5 Ways a Business Development Specialist Can Help Your Company Grow

When it comes to company growth, business development specialists are the cornerstone of success. They help a company organize its departments and resources to improve product offerings, sales,  revenues, customer service, and brand awareness.

As a company, leveraging a business development manager’s skills starts with understanding their role and how their activities create growth. In this article, we explore the role of business developers and how they can help your business grow. Read on to learn more.

Who is a Business Development Specialist?

A business development specialist is a business professional who primarily works to identify new avenues for expansion and develop strategies to grow the company. Business development managers have the requisite skills to help the company they represent to sell products or services to the target audience.

The Role of a Business Development Specialist         

The future success of the company is the primary goal of a business development specialist.  The essential duties and responsibilities of a business development specialist include:

Developing and executing business development strategies

The primary role of a business development expert is to discover and secure new business opportunities, either locally, regionally, or nationally. This task can be achieved through the development and execution of business strategies.

Create new strategies to retain the company’s current clients

A competent business developer helps the company develop strategies to retain current clients and increase their lifetime value. It is easier and more affordable in business to retain current clients than to market to new ones.

Develop client relationships and strengthen industry partnerships

A company’s value and growth rest on healthy business development strategies, such as networking, product marketing, and niche expansion. Business development specialists are responsible for developing client relationships and deepening industry partnerships on behalf of their clients.

Evaluate and improve marketing, sales, and branding strategies 

Evolving business landscapes force companies to adapt their marketing, sales, and branding strategies to remain effective. It is a business development specialist’s role to ensure that a company’s sales, marketing, and branding strategies remain effective. 

Create and send market performance reports to the company’s management 

Reports help business executives understand its products and departments’ overall and specific performance. 

Generate new leads, identify and contact decision-makers, and screen potential business opportunities 

Part of a business development specialist’s role is to generate viable leads, identify and contact decision-makers, and screen potential business opportunities. 

Capital development training 

As an extension of his role, a business development specialist can also be involved in a company’s capital development training activities. He can help his team members develop their skills to ensure that their business targets are met.

Recommend changes to existing business practices turn exposure into revenue

A business development specialist is primarily responsible for prospecting, identifying, and developing new business opportunities to increase exposure and revenue.

Manage the public relations of the company efficiently

A business development professional can also be involved in managing the company’s public relations efficiently to improve overall visibility.

Develop marketing strategies

A business development specialist can also work with the marketing team to develop effective business marketing strategies to generate sales. 

Why Your Company Needs a Business Development Specialist to Grow?

Modern companies have since recognized the need for business development specialists to help consolidate and expand growth. Simply put, business development specialists help companies develop their business.

Business development is a popular term in the business world and has been given many different definitions. However, in the simplest terms, business development is the act of pursuing strategic opportunities for growth in an industry. It is a long-term method to increase value by developing business relationships, markets, and customers. 

Business development is necessary for sustainable business growth. It is the thread of functionality that ties together the sales and marketing aspects of any growing business. Let’s take a look at some reasons why business development is vital in any business organization.

1. Boost Revenue

Revenue growth signifies a well-implemented business development strategy. Business development specialists are experts at creating business development strategies and executing them. A good business development strategy focuses on boosting your marketing and sales efforts, reviewing your pricing strategies, and expanding your market.

2. Improve your business’s visibility and overall image

A core part of a business development process is ‘strategic marketing.’ Every business developer understands that strong business visibility is vital to business growth. Consequently, business developers focus on building the reputation of their organization through marketing.

A business development strategy can be implemented by the business developer and the marketing team of a company. When these two teams collaborate successfully, the outcome is a series of effective marketing campaigns that deepens the company’s relationship with customers and reach a new audience.

3. Simplify the business process

A business development professional helps the company executives understand their products and services’ inner workings. Also, the business development specialist shows insight into the factors that attract their customers.

 4. Build Customer Relationships

Business developers focus on helping an organization make sales and expand. One of the identifiable ways of doing both is investing in healthy customer relationships. Whether your business developer is grooming new talent, interacting with potential partners, or marketing to potential customers, relationship-building is vital in the business development process.

A well-informed business developer capitalizes on the customer relationships that can increase the growth of the business. The distinguishing factors of most successful companies are referrals and repeat customers. A stable customer relationship thrives on a well-implemented business development strategy; it is also an essential strategy for boosting revenue and lowering cost.

 5. Growth and expansion into new markets

For any growing business to expand, it must devise a feasible business development strategy. Business development specialists primarily involve themselves in identifying and tapping into new areas of opportunity. To this end, a business developer can analyze demographics and customer data to enter new markets and access new customer segments.

Considering the benefits of business development, it is clear that companies shouldn’t do business without a business development strategy. A company’s value and growth rest on healthy business development plans, such as networking,  product marketing, and niche expansion.

Not only is a business development specialist an integral part of any business organization, but it is also essential to increasing the long-term value of the business.

Business development plans are created from sound business development principles with the help of business development specialists. These professionals have the skill and experience to develop a tailored growth plan that matches a business’s goals.

How Can A Business Development Specialist Help Your Company?

The impact a business development specialist will have in any company depends a lot on its development stage. With that in mind, we will discuss the impact of business development experts at different stages of a company’s growth.

Start-ups

Start-ups that are trying to identify new ways to penetrate a market need a business development specialist. A business development specialist can help you develop quality products/services and determine where it fits into the market.

A business development professional can also help a start-up identify investors and funding sources and assemble a dependable team. Business development specialists can help organize launch events for any product the company is releasing.

Scale-ups

Companies in this stage of development can utilize the service of a business development specialist to consolidate growth. A business developer will help develop, enhance, and add new products, seek out new markets, and invest in growth opportunities. 

Strategic budget planning and spending are additional services that a qualified business development specialist can offer mid-sized companies. If you are a business owner struggling with maintaining a defined and feasible budget, a business development specialist can assist you with budget development and support existing initiatives.

Established Businesses

Although established companies have somewhat predictable futures, a business development specialist can still contribute tremendously to its growth. A business development professional can help established organizations explore and maximize their resources and customer base to improve growth prospects.

A business development expert can also help a company expand its business relationships by identifying new ways to conduct business more efficiently.

Identifying your business’s development level is critical in understanding how a business development specialist can help your company grow. Alternatively, you can let a business development expert assess your company’s growth indicators and make recommendations.

Cost of Hiring a Business Development Specialist

Most times, the cost of hiring a business development specialist is determined by skill and years of experience. However, an entry-level business development specialist with less than one-year experience can expect to earn an average of $44,500 per year.

On the other hand, an early-career business development Specialist with one to four years of experience earns an average of $51,500 – $55,000 per year. Similarly, a mid-career business development specialist with about five to nine years of work experience in business development earns about $65,000. An experienced business development specialist with about ten-nineteen years’ experience typically earns about $70,000 per year plus compensation.

 A business development specialist in his late-career (usually up to 20 years or more) can earn an average of $80,000 per year.

That said, it is essential to state that the cost of hiring a business development specialist depends entirely on the salary structure of the recruiting organization. The above analysis merely serves as an insight towards the current salary scale for business development specialists. However, companies should aim to pay their business development experts competitively to get the best service and reduce employee turnover.

Qualifications of a Business Development Specialist

Typically, for a person considered for a business development specialist’s position, he/she should have a Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, or a related field. An advanced degree in marketing and any other related field is also a plus, but it is not a significant requirement.

Apart from the generally required educational qualification, a business development specialist should possess soft skills like analytical skills, excellent written and communication skills. 

Beyond qualifications, a business development specialist should work independently with little or no supervision and work well in a team environment. An ability to create strong business relationships with external partners is a plus.

Before hiring a business development specialist, you should make a list of the requirements you need. Skillset, rating, and experience are factors to consider. 

Conclusion

Business development is necessary for businesses to achieve sustainable business growth. Although a clear cut business development strategy is one of the obvious ways any business can improve its sales and boost its revenue, business development is not just about sales alone. It is incredibly focused on helping a company achieve its long-term strategic benefits.

Again, business development experts are the only professionals qualified to provide a solid business development plan for your business. You can employ a full-time business development professional or outsource the task to a business development firm.