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What does a business developer do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
What does a business developer do

A business developer specializes in conducting in-depth business analysis and crafting various strategies that would not just help a business grow, but also strengthen client base and brand awareness. One of their primary responsibilities revolves around identifying areas in need of improvement. They come up with new services that will boost customer satisfaction, examining the potential for revenue and figuring out new opportunities from trends or other pre-existing programs within the company. All of this is conducted according to the vision, mission, and policies of the organization.

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Business developer responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real business developer resumes:

  • Manage all marketing and sales duties in Asia and Caribbean markets.
  • Manage pipeline within SalesForce and maintain accurate prospect/client information.
  • Manage logistics, control engineering and design, order placement, vendor relationships, customer utilization and technology.
  • Provide enterprise-wide e-business leadership for platform and product development, e-commerce & CRM solutions, and end-to-end customer acquisition strategies.
  • Establish a social media presence through Facebook & LinkedIn to increase marketability and develop a virtual community for the organization.
  • Implement the company from UK in Switzerland.
  • Introduce internal collaborative working using Microsoft SharePoint and CRM.
  • Plan pay-per-click advertising through Facebook base on available budget.
  • Develop advertising ROI measurement standards for new business acquisitions.
  • Initiate marketing efforts on LinkedIn, re-evaluat website, create infrastructure for monthly email newsletter.
  • Develop and secure buy-in for a European packaging strategy improving existing capacity to optimize ROI.
  • Accompany top producers to presentations of company's benefits, using information booths and PowerPoint presentations.
  • Provide detailed billing information to leadership through group meetings, conference calls, and PowerPoint presentations regularly.
  • Monitor and evaluate competitive activity across French, German and UK markets to identify opportunities potential business opportunities.
  • Specialize in developing key relationships with healthcare providers including hospitals, physician groups and individual medical facilities and call centers nationwide.

Business developer skills and personality traits

We calculated that 10% of Business Developers are proficient in Healthcare, CRM, and Customer Service. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Interpersonal skills, and Organizational skills.

We break down the percentage of Business Developers that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Healthcare, 10%

    Recognized for the business development on a corporate recognized account plan, DaVita HealthCare Partners as a business model.

  • CRM, 8%

    Gathered requirements; Developed company's first CRM Application, managed vendor information; Tracked Business Development opportunities; Executive support.

  • Customer Service, 7%

    Company Owner/Business Development/Sales/Customer Service Representative for manufacturer for United States.

  • Work Ethic, 4%

    Enhanced the company's clientele and marketability by utilizing superior work ethic, established contacts and local knowledge.

  • Linkedin, 3%

    Established a social media presence through Facebook & LinkedIn to increase marketability and develop a virtual community for the organization.

  • Sales Process, 3%

    Work closely with the company executives to identify new business opportunities and routinely participate in the sales process.

"healthcare," "crm," and "customer service" are among the most common skills that business developers use at work. You can find even more business developer responsibilities below, including:

Creativity. One of the key soft skills for a business developer to have is creativity. You can see how this relates to what business developers do because "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to generate new and imaginative ideas." Additionally, a business developer resume shows how business developers use creativity: "participated in due diligence, departmental it interviews and manage an asset inventory project. "

Interpersonal skills. Another essential skill to perform business developer duties is interpersonal skills. Business developers responsibilities require that "managers must deal with a range of people in different roles, both inside and outside the organization." Business developers also use interpersonal skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "develop new marketing & sales strategies; excellent communications, presentation and interpersonal skills. "

Organizational skills. This is an important skill for business developers to perform their duties. For an example of how business developer responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must manage their time and budget efficiently while directing and motivating staff members." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a business developer: "increase business by formulating most favorable organizational structure and motivating entire team to optimize 'best-in-class' product development and delivery. ".

Analytical skills. business developer responsibilities often require "analytical skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to analyze industry trends to determine the most promising strategies for their organization." This resume example shows what business developers do with analytical skills on a typical day: "make cold calls via telephone to prospective clients, gather data for insurance quotes. "

Communication skills. A commonly-found skill in business developer job descriptions, "communication skills" is essential to what business developers do. Business developer responsibilities rely on this skill because "managers must be able to communicate effectively with a broad-based team made up of other managers or staff members during the advertising, promotions, and marketing process." You can also see how business developer duties rely on communication skills in this resume example: "conducted marketing outreach, including cold calling, lead research, and follow-up communications. "

All business developer skills

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Compare different business developers

Business developer vs. Specialist-small business

A small business specialist develops new business programs to meet changing customer demands. They are responsible for ensuring integrity and consistency in the domain of business. They analyze causes of a business issue, obtain business data, and make enquiries. They are responsible for making purchase agreements, confidentiality arrangements, and joint venture arrangement.

If we compare the average business developer annual salary with that of a specialist-small business, we find that specialist-small businesses typically earn a $29,317 lower salary than business developers make annually.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between business developers and specialist-small businesses are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like customer service, business development, and client relationships.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a business developer are more likely to require skills like "healthcare," "crm," "work ethic," and "excellent presentation." On the other hand, a job as a specialist-small business requires skills like "business portfolio," "business administration," "business accounts," and "financial statements." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

The education levels that specialist-small businesses earn slightly differ from business developers. In particular, specialist-small businesses are 4.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a business developer. Additionally, they're 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Business developer vs. Small business consultant

A small business consultant specializes in developing and recommending strategies to optimize the daily operations of small businesses. They typically meet with clients to identify their needs and preferences, determine their short and long-term goals, perform market research and analysis to find business or client opportunities, determine the strengths and weaknesses of current processes, and implement solutions against problem areas. They may also conduct risk assessments and help address issues and concerns, resolving them promptly and efficiently. Moreover, a small business consultant must devise a plan to implement the establishment's policies and regulations, suggesting new ones as needed.

A career as a small business consultant brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a business developer. In fact, small business consultants salary is $53,653 lower than the salary of business developers per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Business developers and small business consultants both require similar skills like "customer service," "business development," and "facebook" to carry out their responsibilities.

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that business developer responsibilities requires skills like "healthcare," "crm," "work ethic," and "excellent presentation." But a small business consultant might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "business clients," "strong computer," "financial statements," and "business solutions."

In general, small business consultants achieve similar levels of education than business developers. They're 0.9% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Business developer vs. Business consultant

A business consultant is an individual who works directly with business owners on developing a business plan and identifying their marketing needs. Business consultants offer business owners a wide range of services, such as supplementing existing staff, provide expertise in a specific market, and influencing other people. To increase revenue in business, business consultants should have experience success with the previous business owners. Business consultants must also have a bachelor's degree in business management and received years of field training.

On average, business consultants earn lower salaries than business developers, with a $14,421 difference per year.By looking over several business developers and business consultants resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "healthcare," "customer service," and "business development." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from business developer resumes include skills like "crm," "work ethic," "excellent presentation," and "linkedin," whereas a business consultant is more likely to list skills in "data analysis," "strong analytical," "analytics," and "tableau. "

Business consultants earn the highest salary when working in the technology industry, where they receive an average salary of $89,294. Comparatively, business developers have the highest earning potential in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $118,082.Most business consultants achieve a higher degree level compared to business developers. For example, they're 6.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Business developer vs. Business specialist

A business specialist's role is to perform research and analysis to determine the company's strengths and weaknesses, aiming to improve and develop areas for optimal performance. Their responsibilities revolve around coordinating with different departments to gather relevant data, identifying new opportunities and ways to meet clients' needs, devising strategies and programs for profit growth, and developing new processes for business efficiency. Furthermore, it is essential to provide corrective measures on various issues and concerns, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.

Business specialists average a lower salary than the annual salary of business developers. The difference is about $28,114 per year.While their salaries may vary, business developers and business specialists both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "customer service," "business development," and "client relationships. "

Even though a few skill sets overlap between business developers and business specialists, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a business developer might have more use for skills like "healthcare," "crm," "work ethic," and "excellent presentation." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of business specialists require skills like "patients," "product knowledge," "power bi," and "cycle management. "

The average resume of business specialists showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to business developers. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 1.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.7%.

Types of business developer

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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