Looking for a Business Development or Sales work?
Develop the business These business terms can often be misunderstood or misinterpreted which doesn’t help in a search for an ideal job that matches you and your characteristics. Let’s go back to the basics and see what "Sales" and what "Business Development" means.
There are several posts on the web, as well as books, videos, etc. I recommend one that I read and set aside a few months ago, which discusses the differences between sales and business development.
What is meant by Sales?
Sales is the art of articulating a case for why someone may want to buy your product or service. It involves statements of fact and their related benefit to potential customers. A seasoned sales manager will provide his or her reps with a proven repeatable process and all of the sales collateral they need such as testimonials, case studies, competitive analysis, presentation material, objection handling, call scripts, leads, pricing, contracts, etc. In general, sales reps don’t generally create the pitch or process but they are experts at utilizing that proven rut for success. They skillfully utilize the process and arsenal they have been given to build and close a book of business. They are the machine that is constantly stamping out the cookies.
– David Gardner
Sales is therefore a job consisting of "routine": there is an already consolidated product or service and there is also a process that has been tried and tested which can be used again with the necessary adjustments as in every relationship, proposition or negotiation.
What is meant by Business Development?
Although business development involves sales skills, it has no such set pattern to follow. A great biz dev executive is on the hunt for ways to harness the resources of a potential business partner. An experienced biz dev professional begins by figuring out your industry’s eco system, mapping the space and estimating which stakeholders might be able to leverage your offering. They spend their days exploring potential custom relationships with other companies with which a mutually beneficial relationship might be derived. They are always trying to understand the goals and strategies of potential partners to see if they can come up with a custom relationship that will benefit his or her company’s metrics.
– David Gardner
This is something that is not clear to everyone.
Some think this is a fancy way of saying "sales" when making contact with companies or decision-makers, others think that it actually means "marketing". In reality it's just a way to evolve a business:
Unlike sales, business development is the art of writing a custom business plan with a potential partner. It is not following a pattern but rather creating one for each unique partner.
– David Gardner
The difference?
I consider direct sales and marketing to be trench warfare. It is necessary to prove that your offering has merit and that you can obtain and retain customers but organic sales are typically painfully incremental and expensive. Business development leap frogs this process. For example, at plan, your early model might call for hiring one new sales person every month. A biz dev person would be looking for a way to get a hundred new sales reps (that someone else is paying for) to carry a quota on your product via a revenue share agreement. They might also try to find a way to get your product integrated with a partner’s product so that whenever one is sold the other is automatically sold as well. These deals can dramatically affect your forecast.
– David Gardner
