What does a business development representative do?
A business development representative's role is to find new business and client opportunities through market research and networking. They are primarily responsible for participating in creating strategies to enhance client relations, improve sales, and reach out to potential clients through calls, correspondence, and meetings. Moreover, it is also their responsibility to perform follow-up calls, offer recommendations, and even build rapport to strengthen client base. As a representative, it is essential to coordinate with managers and supervisors and adhere to policies and regulations.
Business development representative responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real business development representative resumes:
- Lead BDR team in overall net new leads and opportunities in 2013 , 2014 and to date 2015
- Follow up on leads generate from web hits, public Webinar registrations and tradeshows.
- Write content and manage marketing automation through Pardot, creating campaigns and analyzing results.
- Create hold leads into SalesForce cloud system for further outbound call on possible sale.
- Manage customer portfolios, service relationships and cross-selling of all company's products and services.
- Lead firm s social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, and Google+ and launch.
- Update and maintain all social media outlets (Facebook, twitter, link in, etc . )
- Manage customer requests and establishing customer relationships and closing new business for ADT.
- Develop and improve relationships with public and private partnerships that may be influential to Medicare and Medicaid population.
- Branch focusing in the wine industry.
- Learned POS; cash handling experience.
- Exceed targets for SaaS sales in the tech sector.
- Set up new hire training and standards for the MDR program.
- Prepare and process weekly payroll, payroll taxes and tax payments.
- Coordinate admissions for elderly in need of rehabilitation or long term care.
Business development representative skills and personality traits
We calculated that 19% of Business Development Representatives are proficient in Business Development, Work Ethic, and Customer Service. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Interpersonal skills, and Physical stamina.
We break down the percentage of Business Development Representatives that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Business Development, 19%
Leveraged well developed relationship building skills and strong consultative selling abilities while executing targeted business development strategies within the government sector.
- Work Ethic, 7%
Acted as flawless liaison between marketing and sales and built customer relationships through a positive attitude and work ethic.
- Customer Service, 7%
Call Center-Customer Service-Appointment Scheduling-Follow ups-Ledger Tracking-Dealer Socket-Finance Express-Internet posting-CRM Software-Quote pricing, rates- Inventory availability
- BDR, 6%
Top performer across entire BDR team for new business opportunities created for SMB, Mid-Market, and Enterprise sales teams.
- Sales Cycle, 4%
Maintained unsupervised territory management, where responsibilities included market research, prospect qualifying, and sales cycle management.
- Lead Generation, 4%
Developed and qualified leads within my respective territory to drive additional sales opportunities through cold-calling and lead generation campaigns.
Common skills that a business development representative uses to do their job include "business development," "work ethic," and "customer service." You can find details on the most important business development representative responsibilities below.
Customer-service skills. One of the key soft skills for a business development representative to have is customer-service skills. You can see how this relates to what business development representatives do because "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be able to listen to the customer’s needs and concerns before and after the sale." Additionally, a business development representative resume shows how business development representatives use customer-service skills: "used prior knowledge of erp systems to enrich conversations with potential customers. "
Interpersonal skills. Many business development representative duties rely on interpersonal skills. "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be able to work well with many types of people," so a business development representative will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways business development representative responsibilities rely on interpersonal skills: "improved pricing contracts with vendors and developing excellent interpersonal skills with the internal team as well as external clients. "
Physical stamina. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of business development representatives is physical stamina. This skill is critical to many everyday business development representative duties, as "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives are often on their feet for a long time and may carry heavy sample products." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "coordinated educational efforts to local businesses to reduce work related injuries effectively and efficiently marketed physical therapy and outpatient surgery facilities. "
Self-confidence. A big part of what business development representatives do relies on "self-confidence." You can see how essential it is to business development representative responsibilities because "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be confident and persuasive when making sales presentations." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical business development representative tasks: "developed confidence in presenting new ideas and services to key business clients. "
The three companies that hire the most business development representatives are:
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Compare different business development representatives
Business development representative vs. Sales representative internship
In a sales representative internship, an intern's duties depend on the directives of a supervising staff or manager. Typically, they are responsible for gaining industry insights while performing clerical tasks such as preparing and processing documents, greeting visitors, disseminating and organizing files, and running errands as needed. They may also participate in communicating with clients through calls and appointments to offer products and services, ensuring client satisfaction. Furthermore, as an intern, it is essential to familiarize and abide by the company's policies and regulations, including its vision and mission.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, business development representative responsibilities require skills like "business development," "work ethic," "bdr," and "sales cycle." Meanwhile a typical sales representative internship has skills in areas such as "kids," "powerpoint," "outbound calls," and "salesforce." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Sales representative interns tend to reach similar levels of education than business development representatives. In fact, sales representative interns are 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.9% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Business development representative vs. National account representative
A national account representative plays a pivotal role in managing client relationships. These professionals manage relationships for high-value customers, especially those who invest vast amounts in the company or those who have stayed in the organization for an extended period. In general, the national account representative's primary goal is to foster trust. National account representatives identify new business opportunities and make sales calls. To qualify as a national account representative, you must possess a bachelor's degree in this field, primarily in business administration.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that business development representative responsibilities requires skills like "work ethic," "bdr," "sales cycle," and "lead generation." But a national account representative might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "national accounts," "sales growth," "edi," and "customer issues."
National account representatives earn similar levels of education than business development representatives in general. They're 1.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.9% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Business development representative vs. Marketing representative
A marketing representative's responsibilities will vary on the line of work or industry. However, it is the role of a marketing representative to engage with clients and secure sales by promoting, demonstrating, and even advertising products or services. Furthermore, they must devise marketing strategies, conduct research and analysis through surveys and polls, lookout for new opportunities and trends, and coordinate with advertisers. One must have extensive knowledge about the product as well as communication skills, being that building rapport will be very useful in accomplishing every task.
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 development representative resumes include skills like "work ethic," "bdr," "sales cycle," and "lead generation," whereas a marketing representative is more likely to list skills in "life insurance," "powerpoint," "health insurance," and "medicare. "
Marketing representatives earn the highest salary when working in the finance industry, where they receive an average salary of $60,984. Comparatively, business development representatives have the highest earning potential in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $49,583.Most marketing representatives achieve a similar degree level compared to business development representatives. For example, they're 0.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Business development representative vs. Inbound sale representative
An inbound sales representative is in charge of securing sales by responding to calls and correspondence from clients, ensuring efficiency and customer satisfaction. They may arrange appointments, answer inquiries, offer products and services, and discuss product specifications. There are also instances where they must perform follow-up calls on outbound transactions, process payments, or establish billing plans in adherence to the company's policies and regulations. Furthermore, an inbound sales representative must address issues and concerns from clients, resolving them promptly and efficiently.
Types of business development representative
Updated January 8, 2025
