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7 Skills You Need to Be an Excellent Business Development Manager

Business Development Managers are responsible for developing the business side of an organisation. They must identify arising business opportunities and build long-term relationships with prospects. That is needed in order to increase company revenue and maximize profits.

Business developers help the company to become as successful as it can be. They rely on knowledge, theory and hands-on experience to help businesses to grow. As well they evaluate the current performance of the business and find ways to help the business reach its full potential.

In a previous article, “Top Qualities to look for when hiring a Business Developer”, we mentioned the qualities excellent business developers have. In this article we will discuss the key skills that any good business developer should have.

Communication & Interpersonal Skills


A good business developer must have strong communication skills. They are required in order to communicate, present, assert and speak to all the different stakeholders involved. He must also be able to cold call prospects with confidence in order to gain new clients.

Collaboration Skills


Business Development is not a one man show. It involves collaboration with multiple parties from inside and outside the company. Any good business developer should be able to build relationships, influence, manage conflicts and navigate through office politics in order to get things done.

Negotiation & Persuasion skills


This includes being tactful and diplomatic at all times. Achieving your set goals require that you are able to learn when to compromise and when to take a stand. In order to persuade your prospects to do what needs to be done, you will need to win their hearts, minds and trust.

Project Management Skills


Good Business developers are in some way also project managers. They have to be able to set goals, plan and manage projects, manage the risks involved, calculate budgets, cost, time and teams working on ongoing projects.

Research & Strategy


A Business Developer will need to have strong research and strategic analysis skills. These are necessary in order to benchmark the competition and keep the company ahead of it.

Computer Skills


This comes without thinking these days. Any decent employee needs to have at least basic computer skills. Nevertheless a Business Development Manager must have high competency working with Microsoft Office. Even CRM softwares is  a must for this job as well.

Business Intelligence


Knowing all about your business services and products is essential for any Business Developer. However knowing everything about your competition as well will provide you with the leverage you need to surpass them. Any respectful business developer will conduct the necessary market analysis needed to identify the company´s current position. He will conduct analysis of what competitive advantage the company has over the similar businesses in the sector. Business developers must be able to collect the data they need in order to prepare an accurate analysis.

In addition to all of the above mentioned skills, exceptional Business Development Managers are always hungry for knowledge. They like to stay up-to-date with the latest economic issues in the industry. Being always organized and working under constant pressure is a part of a Business Developers routine. Moreover knowledge in Sales Management, Marketing, Strategic Management and Business Planning is a strength they can use to grow your business. Combined with the skills detailed above and the qualities described in the article ‘Top Qualities to look for when hiring a Business Developer‘ , you can rest assured that your business lies in good hands.

Original article:

Read original article on Linkedin.

References:

myjobsearch.com Business Development Manager jobs
www.jobawareness.com Business Development Manager – Qualifications and Skills
https://www.upcastsocial.com/public/sales-job-offering-de.pdf
washingtontechnology.com 5 critical skills for your business development team, Bill Scheessele
participatoryartslearning.wordpress.com Business Development Manager

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14 thoughts on “7 Skills You Need to Be an Excellent Business Development Manager”

  1. After being an entrepreneur most of muy life, having started several businesses (most of which were successful) and helping others launch or streamline their own projects, I found myself looking for a job when I moved to Spain. At first I was worried I wouldn’t have sufficient skills, or none specific enough to appeal to prospective employers. Soon enough I found that my expertise as an entrepreneur translated more than suitably into the Business Development Executive ob title. I have since then provided consulting and freelance services to startups and medium-sized companies from all around the globe.

    1. Diego… Am John from Nigeria. I will like to benefit from the wealth of your knowledge and experience, I am a Business development manager for a auto mechanic company, what skills do I need to be most effective. Thanks.

      1. Hello Diego, If I would add more skills to the listed in the article I would add:

        1. Public Speaking
        2. Training
        3. Digital Marketing
        4. Events Management (organize seminars, lunches, conferences, business and networking events)
        5. Training skills, you can attract many customers by educating them about your business/ products
        6. Data Gathering and analysis
        7. Time management and organization skills
        8. Efficiency & productivity, working smart not hard

        These are from my personal experience and were part of my personal development over the last 5 years, I believe business developers should also focus on your work ethics, as most business developers rely heavily on building long term relationships, therefore Trust is a major issue when it comes to building these relationships, it is highly important to build a reputation as someone who keeps his promises, and meets his deadlines, your clients need to trust that you have their best interest in mind at ll times, there is a trick to do that, “Under promise, over deliver” so it is highly important to be clear on what you promise, always promise less than what you are sure you can deliver so you can always over deliver on your promises and exceed expectations, and always negotiate before agreeing to deadlines, give your self more space than you need but always deliver ahead of your deadlines.

        Hope these tips are of any good use to you.

      2. Thanks Diego for your input, while I am still working in Business Development and project management, I have now transitioned into social entrepreneurship, I have now founded the first Comedy Training Center in the Middle East and North Africa region, so it is nice to see how people can switch between both roles at ease.

    2. Any decent employee needs to have at least basic computer skills. Nevertheless, a Business Development Manager must have high competency working with Microsoft Office. Even CRM software is a must for this job as well. Knowing all about your business services and products is essential for any Business Developer. However knowing everything about your competition as well will provide you with the leverage you need to surpass them. Any respectful business developer will conduct the necessary market analysis needed to identify the company?s current position. He will conduct an analysis of what competitive advantage the company has over the similar businesses in the sector. Business developers must be able to collect the data they need in order to prepare an accurate analysis.

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