Sales / Business Development
Business Development Manager
Overview
A business development manager is responsible for identifying new business opportunities, developing relationships with potential clients, and creating strategies to increase sales and revenue. They may also be responsible for market research and analysis.
Business Development Managers typically have a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field such as business administration, marketing, or sales. They also typically have several years of experience in a related field, such as sales or marketing. Additionally, they should have strong communication, negotiation, and strategic planning skills.
Common tasks
| Task | Related trait(s) |
|---|---|
| Identifying opportunities in the market | Conscientiousness Achievement striving |
| Developing and implementing strategies to target potential customers | Conscientiousness Achievement striving Understanding customers and others Integrity |
| Building and maintaining relationships with clients, partners, and other stakeholders | Amiability Understanding customers and others Achievement striving Social confidence Integrity Communication skills – Understanding others Communication skills – Expressiveness |
| Creating and delivering sales presentations and proposals to potential clients | Amiability Understanding customers and others Achievement striving Social confidence Communication skills – Understanding others Communication skills – Expressiveness |
| Negotiating contracts pricing and deliverables | Amiability Understanding customers and others Achievement striving Integrity Communication skills – Expressiveness |
| Developing and managing budgets for business development | Conscientiousness |
| Communicate with other departments such as marketing, and product development | Amiability Understanding customers and others Communication skills – Expressiveness |
| Preparing reports on sales and market trends | Communication skills – Expressiveness |
| Traveling to attend conferences, meetings, and other events to represent the company and build relationships | Activity level |
| Managing a team of business development professionals | Communication skills – Understanding others Communication skills – Expressiveness |
| Providing guidance and support to colleagues and subordinates on business issues | Communication skills – Understanding others Communication skills – Expressiveness |
| Developing and managing partnerships and collaborations with other organizations | Communication skills – Understanding others Communication skills – Expressiveness |
Soft skills measured by TraitForward
| Trait | No of Questions | Cronbach’s alpha (α) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conscientiousness | 7 | 0.75 | |
| Do they have a desirable work ethic? | |||
| Activity level | 6 | 0.72 | |
| Can they multitask? Can they handle demanding workloads? | |||
| Amiability | 6 | 0.81 | |
| Are they calm? Do they respect others? | |||
| Understanding customers and others | 8 | 0.76 | |
| Do they know what makes others tick? | |||
| Achievement striving | 8 | 0.77 | |
| Are they able to set clear goals? Are they able to achieve these goals? How motivated are they to achieve these goals? | |||
| Social confidence | 5 | 0.76 | |
| Are they able to express themselves social situations? | |||
| Integrity | 9 | 0.73 | |
| Are they moral, honest, do they follow rules? | |||
| Communication skills – Understanding others | 8 | 0.71 | |
| Do they understand others? | |||
| Communication skills – Expressiveness | 11 | 0.84 | |
| Do they express themselves effectively? | |||
| Teamplayer Positive group practices | 11 | 0.78 | |
| Do they like being included in a group? | |||
Did you Know?
Source: US Department of Labor – Bureau of Labor Statistics
Median wage:
$39,000 / per year
$19 / hour
A relatively low annual wage is $18,000 (10th percentile)
A relatively high salary of the annual wage is $71,000 (90th percentile)
Find out the psychometric properties for the Business Development Manager Traitforward questionnaire