Business Developer is a generalist sales role in startups that attracts a lot of talent. Its main mission? Discover new business opportunities and then convert them into customers.
The Business Developer Digital Is a general salesperson who develops turnover of a startup using innovative tools and means.
It is also sometimes called Business Developer 360°, in particular because it intervenes throughout the sales cycle: from the prospecting of new customer accounts to their closing (the signature of the contract). On the other hand, for example, the Sales Development Representatives do not do customer appointments. Les Account Managers as for them, they recover the management of a customer account after only their “closing”.
Many Akimbers thus become Business Developers after their Bootcamp at Akimbo.
Business Developer is the Swiss Army knife position for a sales team. Inevitably gifted for digital prospecting, it is both animated by a Spirit of conquest and equipped with a great relationship. Find out in this Job sheet this position, its challenges and advice for (future) Business Developers in order to explode their company's turnover.
Digital Business Developer: the definition
What is a Business Developer? Meaning of the word and translation
Chez Akimbo, we answer this question every day:” What is Business Developer? ” In one sentence, the Business Developer (BizDev, business development manager) is a generalist salesperson in Tech or Digital.
It is one veritable Swiss Army knife because it most often intervenes in everything the sales cycle : since the prospecting of new customers (Leads) until closing, always with the aim of developing the startup's turnover.
To carry out these missions, he uses in particular automation tools (sequences of emails, LinkedIn messages and calls), and he often has to create his own commercial data himself.
It is generally found in startups of less than 50 to 70 employees. Then, the position often disappears: that is, it is segmented into different roles to execute prospecting, customer appointments, loyalty... These are respectively positions of Sales Development Representatives, Account Executives and Account Managers. To find out more about these different positions, go see the job sheets at the end of the page!
What is Business Development?
In theory, Business Development and Sales are two complementary blocks to develop the commercial activity of a start-up. Business Development then intervenes. front The Sales. In practice, it will be seen that the two terms are very often mixed.
Business Development (or Commercial Development) pursues several objectives:
- the “go-to-market”: choice of a customer target and messages to address it, positioning on the market. This is in order to increase the number of people who are aware of the product/service in question.
- The lead prospecting through the execution of prospecting sequences
- The qualification of needs Prospects (leads) to determine their interest in the solution
In theory, the Sales then takes over. Its aim is to convert prospects (Leads, business opportunities) in customers, mainly during customer appointments. Its field of activity extends from advanced qualification (definition of technical needs, etc.) to negotiation, up to closing.
In practice : there is rarely a distinction between Sales and Business Development. In France, a Sales person can do prospecting very well. If you want to know more about our training courses to become Sales or Business Developer, at Akimbo you find all your answers.
What is the role and the missions of a Digital Business Developer?
The main role of a Business Developer is to detect business opportunities And of the convert into customers. In other words, its primary mission is to develop sales by looking for new customers, in order to gain growth.
To do this, he starts by helping to write the commercial plan, in order to put in place a lasting strategy. This mission leads her to be in close contact with decision-makers (e.g. sales director), but also with the various departments of the company.
He then quickly got to the heart of the matter by executing the business development plan : in particular via prospecting sequences. It also continues to identify new growth drivers, he takes responsibility for commercial issues and negotiates trade agreements.
Each of its actions must produce added value in the short and long term. Thus, he ensures the smooth running of commercial operations, uses his skills to retain and satisfy the structure's customers and partners.
Concretely, its missions boil down to:
- Develop a commercial strategy and business plan (5% - 10%)
- Manage and execute the development plan (60%)
- Negotiating contracts (20%)
- Know how to communicate with other company stakeholders (10%)
- When he is also in charge of the Account Management component: building customer loyalty and developing long-term partnerships
Digital Bizdev's business tools
To help him in his mission, the Business Developer uses numerous tools. The only must-have is the CRM, the customer relationship management tool. For example: Salesforce, Hubspot, Pipedrive, Zoho.
In the CRM, all the information on its prospects and customers is gathered. CRM also offers the possibility of automating tasks, such as follow-up emails, or even retrieving the history of past exchanges.
Other tools also come to equip our Tech sales representative, such as customization and automation tools for prospecting, a To-do tool (e.g. Todoist), or even tools from Marketing Automation.
To name a few: Lusha, LinkedIn, Dropcontact, Lemlist, Aircall, etc.
The idea is to gain efficiency and precious time that will be invested elsewhere.
What are the qualities of a good Business Developer?
What is a good business developer?
Business Developers are the An essential part of any startup and their performance is monitored by management more than that of any other team. Their success is even more important: converting the potential value of the product into added value.
The qualities of a good Business Developer are very specific to him. She is a person who does not give up in the face of any challenge. There can be moments of doubt when a prospect is not convinced by a solution, goals are not being met, etc.
So you have to be able to Show determined, of keep a cool head And of stay lucid, to take a step back and analyze the situation. Demonstrate resiliency at all levels is a major asset.
Other qualities stand out: determination, attentiveness, organization and rigor.
- The determination :
Digital Business Developer is a job that requires an excellent mind. On a daily basis, he can face numerous rejections as well as great successes, even if they are by nature rarer. As an athlete, he must learn to overcome his failures. Putting your emotions aside is a real quality and allows you to form a conquering mind.
- Listening :
A Business Developer is distinguished by a great ability to listen and empathize. He is the leader of an exchange with a prospect, using relevant questions and puts the prospect in conditions to know the challenges. That's where persuasion starts.
- Organization and rigor :
Business Developer is the most complete job in a start-up because it covers the entire sales cycle. It must therefore be organized and rigorous.
He is the direct representative of the company he works for. A mistake can quickly create a domino effect.
As he exchanges daily with a multitude of people, he must log his activities in a CRM to visualize his performance and quickly find the thread of his last interactions. In addition, he is confronted with prospects with different levels of maturity. His efforts to attract prospects therefore vary a lot. This is where rigor is an asset that has its place among those mentioned above.
How to be a good Bizdev?
Being a good Business Developer is first and foremost perfectly know its market and its product/service to define the company's commercial policy and prospect. He is able to analyze the field and identify potential opportunities, new needs and possible new market trends.
In this way, it seeks to change the business plan and never builds on previous achievements or successes. The idea is to create value over time and to take risks. The more experienced he is, the more he will be able to take a step back, analyze and make the right decisions. Above all, he is a fine strategist before being operational.
Hence the need to be well organized in terms of strategy execution : in addition to being a complete salesperson, he succeeds in juggling the many tasks that are given to him. Prospecting, negotiating, appointments... So many missions that make her daily life dynamic and challenging. A good Business Developer is essential, he knows how to manage his time and anticipate in order to prioritize his actions. He knows how to coordinate his efforts and successfully manage and run the project.
Of course, he must not lose sight of the goals to be achieved.
The Digital Business Developer also covers dimensions that revolve around the sales position, such as marketing and communication, and some financial or even legal concepts . It is from open nature, versatile, and must have a strategic vision beyond commercial issues. Since the position crosses several fronts at the same time, his sales manager will expect him to Faced with proof of perseverance and composure, but also that he is able to work in a team in humility and benevolence. The company's success also lies in Soft Skills.
In addition, needless to say that he is the most exposed window, which is why it is interesting to know how to sell his personal image in order to benefit the reputation of the structure for which he works.
How do I become a Digital Business Developer?
Business Dev. - skills required
Recruiters expect Business Developers to have a wide range of professional skills to perform this job. It is therefore a complete job, and one of the reasons why the profiles of ex-entrepreneurs are highly sought after, making good Bizdevs. In addition to advanced commercial skills, he is required to perform numerous tasks directly related to sales such as prospecting, negotiation, market research and in-depth knowledge of its product or service.
It has this agility and seeks the optimization of Business model keeping an eye on his team and the successful execution of the missions allocated.
The Business Dev., is invited to pitch solutions, present its performances, feasibility and the success of projects. It is therefore necessary to have excellent communication. This idea is not new: a Business Developer will always be confronted with external and internal interlocutors. The art of communicating, and a great sense of listening, are sources of efficiency and influence results in a positive way regardless of the sector of activity and industry of your company.
Les soft skills, who have a place in this list of skills, are also sensitive to the business and digital world: project management, always wanting to learn new techniques to be as autonomous as possible, developing a creative spirit to never run out of ideas and innovation.
Business degrees and training required
Today, there are very few university courses to become a Digital Business Developer. Business schools often offer business management courses, but they are general and not practical. Only short and specific courses allow you to learn this profession. Fortunately, they are accessible to all types of profiles. Their particularity: intensive programs, and often a permanent contract as a result, as with Akimbo.
In general, recruitment managers in a company prefer employees with a Sales background, or a Business school Or a Engineering school on the resume. With, for the most part, knowledge in management or marketing.
Becoming a Digital Business Developer - What studies?
Becoming a Business Developer In digital, it is join a profession in the midst of a revolution. An observation shared by co-founders of Akimbo (formerly Humind School, located in Paris), who created the first Sales & Business Development school in Digital: these jobs represent 30% of startup positions.
Numerous courses (bac+2 or bac+3 or in retraining) allow you to join the digital world. For business development jobs, they are rare, although many positions open up every year.
Akimbo you allows you to integrate training in the form of Bootcamp intensive. This course prepares you for Sales and Business Development jobs, including Business Developer. The Bootcamp is based on a model that is unique in Europe: its cost is reimbursed for participants who join a partner company. In return: admission is selective.
In a nutshell, the Bootcamp:
- Offers you 2 months of training to become efficient throughout the sales cycle and become a Business Developer;
- Allows you to unhook a CDI thanks to interviews that We trigger among our 250+ partner startups;
- Brings you a big mastery of the tools required in the BizDev business.
Want to dig a little deeper into the subject? Here is a list of Best practices to adopt to find the best training adapted to your needs:
- Browse the brochures and discover the detailed program (s);
- Contact school Alumni and get their direct feedback (on LinkedIn, for example);
- Find out about the school's network of partner companies;
- Read reviews on Google, Facebook, etc.;
- Participate in events such as webinars;
- Browse the school's website and contact them if necessary.
Appropriate jobs and retraining profiles
There is no no particular career paths or typical profiles to become a Business Developer. Some of our Alumni were former athletes, lawyers, lawyers, finances, soldiers, restaurant owners, etc.
What we remember as a training organization is that the people with the most potential to become a Business Developer stand out for their curiosity and interest in commercial professions. But also those who have developed the essential qualities of a good salesperson throughout their career.
What career developments are there for this position?
Being a Business Developer in a company (TPE, SME or ETI) or startup is already a high-profile position in the organization of the company.
Evolution can lead to target more and more important businesses and thus claim greater responsibilities and a higher salary.
The more the candidate advances in their professional career, the more they can qualify for management positions such as Sales Director or Head of Sales (sales manager). He can also try the adventure in sectors of activity where the challenges are significant.
Changes are also possible to more specific positions to specialize (move towards Sales Ops, etc.). Many Business Developers also decide to create their own startup or company.
The key advantage of a Business Developer is that he is in constant contact with numerous prospects and partners, thus growing his network.
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What is the salary for a Business Developer?
How much does a Digital Business Developer earn?
The Salary for a Business Developer A permanent contract varies according to its ability to develop the company's sales. In the vast majority of cases, the salary respects a package system.
The package is the addition of two parts: the fixed salary and the variable salary. The sum of the two is equal to the total remuneration. For example, with a fixed amount of €35k and a variable of €10k, the package amounts to €45k.
Variable remuneration is calculated by the Head of Sales and/or the CEO so that the 20% to 25% of the most efficient employees receive 100% of the variable. On average, the part of the variable is around 30%, even if she often reaches up to 50%.
A junior profile on a permanent contract (commercial or junior Business Developer) will not receive the same salary as a senior profile (plus sales director).
The salary also takes into account several factors : the business model, the level of experience, fundraising, the sector of activity, the languages mastered, the cities (Paris, Marseille, Lyon) and your ability to negotiate it. Indeed, a large part of salespeople do not make the effort to Negotiate their salary while it's a good way to prove your worth, his negotiation skills and especially of Earn more over the next few months. You have everything to gain!
Junior Business Developer Salary
For Junior Business Developers, the remuneration is generally between €35k and €45k gross in a package, with a variable around 10-12k € gross.
Senior Business Developer Salary
Senior Business Developers, with more than 5 years of experience, can qualify for a package ranging from 60 k€ to 100 k€ gross per year, with a larger portion of the variable.
The different jobs in Business Development
The titles you need to know
- SDR : Sales Development Representative
- BDR : Business Development Representative
- BD or BizDev : Business Developer
- AM : Account manager
- AE : Account Executive
- IS : Inside Sales
- CSM : Customer Success Manager
What is a Sales Development Representative? (SDR)
Upstream of the sales cycle, The Sales Development Representative Its vocation to generate Leads in Outbound, of treat The leads Inbound, and the qualify to trigger customer appointments for the Sales team. In theory, SDR should focus on leads Inbound, but it's rarely known to recruiters.
What is Representative Business Development (BDR)
The Business Development Representative, for his part, is responsible for focusing on Leads outbound (prospecting). It is The role of hunter par excellence.
What is a Business Developer Manager? (BDM)
Business Development Manager (BDM) and Business Developer (Bizdev) a different job title for the same job. Like the business developer, the BDM is in charge of business acquisition strategy (360° commercial)). Service companies (communication, consulting, etc.) will more easily use the title of BDM when startups prefer that of Bizdev.
Our advice for entering the right job offer
Find a Business Developer Job
Just by writing Business Developer On a job search platform, you can easily find yourself overwhelmed by thousands of offers.
Determining at first glance whether this or that offer is attractive is not easy. We will then present to you the Best practices to select the right job offer and some tips for Succeed in your job search
Find a job in a startup requires using the right tools and looking in the right place. First, be sure to search on reliable job platforms. Some post ads without any prior verification. Remain vigilant. To avoid delaying your research, choose recognized sites such as Welcome To The Jungle or JobTeaser.
When you select an offer to discover its content, the first few seconds allow you to get a small idea of the credibility and relevance of the information. Is the offer well-thought-out? Does it follow a logical structure? Do I have the right data, the data I need? are these the questions to ask yourself?
It is important to keep a critical mind when learning about the business. Several criteria must be taken into account:
- The team and the management style employed: vision, values and ambitions;
- The sector of activity: FoodTech, HealthTech, FinTech? ;
- Business size: number of employees, fund raising, investor profiles,...;
- Professional support: increased competence, Onboarding,...;
- The culture of the company: What is being put in place to pace business life?
Then, it is important to take an interest in the job itself by deciphering the information that is given: what responsibilities, missions, what tools? Is it more like Leads incoming or hunting? What sales cycle? Would I be in charge of maintaining the customer portfolio or would I rather be in charge of customer appointments?
Asking these questions is a crucial step in order to concretely understand what is expected, because not everyone necessarily has the same definition of Business Developer.
With all these elements of the job offer in mind, Make sure you match the profile you are looking for. If you don't check all the required boxes, that's not dramatic. In some cases, motivation clearly takes over.
Les Soft Skills and the qualities sought must also be taken into account, because these are among the “pluses” that can make a difference compared to another candidate. It's just as important as professional experiences.
When looking for your first or second job, you can quickly get lost. How do you go about it? What are the steps to apply? If this is the case for you, we have prepared a short summary of steps to land a dirty job interview.
Optimize your application by sending a CV and especially an attractive cover letter! They have to be clean, well organized and without any spelling mistakes. Your resume will allow you to show your legitimacy while your business developer cover letter will be there to support, reassure and transform. They will be your best allies and must be in your image or rather, the one you want to give to your recruiter.
Finally, get ready for interviews! You are a salesperson, you must know how to sell and know how to sell yourself. To successfully complete the interview, we have set up 10 golden rules to make sure you're ready on D-Day You know that the first impression is essential, it's up to you to put all the odds in your favor.
We are used to giving to the Akimbers we train 5 tips for their job interviews. Prove yourself from the start of the interview by showing your skills and competencies, be yourself, you will be confident!
Find an internship or an apprenticeship as a Business Developer
For Find an alternation Or a Business Developer Internship, it is sensibly the same approach. Especially since it is a chance to discover sectors that attract you at first sight and to be directly confronted with reality. But it is necessary to be even more attentive to the quality of management, which is difficult to estimate for a junior Business Developer.
How do you recruit a good Business Developer?
30 to 40% of open positions in startups in France are intended for Business Developers. France, but not only has been suffering in recent years A shortage of Business Developers. The need for recruitment is felt and the hunt for talent is particularly competitive.
For find and recruit the best talent, startups are eager to well-trained profiles, operational quickly and goal-oriented. The 3 main needs are:
- Business Developer, SDR/BDR;
- Sales Executive, Account Manager, or Account Executive;
- Sales Manager/VP Sales.
To categorize the profiles, we identify three profiles:
- Les Sales Juniors, from 0 to 2 years of experience, who have done SDR/BDR and who want to evolve into more responsibilities beyond pure prospecting or qualification;
- The Business Developers, who have 0 to 4 years of experience in a company or startup with similar missions and responsibilities that are expected for the position in question and who wish to embark on a new adventure;
- Experienced Sales, more than 5 to 7 years of experience, who want to evolve into a managerial position in a startup/scaleup.
The problem is that a gap exists between the two extremes: the considerable lack of Business Developers and junior and senior talent.
To distinguish between good and bad profiles in the recruitment process, you need to assess the signals revelators of the quality of the candidate. Will it become an indispensable player capable of evaluating and anticipating opportunities?
- Be objective and performance oriented. Show your motivation and your taste for challenge;
- Enjoy constant contact with the field and be able to seize any opportunity, especially by telephone;
- Show humility and listen to the client and his team (coachability);
- Possess a diploma/training related to the profession (such as a Sales Bootcamp or studies in business school);
- Past professional experiences - if the candidate succeeds in creating the link between his past and future missions;
- The progression curve within a society.
In order to identify these signals, you need to think about constantly challenge the candidate. It will be easier to unmask the in-laws and compare the candidate's performances with those of his former collaborators. The “business game” stage is absolutely essential for this purpose.
Also, consider grouping together opinions on the candidate. The interviews Team Fit allow your team to form opinions and share them with you, in addition to reference sockets all as mandatory as you will have to perform. If the candidate is hesitant to give you the references of his former employers, there is reason to ask serious questions...
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