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.

Take a few minutes to create or upgrade your resume. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Business Developer resume.

Business Developer Responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real business developer resumes representing typical tasks they are likely to perform in their roles.

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 Job Description

When it comes to understanding what a business developer does, you may be wondering, "should I become a business developer?" The data included in this section may help you decide. Compared to other jobs, business developers have a growth rate described as "faster than average" at 8% between the years 2018 - 2028, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In fact, the number of business developer opportunities that are predicted to open up by 2028 is 21,800.

A business developer annual salary averages $101,635, which breaks down to $48.86 an hour. However, business developers can earn anywhere from upwards of $66,000 to $156,000 a year. This means that the top-earning business developers make $75,000 more than the lowest-earning ones.

Once you've become a business developer, you may be curious about what other opportunities are out there. Careers aren't one size fits all. For that reason, we discovered some other jobs that you may find appealing. Some jobs you might find interesting include a specialist-small business, small business consultant, business consultant, and business specialist.

Learn More About Business Developer Job Descriptions

Find Better Talent in Less Time

Post a Job on Zippia and take the best from over 7 million monthly job seekers.

Business Developer Jobs You Might Like

12 Business Developer Resume Examples

Build a professional business developer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 12+ resume templates to create your business developer resume.


Jeremy Morris Business Developer Contact Information Hodgkins, IL (860) 555-2385 jmorris@example.com Skills Accurate Information Product Knowledge Suitable Programs Effective Communication Sales Process Recruitment Process Open Enrollment Diversity EEO Business Operations Employment History Business Developer 2019 - Present United Parcel Service Hodgkins, IL Devised creative marketing strategies to ensure achievement of sales goals. Collaborated with customer departments at key accounts to implement customized technology solutions. Maintained a total of 27 key accounts and 950 resolving accounts. Managed and negotiated contracts for healthcare accounts with CEO, and CFO for Supply chain management. Recruiter 2018 - 2019 Wells Fargo Sioux Falls, SD Provided general human resources support. Schedule interviews, conduct reference and background checks, negotiate compensation packages and extend employment offers. Trained Jr. Recruiters on utilization of Monster, Dice, LinkedIn, and Lotus Notes. Admissions Advisor 2011 - 2018 National American University Sioux Falls, SD Conduct orientations teaching potential customers about the Workforce Investment Act. Coach students: career development/planning to ensure 85% of graduates were employed at 150 days after graduation. Managed the recruitment process for the Adventures Youth program through quality phone and email communication with applicants. Assisted students throughout the entire admissions process. Education Master's Degree Business 2005 - 2006 Central State University Wilberforce, OH Bachelor's Degree Business 1997 - 2000 Central State University Wilberforce, OH


Robert Hudson Business Developer Contact Info Marietta, GA (370) 555-2517 rhudson@example.com Skills Sales DataMarket ResearchRevenue GrowthPotential PartnersBusiness DevelopmentProject ManagementREPProperty ManagementProduct KnowledgePromotional Events Employment History Business Developer 2018 - Present First Data Marietta, GA Worked closely with 3rd party software partners and industry vendors to establish referral pipelines for mutual business development. Presented to decision makers including C-Level, Travel Managers and Procurement. Marketing Representative 2014 - 2018 Jetro Cash & Carry Enterprises Saint Louis, MO Provided high level customer service by addressing customers' concerns and identify customers' needs and wants. Educate consumers of product knowledge Create new ideas to market products Develop strategies with store managers to increase sales Provided comprehensive product knowledge on items that changed almost daily. Performed marketing/sales, using computer, networking, Internet recruiting resources, cold calls. Maintained close communication with all functional areas to ensure quality and delivery standards. Leasing Consultant 2013 - 2014 Village Green Holding Saint Louis, MO Maintain a 95% occupancy rate for entire community 90 days in advance. Completed several hours of classes ranging from market surveys to closing a deal. Showed properties to prospective tenants (worked at multiple locations) * Signed leases * Schedule maintenance request * Customer service Negotiate lease terms and conditions based on qualifications on new leases as well as renewals. Leased apartment homes to future residents and addressed residents' needs in this multi-million dollar property management company. Education Bachelor's Degree Business 2010 - 2013 Arizona State University Phoenix, AZ


Christopher Hernandez Business Developer East Hanover, NJ (410) 555-2921 chernandez@example.com Experience Business Developer2020 - Present Indeed•East Hanover, NJ Full life cycle sales process (prospect, qualify, present, close business, and account management). Evaluated, outlined, and implemented new CRM workflow to aid in the sales process end-to-end. Managed, maintained, and expanded existing customer accounts and established new client accounts. Full Time Business-to-Business Sales and Provisioning. Sales Consultant2019 - 2020 AT&T•East Hanover, NJ Handled company revenue by managing existing accounts and creating new accounts. Spearheaded revenue growth by exceeding objectives and growing new business. Retail sales of monthly service plans, Mobile hardware, protection plans and accessories. Function in multiple roles that support the performance of the store's retail sales experience. Territory Sales Representative2018 - 2019 Novartis•East Hanover, NJ Exceeded Sales Goals and Quotas. Outperformed competitors to meet and exceed sales goals. Sell entire product portfolio within a variety of medical specialties and regularly exceed quarterly sales goals. Developed district-wide strategic business plan and analysis to align District to exceed sales objectives and align with National and Regional objectives. Skills Product DevelopmentNew CustomersCommunicationCustomer ComplaintsOEMCustomer AccountsPOSDistributorsProject ManagementLinkedin Education Bachelor's Degree Business2010 - 2013 Strayer University•Washington, DC

Create My Resume

Build a professional resume in minutes using this template.

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.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Business Developer Resume templates

Build a professional Business Developer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Business Developer resume.

"healthcare," "crm," and "customer service" aren't the only skills we found business developers list on their resumes. In fact, there's a whole list of business developer responsibilities that we found, including:

Arguably the most important personality trait for a business developer to have happens to be creativity. An example from a resume said this about the skill, "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to generate new and imaginative ideas." Additionally, other resumes have pointed out that business developers can use creativity to "participated in due diligence, departmental it interviews and manage an asset inventory project. "

Another commonly found skill for being able to perform business developer duties is the following: interpersonal skills. According to a business developer resume, "managers must deal with a range of people in different roles, both inside and outside the organization." Check out this example of how business developers use interpersonal skills: "develop new marketing & sales strategies; excellent communications, presentation and interpersonal skills. "

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

A business developer responsibilities sometimes require "analytical skills." The responsibilities that rely on this skills are shown by this resume excerpt: "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 how this skill is used by business developers: "make cold calls via telephone to prospective clients, gather data for insurance quotes. "

As part of the business developer description, you might find that one of the skills that might be helpful to the job is "communication skills." A business developer resume included this snippet: "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" This skill could be useful in this scenario: "conducted marketing outreach, including cold calling, lead research, and follow-up communications. "

See the full list of business developer skills.

We've found that 72.1% of business developers have earned a bachelor's degree. Furthermore, 12.7% earned their master's degrees before becoming a business developer. While it's true that most business developers have a college degree, it's generally possible to become one with only a high school degree. In fact, one out of every nine business developers did not spend the extra money to attend college.

The business developers who went onto college to earn a more in-depth education generally studied business and marketing, while a small population of business developers studied communication and finance.

Once you're ready to become a business developer, you should explore the companies that typically hire business developers. According to business developer resumes that we searched through, business developers are hired the most by Uline, Deloitte, and Evolent Health. Currently, Uline has 143 business developer job openings, while there are 94 at Deloitte and 52 at Evolent Health.

If you're interested in companies where business developers make the most money, you'll want to apply for positions at Apple, Discovery, and eBay. We found that at Apple, the average business developer salary is $169,943. Whereas at Discovery, business developers earn roughly $167,204. And at eBay, they make an average salary of $164,119.

View more details on business developer salaries across the United States.

If you earned a degree from the top 100 educational institutions in the United States, you might want to take a look at AT&T;, IBM, and Comcast. These three companies have hired a significant number of business developers from these institutions.

The industries that business developers fulfill the most roles in are the energy and hospitality industries. But the highest business developer annual salary is in the manufacturing industry, averaging $118,082. In the finance industry they make $110,229 and average about $108,852 in the technology industry. In conclusion, business developers who work in the manufacturing industry earn a 5.5% higher salary than business developers in the professional industry.

The three companies that hire the most prestigious business developers are:

Uline143 Business Developers Jobs
Deloitte94 Business Developers Jobs
Evolent Health52 Business Developers Jobs

Build a professional resume in minutes.

Our AI resume builder helps you write a compelling and relevant resume for the jobs you want. See 10+ resume templates and create your resume here.

Don't Have A Professional Resume?

What Specialist-Small Businesss Do

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.

In this section, we compare the average business developer annual salary with that of a specialist-small business. Typically, specialist-small businesses earn a $29,317 lower salary than business developers earn annually.

While their salaries may differ, one common ground between business developers and specialist-small businesses are a few of the skills required in each craft. In both careers, employees bring forth skills like customer service, business development, and client relationships.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. A business developer responsibility is more likely to require skills like "healthcare," "crm," "work ethic," and "excellent presentation." Whereas a specialist-small business requires skills like "business portfolio," "business administration," "business accounts," and "financial statements." Just by understanding these different skills you can see how different these careers are.

The education levels that specialist-small businesses earn is a bit different than that of 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.

What Are The Duties Of a 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.

Next up, we have the small business consultant profession to look over. This career brings along a lower average salary when compared to a business developer annual salary. In fact, small business consultants salary difference is $53,653 lower than the salary of business developers per year.

Not everything about these jobs is different. Take their skills, for example. Business developers and small business consultants both include similar skills like "customer service," "business development," and "facebook" on their resumes.

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

In general, small business consultants study at 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.

What Technology Do You Think Will Become More Important And Prevalent For Business Specialists In The Next 3-5 Years?

Katie Pittman Ph.D.

Division Director, Associate Professor, Southern Oregon University

Artificial intelligence is already having a significant impact in the area of predictive analytics. I like to describe MIS as a field that lies in the middle of a business/computer science continuum, both in the study and practice. While an MIS graduate may not be the one that develops AI algorithms, they will need to know how to apply AI tools and interpret and present results.

AI also holds great promise in automating repetitive tasks. This is an area where MIS graduates are a good fit, given their understanding of workflow and business processes combined with programming and software skills. As automation tools supporting "white collar" tasks become more mainstream, we will need those with both business understanding and technical competencies to help lead the way.

Finally, the ability to generate insights from large data sets using data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau, MS PowerBI) continues to be a growth area and opportunity for MIS graduates. Show more

How a Business Consultant Compares

A business consultant is a professional 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.

Let's now take a look at the business consultant profession. On average, these workers make 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 utilize similar skills, such as "healthcare," "customer service," and "business development." But beyond that the careers look very different.

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

Additionally, business consultants earn a higher salary in the technology industry compared to other industries. In this industry, they receive an average salary of $89,294. Additionally, business developers earn an average salary of $118,082 in the manufacturing industry.

Business consultants typically study at higher levels compared with 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.

Description Of a 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.

Now, we'll look at business specialists, who generally average a lower pay when compared to business developers annual salary. In fact, 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 jobs. Resumes from both professions include skills like "customer service," "business development," and "client relationships. "

Even though a few skill sets overlap, 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 business specialists might include skills like "patients," "product knowledge," "power bi," and "cycle management" on their resume.

The average resume of business specialists showed that they earn similar levels of education to business developers. So much so that the likelihood of them earning a Master's Degree is 1.7% less. Additionally, they're less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.7%.

Updated October 2, 2020