As a business development manager, you'll identify new business opportunities in order to generate

revenue, improve profitability and help the business grow

Your work can involve careful strategic planning and positioning in the appropriate markets, or

enhancing the operation of the business, position or reputation in some way.

You may have a single role in the organization or lead a team of staff. Your work will often reach across

all areas of the business.

Alternatively, you may work across many different businesses, but with a specific focus on either:

 B2B (business to business)

 B2C (business to consumer).

Responsibilities

As a business development manager, you'll need to:

 research and identify new business opportunities - including new markets, growth areas, trends,

customers, partnerships, products and services - or new ways of reaching existing markets

 seek out the appropriate contact in an organization

 generate leads and cold call prospective customers

 meet with customers/clients face to face or over the phone

 foster and develop relationships with customers/clients

 understand the needs of your customers and be able to respond effectively with a plan of how

to meet these

 think strategically - seeing the bigger picture and setting aims and objectives in order to develop

and improve the business

 work strategically - carrying out necessary planning in order to implement operational changes

 draw up client contracts - depending on the size of company, this task may be completed by

someone else or agreements may not be as formal

 have a good understanding of the businesses' products or services and be able to advise others

about them

 ensure staff are on board throughout the organization, and understand the need for change and

what is required of them

 train members of your team, arranging external training where appropriate

 discuss promotional strategy and activities with the marketing department

 liaise with the finance team, warehousing and logistics departments as appropriate

 seek ways of improving the way the business operates

 attend seminars, conferences and events where appropriate

 Keep abreast of trends and changes in the business world.

If your business development role is more sales orientated, you may also:

 help to plan sales campaigns

 create a sales pipeline

 increase sales of the business

 carry out sales forecasts and analysis and present your findings to senior management/the

board of directors

 Develop the business sales and marketing strategy.

What to expect

 You'll work in an office environment, but will frequently travel within the day for face-to-face

meetings with customers and other business partners.

 It can be challenging trying to create new business opportunities, in addition to the constant

pressure of meeting or exceeding targets. However, business development is quite a creative

role and can be very satisfying.

 You may have the responsibility of managing a team and their output.

 You'll be expected to dress smartly, especially for meetings, though slightly more relaxed

business casual attire may be acceptable at other times.

 Depending on the type of business, overnight or overseas travel may be

Skills

You'll need to have:

 tenacity and drive to seek new business and meet or exceed targets

 an excellent telephone manner for making initial contact and for ongoing communication with

customers and business associates

 interpersonal skills for building and developing relationships with clients

 written and verbal communication skills - needed for communicating with a range of people,

both internally and externally, as well as presentation skills

 IT skills, including the use of spreadsheets

 team working skills and a collaborative approach to work

 decision-making skills

 the ability to multitask and prioritize your workload

 project management and organizational skills

 the ability to motivate yourself and set your own goals

 negotiating skills

 the ability to think strategically

 the ability to analyze sales figures and write reports

 a flexible approach to work with the ability to adapt to a fast-paced, ever-changing environment

 Initiative and the confidence to start things from scratch.

The ability to speak a foreign language is an asset if you're dealing with overseas clients.