The Certified Business Development Manager

By Dr. Zulk Shamsuddin

Business development managers are responsible for driving business growth within a company. They develop a network of contacts to attract new clients, research new market opportunities and oversee growth projects, making sales projections and forecasting revenue, in line with projected income.
The integration of soft skills with technical skills is mandatory to build a successful career at the managerial level. The Certified Business Development Manager (CBDM) ™ is a gold-standard certification for individuals with skills and experience in product development, digital marketing, customer relationship management, electronic commerce, project management, and leadership management.
It forms the basis of the assessment that individuals must pass to gain the Certified Business Development Manager status and inclusion in the directory of certified/chartered professionals of the GAFM Academy of Finance and Management.
Get the recognition you deserve with the Certified Business Development Manager certification and get noticed by top recruiters.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jul 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781387782017

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

Business development managers are responsible for driving business growth within a company. They develop a network of contacts to attract new clients, research new market opportunities and oversee growth projects, making sales projections and forecasting revenue, in line with projected income.

The integration of soft skills with technical skills is mandatory to build a successful career at managerial level. The Certified Business Development Manager (CBDM) ™ is a gold-standard certification for individuals with skills and experience in product development, digital marketing, customer relationship management, electronic commerce, project management, and leadership management.

It forms the basis of the assessment that individuals must pass to gain the Certified Business Development Manager status and inclusion in the directory of certified/chartered professionals of the GAFM Academy of Finance and Management.

Get the recognition you deserve with the Certified Business Development Manager certification and get noticed by top recruiters.

Benefits of Becoming a Certified Business Development Manager

Personal recognition from your peers.

Enhanced your CV to get noticed by top international recruiters.

A framework for the development of your career.

International recognition.

Assurance for clients of high standards and ethical practice.

Use of the post-nominal CBDM or Certified Business Development Manager

Importance of Certification

Certificates and certifications, the names for these credentials sound confusingly similar. But there are important differences. Here’s what you need to know about these resume-enhancing options and how they might advance your career.

What is a Certificate?

Earning a certificate is about education. Certificates are academic credentials awarded by colleges, universities or other educational institutions. Students in certificate programs learn new knowledge in a specific subject or discipline and earn a certificate by successfully completing the coursework. An ideal student for a certificate program is someone who is willing to go through the experience of growing their own skillset, being real about what they want to learn, and working with others, says Jennifer Diamond, an instructor for the UW Certificate in Project Management. Many certificate programs have few, if any, admission requirements, making them an excellent option if you want to move forward in your career. The programs are usually noncredit and take less time to complete than a degree. Certificates are commonly listed on resumes as education, and some meet education requirements for first-time or renewed certifications.

What is a Certification?

When you have the professional knowledge you need, a certification allows you to prove it.  Certifications indicate mastery of skills or standards. Professional certifications are granted by industry groups or career-related organizations. These groups assess your qualifications, usually through an exam or application process. Many certifications include the privilege to use a related designation following your professional title. Certification differs from a license, which permits you to work in a certain profession and is usually issued by government or regulatory agencies.

The Value of Certification

Certification helps in learning new technologies, skills, and abilities for a specific promotion. Earning a new certification or an advanced certification in a particular area of expertise can help in advancing your career.

Professional certification shows consumers and potential employers that you are committed to your profession and are well-trained. It gives them confidence in your abilities and knowledge. Certification makes you more valuable to employers, so you can expect to earn more than someone without certification.

Certifications can give you the chance to learn needed skills, and be a quick way to show employers you have those skills. On the other hand, certifications can require studying or coursework, and cost up to several hundred dollars to take.

Skills for Business Development Manager

Personal characteristics can indicate how the candidate will approach the job and how he or she might relate to coworkers.  Evaluate your personal characteristics relative to the tasks and responsibilities you have listed for the role of a business development manager.  Use the checklist below.

Leadership.  Leadership is a management approach in which leaders help set strategic goals for the organization while motivating individuals within the group to successfully carry out assignments in service to those goals.

Research.  BDM determine, implement and monitor research and development strategies and priorities to support their organization's commercial, policy or research objectives. They may lead major research projects and provide research advice to their organization.

Analytical and creative abilities. BDM's abilities in these two areas determine how he or she assesses problems and comes up with new approaches to solving them.

Decision-making. Decision-making style is very individual. Some people are extremely structured, analytical, and fact based; others rely more on intuition. Some make decisions quickly, while others ponder them for a long time. Some depend on consensus, while others seek their own counsel.

Communication. Communication skills enable individuals to understand others and to be understood themselves. A variety of aspects are important in the context of these skills, such as listening, speaking, observing and empathy. 

Motivation. The candidate’s personal goals, interests, energy level, and job progression often demonstrate their level of motivation. So, ask yourself, "Does this job match the candidate’s personal aspirations? Would he or she do the job with enthusiasm and energy?

Skills and Competencies

The certification addresses the following six areas of skills and competencies. Other relevant topics are included in this book for individuals to succeed in the capacity of a business development manager.

Product Development

Digital Marketing

Electronic Commerce

CRM Development

Leadership Management

Project Management

Application

Visit this page to apply for the CBDM certification: https://shorturl.at/mtEJ1

Get more contacts when you introduce yourself with this card during networking, business events, and conferences. 

What is Business Development?

Business development can be summarized as the ideas, initiatives, and activities that help make a business better. This includes increasing revenues, growth in terms of business expansion, and increasing profitability by building strategic partnerships and making strategic business decisions.

Here are some examples of common business development key performance indicators (KPI) that can help you analyze your business development efforts:

Company growth.

Changes in revenue.

Lead conversion rate.

Leads generated per month/ quarter/ predetermined time.

Prospect and customer satisfaction.

Pipeline value.

Business Development vs. Sales

As mentioned, business development lives on the greater sales team yet it serves a different function than typical sales work and responsibilities. Business development is a process that helps your company establish and maintain relationships with prospects, learn about your buyer’s personas, increase brand awareness, and seek new opportunities to promote growth.

In contrast, sales teams sell your product or service to customers and work to convert leads into customers. Business development-related work simplifies the work of a salesperson or sales manager. Let’s take a closer look at what business development managers, the people responsible for carrying out the various business development tasks do next.

What is the Role of a Business Development Manager?

A Business Development Manager is a senior role, and as such has some important duties and responsibilities to fulfil, with both short and long-term goals to achieve. A Business Development Manager job description should cite some of the below tasks and objectives:

Developing growth strategies and plans

Managing and retaining relationships with existing clients

Increasing client base

Having an in-depth knowledge of business products and value proposition

Writing business proposals

Negotiating with stakeholders

Identifying and mapping business strengths and customer needs

Researching business opportunities and viable income streams

Following industry trends locally and internationally

Drafting and reviewing contracts

Reporting on successes and areas needing improvements

In the simplest terms, business development can be summarized as the ideas, initiatives, and activities that help make a business better. This includes increasing revenues, growth in terms of business expansion, and increasing profitability by building strategic partnerships and making strategic business decisions.

Business Development Manager encompasses a wide scope of ideas, activities, and initiatives that a business owner and management implement with the goal of making the business better.

Business Development Manager can include many objectives, such as sales growth, business expansion, the formation of strategic partnerships, and increased profitability.

Successful business development impacts every department within a company, including sales, marketing, manufacturing, human resources, accounting, finance, product development, and vendor management.

Business Development Managers should be aware of new market opportunities, possibilities for expansion, competitor developments, and the current sources of the company's revenue.

Business development activities extend across different departments, including sales, marketing, project management, product management, and vendor management. Networking, negotiations, partnerships, and cost-saving efforts are also involved. All of these different departments and activities are driven by and aligned with the business development goals. For instance, a business has a product or service which is successful in one region, such as the United States. The business development team assesses further expansion potential. After all due diligence, research, and studies, it finds that the product or service can be expanded to a new region, such as Brazil.

Sales

Sales personnel focus on a particular market or a particular (set of) client(s), often for a targeted revenue number. In this case, business development assesses the Brazilian markets and concludes that sales worth $1.5 billion can be achieved in three years. With such set goals, the sales department targets the customer base in the new market with their sales strategies.

Marketing

Marketing involves promotion and advertising aimed towards the successful sale of products to end customers. Marketing plays a complementary role in achieving sales targets. Business development initiatives may allocate an estimated marketing budget. Higher budgets allow aggressive marketing strategies like cold calling, personal visits, roadshows, and free sample distribution. Lower budgets tend to result in passive marketing strategies, such as limited online ads, print ads, social media ads, and billboards.

Strategic Initiatives or Partnerships

To enter a new market, will it be worth going solo by clearing all required formalities, or will it be more sensible to form a strategic alliance or partnership with local firms already operating in the region? Assisted by legal and finance teams, the business development team weighs all of the pros and cons of the available options and selects the one that best serves the business.

Project Management

Does the business expansion require a new facility in the new market, or will all the products be manufactured in the base country and then imported into the targeted market? Will the latter option require an additional facility in the base country? Such decisions are finalized by the business development team based on their cost- and time-related assessments. Then, the project management/implementation team swings into action to work towards the desired goal.

Product Management

Regulatory standards and market requirements vary across countries. A medicine of a certain composition may be allowed in India but not in the United Kingdom, for example. Does the new market require a customized or altogether new version of the product? These requirements drive the work of product management and manufacturing departments, as decided by the business strategy. Cost consideration, legal approvals, and regulatory adherence are all assessed as a part of a business development plan.

Vendor Management

Will the new business need external vendors? For example, will the shipping of a product need a dedicated courier service? Will the firm partner with any established retail chain for retail sales? What are the costs associated with these engagements? The business development team works through these questions.

Negotiations, Networking, and Lobbying

A few business initiatives may need expertise in soft skills. For example, lobbying is legal in some locales and may become necessary for penetrating the market. Other soft skills like networking and negotiating may be needed with different third parties, such as vendors, agencies, government authorities, and regulators. All such initiatives are part of business development.

Cost Savings

Business development is not just about increasing sales, products, and market reach. Strategic decisions are also needed to improve the bottom line, which includes cost-cutting measures. An internal assessment revealing high spending on travel, for instance, may lead to travel policy changes, such as hosting video conference calls instead of on-site meetings or opting for less expensive transportation modes. Management can implement similar cost-saving initiatives by outsourcing non-core work, such as billing, accounting, financials, technology operations, and customer service. Strategic partnerships needed for these initiatives are a part of business development.

Business Development Manager Responsibilities

Although some Business Development Manager (BDM) responsibilities may change over time and as your business grows, the following list will provide you with a solid understanding of typical BDM tasks.

1. Qualify leads

BDMs must qualify leads and pinpoint ideal prospects to determine whom they will sell to. Typically, leads are qualified through calls, emails, web forms, and social media. The key to qualifying leads (leads who are assigned to the BDMs as well as leads BDMs identify themselves) is to consider their needs and then determine whether or not your product or software could be a solution for them.

2. Identify and communicate with prospects

By qualifying leads and searching for people who fit your buyer personas, BDMs will identify ideal prospects. They can communicate with those prospects directly to learn more about their needs and pain points. This way, BDMs can determine whether or not the prospect will really benefit from your product or service by becoming a customer. This is important because it increases the potential of improved customer loyalty and retention.

Once the BDMs have identified ideal prospects, those prospects can be passed along to a sales rep on the

Reviews for The Certified Business Development Manager

[Cathy Scott · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent content, top quality certification. The integration of soft skills with technical skills is mandatory to build a successful career as a business development manager.

[Sara Lee Johnson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The six areas of skills and competencies are relevant for this certification. Contents are sufficient for reference and for writing the exam. Highly recommended.

[Sharifah Shawls · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent content, top quality certification. Great looking illustrations, highly recommended for business development professionals.