사업 개발
비즈니스 개발은 성장을 촉진하고 수익을 증대하기 위해 조직 전체에 전략과 기회를 구현하는 프로세스입니다.

여기에는 비즈니스 성장에 도움이 되는 기회를 추구하고, 새로운 잠재 고객을 식별하고, 더 많은 리드를 고객으로 전환하는 것이 포함됩니다. 비즈니스 개발은 영업과 밀접하게 연결되어 있습니다. 비즈니스 개발 팀과 담당자는 거의 항상 더 큰 영업 조직의 일부입니다.

사업 개발은 영업과 밀접한 관련이 있지만, 무엇이 다른지를 아는 것이 중요합니다.

무료 판매 계획 템플릿
간단하고 일관된 하나의 판매 계획으로 회사의 판매 전략을 간략하게 설명하세요.

표적 시장
전망 전략
예산
목표
무료 템플릿 받기
더 알아보기
사업 개발과 판매
앞서 언급했듯이 비즈니스 개발은 대규모 영업팀에서 이루어지지만 일반적인 영업 업무 및 책임과는 다른 기능을 수행합니다.

비즈니스 개발은 회사가 잠재 고객과 관계를 구축 및 유지하고, 구매자의 페르소나에 대해 배우고, 브랜드 인지도를 높이고, 성장을 촉진할 새로운 기회를 찾는 데 도움이 되는 프로세스입니다.

반면 영업팀은 제품이나 서비스를 고객에게 판매하고 리드를 고객으로 전환하기 위해 노력합니다. 사업 개발 관련 업무는 영업사원이나 영업관리자의 업무를 단순화시킵니다.

다양한 비즈니스 개발 작업을 수행하는 담당자인 비즈니스 개발 담당자가 다음에 수행하는 작업을 자세히 살펴보겠습니다.

사업 개발 담당자
비즈니스 개발 담당자(BDR)는 귀하의 비즈니스에 대한 새로운 전략, 전술, 목표, 직원 및 전망을 찾고 수립합니다. 모든 BDR의 목표는 비즈니스를 성장시키고 장기적인 가치를 제공하는 방법을 찾는 것입니다.

필요한 비즈니스 개발 기술과 경험을 보유하면 BDR이 모든 일상 업무와 책임을 달성하는 데 도움이 됩니다.

사업 개발 담당자의 책임
일부 BDR 책임은 시간이 지남에 따라 그리고 비즈니스가 성장함에 따라 변경될 수 있지만 다음 목록은 일반적인 BDR 작업에 대한 확실한 이해를 제공합니다.

1. 리드를 검증합니다.
   BDR은 리드를 선별하고 이상적인 잠재 고객을 정확히 찾아내어 누구에게 판매할지 결정해야 합니다. 일반적으로 리드는 전화, 이메일, 웹 양식, 소셜 미디어를 통해 검증됩니다.

적격 리드(BDR에 할당된 리드 및 BDR이 스스로 식별한 리드)의 핵심은 그들의 요구 사항을 고려한 다음 귀하의 제품이나 소프트웨어가 그들을 위한 솔루션이 될 수 있는지 여부를 결정하는 것입니다.

2. 잠재 고객을 식별하고 소통하십시오.
   BDR은 리드를 선별하고 구매자 페르소나에 적합한 사람을 검색함으로써 이상적인 잠재 고객을 식별합니다. 그들은 잠재 고객과 직접 소통하여 그들의 요구 사항과 문제점에 대해 자세히 알아볼 수 있습니다.

이러한 방식으로 BDR은 잠재 고객이 고객이 되어 귀하의 제품이나 서비스로부터 실제로 이익을 얻을 수 있는지 여부를 결정할 수 있습니다. 이는 고객 충성도와 유지율이 향상될 가능성이 높아지기 때문에 중요합니다.

BDR이 이상적인 잠재 고객을 식별하면 해당 잠재 고객은 팀의 영업 담당자(또는 필요한 경우 영업 관리자)에게 전달되어 거래를 성사시킬 수 있습니다.

3. 새로운 사업기회를 적극적으로 모색한다.
   제품 라인, 시장, 전망, 브랜드 인지도 측면에서 새로운 기회를 적극적으로 모색하는 것은 비즈니스 성공의 중요한 부분입니다. BDR은 네트워킹, 경쟁사 조사, 잠재 고객 및 현재 고객과의 대화를 통해 새로운 비즈니스 기회를 찾기 위해 노력합니다.

새로운 비즈니스 기회가 식별되면 BDR은 팀의 영업 담당자와 함께 마케팅 평가 및 발견 회의를 예약하여 거래 가능성이 있는지 여부를 모두 평가할 수 있도록 해야 합니다.

4. 경쟁과 새로운 시장 동향에 대한 최신 정보를 얻으세요.
   경쟁업체의 전략, 제품, 대상 고객은 물론 새로운 시장 및 업계 동향에 대한 최신 정보를 얻는 것이 중요합니다.

이를 통해 이상적인 잠재 고객을 보다 효과적으로 식별할 수 있습니다. 또한 이는 리드를 검증하고 타겟 고객을 유치하기 위한 새로운 접근 방식이 필요할 수 있는 시장 변화에 대비하는 데 도움이 됩니다.

5. 영업사원 및 개발 관리자에게 보고합니다.
   우리가 검토한 바와 같이 대부분의 회사에서 BDR은 영업 담당자 및 영업 관리자에게 보고합니다. BDRS는 리드 자격 전략 논의, 잠재 고객을 영업 담당자와 연결하여 고객으로 육성하는 방법 등 여러 가지 이유로 이러한 상사와 소통해야 합니다.

또한 BDR은 조사 결과(예: 비즈니스 기회 및 시장 동향)를 영업 담당자 및 관리자에게 보고해야 합니다. 이 정보를 전달하고 영업 담당자 및 관리자와 협력하여 귀하의 비즈니스와 청중을 위한 적절한 전략을 개발 및/또는 업데이트하는 것은 조직으로서의 성공에 매우 중요합니다.

6. 만족도와 충성도를 높입니다.
   잠재 고객과 BDR의 상호 작용은 첫 번째 상호 작용일 수 있습니다.

그 전망은 귀하의 비즈니스와 관련이 있습니다. 따라서 처음부터 좋은 첫인상을 만드는 것은 초기에 관심을 불러일으키는 데 중요합니다.

BDR이 리드 자격을 검증하고, 잠재 고객과 그들의 요구 사항에 대해 자세히 알아보고, 거래에 적합한 영업 담당자를 찾는 등 모든 잠재 고객과의 상호 작용이 중요합니다.

BDR이 잠재 고객을 조사하거나 상호 작용을 시작하면 잠재 고객에 대한 모든 커뮤니케이션을 맞춤화해야 합니다. 전송된 모든 콘텐츠를 맞춤화하면 그들이 경청하고 보살핌을 받고 있음을 알 수 있습니다. 이러한 행동은 전문적이며 강한 인상을 남깁니다.

BDR이 어떻게 성장에 도움이 되는지 이해하는 것 외에도 비즈니스 개발 아이디어는 잠재 고객을 참여시키고 새로운 비즈니스 기회를 식별하는 또 다른 강력한 방법입니다. 한 번 보자.

사업 개발 아이디어
네트워크 방식을 혁신하세요.
상담을 제공합니다.
잠재 고객과 리드를 위한 판매 데모를 제공합니다.
잠재 고객을 육성합니다.
잠재 고객에게 다양한 유형의 콘텐츠를 제공하세요.
마케팅과 소통하세요.
귀하의 웹사이트에 투자하세요.
직원들이 기술을 확장하고 개선하도록 독려하세요.
사업 개발 아이디어는 다양한 방식으로 회사에 긍정적인 영향을 미치기 위해 구현할 수 있는 전술입니다. 이상적인 잠재 고객을 식별하고, 보다 효과적으로 네트워크를 구축하고, 브랜드 인지도를 향상하고, 새로운 기회를 발견하는 데 도움이 될 수 있습니다.

다음 전략은 시작하는 데 도움이 됩니다. 모든 비즈니스와 팀은 서로 다르기 때문에 이러한 아이디어가 귀하의 특정 상황에 적합할 수도 있고 그렇지 않을 수도 있습니다. (그러므로 목록을 자유롭게 수정하세요!)

1. 네트워크 방식을 혁신하십시오.
   비밀 콜드 콜이 예전보다 덜 효과적이라는 것은 아닙니다. 대신 잠재 고객과 강력한 관계를 구축하여 네트워크 방식을 혁신하십시오. 귀하의 업계와 관련된 컨퍼런스, 무역 박람회 또는 행사에서 직접 만나 이를 수행할 수 있습니다.

잠재 고객을 위해 LinkedIn 및 기타 소셜 사이트를 포함한 온라인 네트워크도 찾아보세요. 이메일 구독을 신청하거나 사이트에서 다른 양식을 작성하는 사람들에게 연락하세요.

2. 상담을 제공합니다.
   잠재 고객을 위한 상담 및 평가를 제공합니다. 귀하의 제품이나 서비스가 고객의 요구 사항에 어떻게 적용되는지에 대해 이야기하면 잠재 고객이 전환할지 여부를 결정하는 데 도움이 됩니다.

대조적으로, 상담과 평가는 잠재 고객이 귀하의 제품에 이상적이지 않다는 점을 밝힐 수도 있습니다. (이는 고객을 육성하는 데 시간을 낭비하지 않거나 불만족스러운 고객을 처리하는 데 시간을 낭비하지 않도록 하기 때문에 마찬가지로 가치가 있습니다. ).

무료 판매 계획 템플릿
간단하고 일관된 하나의 판매 계획으로 회사의 판매 전략을 간략하게 설명하세요.

표적 시장
전망 전략
예산
목표
무료 템플릿 받기
더 알아보기

3. 잠재 고객과 리드를 위한 판매 데모를 제공하십시오.
   잠재 고객과 리드에게 판매 데모를 제공하여 제품이나 서비스가 실제로 어떻게 작동하는지 확인할 수 있습니다. 이러한 데모가 잠재 고객에게 보여주거나 제품이 문제를 해결하는 방법을 안내하도록 맞춤화되었는지 확인하세요. 이러한 데모를 직접, 이메일, 웹사이트 또는 영상 채팅을 통해 공유할 수 있습니다.
4. 잠재 고객을 육성하십시오.
   전화 통화, 이메일, 회의 또는 기타 의사소통 방식을 통해 잠재 고객을 육성하는 것을 잊지 마십시오. 리드 육성의 핵심은 잠재 고객이 구매 여부를 결정할 수 있도록 제품이나 서비스에 대해 필요한 정보를 제공하는 것입니다.

리드를 육성함으로써 브랜드 및 제품에 관한 콘텐츠를 맞춤화할 수 있으므로 리드는 제품이 특정 문제점을 어떻게 해결하는지 더 잘 이해할 수 있습니다. 또한 잠재 고객에 대한 지지를 표시하고 회사가 잠재 고객의 의견을 듣고 이해하고 있다는 느낌을 받을 수 있습니다.

5. 잠재 고객에게 다양한 유형의 콘텐츠를 제공하십시오.
   잠재 고객에게 블로그, 비디오, 소셜 미디어 게시물 등 다양한 콘텐츠 유형을 제공하여 브랜드, 제품 또는 서비스에 대해 자세히 알아볼 수 있도록 하세요.

잠재 고객이 있는 곳에서 만나고 그들이 읽고 보고 싶어하는 콘텐츠를 제공하는 것이 가장 좋습니다. 잠재 고객이 해당 콘텐츠를 팀 구성원에게 보내 귀하의 솔루션이 최선의 선택인 이유를 보여줄 수 있도록 모든 콘텐츠를 다운로드 및/또는 공유할 수 있도록 하십시오.

6. 마케팅 담당자와 소통하세요.
   비즈니스 개발이 영업 부서에 속한다고 해서 내부 비즈니스 개발 작업이 영업팀의 다른 구성원들만 참여한다는 의미는 아닙니다. 정기적인 회의를 주최하고 마케팅, 제품 개발 등 성공 능력에 영향을 미치는 회사 내 부서와 열린 커뮤니케이션 라인을 유지하세요.

이렇게 생각해보세요. 마케팅은 타겟 고객을 위해 제품이나 서비스가 문제를 어떻게 해결하는지에 대한 콘텐츠와 캠페인을 만듭니다. 그렇다면 당신이 판매하는 사람들을 위해 그들이 만들고 있는 블로그, 캠페인, 소셜 미디어 게시물, 웹사이트 콘텐츠에 대해 그들과 이야기하고 싶지 않겠습니까?

담당자와 BDR은 마케팅 팀이 생성한 모든 콘텐츠를 잠재 고객과 직접 공유하여 전환을 돕고 3월에 알릴 수 있습니다.

Business Development

Business development is the process of implementing strategies and opportunities across your organization to promote growth and boost revenue.

It involves pursuing opportunities to help your business grow, identifying new prospects, and converting more leads into customers. Business development is closely tied to sales — business development teams and representatives are almost always a part of the greater sales org.

Although business development is closely related to sales, it’s important to note what makes them different.

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Business Development vs. Sales

As mentioned, business development lives on the greater sales team yet it serves a different function than typical sales work and responsibilities.

Business development is a process that helps your company establish and maintain relationships with prospects, learn about your buyer’s personas, increase brand awareness, and seek new opportunities to promote growth.

In contrast, sales teams sell your product or service to customers and work to convert leads into customers. Business development-related work simplifies the work of a salesperson or sales manager.

Let’s take a closer look at what business development representatives — the people responsible for carrying out the various business development tasks — do next.

Business Development Representative

Business development representatives (BDRs) seek out and establish new strategies, tactics, targets, employees, and prospects for your business. The goal of all BDRs is to find ways to grow and provide long-term value for the business.

Possessing the necessary business development skills and experience will help your BDRs achieve all of their day-to-day tasks and responsibilities.

Business Development Representative Responsibilities

Although some BDR responsibilities may change over time and as your business grows, the following list will provide you with a solid understanding of typical BDR tasks.

1. Qualify leads.

BDRs must qualify leads and pinpoint ideal prospects to determine who they’ll sell to. Typically, leads are qualified through calls, emails, web forms, and social media.

The key to qualifying leads (leads who are assigned to the BDRs as well as leads BDRs identify themselves) is to consider their needs and then determine whether or not your product or software could be a solution for them.

2. Identify and communicate with prospects.

By qualifying leads and searching for people who fit your buyer personas, BDRs will identify ideal prospects. They can communicate with those prospects directly to learn more about their needs and pain points.

This way, BDRs can determine whether or not the prospect will really benefit from your product or service by becoming a customer. This is important because it increases the potential of improved customer loyalty and retention.

Once the BDRs have identified ideal prospects, those prospects can be passed along to a sales rep on the team (or sales manager, if necessary) who can nurture them into making a deal.

3. Proactively seek new business opportunities.

Proactively seeking new opportunities — whether that’s in terms of the product line, markets, prospects, or brand awareness — is an important part of your business’s success. BDRs work to find new business opportunities through networking, researching your competition, and talking to prospects and current customers.

If a new business opportunity is identified, BDRs should schedule marketing assessments and discovery meetings with the sales reps on the team so they can all assess whether or not there’s potential for a deal.

4. Stay up-to-date on competition and new market trends.

It’s important to stay up-to-date on your competition’s strategies, products, and target audience as well as any new market and industry trends.

This will allow you to more effectively identify ideal prospects. It also helps your business prepare for any shifts in the market that could lead to the need for a new approach to qualifying leads and attracting your target audience.

5. Report to salespeople and development managers.

As we reviewed, at most companies, BDRs report to sales reps and sales managers. BDRS must communicate with these higher-ups for multiple reasons such as discussing lead qualification strategies and how to get prospects in touch with sales reps to nurture them into customers.

BDRs also have to report their findings (such as business opportunities and market trends) to sales reps and managers. Relaying this information and collaborating with sales reps and managers to develop and/or update appropriate strategies for your business and audience is critical to your success as an organization.

6. Promote satisfaction and loyalty.

A BDR’s interaction with a prospect might be the very first interaction that prospect ever has with your business. So, creating a great first impression right off the bat is crucial to promote interest early on.

Whether a BDR is working to qualify the lead, learn more about the prospect and their needs, or find the right sales rep to work on a deal with them, their interactions with all of your prospects matter.

Once a BDR researches the prospect or begins interacting with them, ensure they tailor all communication towards the prospect. Customizing all content sent their way shows them they’re being listened to and cared for. These actions are professional and leave a strong impression.

In addition to understanding how BDRs help you grow, business development ideas are another powerful way to engage prospects and identify new business opportunities. Let’s take a look.

Business Development Ideas

1. Innovate the way you network.
2. Offer consultations.
3. Provide sales demos for prospects and leads.
4. Nurture prospects.
5. Provide prospects with several types of content.
6. Communicate with marketing.
7. Invest in your website.
8. Push your employees to expand and refine their skills.

Business development ideas are tactics you can implement to positively impact your company in a multitude of different ways. They can help you identify ideal prospects, network more effectively, improve brand awareness, and uncover new opportunities.

The following tactics are here to get you started — every business and team is different, meaning these ideas may or may not be suited for your specific situation. (So, feel free to modify the list!)

1. Innovate the way you network.

It’s no secret cold calls are less effective than they once were. Instead, innovate the way you network by establishing strong relationships with your prospects. You can do this by meeting with them in person at conferences, trade shows, or events related to your industry.

Browse your online networks including LinkedIn and other social sites for potential customers, too. Reach out to the people who sign up for your email subscription or complete other forms on your site.

2. Offer consultations.

Offer consultations and assessments for prospects. Talking about the ways your product or service applies to their needs will help prospects decide whether or not they’ll convert.

In contrast, consultations and assessments may also bring to light the ways a prospect is not an ideal fit for your product (which is equally as valuable since it prevents you from wasting any time nurturing them or having to deal with an unsatisfied customer down the road).

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3. Provide sales demos for prospects and leads.

Provide your prospects and leads with sales demos so they can see how your product or service works in action. Ensure these demos are customized to show a prospect or lead how your product solves their challenge. You can share these demos in person, over email, on your website, or via video chat.

4. Nurture prospects.

Remember to nurture your prospects, whether it’s by phone call, email, meeting, or another mode of communication. The point of lead nurturing is to provide any information needed about your product or service so your prospects can decide whether or not they want to make a purchase.

By nurturing your leads, you’ll be able to tailor the content regarding your brand and product so your leads can better understand how your product will solve their specific pain points. You’ll also be able to show your support for the prospect and ensure they feel heard and understood by your company.

5. Provide prospects with several types of content.

Provide your prospects with different content types such as blogs, videos, and social media posts so they can learn more about your brand and product or service.

It’s best to meet your prospects where they are and provide the content they prefer to read or watch. Ensure all of this content is downloadable and/or shareable so prospects can send it to their team members to show them why your solution is their best option.

6. Communicate with marketing.

Although business development lives in the sales department, that doesn’t mean internal business development work only involves other members of the sales team. Host regular meetings and maintain open lines of communication with the departments at your company that impact your ability to succeed such as marketing and product development.

Think about it this way: Marketing creates content and campaigns for your target audience about how your product or service resolves their challenges. So, why wouldn’t you want to talk to them about the blogs, campaigns, social media posts, and website content they’re creating for the people you’re selling to?

Your reps and BDRs can share any content the marketing team creates directly with prospects to help them convert, as well as inform the marketing team of any content they feel is missing for prospects. If there are projects or campaigns out of your scope, you can opt to hire a marketing agency to help fill the void. But, like your marketing team, they’ll need to understand your product and how to connect with your target audience.

7. Invest in your website.

You never get a second chance at a first impression, and in many cases, your website is exactly that — your prospects’ first impression of your brand. So, it serves you to make it as accessible, navigable, visible, and helpful as possible.

Taking strides like making your site visually engaging, connecting your social media profiles, optimizing your site for search engines, linking to collateral like sales content, and maintaining an active blog can go a long way when conducting business development.

8. Push your employees to expand and refine their skills and knowledge.

Business development is never stagnant. Strategy, technology, and market conditions are all constantly evolving — so you’re best off having your employees stay abreast of these trends.

Anyone involved in your business development should be liable to develop new skills as needed. If your organization adopts any sort of new technology, thoroughly train anyone the change touches on how to use it.

Encourage your employees to learn more about both the nuances of their field and the industries they serve. Is artificial intelligence starting to shift the dynamics of a specific industry? If so, make the BDRs who serve that market learn all they can about how it might change the nature of the companies they interact with.

Business Development Process

A business development process is the combination of steps your business takes to grow effectively, boost revenue, improve relationships with leads, and more. These steps are what your business development team will work on every day. It includes everything related to delighting customers along each part of the buyer’s journey.

By working through your business development process, your team will have a strong understanding of your organization-wide goals, sales targets, current business situation, who your target audience members are, and more.

How to Do Business Development

1. Conduct extensive market research.
2. Raise visibility and awareness.
3. Promote thought leadership.
4. Conduct outreach.
5. Qualify leads to pass off to sales.
6. Provide exemplary customer service.
7. Develop sales content from success stories.

1. Conduct extensive market research.

Successful business development rests, in large part, on you understanding your market and target personas. If you have no idea who you’re trying to sell to and the state of the market they comprise, you can’t successfully implement any other point on this list.

Study and survey your current customers to see who tends to buy from you. Look into your competition to get a feel for where you fit into your broader market. And take any other strides to get a better feel for the “who” behind your successful sales — without that intel, you’ll never be able to shape the “how” side of your business development.

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2. Raise visibility and awareness.

Business development, as a broader practice, extends beyond your sales org — your marketing department can also play a central role in the process. You can’t source a base of potential customers if no one knows who you are.

Actions like constructing an effective website, investing in paid advertising, leveraging social profiles, participating in co-marketing partnerships with industry peers, and maintaining an active blog can all go a long way in supporting successful business development.

3. Promote thought leadership.

This point is sort of an extension of the one above. Establishing credibility is one of the more important steps you can take when doing business development. You can’t just stop with prospects knowing who you are — they need to trust you if you’re ever going to earn their business.

Publishing in-depth, industry-specific blog content is one way to get there — if you can show that you have a firm grasp on every aspect of your field, you can frame yourself as a reliable, knowledgeable resource for your customers. That kind of trust often translates to sales, down the line. Other media like webinars, white papers, and video content can also help your case.

4. Conduct outreach.

Actively reaching out to prospects is one of the most crucial, traditional elements of business development. You need to touch base with prospects if you’re going to vet them and ultimately convert them to qualified leads.

This step is typically supported by extensive research on individual prospects, paired with contacting warm and cold leads proactively but not aggressively. BDRs typically shoulder this responsibility — and for many people, it’s the aspect of the process most closely associated with the term “business development.”

5. Qualify leads.

Once your BDRs have connected with leads, they need to qualify them to determine their viability and understand whether they’re worth the sales org’s time and effort. That generally entails having conversations with leads and asking the right qualifying questions to reveal their fit for your product or service.

This is one of the most pivotal moments in the business development process — in some respects, it could be considered its last step. Successfully executing this point typically means the process, as a whole, has worked.

6. Provide exemplary customer service.

Business development is an ongoing process that involves virtually every side of your business in some capacity — and customer service is no exception. Your service org needs to keep current customers happy to generate positive word of mouth and bolster your company’s reputation. That kind of effort offers you credibility and can generate referrals, making business development more straightforward and effective.

7. Develop sales content from success stories.

Another part of business development is translating customer satisfaction into actionable, promotable sales content — pointed, product-specific content that’s used to generate sales. While marketing content is used for thought leadership and garnering general interest, sales content is used to appeal to potential buyers, looking into your company specifically.

Sales content can come in a variety of forms, including case studies and testimonials — two mediums that lean heavily on your current customer base. When you use customers’ experiences to generate interest in your business, your business development efforts essentially come full circle.

By compiling these elements of business development and sharing them among your team, you create an actionable business development strategy or plan that encourages and promotes success and growth. Let’s review the different steps involved in creating your business development plan next.

Business Development Plan

A business development plan is a strategy your team can refer to while working to achieve growth-related goals. Sales managers typically create the business development plan for BDRs to work on.

The purpose of a business development plan (or strategy) is to set realistic goals and targets that allow your reps to grow the business, close more deals, identify prospects, align members of the sales team (and other teams, company-wide), and convert more leads.

1. Craft an elevator pitch.

You can simplify any initial communication with prospects by having an elevator pitch ready to go. This elevator pitch should explain your company’s mission and how your product or service can solve the needs of your target audience. Your elevator pitch should grab the attention of prospects and leads — and get them excited to learn more about what you offer.

Additionally, you can help your team determine which elevator pitches used by both BDRs and reps are most successful in converting leads and then document it in your greater strategy so everyone has access to it.

2. Set SMART goals.

Set SMART goals for your strategy — meaning, make sure your targets are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. By creating SMART goals for your business development plan, you’ll be able to ensure these goals are aligned with those of your entire company.

For example, if one of your goals is to increase your number of identified qualified leads this quarter by 5%, make the goal specific by determining the type of prospects you’ll focus on and how you’ll identify them.

Then, decide how you’ll measure your success — perhaps by measuring the number of these prospects who then go on to talk with a sales rep to learn more about the product or service.

You determine this goal is attainable due to the fact you increased your number of qualified leads last quarter by 3%. 5% isn’t too much of a leap.

Your goal is relevant because you know it’ll help your business grow — it pushes you to make a greater impact on your team by contributing to the sales team’s ability to close more deals and boost revenue. Lastly, it’s timely because you’ve set this goal for the quarter.

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3. Conduct a SWOT analysis.

As mentioned above, part of any role in business development is to stay up-to-date on market and industry trends and understand your competition. This is where SWOT analysis comes in handy — SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The key to using SWOT analysis correctly is to have a clear goal in mind first.

For example, if your goal is to determine the best way to handle outreach with prospects, you can begin talking to your BDRs, sales reps, sales managers, and current customers about what works best for them.

Next, think about your strengths — what does your business do well? Maybe you have a large support team that provides helpful onboarding for new customers. Or you have several remote reps who can meet face-to-face with prospects in their desired location.

(You might have multiple strengths that make you stand out, so don’t be afraid to list them all and which ones have the greatest impact on your customers.)

Now, think about your weaknesses. Are your product’s limited offerings requiring some leads to consider your competition’s product in addition to yours? Is the need for your product growing faster than your production, or faster than you’re able to establish a large customer support team to assist your customers?

Onto your business opportunities. Think about where you’re going as a business and what you know you can accomplish. For example, maybe your business has recently partnered with another company that can help you boost brand awareness and attract a much broader base of leads and customers.

Lastly, who are your threats? Think about your current competition — who’s producing a product or service like yours and is attracting a similar target audience? Who could become your competition in the future — is there a market gap that another company (new or established) could identify the need for and begin selling?

SWOT analysis allows you to identify the ways your company can create opportunities to grow and expand. It also helps how you establish new processes to address any weaknesses or threats such as identifying more qualified leads, efficiently converting prospects into customers, and shortening the sales cycle.

4. Determine how you’ll measure success.

Depending on the SMART goals you created and the SWOT analysis you performed, you’ll also need to decide how you’re going to measure your business development success.

Here are some examples of common business development KPIs that can help you analyze your efforts:

• Company growth
• Changes in revenue
• Lead conversion rate
• Leads generated per month/ quarter/ predetermined time
• Prospect and customer satisfaction
• Pipeline value
• Reach

5. Set a budget.

Depending on the type of business development goals you set for the team, you may determine you need to set a budget. Consider your resources, the cost of any previous business development strategies you’ve developed, and other important operational line items (what you need, who’s involved, etc.).

Collaborate with the greater team to determine the amount you’re willing to, and need to, spend on business development to get the process started at your company.

6. Always keep your target audience in mind.

Whatever it is you’re working towards, keep your target audience and ideal prospects in mind. Assess their needs and understand exactly how your business and product or service will meet their pain points.

After all, this audience is the group who is most likely to buy your product. Make sure your plan addresses them and their needs so your team can convert more of them and grow your business.

7. Choose an outreach strategy.

As we’ve reviewed above, a major component of business development is finding new prospects and potential customers. To find new prospects, you’ll need to decide how you’ll perform outreach, or connect with these potential customers. Here are some ideas:

• Network
• Use referrals
• Upsell and cross-sell
• Sponsorship and advertisement

Also, review any expectations or guardrails related to outreach reps are held to so your business has only professional and on-brand interactions with prospects.

Congrats! You’ve just completed your business development plan — with your strategy and ideas, your business will be growing in no time.

Business Development Resources

1. HubSpot Sales Hub

Best for Businesses Interested in a Wide-Reaching, One-Stop Solution

HubSpot Sales Hub includes a suite of resources that enable more focused, effective business development. Features like email templates and email tracking lend themselves to well-targeted, productive prospecting.

Its conversational intelligence capabilities can provide invaluable insight into the “why” behind your BDRs’ overall performance — letting you pinpoint the strengths and flaws in key business development elements like your messaging and pain point assessments.

Sales Hub is a dynamic solution that covers a lot of bases for your sales org — including several beyond business development. But that wide range of applications doesn’t undermine its utility for BDRs and their managers. If you’re looking for a solution that addresses almost every component of successful business development, consider investing in HubSpot Sales Hub.

2. Bloobirds

Best for Businesses Interested in Keeping BDRs and Top-of-Funnel Activities on Track

Bloobirds is a sales engagement and playbook platform that guides SDRs and closing reps to convert more prospects into customers. It partners with your existing CRM — sitting on top of it to make it more functional for the sales team.

It eliminates admin tasks, makes selling more intuitive, and makes sure reps follow best plays with the in-app playbook’s help. Bloobirds helps sales teams flow through their pipeline — it also collects crucial data and creates competitive insights.

3. Leadfeeder

Best for Businesses Struggling to Generate High-Potential Leads

Leadfeeder is a powerful resource for enhancing a central element of any business development efforts — lead generation The platform helps you identify high-potential leads by automatically analyzing your website traffic.

The software removes ISP traffic to pin down visitors’ companies and gauge interest. It also lets you create behavioral and demographic filters for better-informed, more productive lead segmentation.

Successful business development often leans, in large part, on your ability to generate high-quality leads — so if you’re interested in effectively sourcing those contacts, you’ll need to invest in some sort of lead generation software. Leadfeeder is as good a place as any to start.

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4. LinkedIn

Best for Businesses Looking for a Free Way to Source Leads

LinkedIn is one of the most prominent, practical, effective resources for certain key elements of the business development process — namely, prospecting. The value behind leveraging social media for top-of-funnel sales activities isn’t exactly some well-kept secret.

Plenty of business development professionals already use channels like LinkedIn to source, screen, and connect with potential leads. Strides like scrolling through skill endorsements, using alumni searches, and engaging with users who have looked at your posts are all excellent ways to find interested prospects and enhance your business development efforts.

Business Development Helps You Grow Better

Business development is a crucial part of any successful company. It’s how you determine the best ways to boost revenue, identify your ideal prospects, generate more leads, and close more deals.

Think about how you can make a strong business development plan and ensure you have the right group of business development reps so you can begin growing your business today.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in July, 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.