The Meaning of Business Development Executive

If you’ve spent time among your fellow small-business owners, then you know that they articulate a vision similar to yours: they want to “grow” their business, albeit in different ways. Some owners want to be “just big enough” to pay their bills and make a respectable income that supports a comfortable living. Other owners seek to nurture a long, robust list of clients who will help make them wealthy. And every so often, you will come across a small-business owner who harbors dreams of running a global business. And with today’s technology, this is a plausible dream. No matter which category you happen to fall into, or come closest to, you may at some point set your sights on adding a business development director to your team to help bring your vision into focus.

Emphasize the Word “Development”

Just as people blur the line between sales and marketing, so too do they blur the division between sales and business development. Sales is rather straightforward: it’s a function that converts leads into paying clients. Business development often results in the same outcome. After all, when you develop a business, it follows that you buttress sales and profitability, too.

But the role of a business development executive is more expansive, encompassing “many activities beyond the sales function” Hinge Marketing says. “And while there is some overlap, most traditional (business development) roles are only lightly involved in closing new clients.”

For example, many small-business owners rely on a business development executive to enhance their stature and influence in the community. They may seek to become “thought leaders” within their industry. And the ones who seek a global profile are savvy enough to know that writing a book, embarking on a publicity tour and giving speeches at trade events might help them realize their vision. Such activities are clearly outside the realm of most sales positions. But they can be well suited to the right business development executive.

You might say that becoming a community leader, an industry thought leader and a national spokesperson should help a small-business owner generate more sales. And arguably, no small-business owner would turn down such sales opportunities. But just as in marketing, a business owner’s strategy should drive the tactics – not the other way around.

All this said, some businesses simply prefer the panache of the term “business development.” You could say it has more executive meaning; or you could say it doesn’t sound as “salesy.” Semantics – and image – are important to many small-business owners, and especially those in the professional services arena. (Think of a law firm calling on you to set up a lunch date. Would you be more eager to meet a sales rep or a director of business development?)

The same logic leads some small-business owners to sidestep the potential stigma of touting their marketing and sales teams as such and creating a public relations department instead. “Public relations” also may sound less brash than “marketing,” and sometimes it pays to blur the lines. Impressions matter.

Learn Best BDE Tactics

The day-to-day work of a business development executive obviously varies from one business to another, driven by the vision and business strategy of the owner. But it’s worth heeding the input of Hinge Marketing, which asked 1,000 professional service firms which business development tactics they found most effective. (And this is defined as those businesses that grew at a rate of more than 20 percent over three years.)

These “high-growth” firms relied most on:

• Networking. Assessments and/or consultations. Demonstrations.
• Proposal toolkits.
• Public speaking engagements.
• Video blogging.
• Creating content.* Nurturing prospects through phone calls.
• Publishing blog posts.* Posting digital ads.

The other duties of a business development executive may include:

• Identifying potential clients and doing research on their needs and wants.
• Developing and maintaining long-term relationships with clients.
• Partnering with the marketing and sales teams on projects.
• Collaborating with design and production teams to ensure marketing collateral projects symmetry.
• Following industry and economic trends.
• Providing the small-business owner with feedback in the form of reports, not only on successes but also in areas needing improvement.
• Helping the small-business owner crystallize his vision, which is where all good things begin.