What is Business Development?

Business Development is essentially what the job title suggests. Professionals in this field help businesses develop by finding them new customers and clients, and securing new sales and partnerships via various revenue channels. Business Development professionals work within the office and face-to-face meeting customers. Their work often takes them to conferences and meetings for networking, which can be crucial to aiding business expansion.

Since Business Development roles are integral to business success, they often work to their own schedule, answering only to the company higher-ups. They will likely have sales quotas to meet to help guide their work, with emphasis also placed on maintaining good relationships with current customers.

What is Account Management & Customer Success?

Both Account Management and Customer Success Management professionals work to build relationships with clients to ensure satisfaction and retention, but their roles are slightly different. An Account Manager will manage an existing customer’s sales account and sell them the products and services they need to enable them to improve. They will research a client’s company and its objectives in order to see what products and services will best help them meet those goals, and pitch these to them.

Conversely, a Customer Success Manager will onboard clients, working closely with them to address any questions or issues they have with existing products or services. They will also train clients on how to use such products—e.g. software applications—enabling businesses to run as efficiently as possible. However, although there are acute differences between the two there are many overlaps as well, meaning many job roles will contain a mix of the core tasks highlighted above.

Salary information and career progression

• Opportunity

  Employer demand for Business Development and Sales is high around the country, and there are plenty of roles available to fill.

  Account Management and Customer Success roles are in huge demand. A 2018 study by LinkedIn found that Customer Success and Account Management jobs were the third and tenth most promising job roles around respectively. This is no surprise when you consider the importance of client retention to a company’s success, so those with the right skills should have no trouble securing themselves a role in these areas.

• Recent Changes in the Sector

  A recent major change to the Business Development and Sales sector is a move away from commission-based salaries. This is because customers have become distrustful of salespeople who may only be encouraging them to make purchases for the commission. This change means Sales professionals can build more genuine relationships with customers based on what they really need, as well as begin to make the transition to consultancy based roles.

  One way the Account Management landscape is being altered is through increased use of software and tools allowing direct collaboration with clients. These tools also allow for a more proactive management approach in order to identify the priority needs for individual clients as well as planning campaigns month in advance in order to add value and ensure a transparent relationship with the client.

• Future Prospects

  Sales departments usually have rigorous promotion structures. In Sales, you will always have the chance to be promoted if you deliver the right results.

  Future prospects for Account Managers and Customer Success Managers depend massively on performance. Both have the chance to gain salary rises or promotions if their work is good, and next steps in your career path will likely lead to Account Director roles.

• Salt’s advice for getting a role in Business Development & Sales Role

  Employers’ requirements

  Most employers expect a lot from Business Development and Sales Executives. You will need to demonstrate that you can maintain current customer relationships whilst establishing new ones, and even advise on future product developments. You’ll also need to know about collecting customer data and market information.

  To flourish in an Account Management or Customer Success Management role, there are certain abilities you’ll need. For both, excellent communication skills are required, as you’ll either be pitching to clients or explaining to them how certain products work. Analytical skills are also a must, as Account Managers will be required to research into which products and services are most suitable for a client, whilst Customer Success Managers will need to analyse whether existing products should be updated or not. You’ll also need the ability to work under pressure, as well as project management skills.

  CV requirements

  Above everything it is important for candidates to have communication skills and the ability sell services and products, even if they are complicated. It can also be useful to know foreign languages, as businesses increasingly market to global customers.

  Employers will want to see proven experience of working with a portfolio of accounts and a good track record of meeting targets—e.g sales targets for an Account Manager. For both roles, you should be able to show how exactly products you pitched to or educated clients on have benefited them, using figures to back these assertions up.

  Interview preparation

  Personality plays a huge role in Business Development and Sales, so interviewers will be looking to find out as much as they can about what you are like as a person. Questions you may be asked include:

  1) Which is more important: happy customers or meeting your targets?
  2) What is this company’s target market?
  3) What is your least favourite part of the sales process?
  4) How would former clients describe you?
  5) What could our company could do better with, sales-wise?

  Educational requirements

  In most cases, employers will value personality, communication skills and commercial awareness over academic qualifications. A degree in business, marketing or technology can be useful, though, especially if you want to enter a graduate scheme.