Business Development Manager

Business development managers are individuals who are responsible for the expansion and financial growth of an organization. Their goal is to place the organization in a competitive market position, in terms of services rendered to clients and revenue generated. Their job is critical to the development of the company, and they engage their duties by developing marketing and sales strategies with which they engage the market in order to bring more business and financial gain to the company.

It is the job of business development managers to bring in new clients and business for the organization by networking, email marketing, cold calling and other marketing means. They are the first point of contact that a potential client has with the organization, which makes them an important part of any organization.

Below are things you need to take into consideration if you desire to be a business development manager.

EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

To become a business development manager, you need a bachelor’s degree in business administration or marketing which will serve as an entry level qualification for you. But if you really want to be considered a professional, you have to go for higher qualifications like taking MBA courses in Managerial communication, competitive intelligence, conflict resolution and negotiation.

SKILLS

You must possess excellent skills in communication, negotiation and computer literacy, especially with certain software like PowerPoint, Outlook and Microsoft Word. You must be a strategic thinker in order to come up with effective marketing strategies. A business development manager needs to be proactive, self-motivated and determined in order to withstand negative feedback during sales pitch. Project management, business intelligence and development are skills that are required of a business development manager.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

As a business development manager, it is your responsibility to identify and approach potential clients, pitch the organization’s value preposition and follow up on potential business leads. You are also responsible for developing marketing and sales strategies for reaching out to your clients. It’s expected of you to coordinate other business development officers towards implementing developed strategies in order to meet up with monthly or annual targets. You are to arrange business meetings with prospective clients. It is the job of the business development manager to identify new markets trends and develop sale strategies for engaging the market. You meet new clients by attending networking conferences and connecting with other people using modern internet tools such as LinkedIn.

EMPLOYERS OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGERS

The services of business development managers are needed in every organization as long as their goal is to make a profit. In Nigeria for instance, they can be employed by banks and other financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies, oil and gas companies, technology companies and manufacturers.

To be a business development manager you must be someone who is passionate about sales and business growth in order to thrive.