What is Business Development Manager – Roles, Responsibilities, Salary & Useful Tools
- 19 February 2024
Business Development Manager (BDM) is one of the key figure in every thriving company. If you strive to become a BDM one day, you should get to know what roles and responsibilities Business Development Manager has. Let’s dive in the details of this job position and see how Dealavo can foster your work.
Introduction
Charged with the task of steering companies towards growth and expansion, BDMs operate at the intersection of strategy, market dynamics, and client relationships. A good Business Development Manager is a strategic thinker who can predict market trends and make wise decisions regarding business partnerships.
One of the key skills a decent Business Development Manager should possess is reading customers and competitors’ minds. What does it mean? It means that a good BDM is a person who knows exactly what their customers desire and what their competition is up to in the nearest future. That kind of knowledge is crucial for every Business Development Manager and enables constant business growth.
Role & Responsibilities of Business Development Manager
The role of a Business Development Manager is dynamic and multifaceted, demanding a blend of strategic vision, interpersonal skills, and proactive engagement to drive the continual growth of the business.
In the context of general responsibilities, Business Development Managers are tasked with a broad spectrum of duties to drive business growth. Those can vary widely based on the company’s profile, current market situation, potential methods of reaching new audiences and markets, and many other important factors.
The main tasks and duties BDMs need to carry on with include mostly:
- lead generation: generating lead translates into greater revenue for the company,
- identifying new market and business opportunities: finding new opportunities to tap into unexplored markets and making use of new business relations,
- nurturing customer relations: taking care of the most important customer profiles,
- giving specialised advice: providing expert knowledge both on products and on services offered by the company.
Many companies may also require their Business Development Managers to take on various daily activities, such as:
- networking,
- customer interactions,
- events participation,
- reports producing,
- training business developers,
- financial forecasting.
Of course, that is just an example list of what most BDMs might be expected to take care of on a regular basis, but it can all vary from company to company.
Business Development Manager Salary
The remuneration for Business Development Managers varies across regions and industries. Exploring the average earnings provides valuable insights into the industry standards. Factors such as experience, skills, and business achievements significantly affect the final salary.
When we scan Business Development Manager job offers, we can see that the pay vary from around £25,000 to about £70,000 per year (roughly 30,000-90,000 USD). What’s more, BDMs may also be paid differently in different industries. Of course, IT and tech companies pay the most. Here, Business Development Managers’ monthly earnings can reach £75,000, and it will rarely go below £50,000. However, BDM working in other sectors may not be able to score higher than £40,000 or £50,000, regardless of their professional experience or skills.
The amount of remuneration may also depend on your place of work. As for the UK, London-based companies are more likely to pay slightly more than companies from other regions of the country (about £10K-£15K higher in the capital). However, if you live in the USA, the median for the Business Developer Manager earnings is even higher, reaching more than 130,000 USD (as of January 2024).
Tools for Business Development Managers
Tools for BDMs encompass a diverse range of technologies and platforms designed to streamline processes, enhance efficiency, and facilitate strategic decision-making. Let’s delve into some of the indispensable tools that empower BDMs to excel in their roles.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems
CRMs provide centralised platforms for managing interactions with clients and prospects. They enable BDMs to track leads, nurture relationships, and gain valuable insights into customer preferences and behaviours. By maintaining a comprehensive database of contacts and communications, CRM systems empower Business Development Managers to tailor their approaches and optimise their engagement strategies. A good example of such a useful tool is Salesforce – a versatile tool for both smaller and larger companies that helps you make smart decisions thanks to the AI-enhanced processing.
Data Analysis Tools
Data analysis tools equip BDMs with the capability to discern patterns, identify trends, and make informed decisions based on empirical evidence. Whether it’s conducting market research, analysing competitor performance, or evaluating sales metrics, these tools provide BDMs with the intelligence they need to stay ahead of the curve and capitalise on emerging opportunities.
One of the most popular e-commerce analytics tools is Google Analytics. It offers large amounts of data that can be analysed for further decision-making processes as a Business Development Manager. It also has more advanced features (called Google Analytics Enhanced Ecommerce) for better control over sales funnels.
Communication Platforms
Communication platforms, encompassing email, instant messaging, video conferencing, and collaborative workspaces, facilitate seamless interactions both internally and externally. By fostering clear and efficient communication channels, these platforms enable BDMs to collaborate with colleagues, engage with clients, and forge meaningful connections that drive business growth.
The choice is really huge when it comes to tools for business/team communication. Slack, Discord, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and many other pieces of software are there for BDMs to pick their favs, depending on what they actually need at work.
Project Management Tools
Another crucial group of tools for a Business Development Manager job are project management tools that can greatly boost your project-managing skills and capabilities. Usually, this type of programs lets you multitask like a true professional without much effort. You can quickly check the status of all the projects you supervise, assign people to certain tasks within the said projects, add new objectives, create priority lists, and plan important events.
Many project management tools also feature integrations with the most popular communication applications, like, for example, Slack, Messenger, What’sApp, Microsoft Teams, and others. That can make your BDM’s works much easier and quicken all the bothersome processes of reaching out to your colleagues and team members with all the important information about the projects. To list just a few such tools, you can check out Trello, Airtable, or Mural, and see, which (if any) of them suits your needs best.
Price Monitoring Tools
Last but not least, one more significant aspect of working as a Business Development Manager is forging solid pricing strategies regarding your competitors’ moves and market trends.
It would be extremely painful and time-consuming to track your competition and adjust your prices manually, though. That’s why there are some really useful price monitoring tools for e-commerce that can greatly smoothen all these bothersome activities, additionally supporting you with their AI-powered algorithms.
One of such tools is Dealavo – a global-reach price intelligence tool. It not only lets you track your competitors, but also features a bunch of useful API integrations with various e-commerce platforms (e.g. WooCommerce or Shopware) as well as popular marketplaces (e.g. Google Shopping, Amazon, eBay).
Dealavo as a Key Tool for Business Development Managers
Dealavo is an innovative e-commerce monitoring software that revolutionises the way Business Development Managers navigate the intricacies of the market landscape.
Our tool features a wide variety of options that can greatly boost any e-commerce business. One of the most popular services are:
- Dynamic Pricing – an advanced pricing method in which market dynamics and predetermined rules are used to modify prices,
- price alerts – fully customizable price alerts that can be delivered to your e-mail inbox whenever even the slightest price change occurs,
- API integrations – convenient integrations with most popular e-commerce software, platforms, and marketplaces, such as WooCommerce, Magento, Shopify, Shopware, Amazon, Google Shopping, and others,
- Competitor’s Assortment Report – an advanced reports features that lets you know about the availability of your competitors’ products or give you insights into what brands are coming into spotlight in your industry.
Dealavo has already helped numerous companies with their growth, boosting their market position with its AI-powered pricing algorithms. Companies like x-kom (a Polish chain of stores selling electronic devices) or Dibaq Poland (company that makes and sells food for cats and dogs) use Dealavo’s functionalities to monitor the market and make strategic decisions regarding further development. Dealavo provides data, such as competitors’ activity and dynamic market changes, which is crucial for many vital marketing moves (as stated by both x-kom and Dibaq representatives).
Case Study: Adrenaline.pl
Adrenaline.pl is a Polish chain of sports shops that sells a wide selection of sports gear across the country. They came to Dealavo with a task to help them run their Google Shopping campaigns for the retail customers. As the result of Dealavo’s support, Adrenaline.pl has boosted its Google Shopping Campaign ROAS by 29% over the course of just one month.
How did they do it? Dealavo helped them to increase their ROAS by smartly adjusting their prices on Google Shopping to fit their fierce competition on the market. The algorithms had to do a little juggling between the optimal margins and appropriate values of the products sold, so the task wasn’t easy. You can watch a short YouTube video with Bartosz Idzikowski who explains how Dealavo has managed to boost Adrenaline.pl’s competitiveness.
Check how Dealavo works
Conclusions
Being a Business Development Manager requires one to possess not only good interpersonal skills, but also vast knowledge about the e-commerce landscape. The ability to make quick decisions regarding pricing strategies and business growth is crucial in the ever-changing e-commerce environment.
By utilizing cutting-edge tools like Dealavo, Business Development Managers can unlock the full potential of their strategic initiatives. Check out Dealavo by yourself with our free 7-day trial version. Provide your e-mail and request a demo to test if our tool satisfies your needs.
