meanings.

Basic Terms

• Cash flow: The amount of money coming in and out of a business. Businesses aim to have a higher income to maintain a positive cash flow.
• Liabilities: The amount of money a business owes at any time. Liabilities are classified as short-term or long-term. 
• Profit Margin: The profit of a business relative to its revenue, which is written as a percentage. Profit is calculated by subtracting costs from sales revenue. 
• Variable Costs: Costs that depend on the size of the business, such as supplies, delivery fees and raw materials.

Business Development Terms

• Business Development Strategy: The principles, plans and roadmaps that form the core of business development and are built around particular opportunities. The business development strategy aims to generate long-lasting revenue and increase brand equity and market value in the long term. Strategic business development (SBD) supervises the connection of business plans and the business’s overall strategic goals.
• Business Development Plan: A sequence of steps set out in writing to achieve corporate goals per the business development strategy in the short and long run. Plan execution effectiveness and goal achievement are measured using relevant metrics and KPIs. The goals can be revised and built upon over time.
• Cold Calling: The process of communicating with new individuals or businesses to solicit them into becoming consumers or business partners.
• Partnership Business Development: A process concentrated on forming partnerships that will increase long-term revenue, efficiency or the quality of products and services for each party.
• Pitch Deck: A technical presentation typically given to potential clients, customers, partners or investors, pitching products, services or companies.
• Prospecting: The initial step in sales is identifying and reaching out to potential consumers or partners to promote a product or service.
• Roadmap: A plan outlining the short- and long-term goals a business must achieve to reach its desired results.
• Scalable Partner Process: A successfully carried out plan with an external partner, which can be repeated, as each time it is completed, it yields a higher ROI or return on investment.

Sales & Performance Terms

• Channel Partner: A partner in the form of a company or individual offering products or services on behalf of a business
• Growth Engine: Important economic factors that drive a business towards greater revenue and increased market share.
• Long-Term Value: Lasting revenue coming into a business as a result of implementing appropriate plans and strategies and due to partnerships and other opportunities.
• Margin: Mostly presented as a percentage, it refers to the profits made by a product or service after factoring in costs.
• Metrics: Numerical measurements or data used by a business to evaluate its performance.
• Sales Cycle: The total of the various sales process stages through which a potential customer passes from the point of first contact to a completed transaction.

Markets & Advertising Terms

• Brand Equity: The perceived commercial value of a product, service or brand within the marketplace rather than the monetary value they create.
• Buyer Persona: The sum total of the attributes of your perfect buyer.
• Core Competency: A defining capability that sets a business apart from its competitors.
• Customer Content Plan: A series of media, whether written, video or audio, encouraging b

A World Economic Forum report (2020) predicts that business developers will rank in the top ten future professionals. After all, a business plan can create a 30% greater chance of sales growth.

Business Development Managers do it all, whether working independently or leading a team. They help determine the profitability of companies by helping them expand, boost sales and revenues, improve product or service offerings, and finetune customer service and brand image. They also maintain effective relationships through extensive networking and understand their client’s industry in addition to the business itself. The combination of their technical and soft skills helps them communicate with multiple departments and cope with the pace of their work and the diversity of challenges it brings, ensuring their professional growth and organisational success.

Give due importance to existing relationships to build a customer base that is loyal to your brand and trusts it. Repeat customers are more likely than new ones to try your latest products or services. Boosting retention rates can increase profits. Make sure to stay up to date with your clients’ news, link with them on social media and send them relevant content.