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What does a business development executive do?

Updated January 8, 2025
8 min read
What does a business development executive do

A business development executive serves as a senior manager who drives company sales. Business development executives convince existing clients to buy more offerings and also source new clients. The focus of their job is on lead generation, prospect management, and customer acquisition. They collaborate with management in terms of sales objectives, planning, and prediction. The skills necessary for this job include customer service and relations, time management, strong written communication, and sales process experience.

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Business development executive responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real business development executive resumes:

  • Manage and monitor the company CRM and all opportunity and forecasting reporting.
  • Develop and manage all new business for strategic and technology consulting services within the healthcare, government and manufacturing sectors.
  • Negotiate healthcare provider group, ancillary and facility contracts to achieve objectives relative to competitive market trends and client expectations.
  • Review cost/benefit analysis of potential promotional programs to justify the ROI and manage budgets set aside to support promotional activities.
  • Lead centralized, electronic referral center coordinating post-acute service needs of patients discharging from multiple acute facilities in Arizona region.
  • Utilize SalesForce to track clients and sales.
  • Used SalesForce to monitor all sales calls and results.
  • Produce multiple bids and project RFP responses from toxic waste remediation to water aquifer projects over a period of several years.
  • Introduce internal reporting and CRM controls for successful prospect management throughout the organization.
  • Lead centralized, electronic referral center coordinating post-acute service needs of patients discharging from multiple acute facilities in Arizona region.
  • Provide e-business development, requirement analysis, and gap strategy.

Business development executive skills and personality traits

We calculated that 13% of Business Development Executives are proficient in Business Development, Digital Transformation, 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 Development Executives that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Business Development, 13%

    Direct sales and business development functions, key accounts management, customer relationship development, contract negotiations and order fulfillment activities.

  • Digital Transformation, 8%

    Charted a business development strategy for southern California healthcare market focusing on digital transformation through business intelligence and mobility platforms.

  • Customer Service, 6%

    Maintain and support long term relationships by providing excellent customer service, recognition, and negotiate opportunities for participation in events.

  • Client Relationships, 5%

    Maintain awareness of industry, competition, and market conditions and leverage current client relationships to develop new business opportunities.

  • Cloud, 4%

    Created powerful cloud/SaaS solutions for managed services partners and IBM brands that provided market leading solutions with industry specific cloud providers.

  • CRM, 4%

    Introduced internal reporting and CRM controls for successful prospect management throughout the organization.

Most business development executives use their skills in "business development," "digital transformation," and "customer service" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential business development executive responsibilities here:

Creativity. One of the key soft skills for a business development executive to have is creativity. You can see how this relates to what business development executives do because "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to generate new and imaginative ideas." Additionally, a business development executive resume shows how business development executives use creativity: "assisted the purchasing department with market trends, costing, and inventory planning. "

Interpersonal skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling business development executive duties is interpersonal skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "managers must deal with a range of people in different roles, both inside and outside the organization." According to a business development executive resume, here's how business development executives can utilize interpersonal skills in their job responsibilities: "communicated with excellent relationship building skill and interpersonal relationship. "

Organizational skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of business development executives is organizational skills. This skill is critical to many everyday business development executive duties, as "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must manage their time and budget efficiently while directing and motivating staff members." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "mitigate operational and hr issues prior to escalation for organizational efficiency. "

Analytical skills. A big part of what business development executives do relies on "analytical skills." You can see how essential it is to business development executive responsibilities because "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to analyze industry trends to determine the most promising strategies for their organization." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical business development executive tasks: "analyzed industry trends and intelligence information to develop leads and relationships with top management at fortune 500 companies. "

Communication skills. Another crucial skill for a business development executive to carry out their responsibilities is "communication skills." A big part of what business development executives relies on this skill, since "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." How this skill relates to business development executive duties can be seen in an example from a business development executive resume snippet: "hired because vp knows my work ethic and asked me to come back to telecommunications after years in the janitorial market. "

See the full list of business development executive skills

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Compare different business development executives

Business development executive vs. Account executive

An account executive is responsible for supporting existing clients, closing client deals, and developing sales strategies to increase the company's sales and satisfaction. An account executive must be competitive enough to keep up with the constant changes in the sales industry, including the high demands of digital marketing, a different approach to product advertising, effective negotiation, and presentation skills. An account executive also requires excellent communication skills for the successful acquisition of client accounts and immediately resolve possible complaints as they arise.

The annual salary of account executives is $28,253 lower than the average salary of business development executives.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between business development executives and account executives are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like business development, digital transformation, and customer service.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a business development executive are more likely to require skills like "client relationships," "cloud," "client facing," and "value proposition." On the other hand, a job as an account executive requires skills like "product knowledge," "powerpoint," "business sales," and "patients." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Account executives earn the highest salaries when working in the finance industry, with an average yearly salary of $78,879. On the other hand, business development executives are paid more in the pharmaceutical industry with an average salary of $112,177.The education levels that account executives earn slightly differ from business development executives. In particular, account executives are 8.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a business development executive. Additionally, they're 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Business development executive vs. Director of sales & business development

A director of sales & business development is responsible for monitoring the business and project plans, ensuring that the sales targets are met, according to project requirements and specifications. Directors of sales & business development perform data analysis to track business performance and identify opportunities to grow revenues and profits. They also coordinate with the clients and maintain healthy business relationships by enhancing their brand image on various platforms and reach the target audience. A director of sales & business development works closely with the marketing and sales team for public relations and marketing campaigns placement.

Director of sales & business development positions earn lower pay than business development executive roles. They earn a $15,286 lower salary than business development executives per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Business development executives and directors of sales & business development both require similar skills like "business development," "client relationships," and "cloud" to carry out their responsibilities.

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, business development executive responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "digital transformation," "customer service," "client facing," and "lead generation." Meanwhile, a director of sales & business development has duties that require skills in areas such as "leveraged," "oil gas," "sales objectives," and "sales reps." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

On average, directors of sales & business development earn a lower salary than business development executives. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, directors of sales & business development earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $127,443. Whereas business development executives have higher pay in the pharmaceutical industry, with an average salary of $112,177.directors of sales & business development earn similar levels of education than business development executives in general. They're 2.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Business development executive vs. Sales development manager

Sales Development Managers oversee a specific function in the sales department. They are in charge of creating sales pitches, communication tools, and strategies to boost the company's sales performance. They may be assigned to do these activities for a specific product or service or for the whole product line of the organization. Sales Development Managers are also expected to create branding images that will help their sales strategies. They are required to fully understand the company's history, image, and target market. This will ensure that the branding and sales strategies they create are in line with the company's values.

An average sales development manager eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of business development executives. The difference in salaries amounts to sales development managers earning a $4,919 higher average salary than business development executives.business development executives and sales development managers both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "business development," "customer service," and "crm," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a business development executive is likely to be skilled in "digital transformation," "client relationships," "cloud," and "client facing," while a typical sales development manager is skilled in "sdr," "training programs," "product knowledge," and "sales targets."

Sales development managers earn the highest salary when working in the manufacturing industry, where they receive an average salary of $107,980. Comparatively, business development executives have the highest earning potential in the pharmaceutical industry, with an average salary of $112,177.When it comes to education, sales development managers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to business development executives. In fact, they're 2.4% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Business development executive vs. Vice president, business development

A vice president of business development is an individual who leads in the execution of business plans and provides new business strategies for an organization. Vice presidents of business development closely work with a team of salespeople, management, and lower-level employees to secure contracts with new customers and manage ongoing agreements. They often travel to participate in business conferences and meetings with vendors and suppliers. Vice presidents of business development must also possess a bachelor's degree in business administration or marketing.

Vice presidents, business development tend to earn a higher pay than business development executives by an average of $67,288 per year.While both business development executives and vice presidents, business development complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like business development, client relationships, and crm, the two careers vary in some skills.Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A business development executive uses "digital transformation," "customer service," "cloud," and "client facing." Vice presidents, business development are more likely to have duties that require skills in "business strategy," "financial services," "development finance," and "strategic plan. "vice presidents, business development enjoy the best pay in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $164,511. For comparison, business development executives earn the highest salary in the pharmaceutical industry.vice presidents, business development reach similar levels of education compared to business development executives, in general. The difference is that they're 3.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of business development executive

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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