Business Development Representative Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a business development representative. You can use our job description template in this article to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a business development representative.
Who is a Business Development Representative?
A Business Development representative is a professional who works with organizations to identify prospective clients, establish rapport, and finalize deals that generate income for an organization. They are agents for business growth and may be experts in a specific industry, category of product, or service. Whatever their areas of expertise may be, they all have one thing in common: they are adept communicators who are aware of how to explain the advantages of their company in a way that appeals to the target market.
Business Development Representative Job Description
Below are the business development representative job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
The duties and responsibilities of a business development representative include the following:
- Forming relationships with potential clients through participating in trade exhibitions, networking events, and other activities.
- Assembling presentations, proposals, and other materials to aid in seizing new business possibilities.
- Asking current customers about their satisfaction with the company’s goods or services and suggesting improvements where necessary.
- Presenting proposals to prospective customers to help them understand how the goods or services provided could benefit them.
- Selling to current customers or promoting new goods or services.
- Developing marketing plans for products or services through social media, direct mail, and telemarketing channels.
- Conducting market research to identify consumer or industrial sector trends and communicating complex products or services in a way potential customers can grasp.
- Identifying new clients according to their region and industry, contacting them to discuss the company’s products or services, and scheduling meetings to provide information.
Qualifications
The qualifications of a business development representative include the following:
- A BSc in business administration, marketing, or a comparable subject.
- A GED or high school diploma.
- A track record of accomplishments as a sales account executive, business development representative, or in a position with comparable responsibility.
- Practical experience with a variety of sales strategies (including cold calls).
- Past success in achieving sales goals.
- Understanding of CRM programs (e.g., Salesforce)
- Familiarity with Microsoft Office (analyzing spreadsheets and charts)
- Identifying sales success metrics
- Excellent communication and bargaining skills
- The capacity to work without any guidance and independently
- The ability to see opportunities, develop successful sales strategies, and implement them.
- Good organizational and time management skills.
- The ability to deliver engagingly.
Essential Skills
Business development representatives need the following skills to succeed:
- Communication skills:
All business development representatives have good communication skills. As a business development representative, you must communicate with clients, customers, and other corporate personnel in any industry. Therefore, use efficient communication to persuade clients to buy your company’s products and services. In addition, your communication abilities will help your company develop new concepts and tactics.
- Relationship-building:
Business development personnel typically deal with sales team members; therefore, relationship-building skills are essential. They usually work with sales professionals to assist them in establishing and developing relationships with potential consumers. They may also deal with customers directly to aid in building relationships with the company.
- Affiliate Promotion:
Encouraging clients to suggest your business to their friends and coworkers is the aim of referral marketing. Business development representatives commonly use this ability to increase their clientele by convincing current customers to recommend their business to others. For example, suppose you work for an insurance company; you can suggest to clients that they provide your contact information to anyone who might be interested in learning more about the industry.
- Ability to negotiate:
Business development representatives should be skilled negotiators. Using your negotiating talents, you can persuade a supplier to offer you a lower price on a product or convince a potential client to sign a contract with your company.
- Strategic consideration:
Business development representatives usually work with sales teams to help companies grow their customers. This position necessitates the application of strategic thinking to develop ideas that help firms increase sales and broaden their consumer base.
- Analytical Skills:
Business development representatives evaluate potential business relationships and sales opportunities using their analytical skills. They perform market research on various industries and enterprises to find partnerships and sales possibilities with the best chances of success.
- Contract negotiations:
To agree on conditions during a contract negotiation with a client could require haggling over specifics of a contract, like fees, due dates, and others. As a business development representative, you may negotiate contracts between your company and clients or suppliers. If you are good at dealing, you can reach agreements that are beneficial to both parties.
- Cold call skill:
Cold calling is when you call a random number on the phone. Business development specialists frequently utilize cold calling to engage potential clients in discussion and urge them to try their company’s products or services. In addition, business development representatives can use this to increase their clients, requiring them to be assertive and confident.
- Lead generation skill:
Business development representatives frequently utilize sales talents to find new clients. For example, they might need to locate potential clients and convince them to work with the business to reach a monthly lead quota. Prospecting is identifying companies that could benefit from your product or service and getting in touch with them to introduce yourself and explain how you can help.
- Presentation Strategies:
Presentation abilities are the capacity to communicate information clearly and understandably. Due to the frequent presentations of a business’s products or services to potential clients, business development representatives need to be aware of presenting strategies. Furthermore, you can persuade others to work with your organization by demonstrating your presentation skills.
- Ability to select leads:
Qualifying leads involves determining whether your company’s potential customer needs can fill. For instance, if a lead asks about the product warranty offered by your business, you may first question what they intend to accomplish before explaining how your product might help them. Selecting leads enables you to determine whether there is a good possibility that this lead will become a client.
- CRM software Skills:
Business development representatives should be proficient with the tools needed to track and analyze customer data. Your ability to use CRM program software for managing customer connections keeps you relevant in this industry. Knowing how to use CRM software can help you comprehend your consumers’ wants, preferences, and purchasing habits better so that you can provide them with more individualized service. For example, if a particular customer calls in regularly with technical issues, you can offer them a complimentary training session or direct them to online instruction.
- Objection Control:
Business development representatives should be able to answer customer questions and concerns because it enables them to understand customers’ wants and how to serve them best. Business development representatives may find this to be a valuable ability. It also helps them close sales by eliminating any obstacles customers could have before continuing with a transaction.
- Social media Skills:
Social networking is an excellent platform for engaging with new clients and building credibility. For example, business development representatives publish corporate news, promote products and services, and provide customer care on social media. In addition, business development representatives may use social media to identify your audience’s interests and provide content that appeals to them.
- Ability to close deals:
Closing deals is one of the crucial tasks business development representatives execute. Business development representatives must thoroughly understand the products or services offered by their organization to complete sales and respond to any inquiries from clients successfully. This skill requires practical bargaining abilities, tenacity, and attention to detail.
- Client requirements analysis:
Customer requirements analysis aims to comprehend your customers’ wants and determine how to satisfy them. This skill involves asking questions about their challenges, aspirations, and objectives. It also includes listening carefully to their comments to present them with ideas that address their needs. Then, using consumer needs as a guide, you can develop strategies that could boost sales or client devotion.
How to Become a Business Development Representative
If you want to become a business development representative, you should follow the following steps:
- Step 1: Earn a bachelor’s degree in business administration or a closely related discipline.
For a position as a business representative, a bachelor’s degree in business administration, management, or an area closely related is often necessary. However, candidates having a Master of Business Administration degree (MBA) are preferred by some employers when recruiting.
As you pursue your degree, consider taking human resources and labor relations classes to increase your industry knowledge. You might also enroll in elective courses in economics, marketing, and accounting to lay a solid basis for this job.
- Step 2: ConsiderEarning your Certified Business Representative (CBR) Certificate.
The CBR certification exam provided by the National Association of Business Representatives (NABR) is for those who want to join the business development representative career. To earn this credential, you must complete several courses and pass an exam. Other designations from the NABR include Certified Labor Relations Specialist (CLRS) and Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) (CEBS). You can specialize in a particular area or develop your career with the help of these credentials.
- Step 3: Improve your communication and negotiation skills.
Communication and negotiation skills are essential for business development representatives because they deal with many people daily. For example, you might need to explain complex facts about organizational policy or negotiate contracts with customers, suppliers, or employees.
Engaging in simulated negotiations with other students or professionals to improve your communication and negotiating abilities enables business development representatives to develop their confidence to represent the company successfully.
- Step 4: Comprehend labor laws and regulations.
The Fair Labor Rules Act (FLSA), a federal legislation, establishes minimum wages, overtime pay, and other labor standards for employees. In addition, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is responsible for enforcing workplace safety legislation (OSHA). Therefore, knowing these laws makes it essential for business representatives to know the steps to take when negotiating contracts.
- Step 5: Join organizations like the National Association of Business Representatives (NABR) to promote your career.
A respected organization that provides networking and training opportunities for business representatives is the National Association of Business Representatives (NABR). By joining NABR, you can learn about market trends, discover job prospects, and improve your negotiation abilities. Before joining NABR, you must have at least three years of experience working as a business representative.
Consider joining the International Association of Healthcare Consultants (IAHC) as an alternative to NABR. IAHC membership requires one year of experience in healthcare consulting.
- Step 6: Keep up with market trends
The criteria for becoming a business development representative evolve with the industry. It is essential for business development representatives to stay current on the latest happenings in the business development field. You can keep up with market trends by attending seminars, reading business development blog posts, networking with those at the upper echelon in this career path, etc.
- Step 7: Continue to use wise time management strategies.
As a company representative, you can schedule multiple appointments throughout the day. Therefore, it’s essential to organize your time well to be on time and carry out each work efficiently. In addition, time management can be even more critical if you travel to different locations for meetings.
Where to Work as a Business Development Representative
Business development representatives typically operate in an office environment during regular business hours, though they may occasionally travel to meet with clients or potential clients. They frequently work closely with other sales team members, the marketing and product development teams, and other departments. Business development reps must handle pressure well and meet deadlines because they frequently have to conduct cold calls, provide presentations, and close sales. They must also be able to accept rejection because they will experience rejection more often than they will succeed in acquiring a new company.
Business Development Representative Salary Scale
An entry-level Business Development Representative with less than a year of experience can expect to earn an average income of $44,989 yearly. An entry-level Business Development Representative with 1-4 years of experience can expect to earn an annual salary of $48,367. In the middle of their career, an experienced business development representative makes, on average, $52,309. A business development representative with 10 to 19 years of experience can expect an average of $57,206 yearly. The average salary for workers in their later careers (20 years and above) is $59,072.