Business Development Manager Job Responsibilities

Business development is a commonly-used term for businesses the provide services. Businesses that sell products often use the term, “sales.”

The Difference Between Business Development and Sales

When selling services, you are often selling the knowledge and capabilities of the people in your company. Therefore, a Business Developer doesn’t have a tangible product. Instead, he or she is tasked with selling people’s time or the result of people’s time. Very often, a client will not order the company’s service until they have meet with the people who will provide this service. As a result, the business developer must also present the internal team to the potential client (usually in the form of a meeting, proposal, and/or presentation).

The responsibilities of a business developer is often more broad than that of a salesperson. They could include activities such as strategic planning, or even training.

The business developer is often brought on to complement the seller-doer model, where the people who do the work are also tasked with brining in new clients. Business developers help seller-doers increase their sales by providing the strategic approach these people sometimes lack.