What is a Business Development Representative?
A business development representative (BDR) is a member of the sales team who is solely responsible for identifying new sales leads and connecting them with sales reps who can develop a relationship.
Think of them as a matchmaker for sales leads and reps: their job is to make connections that will result in positive relationships and lucrative sales.
What Does a Business Development Representative Do?
Not to be confused with sales development representatives (SDRs) who are primarily focused on qualifying inbound leads, BDRs spend their time researching new leads, conducting sales outreach, networking whenever and wherever possible, and then matching sales leads with sales reps (typically account executives) who have the knowledge and tools to foster positive connections. Their main goal is to put resources together to help drive sales.
Sales Research
BDRS must be doing research constantly. Without this, they couldn’t generate new leads for their sales team.
BDRs are expected to know who their company’s competitors are, put together ideal customer profiles and customer personas, and constantly look for new business opportunities. They are also expected to get familiar with existing customers in their company’s database and find similar businesses to contact.
Regarding what B2B prospecting tools to leverage for research, BDRs can lean on software like LinkedIn Sales Navigator or automated prospecting solutions like Vidyard Prospector to make the research phase much more accessible.
Sales Outreach
Once a BDR has researched a potential lead, it’s time to start the outreach process. A top-performing BDR will use an effective sales prospecting cadence, a mix of cold calls and emails, social selling, and video messaging to make initial connections with sales leads.
It’s their job to set up initial conversations and test the water to see if potential sales prospects would be a good fit for whatever their sales team is offering.
When crafting the proper sales outreach messaging, leveraging AI for sales can be helpful to for ideation, generating scripts, or getting AI to fully write outbound emails.
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BDRs are always talking to people. They always network, discover new companies, and identify potential sales team partners.
Unsurprisingly, they are extroverted and thrive in social settings where meeting new people is front and center. A good BDR will remember who they’ve met and be able to trace connections between people to suss out new leads. BDRs can network via online channels such as LinkedIn or at in-person or virtual events.
Business Development vs. Sales Development
It’s important to note that BDRs specifically look for brand-new leads to connect with. Sales development representatives (SDR) bolster new business with existing connections or inbound leads.
While the two have similar jobs, one is looking for new, untapped opportunities. The other is working with existing clients to maintain and grow their business. They work together but aren’t competing with each other.
Business Development Representative Skills
To break into tech sales, a successful BDR will have the following skills in their toolkit:
- Experience working in the sales industry.
- Excellent communication (written and verbal) and active listening.
- Ability to build and maintain professional work relationships.
- Knowledge of industry trends.
- Ability to conduct research and understand competitors.
- Research and create customer profiles and personas.
- Know how to find and capitalize on new business opportunities.
- Be creative and self-motivating.
- Have the ability to create strategic objectives and achieve long-term sales goals.