Have you ever searched “Business Development” on LinkedIn? If you have then you have probably already noticed that a variety of job titles are associated with it from business developer to director of business development.  

Business development is not limited to a single field, it is a very broad field that has a different definition in every organization as well as it involves different tasks.

By understanding the role, you can learn easily what they do, what their job description is, and how it can benefit your organization. Let’s dive into the world of Business Development Representatives.

WHO IS A BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT REPRESENTATIVE (BDR):

Business Developers (BDRs) are the company’s sales representatives that focus on generating potential customers using cold emails, cold calls, social sales, and networks. The BDR (also known as a sales developer) is the first point of contact for potential customers. After identifying potential customers by researching or with the help of Business Development Associates, they approach potential customers via phone or email to engage in sales conversations. This generally involves setting a time for potential customers to meet and talk to higher members of the sales team (typically account managers). 

BDR plays a vital role in helping the organization get more qualified appointments that will eventually be converted into agreements. They play the role of backbone for the organization.

HOW THESE BDRs PROVIDE VALUES:

The organizations interested in creating inbound opportunities, business developers are very important. They ensure that all channels are optimized and take advantage of this to provide a continuous lead flow. 

Business developers generate leads but do not convert. It is the responsibility of the sales team. BDR develops strong inbound strategies to support sales representatives.

Also, business developers do not focus on organic leads. Instead, they look for new opportunities that can help you expand the market and find more leads. 

Now, let’s have a look at how they do this.

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF A BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT REPRESENTATIVE?

The responsibilities of a Business Development Representative include:

• Find new leads 
• Qualifying the leads
• Then they push these leads to the sales department (for example, the sales executive). 

 If your organization needs more leads than can be generated through digital marketing, BDR can engage potential buyers and create more opportunities.

That’s how they do this:

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT REPRESENTATIVES AND DIGITAL MARKETING:

Research 

BDR looks for the ideal customer, untapped markets, and new channels. Using customer profiles, behavioral data, and insights, they find new opportunities for lead generation.

Lead Generation 

Business Development Representatives are primarily engaged in lead generation after that they create a list of people they can contact.

Cold Calls 

Cold calling is one of the most effective methods you can use to engage with potential leads. It’s often mysterious, but the truth is that no other activity can drive as good results as cold calling – and a BDR has great cold calling skills.

Cold Letters 

Cold Mail is another powerful way to generate test leads for new markets. BDR understands how to develop and work with email campaigns to create cold emails.

Network

Along with social activities, networking is also an effective tool for BDR. BDRs are good at building face-to-face relationships, which helps them in building trust and ultimately drive more leads.

Social Sales 

Today, no one can underestimate the power of social media. A BDR knows the importance of putting goals first. Choosing the right platform and meeting the target regularly allows business developers to build field authority and ensure that leads are experts. This improves reliability and ultimately creates opportunity.

THE SKILLS OF BDR:

Any business development representative with these key skills can succeed in his/her career.

Being Creative: 

Creativity is one of the best skills a business development person needs. Because their work depends on their ability to come up with original ideas that can connect with the audience. When connected to a lead, they should respond creatively to objections. The creative business development personnel find innovative ways to stimulate interest that differentiate their organizations from their competitors. 

Adaption

The BDR spends most of its time talking with different kinds of people, to generate leads and create relationships from different backgrounds.

Being adaptive and being able to respond quickly in a creative way to create connections and facilitate results is the key point ability of a BDR.

Active Listening 

A BDR must be able to hear unsaid messages and capture what someone is trying to say to help BDR to respond to objections early. As an active listener, BDR not only listens to what people say. They focus on the underlying meaning – not just listening, but understanding what you’re talking about. 

This helps them establish relationships and makes people feel special.

Persistence 

A BDR must be persistent. It takes a lot of cold calls before someone gets interested in your solution. Don’t forget that, being a BDR requires a lot of patience.

Business development is a bit tough, but one can drive huge growth by executing it correctly.