Business Development Manager Job Description & Roles and Responsibilities

A business development manager or BDM is a professional who works with the sales team and manages sales, clients, as well as plans strategies for the growth of the company. The business development manager identifies new leads, connects with clients over new proposals, and maintains good relations with customers. He or she builds strategies for achieving organisational goals by working with people inside and outside the business.

Job Description of a Business Development Manager

The job of a business development manager or BDM is to help the organisation grow by finding new opportunities and ways to exploit them. He or she does thorough research on leads, establishes relationships with potential clients, and works with various departments to fulfil the desired goals.

A business development manager analyses market trends and plans strategies to gain new customers and to promote the brand. A BDM uses exceptional business intelligence to extract useful insights from previous data and understands the business model for successful contribution to growth and profitability. This also helps in identifying the loopholes and working on improvement of existing strategies.

What are the Job Roles and Responsibilities of a Business Development Manager?

Roles and responsibilities of a business development manager are dynamic and wide. The primary role of a BDM is to help a business grow by improving sales and maximising its market footprint. This involves responsibilities like lead generation, client management, and understanding market trends for introducing new strategies. Here are some of the common roles and responsibilities of a BDM:

Client management: A business development manager is responsible for strengthening relationships with existing clients and developing new clients. The business development manager also needs to negotiate with clients and find a way beneficial to both the client and the company. He or she should keep up with technical advancement and must be aware of various client management software.

Identifying opportunities: A business development manager identifies new business opportunities for the organisation. He or she analyses market trends, customer requirements and the activities of its competitors in the industry to identify key opportunities and potential ways to exploit them. This can be done by exploring new market segments and launching new products.

Sales management: A business development manager manages sales of the organisation and find ways to maximise them by establishing a wide customer base. A BDM oversees the entire sales process beginning from lead generation till closing deals. This also includes tasks like qualifying potential leads, conducting market research, sales presentations, negotiating contracts, and closing client deals.

Developing business strategies: The business development manager’s key responsibilities include developing business strategies that help the organisation in increasing sales and lead to the growth of the business. These strategies aim at achieving organisational goals and fulfilling customer needs and expectations. A BDM needs to follow the latest developments in the industry and introduce innovative ideas for succeeding in the market.

Related:

• Average Business Management Salary in India
• Business Analyst Salary in India

Career Progression of Business Development Manager

The career of a business development manager progresses from roles like business development representative or sales associate to senior positions like Director of Business Development and Chief Business Development Officer. The progression depends on factors like experience, skills, industry and location of the organisation. Here are some of the major roles in the career path of the business development manager:

Business Development Representative: A Business Development Representative or BDR is the entry-level position offered to freshly graduates. This position may also be referred to as sales associate. This role requires the candidate to perform tasks like lead generation. He or she may also negotiate deals with clients. Here, the BDR learns the basics of sales and business development.

Business Development Manager: A Business Development Manager or BDM is responsible for managing teams of representatives and executives. A BDM performs tasks like making strategies, Client management, identifying opportunities and making sure the sale goals are achieved. He or she may also train new candidates to ensure all the employees have relevant skills required for the role.

Business Development Director: The Director of Business Development oversees the working of all the business development teams, along with client management. He or she identifies growth opportunities and presents ideas for introducing new products and services. The Director of business development drafts proposals that are used for pitching business deals to partners and vendors.

Chief Business Development Officer: The Chief Business Development Officer or CBDO plays supervisory role for the business development department. He or she works closely with all the senior position holders in the business development department and ensures all the work is done as per the planned strategies. The CBDO analyses the work of the business development team and focus on better strategy planning.

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Qualifications Required to Become a Business Development Manager

The qualifications of a business development manager must include passing 10+2 from a recognised board of education. He or she must opt for a Bachelor’s degree in Management, Business Administration, marketing or sales. The candidate can also pursue masters for better opportunities. Here is a list of some entrance exams and UG and PG courses that can be pursued:

Entrance Examinations

• NPAT
• CUET
• CAT
• ATMA
• CMAT
• GMAT

Bachelor’s Degree Programmes

• BBA
• BMS
• BCom

Master’s Degree Programmes

• MBA
• MCom
• MMS

What are the Skills Required to Become a Business Development Manager?

The role of a business development manager requires proficiency in various skills like communication, analysis, and client management. A business development manager should know how to study market trends and plan strategies. Apart from the soft skills, a business development manager must know essential software for customer management, analysis, and preparing reports and presentations for clients. Here are some of the important skills required to become a BDM:

• Communication skills
• Problem-solving skills
• Negotiation skills
• Strategic thinking
• Adaptability
• Computer skills

Top Recruiters of Business Development Manager

The top recruiters of business development managers include consulting business leaders, E-commerce websites, pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, and even financial institutions. Recruitment in the career of a business development manager varies on aspects like skills and experience. Although it is difficult to pinpoint specific top recruiters of business development managers, here are some of the examples:

• upGrad
• Flipkart
• Vedantu
• ABC
• Oracle
• TATA Consultancy Services

Salary of Business Development Managers in Popular Companies

A business development manager’s salary varies from Rs. 7 Lakhs to Rs. 25 Lakhs per annum. This may also be topped by bonuses and incentives for the phenomenal performance of a business development manager. The salary of a BDM may be higher than other common sales roles due to more complex roles and a wider set of responsibilities. Here are the average annual salaries provided by some top recruiters of BDMs:

Source: AmbitionBox, Glassdoor, Indeed

Conclusion

Business development managers are the people who manage clients, sales and new product development satisfying customer needs and demands. The role comes with several other responsibilities like market research, planning strategies and maintaining interpersonal relationships with customers and co-workers. BDMs must possess a variety of skills to succeed in their career. They may include skills such as problem solving and decision making.

Recruitment in the career of business development managers is exceptionally high and pays a decent available salary. BDMs exploit multiple opportunities as they explore a lot of industries for recruitment. Today's dynamic market requires skilled business development managers to successfully increase sales by maximising customer and client base to build an excellent brand image.