Post job

Explore jobs

Find specific jobs

Explore careers

Explore professions

Best companies

Explore companies

OverviewJobsSalaryResume

Skills

What They DoEducationCertificationsDemographicsJob DescriptionHow To HireBest CompaniesBest StatesBest CitiesRemote JobsJob OutlookCompareFAQsPart Time jobsEntry Level jobsFull Time jobsWork From Home jobs
zippia ai icon

Automatically apply for jobs with Zippia

Upload your resume to get started.

Business development executive skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
6 min read
Quoted experts
Jonathan Byers,
Adegoke Oke Ph.D.
Business development executive example skills
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical business development executive skills. We ranked the top skills for business development executives based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 13.4% of business development executive resumes contained business development as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a business development executive needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 business development executive skills for your resume and career

1. Business Development

Business development is the ideas or initiatives that work to make business work better. Selling, advertising, product development, supply chain management, and vendor management are only a few of the divisions involved with it. There is still a lot of networking, negotiating, forming alliances, and trying to save money. The goals set for business development guide and coordinate with all of these various operations and sectors.

Here's how business development executives use business development:
  • Direct sales and business development functions, key accounts management, customer relationship development, contract negotiations and order fulfillment activities.
  • Use sales forecasting or strategic planning to ensure the profitability of service lines while analyzing business developments and monitoring market trends.

2. Digital Transformation

Here's how business development executives use digital transformation:
  • Charted a business development strategy for southern California healthcare market focusing on digital transformation through business intelligence and mobility platforms.

3. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how business development executives use customer service:
  • Maintain and support long term relationships by providing excellent customer service, recognition, and negotiate opportunities for participation in events.
  • Work collaboratively with Account Management, Implementations and Customer Service teams to implement programs and integrate gift card processing platforms.

4. Client Relationships

Here's how business development executives use client relationships:
  • Maintain awareness of industry, competition, and market conditions and leverage current client relationships to develop new business opportunities.
  • Developed client relationships with marketing directors and communications executives utilizing LinkedIn and existing relationships and connections using a consultative approach.

5. Cloud

Cloud is a server that is accessed over the internet. There are different programs and software that also run on these servers. These clouds can be accessed from anywhere in the world as they are not present in your computer storage, but have their online servers. Cloud consists of data centers all across the world.

Here's how business development executives use cloud:
  • Created powerful cloud/SaaS solutions for managed services partners and IBM brands that provided market leading solutions with industry specific cloud providers.
  • Started program that resulted in Secure Cloud Gateway appliance that is now being adopted by IBM clients on their own premises.

6. CRM

CRM stands for Customer relationship management and it is a complete process through which a business or organization monitors and administers its interactions with the customers. A process in which large amounts of data are collected through marketing via a company's website, polls, surveys, and other social media applications. The basic goal of CRM is to target the right audience for their product, and then fulfill their needs, to increase the sales and revenue of the company.

Here's how business development executives use crm:
  • Introduced internal reporting and CRM controls for successful prospect management throughout the organization.
  • Managed and monitored the company CRM and all opportunity and forecasting reporting.

Choose from 10+ customizable business development executive resume templates

Build a professional business development executive resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your business development executive resume.

7. Sales Process

Here's how business development executives use sales process:
  • Maintain active role in decision-making process together with technical staff and management decision makers, facilitating execution of the sales process.
  • Identified new business opportunities and routinely participate in the sales process; while working closely with company executives.

8. Account Management

The process of strengthening the relationship between a company and client is called account management. Effective account management has two key objectives, one is to retain loyal customers and the second one is to help the company grow by creating connections with new customers.

Here's how business development executives use account management:
  • Created performance-driven sales policies that sparked sales and maximized sales team effectiveness in both account management and capturing new business.
  • Performed the day-to-day account management and strategic planning function for five Fortune 500 companies in addition to business development responsibilities.

9. Client Facing

Here's how business development executives use client facing:
  • Participated on a team in the development of many client facing presentations for offerings from the Technology Services Consulting Portfolio.
  • Traveled both internationally and domestically in support of the Accredited Training program and client facing on site business development dealings.

10. Healthcare

Healthcare is the maintenance or improvement of a person's health by the diagnosis and treatment of a person's injury, illness, or any other disease. Healthcare is a basic necessity of human life and is the responsibility of the country's government to ensure that each person gets healthcare. Providing healthcare is the job of certified health professionals that includes doctors, surgeons, nurses, and other physicians. Pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, dentistry, therapy, and health training all come under healthcare. Healthcare plays a vital role in the country's economy and its development.

Here's how business development executives use healthcare:
  • Developed and managed all new business for strategic and technology consulting services within the healthcare, government and manufacturing sectors.
  • Launched a new division dedicated to corporate uniform and identity apparel for healthcare, restaurant, and hospitality industries.

11. Value Proposition

A value proposition is the moral and the conviction of why and how a business operates. A good value proposition may highlight what sets a business apart from its competitors, but it should always focus on how customers define your value. It summarizes why a customer would choose your product or service.

Here's how business development executives use value proposition:
  • Contacted C-level executives and developed business relationships to explain Enterprise CFO Summit's value proposition to build partnerships.
  • Managed all facets of portfolio including client value proposition, competitive assessment and delivery.

12. Market Trends

Here's how business development executives use market trends:
  • Maintained current market trends and offerings of major competitors to gain leverage and credibility in successful negotiations.
  • Recommended new programs to management and restructured existing programs to target customer needs by researching market trends.

13. Lead Generation

Here's how business development executives use lead generation:
  • Engaged in business plan development, lead generation and extensive travel nationally to identify new dealership opportunities.
  • Improved lead generation through collaborative efforts with executives in the Corporate Lending and Risk Management divisions.

14. Sales Presentations

Here's how business development executives use sales presentations:
  • Created sales presentations showing the features, benefits and potential profitability to interested dealers wishing to acquire a distributorship.
  • Developed and executed targeted sales presentations and provide program direction to a diverse client base, including C-level executives.

15. Salesforce

Salesforce is an American cloud-based software company based in San Francisco, California. This company provides customer relationship management services that enable the customers to be closer to the company. It gives the company detailed information about each customer, including marketing, sales, commerce, and services. Salesforce also helps market a product to attract more buyers, and helps win more customers by targeting the right audience.

Here's how business development executives use salesforce:
  • Utilized SalesForce to track clients and sales.
  • Established and maintained a high level of customer satisfaction by implementing effective marketing and utilizing salesforce.
top-skills

What skills help Business Development Executives find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on business development executive resumes?

Jonathan ByersJonathan Byers LinkedIn profile

Assistant Director, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University


- Professional skills related to career development competencies such as strong oral & written communication, teamwork & collaboration, leadership, problem-solving ability & creativity, and professional integrity, but we recommend that applicants do not just list these skills. They should provide evidence of how they have used them in their work experience, volunteer experience, academic experience, etc.
-The ability to use technology effectively to solve problems or improve collaboration; this could relate to social media management, computer hardware or software skills, proficiency with general programs like Microsoft Office Suite (also being able to demonstrate the use of these skills in various experiences).
-With diversity, equity, and inclusion becoming more important in 2020, the ability to appreciate different points of view, accept and appreciate different cultural backgrounds & types of identities, and increased awareness of one's own cultural biases and assumptions can also be important to market on a resume.

What soft skills should all business development executives possess?

Adegoke Oke Ph.D.

Professor of Supply Chain Management, Arizona State University

In general, people skills: leadership, effective communication and negotiation skills, the ability to work effectively with people in different cultures and in a team environment.

What hard/technical skills are most important for business development executives?

Adegoke Oke Ph.D.

Professor of Supply Chain Management, Arizona State University

Data analytics skills are currently in high demand, so is understanding the impact of emerging technologies and digitization on business

What business development executive skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Kaustav Misra Ph.D.Kaustav Misra Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Associate Dean, Central Connecticut State University

This pandemic taught us many things and one important thing that we have an efficiency gap.

The way of doing business will be much more technology orientated. Hence graduates should be ready to unskill and upskill their credentials. This time it is necessary to forget the old way of doing business and learn new skills to get a job or stay in a current job. Soft skills have become much more important than before, but a different soft skill set would be essential to interact with future market participants. Thus, a gap year should be utilized to unskill-upskill and enhance relevant credentials by getting into short-long term programs, training, and workshops would be highly recommended.

What type of skills will young business development executives need?

Dr. Vallari ChandnaDr. Vallari Chandna LinkedIn profile

Chair and Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

Critically, for all graduates, expertise or interests, in sustainability will be important. The reason behind this is the shift in looking at sustainability holistically and not just as something one-person does. This would also give an edge to those with degrees, specifically in sustainability. Graduates with degrees related to sustainability will often be asked to oversee or manage these across-the-board sustainability endeavors. Also, soft skills are highly desired. The ability to be better at time management, work in teams, and have a strong work ethic, will be more desirable. These are all interconnected with remote work as well. Employees who "thrived" in the pandemic were those able to manage their work-life balance, work remotely in teams, all the while performing well. The skills are thus "transferable" to both modalities of work in this way.

What technical skills for a business development executive stand out to employers?

Todd Lee GoenTodd Lee Goen LinkedIn profile

Instructor & Internship Director, Christopher Newport University

Technical skills are often industry and/or position specific. Applicants should highlight any technical skills related to the position advertisement and those that add value to the position/organization. Most importantly, requirements for technical skills change with time and technological advances. This means employers value workers capable of adapting to change and continually improving and acquiring new technical skills. Thus, it's usually more important to demonstrate you are capable of learning and developing technical skills than it is to have a specific skill set upon hire (although this is not true for some positions/industries).
That said, technical skills related to online presentations, virtual meetings, virtual networking, remote working and the like are hot commodities right now. While most organizations were in the process of adopting many of these technologies and ways of doing business pre-pandemic, the pandemic accelerated the process. Organizations are making it work, but they often don't know best practices or the most efficient means of working in the largely virtual, pandemic environment. Post-pandemic, many of the remote/virtual changes the pandemic brought will stay in some form. Technical skills that support this type of workplace will make applicants stand out to many employers because they need/want to do virtual/remote business better.
Do you want to know more?
Read more about what experts have to say about business development executive

List of business development executive skills to add to your resume

Business development executive skills

The most important skills for a business development executive resume and required skills for a business development executive to have include:

  • Business Development
  • Digital Transformation
  • Customer Service
  • Client Relationships
  • Cloud
  • CRM
  • Sales Process
  • Account Management
  • Client Facing
  • Healthcare
  • Value Proposition
  • Market Trends
  • Lead Generation
  • Sales Presentations
  • Salesforce
  • Project Management
  • C-Suite
  • Sales Cycle
  • Sales Pipeline
  • Relationship Building
  • Customer Relationships
  • Develop Leads
  • Work Ethic
  • Business Relationships
  • Revenue Growth
  • HR
  • RFP
  • Customer Satisfaction
  • Persuasion
  • Excellent Interpersonal
  • Professional Services
  • Trade Shows
  • Market Research
  • Marketing Campaigns
  • Sales Strategies
  • Cold Calls
  • C-Level
  • Sales Quota
  • Linkedin
  • Infrastructure Management
  • Emerging Technologies
  • Product Development
  • Tactical Support
  • ROI

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.

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse executive management jobs