Explore Business Development Executive Roles and Responsibilities in 2024

Explore all the roles and responsibilities of a Business Development Executive.

If you are in sales or are a Business Development Associate, an executive position is the next logical direction. Known as the Business Development Executive (BDE), it is a mid-or senior-level sales role, depending on the size of the organisation.

Among the primary business development executive roles and responsibilities is identifying and retaining clients for sustained company growth and revenue.

Learn more about the BDE job description and requirements today. 

Who is a Business Development Executive?

A business development executive identifies opportunities and develops strategies to expand a company in a dynamic business environment. They play a crucial role in negotiating contracts and implementing sales strategies. 

BDE professionals collaborate with sales and marketing departments and product development teams regularly. They ensure the company’s offerings align with the customer and market demands. 

This role is strategic and operational, just like sales or account executives. The following sections will discuss the job description of a BDE and their skills in detail. 

Business Development Executive Roles and Responsibilities

Here are the following duties of a BDE. Some duties may seem similar to sales executives, but this is a mid-level role with more managerial and cross-departmental responsibilities.

• Identifying business opportunities by generating leads and building relationships with clients for company growth
• Understanding the needs of clients and providing the right solutions that help them through effective presentations
• Analysing and researching new trends in the market relevant to the company
• Attending networking events to source and pitch to potential clients and promoting products or services of the company that helps them
• Knowing the company’s vision and mission
• Knowing the product to create demos for customers and move the sales cycle forward
• Understanding client requirements and feedback
• Implementing effective business and sales strategies by working closely with sales and marketing teams, and reporting to senior management
• Documenting sales contracts that comply with legal requirements
• Following up on sales inquiries
• Mentoring and training entry-level sales professionals in the company and helping them manage Key Result Areas (KRAs) 
• Tracking the performance of sales and business decisions and meeting targets
• Managing administrative duties, including updating data on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software like Salesforce, or using email marketing tools
• Identifying weaknesses and strengths of the company 
• Allocating resources and budget to sales and marketing departments

Basic Requirements of Becoming a Business Development Executive

You can find BDE jobs across India with companies requiring these professionals with at least 3 to 8 years of experience. Graduates from marketing, sales, and business administration are preferable, but the role is not limited to them. Anyone with a graduate degree with a penchant for negotiating, persuading, and mass speaking, and some years of sales experience can become a business development executive.

Below are some qualifying requirements and skills expected in a business development executive role. 

Communication Skills

It broadly covers business communication, negotiation, persuasion, emotional intelligence, presentation, and interpersonal relationships. 

Business development executives must articulate information clearly, and even listen and empathise.  Apart from strong verbal skills, the professional must be able to write concise information in reports and emails.

And since the BDE has to present information accurately, they must be able to use presentation tools, including MS Office suite, Tableau, and similar. 

Don't forget to check the free MS Office courses to take!

All in all, the business development executive must be able to develop and maintain relationships with clients. Building rapport, negotiating contracts, visiting networking events, pitching ideas to potential customers, etc., are necessary. 

Marketing Skills

Business development executives need to work closely with marketing teams. 

They must be able to make use of the market environment to assess how their company’s offerings are helpful to the customer as well as better than the competitors. Marketing research is crucial. 

Business development executives also need to generate leads, so they must have the knowledge of the basics of digital marketing covering content, social media, and emails. 

Do explore the free digital marketing courses to learn basics fast!

They must be aware of how leads generate at the top of the marketing funnel, and discuss sales strategies to help them through the bottom of the funnel. 

Even, concepts such as branding and market positioning are important for business development executives to learn and apply.

These professionals need a broad understanding of marketing, overall. 

Sales Skills

Prospecting, relationship building, consultative selling, sales pipeline management, and problem-solving are the key sales skills in the role of business development. 

The business development executive needs to have skills in identifying potential customers. They must be good at building strong professional relationships through industry events, develop referral programmes, etc.

These professionals are like sales executives who must have strong skills in setting up effective sales pitches so that clients or customers convert. 

Working knowledge of amazing customer service through follow-up emails, evaluating customer needs, quick issue resolution, and the like, are expected from BDEs. 

Time Management Skills

Time management cannot be overlooked among BDEs. These professionals must be able to develop daily to monthly schedules, create meetings with product development, marketing, and sales teams and with senior management. Delegation of tasks to freshers and ensuring they are able to complete tasks on time is also a major requirement. 

Pick up some time management books! 

Leadership Skills

Leadership is a primary quality many companies look for when hiring a business development executive. They not only have to communicate with cross-functional teams, but also be able to influence and collaborate with them. 

As the business environment is dynamic, they must also possess the skills to manage change effectively. 

Become a Business Development Executive Today

You will need some years of working experience in sales or business development to become one. But you can also take up courses such as Certified Business Development Executive on VSkills, or International Marketing: Selection and Market Entry Strategies on FutureLearn. These certifications will boost your career in no time!
To move up in your business development career, have a look at the wide range of business development manager courses online.