Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between business development managers and sales development managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 8-10 years to become a business development manager, becoming a sales development manager takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a sales development manager has an average salary of $102,790, which is higher than the $100,769 average annual salary of a business development manager.
The top three skills for a business development manager include customer service, CRM and healthcare. The most important skills for a sales development manager are SDR, salesforce, and customer service.
| Business Development Manager | Sales Development Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $100,769 | $102,790 |
| Hourly rate | $48.45 | $49.42 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 7% |
| Number of jobs | 215,309 | 171,101 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 77% |
| Average age | 39 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 10 | 4 |
A business development manager's duties include identifying business opportunities, developing effective models and strategies to improve business performance, searching for potential clients to generate income and attract partnerships. A business development manager must have extensive knowledge of the market trends and adjust strategies as needed to meet the needs of the client. Excellent communication, decision-making, critical thinking, and leadership skills are just some of the key factors that business development managers should possess to communicate and negotiate with the clients.
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.
Business development managers and sales development managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Business Development Manager | Sales Development Manager | |
| Average salary | $100,769 | $102,790 |
| Salary range | Between $67,000 And $151,000 | Between $66,000 And $157,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | New Hampshire |
| Best paying company | Shearman & Sterling | Everyday Health |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a business development manager and a sales development manager in terms of educational background:
| Business Development Manager | Sales Development Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 77% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between business development managers' and sales development managers' demographics:
| Business Development Manager | Sales Development Manager | |
| Average age | 39 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 68.6% Female, 31.4% | Male, 67.8% Female, 32.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% Asian, 4.4% White, 62.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 18% |