A Business Development Manager’s primary aim is to find potential business opportunities. What form this takes would depend on the precise nature of the company. The task will include exploring the identification of new markets, new alliances, new ways of targeting established markets, and new offers of goods or services to better serve the needs of existing markets. The Business Development Manager will use these resources to bring in more sales.
Similar Job Titles:
Development Director, Director of Business Development, Sales and Business Development, senior business development manager, marketing and business development manager
What Does a Business Development Manager Usually Do?
By using a variety of resources, such as attending meetings and networking, taking stands at exhibits and conferences, cold calling, and responding to incoming leads, a Business Development Manager will be expected to meet company goals and objectives. It is also expected that partner opportunities to cross and upsell services will be found.
Below is a list of what a Business Development Manager typically performs on a day-to-day basis:
- Generate leads and cold calling prospective customers
- Develop opportunities in target markets with support of marketing
- Nurture and develop relationships with key customer accounts
- Attend face-to-face meetings with clients
- Provide specialist advice on the products/services that the company is selling
Generate leads and cold calling prospective customers
Business Development Managers are in charge of the development of business solutions. The primary aim is to create more income for the organization. They’ll handle customer accounts and come up with new ideas for sales. This entails new tactics for sales, pitches for sales and business plans.
Develop opportunities in target markets
A crucial part of this job description is strategic planning, as it is the responsibility of the company developer to build the pipeline of new business coming in. This requires a thorough knowledge of the market, the solutions/services the company can provide, and of the company’s competitors.
Nurture and develop relationships with key customer accounts
Business growth, rather than just well-timed networking, is the creation of long-term value from clients, markets, and relationships for a company. A critical aspect of business growth is partnership management. For development, all companies rely heavily on all their stakeholders (internal and external). Business Development Managers are one of the few individuals who can, and should, step back to see all the moving parts of the organization as a relationship manager.
Attend face-to-face meetings with clients
Business Development Managers may be expected to travel with face-to-face customer meetings being key to relationship building, although the extent to which this is the case will depend on where the company is based. If the employer is based in New York, Business Development Managers might discover that most of the meetings are nearby. But if the employer is located in other states abroad, it might be expected to travel a considerable amount.
Provide specialist advice on products/services
Business Development Managers will be helping consumers not only make marketing decisions, but also business decisions. They should have a good understanding of general business plans, leaders’ concerns and challenges, consumer acquisition and retention, and the financial indicators that matter to managers. They have to be seen as a business advisor who can support the customer with the services provided by your organization to solve business problems.
Roles a Business Development Manager Typically Collaborates With
Depending on the company’s structure, a Business Development Manager may work closely with a variety of distinct functions. The most popular ones here are:
| Roles Business Development Managers Collaborate With | ||
| Customer Service | Marketing Team | Technical Manager |
| Product Development | Marketing Manager | Strategic Manager |
| Sales Representative | Sales Manager | Graphic Designer |
Business Development Manager Salary
The average annual salary is around $73,000 for a Business Development Manager in the United States.
Depending on the experience, the skillset, and the business, a Business Development Manager’s annual salary can range between $45,000 and $123,000.
What is the Business Development Manager Pay Difference by Location?
Here’s how the yearly salary of a typical Business Development Manager varies in major U.S. cities:
| City | Average Annual Salary |
| San Francisco, CA | $94,848 |
| Seattle, WA | $80,584 |
| Denver, CO | $74,197 |
| Austin, TX | $67,498 |
| Washington, DC | $77,063 |
| Milwaukee, WI | $69,558 |
| Boston, MA | $79,619 |
| New York, NY | $79,744 |
What is the Business Development Manager Pay Difference by Experience?
The expertise level also influences the salary of a Business Development Manager. Here’s a table of average salaries by experience level of a Business Development Manager:
| Years of Experience | Average Annual Salary |
| < 1 | $52,000 |
| 1–4 | $62,000 |
| 5–9 | $77,000 |
| 10–19 | $87,000 |
| 20+ | $93,000 |
Business Development Manager Job Description Template
[Company Name] is looking for a professional, creative and persuasive Business Development Manager to join our team. Your role will be to help us develop, expand on and sustain our customer relationships.
The Business Development Manager’s primary function is to promote new customers by networking, cold calling, advertisement, or other means of generating interest from prospective customers. The Business Development Manager must then prepare convincing approaches and pitches to encourage potential customers to do business with the company. The Business Development Manager must establish a partnership with new customers, set sales goals, and provide help that will strengthen the relationship continuously.
Business Development Manager Responsibilities:
- Push new and emerging development in existing business segments in terms of sales.
- Create, develop, and secure new business through direct prospecting and collaboration across a referral network
- Advise on the compilation of target market penetration strategies and estimate the size of the opportunity in the short, medium, and long term
- Inform the customer account strategies by researching existing market drivers, business strategic priorities, internal investment areas and key stakeholders
- Push the product lifecycle from strategic planning to tactical activities
- Bring new features to market by analysing proposed product requirements and product development programs
- Prepare return-on-investment analyses and working closely with cross-functional teams
- Assess market competition by comparing the company’s product to competitors’ products
Business Development Manager Requirements:
- Ability to work in a high performing, experienced interconnection team
- Experience in developing, maintaining, and strengthening business relationships
- Ability to work independently and manage multiple priorities concurrently
- Able to function in complex and challenging customer environments while maintaining the ability to influence change and negotiate mutually beneficial solutions and understandings
- Demonstrates superior communication and presentation skills
- Solution design with the ability to clearly articulate topics within all levels of the organisation, including senior management
- Strong organizational and time-management skills
- Able to analyse complex data to pull out trends and create glide paths