Business Development Professionals: What Skills Do You Need?

Business development is the act of growing a business and developing it over time. While this is the aim of any business, recruiters hire business development professionals specifically for this purpose, to analyze business processes and design and implement strategies to grow it. You might work as a business development professional as an internal employee or an external consultant or contractor. 

It’s a steadily growing field. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)  projects jobs for management consultants, who also analyze businesses and recommend improvements, to grow 10 percent from 2022 to 2032 [1]. Explore the skills you’ll need to start planning your path forward. 

7 essential business development skills 

Working in business development requires a range of skills, including adaptability, because you likely work across departments in different business areas. The role involves higher-level analysis and strategy development to identify growth opportunities, generate leads, and implement changes within the business. 

No matter the business, several specific skills are essential to delivering results and thriving in your position. Explore each in greater detail below. 

1. Good communication 

Communication skills are essential in any role, but they’re particularly essential in business development. Effective communication with customers, clients, and stakeholders, negotiation of leads, and clear communication of information are critical parts of the process. 

Communicating with people at various levels is vital, as you’ll be talking to customers, executive-level associates, and other employees. It’s important that you adapt your communication style accordingly to build relationships, ensure a clear understanding, and get feedback. 

In addition, your role includes negotiating and convincing people to invest, collaborate, and make good deals, which all rely on excellent communication skills.

2. Presentation skills 

Along with excellent communication skills come excellent presentation skills. In business development, clearly communicating your ideas and findings to various audiences is important. It requires translating complex information into material that your audience can understand and presenting it professionally and confidently. As a business development professional, you’ll work with a lot of data and metrics to support your findings and suggestions. It is essential to take that data and transform it into easily understood information. 

3. Research and data analysis 

In business development, you will examine a business by analyzing its processes and strategizing ways to improve and meet business needs to increase return on investment (ROI). Accomplishing this goal involves a great deal of data analysis and research. It also requires research and analysis of the market and competitors to understand and keep up to date with market trends that will enable you to help grow and develop a business.

4. Writing skills

Business development professionals also need to communicate well in writing with customers by supporting marketing efforts and coming up with innovative ways to reach customers. This can mean taking on some writing skills to really get a message across and forge effective connections and partnerships.

5. Sales skills

Business development and sales are not the same, but you will find some cross-overs. Additionally, business development professionals often work closely with the sales team. In business development, you strive to understand trends, identify new markets, and generate leads. Therefore, sales skills are helpful to have as a way to understand the process that you are feeding into. In addition, sales skills allow you to build on your negotiation skills, communication skills, and the ability to build relationships, which are integral to business development.

6. Successful negotiation 

Negotiation skills are an essential part of business development and tie in with sales skills. Being able to generate leads, gain investment, form effective partnerships, and attract new customers involves persuading, convincing, and negotiating terms and deals. You might interact in these ways with banks, other businesses, and customers. 

7. Professional decision-making in a fast-paced environment 

Business opportunities are often time-sensitive, so making decisions quickly and under pressure is vital. Decision-making in a fast-paced environment involves gathering and analyzing details quickly and trusting your experience and instincts to decide without too much deliberation. It’s also a case of being quick to sort out any problems that occur efficiently by thinking on the spot and being strategic in your approach. 

How to gain more skills

Gaining business development skills comes through a process of education and experience. To work in business development, you generally need at least a bachelor's degree, with some employers preferring a master’s level qualification for more senior positions. 

Studying business gives you both knowledge and skills and practical experience if you do an internship. Possible degrees and majors to consider include sales, business administration, marketing, and entrepreneurship.

In addition to completing an internship, gaining experience in business, customer service, and sales will help you build the skills you need to work in business development. You might also consider studying for relevant certificates to boost your knowledge and enhance your resume. For example, you can find various business-related courses on Coursera that help you develop the basics and beyond, including Business Foundations Specialization, delivered by Wharton Online. 

Salary expectations   

As well as an above-average job outlook, working in business development can mean above-average salaries. Different roles command different salaries, and positions vary in seniority. You can also gain entry into business development roles through working in sales, customer service, and business development. Examples of business development positions with average annual base salaries include:

• Business development manager: $98,960 [2]

• Senior business manager: $137,446 [3]

• Business development specialist: $66,194 [4]

• Director of business development: $130,305 [5]

• Business development consultant: $78,550 [6]

Getting started with Coursera

Business development has many crossovers with sales roles, but they complement each other's work. If you’re considering entering the business development field, you will find various options, all of which require a robust skill set. 

Consider taking a short online course to explore a business development career or build up the skills you need for your resume. For example, you could learn how to evaluate evolving industries and build business strategies with the Business Strategy Specialization delivered by the University of Virginia. You might also consider studying for a Professional Certificate to upgrade your skill set, such as the Google Business Intelligence Professional Certificate. You’ll find these options and more on Coursera.