A growing number of firms are on the lookout for business development managers in order to assist expansion plans and promote growth.
As a business development manager you will be entering a fast paced market that contains plenty of job opportunities and career prospects.
Your main responsibilities will be to work alongside firms to develop, expand and generate new business opportunities.
You will then exploit those opportunities to bring in greater profitability.
The exact nature of the job will vary depending upon what type of company you are working for, and the services they offer.
However, the role will include aspects of marketing, product development and distribution, making presentations, meeting with clients and drawing up contracts. As a business development manager you will need to be skilled in business administration, economics and finance.
So how do you become a successful business development manager?
Well, the key to it all is research. Conducting effective research is one of the main ways you will find new opportunities on behalf of clients, and it is also one of the ways in which you will find opportunities for yourself.
If you have no prior experience of working as a business development manager, then the first thing you will need to is find out what the needs of your target companies are, and identify their pain points.
You will also need to be familiar with their industry and the way it works. This will make it easier to determine what skills and qualifications you need to assist them in their goal.
As sales and marketing will be two of the key attributes you will need, you should definitely seek to improve your expertise in these areas.
If you have not got the relevant experience, it will be worth seeking jobs or internships that will allow you to harness these skills - and it will also look great on your CV.
In order to succeed, you will need strong interpersonal and organisational skills. These include, the ability to communicate with people at all different levels of society, management skills, and presentation skills, to name but a few.
You will also require extensive knowledge and familiarity in how business operations work and you should have the ability to analyze and develop business strategies on behalf of customers.
Furthermore, although there are no formal requirements as such for a business development manager, it is worthwhile undertaking a bachelors degree or formal qualification in business, marketing or business administration.
This will make you a particularly strong candidate when it comes to applying for business development manager roles, and will help you to beat some of the competition.
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