Business development can mean different things to different people. Depending on who you ask, it can be seen either as a leadership position or as part of marketing.
There are important elements within business development that define each of these profound roles. This puts a lot of pressure on business developers, who are constantly doing many different things. Their job might involve setting up a website, establishing new partnerships, increasing brand awareness, as well as making and assessing business goals. Even though business developers do a lot, they all have one goal: to create value for the company.
Even though it sounds abstract, there are lots of ways developers work towards that goal. For this reason, I'm giving you a breakdown of what business development exactly means, explaining how it differs from other jobs in a company, and showing you the skills you'll need for business development.
What exactly is business development?
Developing a business means taking action and coming up with new ideas that create value for your organization or business. Making calculated business decisions and building relationships with strategic partners can lead to increased profitability and growth opportunities.
While it's not true that there is such a thing as a Herculean candidate, any glance at a job description for a business developer might lead one to believe it. They must be creative, analytical, well organized, and possess strong communication skills, among many other traits. Company growth requires the ability to present new ideas, create business ideas, or form fruitful partnerships, so that business developers can help their business grow stronger and better over time.
This goal can be achieved by understanding how business developers accomplish their task.
Find growth opportunities.
To compete successfully against others, a business needs to be able to grow steadily. Growth opportunities will be pinpointed through business development.
One way a business development team can benefit a company would be to conduct research on how to expand into new markets and develop new products or services. As a result, they might be able to reach more clients in the future. Small businesses development professionals may also help their clients find creative ways to market their business or work with marketing experts on campaigns that will help drive growth.
Make your business more profitable.
Profits are usually the measure of a company's value increase. In a business's eyes, value is always tied to profits, even when customers see lots of things that make a company appear valuable.
That's why business development teams tend to focus on sales. You can do this by expanding your audience and looking for ways to secure more clients without raising your prices. As I stated earlier, this is not the same as actually selling, but it's similar to developing strategies that increase sales.
Create relationships that last.
When it comes to business development, business bonds must also be created with both clients and strategic business partners.
A business developer aims to seal the gap between what customers want and what the company is actually offering them when talking about relationships with customers.
They will analyze feedback or market research to find ways to better serve clients, and then coordinate with other departments, including marketing, product development and sales, to get the job done.
You can also have relationships outside the company. When a small business is growing, it would benefit from forming strong partnerships with other businesses. If an organization is still establishing itself, it can provide assistance such as guidance, capital, or infrastructure.
Developing business skills is imperative.
Considering how many tasks are involved in business development, it is important for those seeking business development jobs to come equipped with the skills they will require.
The following skills are necessary if you want to excel as a business developer:
Excellent management and leadership skills
It will be important for you to develop new ways to help the business prosper and grow. Ensure the business processes are improving, sales are growing, and the company becomes more valuable through innovative thinking and looking outside the box. To make your own projects and manage them in an effective manner, you'll need to possess entrepreneurial skills and a sense of leadership.
A leader sets the pace
Growth is the ultimate goal, but you must set several smaller goals along the way in order to reach it. It is rare for someone in business development to set your goals for you. It's up to you to organize your work, regardless of what upper management wants or needs. SMART goals are critical because they set expectations for other departments, such as sales and marketing.
A meticulous eye for details is necessary.
In order to be successful, a business developer must pay attention to numerous details, whether they're metrics or communications from clients and partners. In a business development role, it's easy to lose sight of the details when you're working on several projects with different teams. A good business developer will pay attention to the details and understand how they affect the entire picture.
Dedicated and self-driven
Clearly, business developers must be highly motivated. They must be motivated in droves. Business developers may seem overwhelmed with work, but a successful business developer will be able to optimize their workload while self-motivating to finish projects and even seek out opportunities.
Getting a project off the ground can be demanding, but when you are able to see your team and business succeed as a result of your own hard work, it will all be worth it and motivate you to strive for greater things.
Crucial tools for business development.
Business development isn't just about helping your colleagues and getting assistance from other departments. There are some tools you can use every day to do your job. Managing your workload, keeping up with tasks, or organizing projects easily will be easier with the following tools:
• Marketing automation tools: Marketing automation lets you run specific tasks automatically without your intervention. Save time by automating emails, pop-ups, invoices, and other tasks. In particular, this is useful if you are in the process of collecting information about your audience and you would like to communicate with them but you do not have the resources to do so immediately.
• CRM tools: Since relationships are so important in business development, you’ll want to invest in a good CRM (customer relationship management) tool. Through this tool, you'll be able to keep track of clients and partners. With one system, you can store all their contact information, track communications across various channels, run reports that provide analytical insights, see their position within a sales funnel, and so forth.
Ascend by Wix is a great CRM tool for small businesses that can integrate with your website to help you capture leads and reach your goals.
• Task management tools: In addition to keeping track of your customers, you need to manage your tasks effectively. To stay organized and see where your team is at, use a workflow planner or task management tool such as Trello, Asana, or Slack.
Making initial connections with potential partners or clients is necessary before you can add them to your CRM. Social media network building is an important component of your CRM. Making professional connections on Twitter and LinkedIn is one of the best things you can do for your career.
Article source: The WIX Blog
By Liyam Flexer
Chief of Staff to Business Officer at Wix.com