What is the Role of a Business Development Professional?

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What is the Role of a Business Development Professional?

If you are considering hiring a business development professional for your company, or if you have recently been put in charge of business development, it can be difficult to know exactly what that job entails. If you aren’t sure what the role and responsibilities of a business development professional are, it will be impossible to hire the right person for the job or get the job done yourself.

As with any position, a complete and detailed job description is essential. Coming up with a list of requirements that a business development professional must fill is the best way to ensure that the job gets done right.

Business development involves increasing the exposure of a company while enhancing that company’s public image so that it attracts more business. In order to do this, there are five general areas that a business development professional must concentrate on:

1. Market Research. If you don’t know where your company currently stands and/or where it is headed, you need to—quickly. The first step is finding out exactly what the company’s target audience looks like. This involves gathering specific information about the company’s geographic market, as well as the specific industry and market trends in that area.

2. Competitive Analysis. In order to achieve your desired market position and share, you need to know your competitors. What do they offer clients that you can offer? How can you bring more value to your target audience so that they will chose you over the competition?
Current Client Assessments. Before you can secure new clients, you need to know how you are viewed by current customers. This involves things like warm calling or sending out customer surveys to gage satisfaction with your product and services.

3. Prospective Client Assessments. To assess where you stand with prospective clients, approach these prospects through things like email marketing and cold calls. Further, keep in mind that it may take more than one touch to get the information you require so follow-up is crucial.

4. Networking. New business development involves a lot of networking. Exhibitions, seminars, conferences and tradeshows are great places to show off your company, connect with current customers and meet new ones. If you find yourself spending a majority of your time in the office, you probably aren’t getting the job done.

Business development is a challenging role but its rewards are great. The most successful business development professionals are willing to get out there, get their company noticed and bring in the number and type of clients necessary for success.

Understanding the Difference Between Sales and Business Development

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Understanding the Difference Between Sales and Business Development

Sales, marketing and business development. They are all the same, right? Actually, no. Sales, marketing and business development are all very different tasks and it is important to know how they differ from one another so that your business is as successful as possible.

While many small businesses, out of necessity, may have just one person in charge of sales, marketing and business development tasks, it is still important to differentiate between the three job descriptions because each job has a very different objective, as shown here:

  • Business Development: An individual in charge of business development identifies and implements new areas of business. These include things like new distribution channels, new markets and/or new products. Those in business development never sell a particular product or service.
  • Marketing: A marketing professional will attract customers by identifying the needs of a certain type of customer. Marketing is a means of working toward the goal of getting products sold to customers. It also plays a role in gathering and confirming the particular features or benefits of a product or service that is desired by customers.
  • Sales: In the most basic terms, sales means transactions. A sale is what happens once a customer has been identified. A salesperson is responsible for selling a product or service at a determined price.

Here is another way to look at it. New business builds or creates new buildings. Marketing gets people through the door. Sales gets people from the door to the cash register. Sales professionals should always be closing but new business development professionals should always be opening!

If you are a business development professional you need to be able to look out for the needs of the entire company for which you work. Much of your day-to-day tasks will be spent with managers from different departments and helping them prepare for presentations, for example.

Business development and sales professionals are two parts of a whole. They both work to grow a business but they do it in different ways. Only when they do it correctly, however, will a business grow and flourish.

Hiring the Best Appointment Setting Firm for Your Company

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Hiring the Best Appointment Setting Firm for Your Company

Appointment setting is one of the most difficult tasks a company faces. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most necessary.

In light of the fact that appointment setting is something everyone in a company tries to get out of, outsourcing is often the best alternative. Outsourcing works well for many companies since it allows salespeople to get the leads they need without overtaxing the sales team or other employees. Further, since appointment setting really does take a particular personality and skill set, a firm that specializes in these types of calls will, in most cases, be much better at it than most people.

When interviewing outsourcing firms to handle your appointment setting tasks, here are just a few things you need consider.

    1. What’s in their name? Make sure you work with a firm that has a good reputation in the industry. Ask to talk to current and former clients to find out how they feel about the firm.
    1. Experience counts. Find out the how long the agents who will be working on your account have been in the business. If a firm has high turnover, this means you may have some very inexperienced agents representing your company.
    1. Location, location, location. Find out if a firm’s agents are working in the United States or if they are located abroad. If it is important to you that the agents calling on your behalf work in a call center as opposed to remotely, you should inquire about this, as well. There are several scenarios when it comes to appointment setting agents, make sure you are comfortable with whatever scenario a firm you are considering uses.
    1. Is satisfaction guaranteed? Make sure you know what happens in the event you are not pleased with the firm you hire. If you want to be completely satisfied or get your money back, you need to have that in writing.
  1. Are they on target? The best appointment setting firms will understand who your ideal customer is and will know where to find them. Instead of calling anyone with a phone number, they will make sure they are calling prospects that are most likely to respond to your sales messages.

The key to outsourcing is to make sure you only work with a reputable firm that has extensive appointment setting experience. It also has to be a firm you trust your reputation with. After all, every time this firm calls on your behalf, your company’s name is on the line.

Connecting with Prospects Over the Phone

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Connecting with Prospects Over the Phone

Sales calls can be difficult for even the most seasoned salesperson. However, those who are the best at making sales over the phone care less about making a sale and more about getting to know the person on the other end of the line.

The first thing you need to do when talking with a prospect over the phone is to find out where his or her priorities lie. This can be very difficult because as a salesperson, your first inclination is usually to tell a prospect what an outstanding product or service you are selling.

While it may seem unnatural at first, it is essential to allow prospects to do most of the talking. That’s because if you don’t give a prospect the opportunity to speak, you will never know what he or she wants or needs. When you do begin to talk, you should focus on asking probing questions.

It is unrealistic to expect that every call you make will end up in a sale, but there are ways to become more successful over time.

    1. Begin on a positive note. Research shows that when you begin a telemarketing conversation on a positive note, you drastically increase your chances of making a sale. Instead of beginning a call with phrases like, “I know you’re swamped,” try something more upbeat such as, “Great weather we’re having.”
    1. Never bad mouth competitors. Psychologists tell us that when someone says something negative about a competitor (or anyone for that matter), the person listening tends to, consciously or unconsciously, project those negative attributes onto the person talking.
    1. Focus on the details. Instead of talking in general about a product or service you are selling, speak specifically about the features and capabilities that will directly benefit your prospect.
    1. Ask how the prospect wants to move forward. Find out when and how your prospect wants to be contacted going forward. It is important that you allow the prospect to have some control instead of you always leading the way.
  1. Create an atmosphere of mutual respect. Instead of viewing yourself as less important than a prospect, always set a tone of mutual respect. This sense of respect will go a long way toward building strong relationships that ultimately lead to sales.