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Jagpreet
24 January, 2025
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“Growth is never by mere chance; It is the result of forces working together” – James Cash Penney
Imagine working in a company where no one questions you about achieving your monthly targets, no one tells you about changes in the market or what your competition is up to. It’s indeed a tempting idea, but don’t you think that would make it pretty hard for the company to succeed? And this would automatically hamper your job as well.
Here, business development practices come to the rescue. It challenges you to improve, to update you about the changes in the market, and to determine ways to attract your target audience. There’s a lot that goes behind running a business; a strategically designed business development plan can be elemental in the success or failure of a company. Taking a business to newer heights involves identifying long-term strategies through market studies and customer relations.
That is why a business development manager plays a vital role in any organisation, and thus, every company invests in this domain. If you wish to understand whether the business development field is ideal for you, then you must learn about its responsibilities, functions, and skills. In this article, we have outlined the role, skills required, and other particulars of business development in detail. So, let’s begin with:
Business development is the process of identifying and gaining new customers while deducing potential business opportunities to foster growth and profitability. As per Investopedia (2024), business development is the combination of ideas, initiatives, and activities that enhance the scope of any business. A business development strategy has various objectives, from growth in terms of expansion, increasing revenue, and profitability to building strategic partnerships. Almost every major industry, including IT, staffing, cybersecurity, construction, healthcare, financial services, e-commerce and many others, has a full-fledged business development management team.
Business Development Managers (BDM) bear the responsibility of driving business growth, strategic planning, sales management, and prospecting new clients for business expansion. They are often regarded as the key members of the go-to-market team. As a BDM, you would implement various skills such as strategic planning, negotiation, and project management. With an outgoing personality, good communication skills, and an interest in sales, you could be a perfect fit for the business development manager role. But what does this job role involve daily? As a BDM, what would be your key responsibilities to perform daily? Let’s explore that in the upcoming sections.
Related: Business Development Executive – Roles and Responsibilities
By now, you must have understood that a business development manager builds business relationships with potential customers, and their goal is to benefit the company by increasing sales and expanding the business to new markets.
Furthermore, as a business development professional, you would be the forerunner of a business, and your role would be quite challenging. Though the specific role varies depending on the organisation, mentioned below are the core responsibilities to perform as a business development manager:
There is no specific formal education that you need to follow to become a business development manager; you could follow several routes to pursue this career. Following is the clear and simple route to becoming a business development manager in the future:
To start with, completing a bachelor’s programme, preferably in business or a related field such as BBA, BCom, etc., is an essential requirement. Most employers seek candidates with educational backgrounds in business administration, sales, marketing or entrepreneurship. A degree in these domains helps you have a foundational understanding of business ethics, decision-making in business, data analysis, management practices, accounting, and marketing. While these enhance your chance of entering this role, pursuing a master’s in such relevant fields would give you an advantage in the eyes of the recruiters.
Besides, if your academic background is different, then you could always go for short-term online courses. The companies equally weigh such programmes from renowned institutions. Along with academics, you must take up appropriate industrial training and internships to better understand your skills and interests. In fact, internships add credibility to your profile when looking for a job, so it is always advised to seize good training opportunities.
Experience in sales, marketing or customer-facing roles is often preferred. It could be an internship or a full-time job. These positions require excellent communication and negotiating skills, and candidates with such backgrounds stand a high chance. Experience as an entrepreneur is also relevant as it reflects that you have the perspective of the nitty-gritty of running a business and can identify business challenges.
As per a Marketing Agency Growth report by Hubspot, 35% of agencies find it hard to source employees who fit perfectly in the required position. This is because many candidates fail to understand the appropriate skills required for the particular role and miss various opportunities. According to the job portals Indeed and LinkedIn, some of the essential skills for your business development manager role include:
Both soft and technical skills are imperative for this role, which most candidates tend to ignore. As most organisations use a sales Content Management System (CMS) for tracking leads and Customer Relationship Management (CRM), this is one of the important skill sets. In addition, hands-on experience in Microsoft 365 and the basics of analytics can be an added advantage.
After completing your bachelor’s or master’s education with a relevant course and gaining new skills and experience, it’s time to apply for full-time jobs. Various top recruiters nationwide and worldwide hire business development managers who are ideal for their roles in business organisations. With experience and skills, you could be the perfect fit for this role. Here are several top recruiters who hire business development managers. Consider any of them as per your interests and goals.
| Top Recruiters | |
|---|---|
| Cognizant | |
| Salesforce | |
| Amazon | |
| IBM | |
| Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) | |
| MakeMyTrip | |
| Jaro Education | |
| American Express | |
| Leverage Edu | |
The primary goal of every sector is to grow, expand and increase its profit. This makes business development an essential part of every industry. Currently, more than 13,000+ job opportunities are available as per various job portals like LinkedIn and Indeed. Depending upon your specialisation, you could work as a BDM in various sectors, including construction, education, finance, healthcare, IT, manufacturing, telecommunications and many others. Owing to the broader involvement of business development practices, this field has a huge scope. Some of the big names in India, like Cognizant, Unacademy, Planet Spark, Amazon, etc., offer lucrative packages for this role.
Source: Ambition Box
Pursuing a business development manager career could be beneficial in numerous ways. Here are the top reasons to choose business development as your career goals. Let’s explore these intriguing benefits of BDM that could fascinate you:
As a BDM, you get to work closely with your clients as well as your colleagues. It helps you build a wide professional network, helping you to survive efficiently in the corporate realm.
Business development is an exceptional career with higher salary potential. The more you are skilled in your work and the more experience you have, the higher salary prospects you could earn. According to AmbitionBox (2024), you could earn beyond INR 17 LPA in India. However, based on your location and experience, the salary packages vary.
As a business development manager, you get numerous opportunities to be on business trips abroad. It’s an excellent way to earn your living, allowing you to refresh your mood travelling in foreign countries.
A business development career is full of opportunities, challenges, and tasks. Each new accomplishment adds to your resume and enhances your value as an employee. Tackling new tasks every day makes your career journey filled with joy, making your every day, your first day.
In business development, you get opportunities to meet new clients. You need to travel to different locations to fulfill the requirements of your organisation. It provides you with fresh insights into different cultures, communities, and global business perspectives.
As a business development manager, alongside your clients, you work closely with your teammates and other departments. Working on different projects together helps you improve your teamwork. Guiding your team towards goals, and achieving them provides you with immense job satisfaction.
It may not be easy to define business development in a few words, but overall, professionals involved in this field work to fulfil the collective goal of a business organisation, which is to grow. It demands both hard and soft skills to make ends meet, be it market research, business expansion or boosting revenue.
The average salary for a Business Development Manager is INR 5,50,000 annually.
While managers are responsible for the daily operations of their respective teams, business development managers are responsible for identifying new business opportunities and strategies for the entire company’s growth.
A few challenges often faced by BDMs are lack of training and structure, finding suitable leads, meeting targets, generating new growth opportunities, facing rejections and keeping up with technology.
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