Thinking about what is business development I tried to find my own definition of it. For me Business Development is the process that goes from idea definition to sales or go to market of the “Product/Solution”.
If we agree on that definition business development is somehow very different from sales development but this doesn’t mean that a business developer shouldn’t be able to sell, on the contrary….
So in order to be pragmatic I would say that a business developer should bear the following human and intellectual qualities:
- open to new ideas and agile with idea generation and brainstorming techniques
- knowledgeable about market analysis techniques and agile in searching market information
- capable of modeling and structuring business plans for new activities
- able to draft sales pitches USPs and customer journeys to sell its product/solution internally to marketing pros
- capable of simplifying and training sales and marketing on its new creation and more importantly
- eager and at ease in following solutions’ first paths on the market
Last but not least Humility is key as constant adjustments and operational Returns on experience should help improve the solution in a go to market stage. Very rarely the perfect solution goes to market at first attempt.