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What Is Business Development?

• Business Development Basics
• Areas of Development
• Business Development Process
• Creating a Plan
• Skills Needed

The Bottom Line

• Small Business
• How to Start a Business

Business Development: Definition, Strategies, Steps, and Skills

Why more and more companies worldwide are embracing this planning process

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Business development is the process of planning for future growth by identifying new opportunities, forming partnerships, and adding value to a company. It involves understanding the target audience, market opportunities, and effective outreach channels to drive success.

Business development may involve objectives around sales growth, business expansion, strategic partnerships, and increased profitability. The process impacts every department, including sales, marketing, manufacturing, human resources, accounting, finance, product development, and vendor management.

Key Takeaways

• The overarching goal of business development is to make a company more successful.
• It can involve many objectives, such as sales growth, business expansion, the formation of strategic partnerships, and increased profitability.
• The process impacts every department, including sales, marketing, manufacturing, human resources, accounting, finance, product development, and vendor management.
• Business development leaders and team members need a diverse range of both soft and hard skills to meet these objectives.

How Business Development Works

Business development strives to increase an organization’s capabilities and expand its reach to achieve financial and strategic goals. This process can significantly impact various departments within the organization, utilizing their specialized skills to drive growth.

Business development serves as the thread connecting all of a company’s functions or departments. It helps a business grow and improve in areas such as sales, revenue, product offerings, talent acquisition, customer service, and brand awareness.

Business development encourages teamwork and strategic planning across all departments, ensuring that the organization grows cohesively and sustainably.

Sales and Marketing

Sales personnel often concentrate on specific markets or clients, aiming to achieve targeted revenue numbers. For example, a business development team might assess the Brazilian market and determine that $1.5 billion in sales is achievable within three years. With this goal, the sales department develops strategies to target the new market’s customer base .

Business development often requires a longer-term approach than traditional sales strategies. The Society for Marketing Professional Services describes sales as akin to hunting, while business development is more like farming—a long-term investment of time and energy without immediate payoff.

Marketing supports sales by promoting and advertising the company’s products and services. A business development leader and their team can help set appropriate budgets based on the opportunities involved.

Higher budgets enable aggressive strategies like cold calling , personal visits, roadshows, and free sample distribution. Lower budgets tend to focus on more passive strategies, such as online, print, and social media ads, as well as billboard advertising.

Legal and Finance

To enter a new market, a business development team must decide whether to go solo by navigating all required legal formalities or to form a strategic alliance or partnership with firms already operating in that market. Assisted by legal and finance teams, the business development group weighs the pros and cons of each option and chooses the one that best serves the business.

Finance may also become involved in cost-cutting initiatives. Business development is not just about increasing market reach and sales, but also about improving the bottom line.

For example, suppose an internal assessment reveals high spending on corporate business travel. In that case, the team may change travel policies such as hosting videoconference calls instead of on-site meetings or opting for less expensive transportation modes. The outsourcing of noncore work, such as billing, technology operations, or customer service, may also be part of a development plan.

Project Management/Business Planning

International business expansion involves critical decisions about whether to establish a new facility in the target market or manufacture products in the base country and import them. If opting for the latter, it may also require assessing the need for an additional facility in the base country.

The business development team evaluates and finalizes such decisions based on cost and time assessments. Once a decision is made, the project management and implementation team can begin working on the desired goal.

Product Management and Manufacturing

Regulatory standards and market requirements can vary across regions and countries. For example, a medication permitted in India may not be allowed in the United Kingdom. This can necessitate a customized or entirely new product for the new market.

Almost all countries require specific documentation and have regulations that must be met to ensure the safety, quality, and conformity of imported products.

These requirements drive the work of product management and manufacturing departments, which are influenced by the business strategy. Cost considerations, legal approvals, and regulatory compliance are all critical aspects assessed during the development process.

Vendor Management

Will the new business need external vendors ? For example, will shipping require a dedicated courier service, or will the company partner with an established retail chain for sales? What are the costs associated with these partnerships?

The business development team collaborates with relevant internal departments to address these questions and determine the best strategies for external engagements.

10 Potential Areas for Business Development

Business development often requires employees from various departments to collaborate, facilitating information flow, strategic planning, and informed decision making. Here is a summary of potential areas where business development may be involved, depending on the organization:

• Market research and analysis : Identifying new market opportunities and developing effective strategies
• Sales and lead generation : Prospecting, qualifying leads, and coordinating with the sales team to convert leads into customers
• Strategic partnerships and alliances : Forming strategic alliances, joint ventures, or collaborations that create mutually beneficial opportunities
• Product development and innovation : Conducting market research, gathering customer feedback, and collaborating with internal teams to drive innovation
• Customer relationship management : Implementing customer retention initiatives and loyalty programs, and gathering customer feedback, to enhance satisfaction and drive repeat business
• Strategic planning and business modeling : Identifying growth opportunities, setting targets, and implementing strategies to achieve sustainable growth
• Mergers and acquisitions : Evaluating potential synergies, conducting due diligence , and negotiating and executing deals
• Brand management and marketing : Creating effective marketing campaigns, managing online and offline channels, and leveraging digital marketing techniques
• Financial analysis and funding : Exploring funding options, securing investments, or identifying grant opportunities
• Innovation and emerging technologies : Assessing the potential impact of disruptive technologies and integrating them into the organization’s growth strategies

The Business Development Process in 6 Steps

While the specific steps in the business development process will depend on the particular company, its needs and capabilities, its leadership, and its available capital, some common steps include:

Step 1: Market Research/Analysis

Begin by conducting comprehensive market research to gain insights into market trends, customer needs, and the competitive landscape. Analyze data and gather additional information to identify potential growth opportunities and understand market dynamics.

Step 2: Establish Clear Goals and Objectives

Leveraging that research, define specific objectives and goals for business development efforts. These goals could include revenue targets, market expansion goals, customer acquisition targets, and product or service development. Setting clear goals provides a focus and direction for the business development process.

Step 3: Generate and Qualify Leads

Use various sources, such as industry databases, networking , referrals, or online platforms, to generate a pool of potential leads. Identify individuals or companies that fit the target market criteria and evaluate them based on predetermined criteria to determine their suitability and potential value.

Step 4: Build Relationships and Present Solutions

Initiate contact with qualified leads and establish relationships through effective communication and engagement. Utilize networking events, industry conferences, personalized emails, or social media interactions to build trust and credibility.

As your relationship forms, develop and present tailored solutions that align with the client’s needs. Demonstrate the value proposition of the organization’s offerings and highlight key benefits and competitive advantages.

Step 5: Negotiate and Expand

Prepare and deliver proposals that outline the scope of work, pricing, deliverables, and timelines. Once the client agrees, collaborate with legal and other relevant internal teams to finalize and execute the contract to ensure all terms are clear and agreed upon. Maintain communication with the client throughout this process to address any questions or concerns.

Step 6: Continuously Evaluate

Continuously monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of business development efforts. Analyze performance metrics , gather feedback from clients and internal stakeholders, and identify areas for improvement. Regularly refine strategies and processes to adapt to market changes and optimize outcomes.

While it’s common for startup companies to seek outside assistance in developing the business, as a company matures, it should aim to build its business development expertise internally.

How to Create a Business Development Plan

To effectively create and implement a business development plan, the team needs to set clear objectives and goals—ones that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). You can align these objectives with the overall business goals of the company.

Companies often start by analyzing their current state through a  SWOT analysis , evaluating their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This helps identify target markets and customer segments and define a unique value proposition.

The external-facing stages of a business development plan are crucial. These stages should outline sales and marketing strategies to generate leads and convert them into customers. They should also explore potential strategic partnerships and alliances to expand reach, access new markets, or enhance offerings.

Teams should also conduct a financial analysis and resource planning to determine the resources needed for implementing the plan. Once implemented, progress should be tracked against the key performance indicators (KPIs) you’ve chosen to ensure the plan’s effectiveness.

Skills Needed for Business Development Jobs

Business development requires a wide range of hard and soft skills.

Leaders and team members in business development need well-honed sales and negotiation skills to interact with clients, understand their needs, and influence their decisions. They must build rapport, handle challenges, and close deals. Effective communication, both verbal and written, with customers and internal stakeholders, is crucial.

Business development specialists should be thoroughly aware of the market in which they operate and keep up with market dynamics, competitive activities, and industry developments. They need to identify potential opportunities, make informed decisions, and adjust strategies as necessary, requiring strong analytical skills.

Internally, business development practitioners must clarify priorities, set realistic deadlines, manage resources efficiently, and monitor progress to guarantee the timely completion of tasks.

Finally, business development professionals should conduct themselves with high ethical standards. They must maintain confidentiality, act legally and ethically, and build trust with customers and stakeholders.

Why Is Business Development Important?

In addition to its benefits to individual companies, business development is important for generating jobs, developing key industries, and keeping the economy moving forward.

What Are the Most Important Skills for Business Development Executives?

Development executives need to have leadership skills, vision, drive, and a willingness to work with a variety of people to get to a common goal.

How Can I Be Successful in Business Development?

Having a vision and putting together a good team are among the factors that help predict success in business development. A successful developer also knows how to write a good business plan, which becomes the blueprint to build from.

What, in Brief, Should a Business Development Plan Include?

A business development plan, or business plan , should describe the organization’s objectives and how it intends to achieve them, including financial goals, expected costs, and targeted milestones.

Business development is key to companies’ growth and achievement of their goals. It involves setting clear objectives, leveraging market research, forming strategic partnerships, and aligning efforts across all departments to drive success.

A well-executed business development plan not only supports short-term revenue growth but also ensures long-term sustainability. As companies across various industries increasingly recognize its importance, the role of business development continues to grow.

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The Role Of Project Management In Business Development

Galen Low is joined by Christian Banach—an agency veteran and fierce entrepreneur who grew his own agency into 7-figure revenue—to explain why having a business development mindset can be a game changer for project managers and walks us through his proven framework.

Listen and earn PDUs!

Our podcast is eligible for self-reported PDUs for maintaining your certification(s) from The Project Management Institute.

1 hour = 1 PDU under the category of Online or Digital Media in CCRS.

Find us under “The Digital Project Manager” (Provider ID: 5891)

Interview Highlights

• Christian shares what drew him into the advertising agency world and what led him to create his own consultancy. [2:29]
• Christian talks about some of the biggest challenges that their clients come to them to solve, and one of them is unpredictable pipeline. [5:56]
• Christian believes that business development is everybody’s responsibility, and that it’s a mindset of constantly thinking about what’s best for the customer and what’s best for the organization. [9:25]
• Christian shares some of the benefits of getting involved in business development, and one of them is learning and development. [12:19]
• A project manager who’s on the front lines has the ability to know what’s current and real and provides that perspective back to the BD team. [16:23]
• PROPEL is a framework that Christian and his team have developed. It stands for: P ivotal problem; R ight to win audience; O ffer value; P rofessional persistence; E ngaging in your communications; L aunching and optimizing. [21:31]
• Pivotal problem: understanding the client’s pain points first and foremost. [21:54]
• Right to win audience: understanding who the right people within the organizations that might be experiencing pivotal problem. [22:00]
• Offer value: instead of making it about you and what you want, it’s about understanding the problem the prospect’s experiencing, and then how you can offer value or insights into how they could solve that problem. [22:13]
• Professional persistence: understanding that people are busy and if you don’t hear back from them right away, you have to have a sequence of follow up type activities. [22:31]
• Engaging in your communications: whether that be new prospects or you’re going organically and really being cognizant of how people communicate these days. [22:52]
• Launching and optimizing: it’s more about moving forward with activities evaluating what’s working, what’s not working and then optimizing it as you go. [23:08]

People don’t come to your agency because they need a website. They come because they have a problem. Christian Banach

• Christian’s business don’t do too much with the organic growth. They’re more focused on driving new net business. [30:35]
• Christian talks about this notion of the slimy used car salesperson for those that are not in sales and biz dev roles. [32:35]

If you don’t hear back from somebody right away doesn’t necessarily mean that your idea is bad and they’re not interested. It’s just they’re trying to balance the day-to-day responsibilities that they have. Christian Banach

• When you are doing the follow up, if you continue to add value, then that goes into the mindset of you’re not bothering somebody, you’re actually sharing some additional information. [42:31]
• Your email needs to be focused on the problem, or not just email, whether you’re calling someone as well. It should always be focused on solving a problem and it should be personalized. That’s another part of being engaging. [44:51]
• Another area of engaging messaging is around the call to action. [46:32]

Meet Our Guest

Christian Banach is Principal/Chief Growth Officer of the business development and growth consultancy, Christian Banach LLC, where he and his team guides marketing agencies and martech companies to land 6- & 7-figure opportunities predictably and unlock their full potential. 

Christian founded a concert promotion and experiential marketing agency in high school and would grow it to over $10MM in sales.

That company grew rapidly, and he worked with Grammy award winners like Lady Gaga and Pitbull. Not long after, Christian launched an experiential marketing agency division and activated programs for Disney and Toyota.

The business boomed, but the 2008 Great Recession happened. Things screeched to a halt. Like many agencies, his firm had grown through worth-of-mouth and referrals. To rebound, Christian hired a consultant who taught him the fundamentals of business development.

Feeling reinvigorated, Christian closed his company, took what he learned from the consultant, and pivoted to a career in agency business development. Over the last decade, Christian has worked at independent and holding company agencies across marketing disciplines.

Christian discovered that his superpower was hunting and generating top-of-the-funnel opportunities with enterprise companies. He was involved in millions of dollars of wins with companies like Kohl’s and Constellation Brands.

Over the years, he felt an entrepreneurial itch, but he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. But the pandemic started, agencies lost clients, and some closed their doors. It reminded Christian of his agency during the Great Recession.

But this time, Christian had the expertise to help as that consultant did for him. He left his high-paying agency job and launched Christian Banach LLC to help agencies and martech companies build relationships, gain perspective, and grow.

Every follow up needs to add some value. Christian Banach

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Read The Transcript:

Galen Low: Business development. For a lot of project managers, those two words instantly conjure up images of a slimy snake-oil salesperson and trying to trick people out of their money.

But business development also means growth. So as the people who are leading the delivery of the work, isn't it in the best interest of a project manager to originate opportunities, help shape new projects, nurture stakeholder relationships, and infuse our knowledge into the sales process?

If you found yourself struggling with the relationship between business development and project delivery, keep listening. We're gonna be exploring how a business development mindset can help you grow your career and create new opportunities within your organization in an organic way that doesn't make you feel icky.

Hey folks, thanks for tuning in. My name is Galen Low with the Digital Project Manager. We are a community of digital professionals on a mission to help each other get skilled, get confident, and get connected so that we can amplify the value of project management in a digital world. If you want to hear more about that, head over to thedigitalprojectmanager.com.

Today, we're going to be exploring the relationship between project management and business development to answer the controversial question: should business development be part of a project manager's remit?

With me today is Christian Banach, an agency veteran and fierce entrepreneur who grew his own agency into 7-figure revenue and now helps advertising agencies land 6 and 7 figure deals predictably. Christian, great to have you on the show!

Christian Banach: Hi Galen! Thank you so much. Really excited for this conversation. I appreciate you having me on.

Galen Low: I am as well. This is something that's very close to my heart because as we were talking about in prep, I've always been an account manager, project manager hybrid, and then where I took my career is actually into business development.

And it's always kind of been a core part of like what I've been asked to do, but as I've gone through it, I realized that is not always the common case. Like I might be, I might be a bit of an outlier, but I think it's a really important conversation to have. It keeps coming up in terms of what is my responsibility as a project manager to grow the business, you know, to make new projects happen, to make sales happen. Versus just, you know, is my job just to deliver and isn't that hard enough?

But before we get into that, just read it up on you. You've got a really interesting backstory and I'm wondering, could you tell our listeners a bit about what drew you into the advertising agency world, and what led you to create your own consultancy?

Christian Banach: Yeah, thanks for that intro. Well, I, I can't say that I went to school and decided, you know what, I want to go work in business development at agencies. It didn't, didn't work out that way. And I think sounds like your career as well, then wasn't how you planned it out.

So my journey, I mean, I've always been entrepreneurial. I mean, I was the kid that was, you know, buying and selling baseball cards in, you know, grade school and cutting, you know, and mowing lawns and all of that.

And really where I started with in business, you know, a more serious business was in more of a concert promotions background. And it started off really as a bunch of friends renting out banquet halls, booking local DJs, and, you know, inviting people in our neighborhood and schools and whatnot.

But that did grow into a, you know, full-fledged concert promotions business. We had worked with Lady Gaga and Pitbull and some really big artists. And it was more events, you know, driven our own events. However, we had gotten approached by an experiential marketing agency and they wanted some help with an activation in Chicago where I'm based.

And, uh, since we had the concert promotions business, it was a good, you know, synergy between our capabilities and what they needed. So we did the event with them and it went off really well and that led to another opportunity, another opportunity, and really exposed me to experiential marketing.

And then the light bulb sort of went off in my head and said, well, why are we working with this agency? Why don't we go and try to find, you know, brands ourselves that we could be doing this type of work for. So fast forward, um, the business became kind of half a concert promotions. The other half was these experiential event marketing programs.

We'd worked with Allstate and Disney and Toyota, some big, big, big corporate organizations. And really, again, exposed me more to the advertising and marketing world there. And in about 15 years actually into the business, the recession 2008 hits. And what ends up happening is my business on both sides of the house starts to dry up.

And like a lot of the clients that I work with now, I did not have a sales process, a new business program. It was really word of mouth referral driven. So I'd gone out and hired a consultant to help me. And I really, really loved it, so much to the point where I decided to pivot. And I closed down my firm and went and started work at agencies for doing business development with them. Spent about 10 years doing that and discovered my super power with business development really is kind of top of the funnel generating those big, you know, corporate type of clients with those 6 and 7 figure deals.

So again, kind of fast forward to how I started this in a particular consultancy is I was working at an agency, but I, I had that entrepreneurial itch still. I wanted do something on my own again, and like a lot of people, the pandemic hits and makes me re-evaluate where I want to go with my career.

And I saw agencies going out of business. Just like I was, you know, about to do 10 years prior with the recession. And I decided to close down my, or not close down, but I started to leave that position and start this consultancy and help agencies. And I felt like I was now in that role, just like the consultant helped me, you know, 10 or so years prior that I could help others.

So that's, you know, the kind of the journey into what led me into business development and led me into the advertising marketing space in particular.

Galen Low: There's some really bold moves in there, like starting your own thing, deciding to shut it down, right? After, after 15 years going and like, you know, being a employee in business development and now striking out on your own.

I think that sounds super cool. I mean, and then like today, I mean, you're working with a lot of ad agency clients. Like what are, what are some of the biggest challenges that they come to you to solve? Is it all business development and what specifically within that?

Christian Banach: Yeah. So we are definitely focused more on business development, but there's a lot of facets and aspects to it in the first place.

So generally speaking, clients are coming to us for one or more of these reasons. A lot of it is they have an unpredictable pipeline probably because they're grown through word of mouth and referrals. So those are great when they come in, but there's no control of them. So you never know when or how or who they're gonna come from.

So we help, you know, kind of smooth that out and provide more of a predictable system. So that's a big challenge. We have other clients that come to us because they are tired of this time consuming and ill fitting RFP process. And they're really looking to try to build relationships with, you know, C-suite executives and hopefully bypass that RFP process.

We got some clients that are really looking to go more up market. They maybe work more small and mid-size businesses and they're trying to crack through and get those bigger deals. Others that are just, just not getting enough of the opportunities that they, that they really want. So, or maybe they've launched a new division of the company or, new service offering something like that.

And they're not known for that. So they really need to take a more targeted based approach to get their, their name out there. So generally speaking, it's, you know, it's one of those problems and you know, how we solve it for them kind of depends where they're at. You know, there there's some clients that we need, you know, that we're ready and, and they're ready to just kind of jump right in and do more of a, a lead generation type program.

There's others that we need to work more foundationally on them to, you know, hone in on their positioning and their overall go to market strategy. So, um, you know, it kind of ranges, you know, across all the different firms we work with.

Galen Low: There's so many things there that are resonating with me because like, I've seen all of those different stages, especially the like word of mouth barrier when you're like, okay, well, what happens?

Like we don't actually have, we haven't built the muscle to do business development. It just happens to us. And then what happens when we want to grow or scale or when the business dries up, and then, especially the like owning the relationships at a more executive level. You know, in places where I've worked and people that I talked to, right, your point of contact is you know, maybe a VP, or somewhere in that midsection, but to like actually get ahead of it and be part of that higher level strategy for your clients and entering into those bigger, bigger projects, bigger deals. All of those things are like different, they're different aspects of the game.

You need to like build muscle around it, if you haven't got it. And then it takes a lot of time and energy to like, have that thought and have that strategy of how you want to grow it. That's super interesting. I love that.

Christian Banach: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, and I think most of companies that we work with, there's a combination, you know, thereof. You know, I, I would say most of them have multiple, you know, challenges and, and, and problems, you know, and some may be more glaring than others.

But usually everybody can benefit from sharpening, you know, their knives, so to speak in this area.

Galen Low: A hundred percent, a hundred percent.

All right. Let's dive in. Let's get into the thick of it. I get asked this question a lot and I wanted your take on it.

So from your experience, could you tell our listeners why business development is relevant for project managers? Isn't that somebody else's job? Isn't that somebody else's problem?

Christian Banach: Yeah, well, I would, you know, the first thing I wanna reference is, you know, Peter Drucker, the management consultant. You know, he really said that, at the end of the day, a business is to create and service a customer.

And so I think, we need to keep in mind that that is ultimately what everybody's role in the organization is to do. And, and business development is certainly part of it. I think sometimes we get too stuck on job title and not necessarily what we're all really there to do at the end of the day.

So, you know, we're firm believers, you know, and this is true in our own organization, as well as what we advise our clients is that, you know, really sales business development is everybody's responsibility. Whether that's the name of on your, on your business card, or, or not.

So, and beyond that, it's really, I think a mindset as well, and, and constantly thinking again about what's best for the customer, what's best for the organization. So, you know, again, I, I think whether you're the receptionist down to the principle, business development is in our eyes, you know, your responsibility and, and we do. And we, we see organizations where there's the principle, even of the organization doesn't really wanna be involved in business development and they just hire someone to do that.

And, you know, I think the firms that we see that are doing the best, you know, definitely the principle, but it starts at the top and it moves its way down, you know, really to everybody in the organization.

Galen Low: I love that notion also, even just because, you know, arguably, it cuts both ways.

On the one hand, I talk to a lot of teams and they're like, oh, we just do the work, right? We just do the work and, you know, we're interfacing with the client as we do the work. And I'm like, that's the reason why this is developed and is so important in that role, especially for project managers where, you know, not every project manager is like as client facing as an account manager, per se.

But every interaction and their closeness to the work and how the delivering value like, is something that can be just packaged a little bit into something that is really clear value. That's going to lead to a better relationship with that client and, you know, conceivably, new projects down the road. They're like, they'll want to continue working with you. And, and, and the same thing, what you said, like if you're at front desk and you're, you know, you have these relationships with people that are your customers.

And like you said, we're all here to deliver value to our customers in that sort of client services environment.

Christian Banach: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And you know, at the end of the day, if there is no new business coming in, you may not have a job to do the project management work. You know, so I always wanna keep that frame of reference.

I mean, when things are going great, everybody is not really focused and thinking about that, but then when things are not going great, it's, you know, well, where's all the work? Well, you know, I think everybody's got a responsibility to contribute and where you contribute and how you contribute, you know, to business.

Like, you know, I'm sure we're gonna get into this, can certainly range. However, I think, again, it is the mindset more so than anything else that is first and foremost important.

Galen Low: Oh, I love that. I love that. And I, I guess, you know, for the, for the folks who are like, yeah, but my job's already busy enough. It's hard enough. Like if, if we were to be like, kind of selfish about it, especially from a project manager lens, like, what are some of the benefits of getting involved in business development?

Other than the, the thing you said, which is really important, right? The benefit is, you know, as long as new business keeps happening, you will continue to have a job. But even just thinking about this, like business development mindset, how does that benefit project managers? What's in it for them?

Christian Banach: Yeah, I think, um, I think there's a couple different areas. You know, one is learning and development, I think is something that maybe you're, you could be overlooked, but typically maybe if you're in a project management role, right, you're more executional. You know, you're here is the SOW and you go out and you help, you know, implement it on behalf of the client.

When you're working more on business development, you know, you are helping shape what the scope of that project is, and you are involved in thinking through what the strategy is gonna be and, and why are we doing what we're doing. So I think there's a, you have a different type of seat at the table than you do, you know, when you're just executing at the project management level.

So again, which it kind of blends into the next one, you know, but it's, it's really for career advancement too. You know, the more you get to know and, and, and, and work on that side of the business, as well as the executional side of the business, you're gonna grow in the role and grow within the organization as well.

So, you know, you become a much more valuable piece to the team that you've now got this, you know, this mindset and, and I think it also makes you a better project manager, right? Cuz you can help shape what those engagements potentially could look like, which then will make those engagements better and, and easier for you to implement.

So I think it kind of goes both ways. You know, you can help the, the, the, the project management side and you can also help the business development side. I think too, depending on what your BD team looks like and who you're targeting and all of that, it could potentially lead to more interesting work.

And it could lead to bigger clients. You know, I, I'm assuming then that your organization is trying to level up and, and, and work with, you know, bigger clients and work on some more interesting types of projects. So if you're involved in that and you can bring your perspective and, and your efforts, you know, to landing that, again, it, it would obviously help the organization, but also helps you. You know, who knows if you help close Apple or Nike or some, you know, really interesting project or, you know, doesn't have to be to that scale.

Um, it's certainly, again, it can bring some more interesting work to the table.

Galen Low: I love that. And I love that sort of mindset and perspective on like the business, right? Which you can, it kind of, you know, like you said, it's like, it goes both ways in the sense that, yeah, you can filter up some of the things that you're doing in the sort of executional realm, because there's innovation happening all the time.

There's new methods, there's just, you know, things that that team is learning that they can feed into the business development process. And then, yeah, just the other way, you know, we're, we're huge. At the Digital Project Manager, we're big on this notion of like casting a vision for your team. You're leading a team of people and the better you understand that vision, the better you can cast it.

And if you were involved in shaping that, then a, I mean, everyone I've talked to in a project management role or who has delivered a project has had that moment where they inherited this project, then they're like, I can't, I can't deliver this. Who thought of this? So I love having them that sort of involvement in shaping.

And then using it to help be part of creating that vision so that you can do more interesting work. From the other side of it, I talked with a lot of organizations, especially agencies who are like a little bit hesitant. They don't really want to get project managers involved in, in business development. And I think part of the reason, some of the reasons for that would be, well, I need them focused on delivering.

Like I, I can't have them take their eye off the ball to get involved with business development. That's why I have a sales team. That's why I have account managers. But, in some ways I feel like there might be something that they're, they're missing out on there. So from an organizational perspective, like if, yeah, for, for some of your clients who are like, yeah, I don't think, I don't think PM should get involved in business development.

What are they missing out on?

Christian Banach: Yeah. I think we, you know, you touched on this a little bit earlier, but they're missing out on the perspective that they, that they have being on the front lines and actually doing the work. I think sometimes those folks in the more the sales and biz dev roles, you know, they might be a little disconnected for what, what is realistic. You know, what is, what is, um, from a timeline standpoint, a results, you know, standpoint, because they're not in it day to day and things are changing and things are evolving all the time.

And the project manager who's on the front lines really has that ability to know what's kind of current and real and, and, and provide that perspective back to the BD team. So I think that's, you know, a huge one right there. I would say another huge one is, again, every organization's a little different, relationships are different, but oftentimes the project manager is working with the client on a day to day basis. Right?

And they have a relationship that they're building up and if you're properly kind of nurturing those relationships and, and every, then you're able to potentially leverage them to help grow those accounts. And it could be everything from just the project manager of just being a good listener and hearing and identifying what potential opportunities could be and reporting back, you know, to the BD team on, on what some opportunities may be.

It could be them, you know, taking more of an account direction type of role and actually now proactively hearing what the client's saying. And then providing some insight using that relationship that they've built into here are some ideas, you know, and, and being kind of a conduit to start those conversations going.

So there's a lot of these kind of conversations and things happening, you know, and if you're not having your project managers involved in new business at all, you're, you're missing out on these types of communications and these types of insights that they could be helping with.

Galen Low: I love that word conduit.

Like I think it like sums it up perfectly, because you know, project managers, like we're pretty close to the work. And there's no way that all of that knowledge of how work is getting done can filter up to the business development process or sales process, or even up to account managers. Like they're not as close to it.

And some of those things are the compelling things for clients in terms of, oh, wow. That's really interesting that that's the way you work and this is the way you deliver results. And this is how we measure success. And it, it, I think a lot of people, when I talk to them about it, and a as individuals they're like, I don't wanna do sales.

That's like slimy, right? You're gonna have to like put on my sales suit and be like, you know, peddling watches out of my jacket. You know what I mean? And just like, doesn't have to be that like, just being valuable and likable is a great reason for a client to continue working with an organization because they like the people, they like the team, they like the way things work.

Like that is also business development. And arguably from the other side, right? It's like, no, as an organization, you don't need to like make project managers part of your sales team and train them as sales people and use them as a sharp tip of the spear there. And like actually another channel to keep work and business coming through by virtue of the fact that they're just delivering value, delivering great work that people, that people wanna work with.

Christian Banach: You know, something that's often times overlooked as well is a lot of times in the new business process, a client will ask, you know, Hey, I want to see who's gonna be the team that's gonna be working with me day to day. And if you're involving your PMs on these, in this process, you know, they're gonna seamlessly be able to go to that conversation and be able to speak, you know, to the client.

However, if you're not involving them, and then you get this type of request, and now you're asking someone to do something they've never done before, you're putting yourself in a vulnerable position on whether or not they're gonna be able to provide what the client is ultimately looking for.

That, that confidence that they're, that, that this individual and this team, you know, is gonna, is gonna be able to deliver on whatever's been promised. So, you know, that comes up a lot in the work that we do as well. So I, I think, you know, there's, there's a kind of a short term and a long term benefit from this as well.

Galen Low: I think it's huge. especially when you're talking about like 6 and 7 figure deals, that question, like, I wanna meet the team, like, what's this gonna be like, can you paint a picture of how this project is gonna go is so important. It's not like a, you know, at a smaller scale, it might not matter as much, but if you're gonna be working with a group of people for potentially a year, maybe more than a year, or on something that's just so high visibility and so high risk, and such a high value that yeah, you do wanna trust that.

And of course you and I both know in the agency world, it's very difficult to guarantee that the people in the room are gonna be the people who are gonna work with them. But again, like you said, the conduit aspect, please paint a picture for me of how this project is going to go, is a really valid question for a client who's gonna spend that much money with you.

And having that conduit of someone who can be like, Hey, here's some of the good work that we do and our methods and why that's important for you in terms of how this project is gonna go and why it's gonna be successful. that's kind of like that, that's the trick. It's like, it's not all this, you know, sales strategy.

It's just being a conduit to communicate information up and, and then being there at the table so that you can grab that vision and communicate that, you know, back down to the executional level as well.

Christian Banach: Yeah, definitely.

Galen Low: That's super, that's super cool. I mean, all of this, we keep coming back to this notion of like mindset, right?

Like a business development mindset. And I know you've got a bit of a framework for this, the propel framework. I'm just wondering, could you tell us a bit about your propel framework and what it means for folks in like a project management role?

Christian Banach: Yeah. Great. Yeah. So propel is, is a framework that we've developed.

It actually started, I mentioned earlier, that consultant that I hired and this is where it started to form and I've really, you know, tweaked it and evolved it over the last 10 to 15 years now. And it's, it's been a really great repeatable type of process, uh, and, and I'll tell you kind of real high level, like what, what it is.

So it is an acronym, propel. The P of propel is pivotal problem, and it's really understanding the client's pain points first and foremost. The R of propel is what we call right to win audience. So really understanding, you know, who the right clients are for this, who the right people within these organizations are that might be experiencing that problem.

Then we have O which I think is, is very critical, which is offer value. So, and we can unpack this a little bit further, but it's really like, instead of making it about you and what you want, it's about understanding, again, that problem the prospects experiencing, and then how can you offer value or insights into how they could solve that problem?

And then the PEL of propel is a little more tactical, but, um, the first P is professional persistence. And it's really, you know, about understanding that people are busy and if you don't hear back from you right away, like you, you have to have a sequence of, you know, follow up type activities in order to stay, but do so very professionally. Being persistent, but professional.

The E is, is being engaging in your communications, whether that be net new prospects or you're going organically and really being cognizant of, you know, how people communicate these days. They don't wanna read a 500, you know, word email, how do you say and just get right to the point with things.

And then L is more of our launching and optimizing is, is part of propel. And that's really more about as you, you know, move forward with these activities evaluating what's working, what's not working and then optimizing it as you go.

Galen Low: I really love that because I mean, a) it's very customer-centric, isn't it? It's like it's an empathetic approach that is not, you know, I think anyone who's like done sales training, maybe, you know, within the past two decades, like there's always that aspect of like, I don't know, it's just that, that sliminess, that greasiness, that people having aversion to.

But all of this is kind of just like good empathetic communication to help somebody solve a problem that they have. When we're talking about having a business development mindset, it's not like, okay, well, you know, you're wearing all these hats.

And one of the hats is to like go and pound pavement and sell. It's actually just woven in to the way you conduct yourself. What I love about the framework is that it's not go learn a whole bunch of new skills. It's like hone some of the skills that you have and package them together, see them as a package because that's what's going to be compelling and be engaging and deliver value to, you know, frankly, anyone you talk to. And we're talking about business development.

But a lot of this stuff, I'm like, yeah, like professional persistence is, is something that I think a lot of our listeners will be like, oh yeah, I, I should get good at that because also sometimes we're following up on tasks. Sometimes we're, you know, following up with our leadership team or other project managers and yeah, there's a, there's a, there's a lot here. Can we dive in deeper?

Christian Banach: Yeah, let, let let's do that. I think, you know, let's start from the beginning and, and I think, like you said, when you're talking about the, the mindset, you know, and why this pivotal problem is, is such a, a key component to that. And, and it's always, it's that customer centric mindset, right?

So you're always considering first and foremost, you know, people don't come to your agency, let's say your web development agency, they don't come because they need a website. They come because they have a problem, right? And that problem maybe sales are down or they're not getting enough leads. That's the problem that they're experiencing.

And I think, especially when we're talking maybe on the project management side, you know, they're thinking we build websites. Well, you help companies drive leads, you help companies drive sales. That's really what you do.

So in sales, they always say that, you know, people don't buy a drill, they buy a hole. And I think when you take that type of mindset as what is the end result that they're trying to solve? And so I think you're, whether, this is true whether you're doing new business, if you're working with existing clients or even just internally, just always having that frame of reference of like, what is the problem that they're, that, that they're trying to solve?

And, you know, if we're thinking about this a little bit more from a new business lens it's, ideally then you're also trying to hone in on, you know, all right, you're starting to think about how can we help this, this person solve that problem. And then that kind of blends itself into the next phase.

I, I'll pause there though. See if you, there's any follow up questions with the problem.

Galen Low: Well, like, and what I love is that like it's like, it's part of the job is you got handed a scope of work and you're gonna deliver it. So you need to like report on the progress of building the website because you're deliverable at the end is a website, but then that double click on like, why? so as project managers we're often guilty of measuring success as, oh yeah.

You know, we're 50% of the way through the schedule and we've made 50% progress. We're good. Which doesn't mean that the end product is gonna be something that actually solves the problem, like the actual pivotal problem.

And just understanding that mindset is just, it's very helpful, again, as that conduit to be like, actually, I'm not just a representative of delivering this work. I am a representative of delivering a solution to a problem. And that kind of it's, it's also empowering for the team. It also can, can get you more creative about, well, along the way, you might find ways to solve that problem better versus just following what it says that we're supposed to do.

So I think that's, yeah, I think that's, uh, it's a hugely important, sort of mindset shift for any project manager.

Christian Banach: And I think when we think about business development, you know, I want to be clear that we're talking about, yes, it could be net new business, right? So new clients that are not currently working with you. It also could be expanding clients that are already working with you more organic growth.

And either way, I think, especially if we're talking about, if it's more on the organic site, so existing clients, you're interfacing with those clients and you're hearing some additional, hopefully you're hearing some maybe additional opportunities, some different challenges that they're experiencing.

So that information then that is really what becomes the, the link then to bring that information either to the BD team. And, and, you know, Hey, here are some challenges, some problems that we're hearing. We could open up some doors or again, if you're, you know, comfortable with it and you have that relationship, you then identifying and talking through some of those challenges or problems.

So that's really where everything starts is, is here in the problem.

Galen Low: I love that. Just kind of like being tuned into just listening. And we have this notion of walking the halls, right?

Where it's like, okay, if you can get more embedded with your clients and you're overhearing and seeing some of the problems that they're facing and that you might have solutions to, maybe there's this gray line into. Okay, well that seems kind of like, you know what some people might characterize as slimy sales, but at the same time with this, especially like around this framework, it is customer centric.

It's like, well, I see these problems that you have and I can solve them. And I think it is a helpful thing. And from that standpoint, business development is not like in this, in this model, it's not landing the next deal, per se. It's helping.

Because I see some of these problems that you're facing, like, you know, day to day. And yeah, this is something that we can help with.

Christian Banach: And I think that's a good segue, you know, you mentioned the term walking the halls. So, we call it the right to an audience and I think it's understanding then who, you know, who are the right people you should be speaking to about these problems, right?

It very well could be your day to day contact that you have. But you know, you may be working with more junior level people. Maybe the job came in through a VP or C-suite, you know, type executive, but now the project's on their side, and they may not be decision makers that can move the needle on new projects, you know, but you can learn from them.

However, if you are, maybe you're have an onsite opportunity to meet with the team, the client. Right? So it is walking the halls and understanding then, you know, trying to get some face time perhaps with that VP or that C-suite executive, because they may then be the decision maker.

And you may have a way to get in front of those, right, to win audience members more than your sales or business development team does, cuz they're not in the office with those individuals in most cases. So, but you have to, they tuned in and consciously go after and understand who some of those decision makers or influencers may be.

Galen Low: I've seen it where people get overly enthusiastic about the business development mindset. They just wanna like land a deal and like sell the next thing. But actually it's kind of like just the wild west people are stepping on each other's toes. Nobody knows what's, you know, coming through the pipeline and it doesn't have that rigor, but I'm just tying it back to the consulting that you do, is part of what you do sort of setting up those processes to be like, listen, if you can get in front of a VP as a project manager, like yes, please do.

Christian Banach: Yeah. And this concurrent from that we're in right now, you know, we don't do too much with the organic growth. We're more focused on driving new net, net business. We sometimes will however, help companies because we do work with some very, you know, companies that are working very large companies.

So they might be working with Procter & Gamble, for example, but they're doing business with one small division of Procter Gamble, you know, whatever that brand might happen to be. Well, there are a whole lot of other brands within that. So how do we all talk together so we're leveraging that relationship we might have with a certain brand of Procter & Gamble to try to help us get our foot in the door with other brands and divisions within a, a big company like Procter & Gamble.

So in that regard, we do kind of help our, some of our clients just figure out what the strategy would be to start some of those conversations. How do we get everybody talking? What type of relationships can we leverage? What insights might we have from about the organization and the account? So yeah, so a little bit of that, yes.

Galen Low: I love that because it is, like that is the, I'm just gonna say disentanglement, right? Where, especially when you're working with a big account and there's different branches and you actually, especially if you yourself are actually quite a large agency or consultancy. You kind of have to figure out all the pieces of work that have been done for various branches of this large client, so that you can have that higher level conversation, especially if you're going into the C-suite.

You want to be able to say, you don't wanna get caught off guard and be like, oh, but that project over there, you know, that didn't go well, don't you remember? Didn't you know that, right? Like, but that was like this other branch. And like you said at the beginning, right? Like if someone, especially in a project manager role, you're close enough to the work you are that conduit and you can add value. And likewise, as an organization, you should be asking your project manager, how did that project go?

What are some of the pain points? Like what, what, what are some of the things that went really well that I can incorporate into this conversation? And what are some things that we should be wary of based on your experience day to day with this client?

Christian Banach: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I would say the other, you know, when we talk about the O of propel, offering value, I, I think you, you had mentioned something earlier that made me think about this, but I think for those that are not in sales and biz dev roles, there is a notion of the slimy used car salesperson, right?

And I get it, right. I think, uh, I've been in roles when I was younger where, you know, it was kind of that, that type of mentality and you do feel icky about things. But I do think what we do is, is different than that. And the approach that we try to take about offering value, I think is that's like the first step. We never, we're not trying to sell anybody anything, right?

We're trying to help them. We come from a position, so whether that be more top of the funnel trying to generate some new opportunities, it's not, you know, we don't advise our clients to call up prospects and say, Hey, we just wanna get 15 minutes on your calendar, tell you all about us.

It's, there's nothing in it for the prospect. Right? So we really advise more about, again, understanding those problems and then coming to then with some insights. Hey, we think you're having this problem. We have some unique perspectives on this. We'd love to sit down and, and share them with you.

It's a very different conversation doing it that way versus again, just a sales pitch that you're, that you're trying to do. So I think from the top of the funnel, that's one thing. And even, you know, when you're talking about project managers that might be working day to day with prospects, or prospects, but with client.

Having that same type of mindset, like you're not trying to sell them anything. You're trying to enable them to, you know, with information, with insights, with a new perspective about something. And, and I, I think just sharing that and thinking about that is, is very key and, and not being so attached then to the sale either.

You're just here to help if they want to, if they want to take it and they want, and they want to go with it, great. If they don't, they don't. And that's fine. But I think like when you're like, oh, I had a, hit a quota and I have to do this, like it does, like you start pushing yourself maybe to places that you don't feel comfortable with.

But if you come from a, a mindset of I'm here to help build relationships and provide perspective, and, and be helpful and add value, it's a very just different mindset. And I think trying to adopt that, especially for those that are in sales roles is to start to think about it that way, I think makes this all more easy and, and fulfilling in many ways. Because, you know, you, you, your idea may actually help this agency or this, this company that you're, that you're dealing with, achieve some goals that they might have not reached if it wasn't for you.

Galen Low: I love that. I wanna return to something you said, because I've seen both things happen together in, in the same organization where yes, please go and be helpful and offer value. You know, you're not a salesperson, but also there's this kind of unspoken quota of, if you land $3 million this year, you're probably gonna go up the ladder next year.

Like, what, do you recommend that and how do you, how does this fit into the framework? Like, should it be that you are being helpful and organically offering value and it might be part of your job and your quota, or is part of the purity of it that it's not?

Christian Banach: Yeah. Um, yeah, there's a lot of chat on, on how these folks should be compensated.

I still do believe I want someone that's still motivated to, you know, to get out there and have these conversations, cuz it is. It's, it's grueling. It's, it can be challenging and tough. So there, there has to be some incentive, I still believe for it. However, I think the best way around it is to just have a, you know, a full pipeline, so you're not desperate.

I think when you, you know, when you're desperate cuz you have no leads, then you do start getting pushed into that area where maybe you're not comfortable in and it is more about the sale. But if you've done your homework and you do and execute more of a proactive type program and you have a strong, you're not relying on those word of mouth referrals, you're not relying on an inbound RFP.

You can be selective in the types of companies that you work with, the projects that you take on. And it's a much better position for you to turn down business because it doesn't fit what you want for whatever that reason happens to be. Versus you being so desperate that you're just going out there and, and, and begging people for work.

I mean, it's two totally different things and you can solve it, again, by having a more proactive based type of approach.

Galen Low: Yeah. I love that. And actually, like, as you're saying them, I'm thinking through some of the organizations I've worked for where, yeah, like you know, not, not in a, this sounds mean, but not in a mean way, like tiering your accounts. Where it's like, okay, well, like this account is the big Procter & Gamble account or is the big, you know, Nike account.

And that's where we do wanna incentivize walking the halls because, you know, there's more work that we wanna do with these folks. Versus maybe there's a tier two where like, it doesn't necessarily makes us, make sense for us to invest. So much time, you know, trying to win work. Maybe it's a client where they have like every agency in consultancy, you can think of working in different parts of their pie.

And it's, it's, it's gonna be like a tough go to like, you know, try and make any headway in terms of like getting that like "market share" within that account. In other words, yeah, maybe not every account is the one that needs to have a really focused strategy on, you know, offering value and then identifying that as business development. Some might just be, yeah, be helpful if you can, but otherwise just deliver great work because that also sells itself.

You mentioned the, the grueling nature of it. And I think that probably ties into the next P, which I think was professional persistence.

Christian Banach: Yeah. Well, you know, we, you have to also understand that, you know, I think people that have not done a whole lot in sales, they're surprised when we tell 'em the number of emails that we have to send and phone calls we have to place to each individual in order to get their attention.

And the bottom line is we're busy. Everybody is busy. And, so I think if you don't hear back from somebody right away doesn't necessarily mean that your idea is bad and they're not interested. It's just they're trying to balance their day to day, you know, responsibilities that they have.

And a lot of times new business is more forward thinking, you know, you're, everybody's just worried about their day to day, and it's hard sometimes for people to take this step back and think about, all right, what's, what are we thinking about for a year from now? Three years now? Five years from now?

So it, you know, you, it, part of, again, it's a lot of this is mindset. It's understanding that this is just a reality. So you, you do need to balance persistence with professionalism, but again, you have to just understand that, that these prospects, you can't take no for an answer, necessarily.

You have to keep trying. However, you wanna make sure that, you know, if you're always adding value, like we've talked about, they're all connected here, it's a different type of 'no' than if you're trying to sell something. Versus if you're just trying to add some value. If they're not interested right now, that's fine, so.

Galen Low: I think like one thing that's, um, like a very, I think it's hard to kind of grasp, you know, early on in your journey of being persistent to be helpful. Where like, especially if you're thinking of like organizational strategy, right? The strategic plan, or like, you know, if it's like, if the conversation's like at that VP, SVP or C-suite level, it's sometimes hard to remember that the problem that you're seeing, that's like literally burning a hole in your brain and you're like, I can solve that problem.

It's a big deal. We need to solve it right now. It might not be the biggest deal in the bigger grander scheme of things. And then sometimes, I mean, like, I, I love what you said about like, yeah, like don't let that like discourage you. It just means that there's a lot on the go and there is, and sometimes like, I, I, I would argue sometimes it shines a light on a bigger pivotal problem and to like, take a metaphor too far, right?

What you said earlier about the hole in the drill, it's like, okay, yeah, we didn't buy a drill, we wanted a hole. We wanted a hole so we could feed cables into it. Okay, great. What are the cables for? Do you know what I mean? It's like, okay, well, oh yeah. We're like, we're rewiring the contact center.

Oh, okay. Well, that's a bigger thing and maybe we can be helpful there too. So sometimes that pivotal problem that, you know, our perspective is very close to the work, but it is, it might not be an unimportant problem in the, but it might be a sub problem within a bigger problem. And, yeah, I just think that sometimes that persistence, it does get to that point, right?

Where you're like, uh, I'm just really just nagging this first and you're just gonna tell me no again. But in terms of like, after having exhausted that, sort of organic follow up, changing the conversation maybe and looking at it going, is it because they're working on a bigger thing that also we can help with?

Sometimes is that, is that switch enough to get attention or to give your point of contact something new, to like bring up to their higher up to say, actually this actually feeds into a larger initiative and then maybe, you know, getting that attention. But I love that persistence. And I just think it's, you know, it's a thing and I, I guess everyone, a lot of people probably get a lot of those like automated marketing emails, sales emails. Like, Hey, I didn't hear back from you.

And you're like, yeah, you're a robot. Like someone just automated a follow up every couple of weeks. Like what are your thoughts on that? Like, actually like, is it something, yes, it requires persistence. But is, is part of it just being a human or is it really just kinda like staying, staying top of mind for them?

Christian Banach: Yeah. Well, we really advise against any of these kind of automated type of emails. Number one, I don't see the results coming from them, because I think things have just, the inboxes are getting flooded so much. So we'd stay away from that number one. And number two, it's all about adding value, right?

So every follow up though, I think this is key, needs to add some value. You know, you, you don't wanna just, Hey, just checking in on this, just checking in on this, right? Just following up, like, you know, you wanna stay away from those types. There's no value again in it for the prospect, or the client or whomever it happens to be.

So yes, I think, you know, when you are doing the follow up, if you continue to add value, then I think, again, it's, that goes into the mindset of, you know, you're not bothering somebody, you're actually sharing some additional information. And I'll share a little bit of a quick story here.

When I was first starting off in, in really heavily focusing on sales, one of our clients that we were working with, you know, really wanted to get in touch with this particular automotive services company. And I sent an email, didn't hear back, I, I made a call, didn't hear back and they were hounding me.

Well, what's happen, you know, what's going on, what is going on with this. And I did, I followed to a T what we're supposed to do, you know, the right number of follow ups. Um, you know, I, I, I added value along the way, but I, I did feel a little strange about the volume of, of content. Well, I didn't hear back after one or two emails?

I don't think they're interested. Um, so I would say I probably followed up by phone five or six times, by email five or six times over a period of, of time. And I remember one day, like it was yesterday, I opened my inbox up and I'll be darn it, there was an email from that individual. And this is actually where the term came from.

He's like, I really appreciate your professional persistence. And they actually apologized to me for not responding and said, you know, they've been busy. I forget exactly what the, what the challenge was at a time, but this is exactly what we've been looking for. And ended up putting the two parties together and some business happened from it.

And had I not sent those second, third, fourth, fifth emails and phone calls, that never would've happened. And, and here I am thinking I'm bothering, you know, the individual. And then I ended up getting a response and they thank me and apologize to me for not responding. So, but I, I think it, a lot of it also had to do with, it was right targeting.

It was right follow up. There was value provided. Like, again, if you're just sending out mass emails that are going off to everybody, it's not personalized to them. It's hard to really stand by what you're saying and doing if it's just sent out a mass level, but it's very personalized and you really mean something. It's well researched.

It's, it's again, it's a little bit of a different game.

Galen Low: Oh, I love that. And I think that's like, I mean, it plays into E, right? This like engaging communications because yes, you could just, you know, send the like, Hey, did you get my last email? But it's also, I'm sure it's bigger than that. Do you think you could talk us through like this notion of like engaging, making your communications engaging?

Christian Banach: Yeah. Yeah. I, I think, you know, we, we talked a little bit about the pivotal problem, so one, your email needs to be focused on the problem, or not just email. Could be, you know, whether you're calling someone as well. But it's always focused on solving a problem. It's personalized.

That's another part of being engaging. So that's staying away again from, from those, uh, automated type emails or those just checking in kind of generic emails. You really want to be relevant, as well. You know, which kind of goes in touch with, with the, the personalization and the, the problem focus, but, you know, be relevant.

Why are you reaching out to somebody in the first place? What triggered you to want to, you know, reach out to them? I think that's also very key. And I think, again, when, if you're thinking about being the recipient of these kind of bad emails, it's like, well, why are they even sending me this?

Or I love getting phone calls from a cable provider. I don't even have cable. And they're asking me to switch to another cable provider, but I don't have the first one. I mean, like the targeting is way off. So you wanna make sure that you're relevant. You wanna make sure that you're short and concise and casual.

That's another key here. You don't wanna write a book. And we talked about this a little bit earlier, but you gotta think about how are people communicating these days? How do you communicate? You're probably reading email on a phone. You're running from meeting to meeting, so you want to be, you know, make it easy as possible for someone to digest your messaging.

You're also not writing, you know, a college thesis paper either. You've gotta stay away from the jargon, make it short, casual. There's actually research out there that shows that the emails that are written at a third grade level actually get the best responses. So you know, you don't always have to write the third grade, but stay away from, you know, anything that's too jargony or too long a sentences. Make it easy, make it a good experience for the person that's receiving it.

And then, you know, another area that we think of with, uh, engaging messaging is around the call to action. First and foremost, have a call to action in, in, in your message. Like, what do you, make it easy for them. What do you want them to do from this message? So if you're talking more on a prospecting side, something maybe, Hey, is this a problem that you're experiencing?

Am I on the right track here? So you're trying to elicit a response from them. If you're working maybe with an existing client, you know, again, make sure that it's clear what the next action is you want to do. I can't tell you how many times I see an email. They send some good information, but then there's no call to action.

And the prospect doesn't, or the client doesn't know what to do with it. And they just put it in their inbox and it just sits there. So, make sure that you have a, a call to action into it. And you kind of combined all of those principles, those elements together, and it'll lead to much more engaging messaging that will yield better responses back.

Galen Low: I like that it ties into like, you know, propel, like as a word, right? Like just like we need to like move things forward. The, the thing is to move things forward. And yeah, that might require some persistence. And yes, you have to make it easy and clear for people to, to help them do their part to move it forward as well.

Christian Banach: Yep. Yep.

Galen Low: It's huge. And then you, the L side of it. Launch and optimize. Tell me a bit about that.

Christian Banach: Well the launch part is just do it, right? You gotta get out there and you just gotta do it. We can sit here and read books and listen to podcasts and, you know, attend training seminars and all. That's great, but eventually you just gotta get out there and you gotta do it.

And that's where you're gonna learn the best. And the optimized part is, is just that. Continuously looking at what's working, what's not working and, and identifying areas then that you can, that you can improve on. And I, I would say like for those organizations that are considering, whether or not they should have their project managers do any of this, I think, you know, approaching it from like a pilot type mindset.

Like maybe, maybe get a volunteer or two, or depending on the size of your organization, a few. And try it out with them and, and see, you know, how, how it works.

But I think going into it, like setting very clear expectations on the number of hours, what the roles and responsibilities should be, doing some regular check-ins like, kind of during the project itself. And then after the project sitting down what worked, what didn't. Again, kind of that optimized piece, how do we improve this for the future?

And, and maybe, maybe in your firm, it doesn't work, but I think those that are doing it were seeing really good success with it and it's just driving the business forward. So I think it's definitely worth the, the risk, if you will. I don't know if there's a huge risk, if you do the right planning with it. I think it's a matter of just putting things forward and, and giving it a shot.

Galen Low: I love that idea of just piling it, like just going, go and start doing it. And also measure to make sure, you know, whether or not it's working and getting that feedback and like having that feedback loop to understand if it's beneficial and whether there's problems that are coming out of it to be solved.

I mean, listen like I love the framework. And I think we talked a lot about, you know, the benefits for an organization of having PMs involved as a sort of conduit to, to feed sales and to, you know, keep, keep a healthy pipeline. I think we talked a bit about, you know, individuals and how they can benefit in terms of like career growth, keep their job interesting.

And just kind of change their perspective on, on, on what they're doing. And the vision for what they're delivering. Maybe not just a website, maybe something, you know, it's, it's, it's for a bigger reason. And I think the, my one hangup that I run to often is that I know a lot of folks who are in any role, but definitely project management roles where they're like, I don't know if I have the foundational skills to just go and start doing this.

Right? Like this is maybe an area, you know, I know a lot of people who self-identify as like introvert project managers who are not really client facing, you know, aren't the type of people who want to like walk the halls. Like that's a very scary thing for them and, you know, I get it for sure. It's like a it's, it's in some ways it's unnatural based on the way that a lot of project managers are trained, but just kinda like round it out.

Like if there's someone who's like, yeah, I wanna build some of the foundational skills to then start like leveraging this mindset. Where do they start? What would you recommend in terms of like a starting point to develop a business development mindset?

Christian Banach: Yeah. I think there's a lot of information.

I mean, this podcast, I think is a first, you know, good step for those that are, that are starting to think about it. So anybody listening here, I think you've already taken a good first step in the right direction. I think, you know, you, you might wanna take a look in your organization and see where do you potentially see an opportunity.

And I think that might dictate where some of your next steps may go. Are you gonna be more, are you talking about more frontline type sales, where you're gonna help drive new business leads. If that's the case, then I think you can focus on, you know, looking into prospecting and outbound sales and, and learning some skills there.

There's so many different resources, books, podcasts, things like that, that you could follow up on. So that might be one avenue to look at. If you're thinking more on terms of maybe helping close the business and how you can be involved in the RFP process.

And, again, maybe you're not the extrovert that is gonna sit down with the C-suite executive, but it doesn't mean you can't help, uh, an RFP and, and crafting responses and providing insights to the team. I can tell you most business element teams are very stretched, very thin, and they would welcome anybody to come in and help them, you know, develop and pitch and, and close the business. So, that might be something that's more interesting to you.

And, and again, there's resources you could go for that. Or maybe, you know, you're, you're more, again, working with the clients and you think you can help expand existing business. And if that's the case, then again, you can focus in on certain areas. So I think it's kind of understanding, you know, where there might be a need in the organization and where your strengths and weaknesses may be and your interest may be, and then trying to follow that path, rather than trying to boil the ocean, cuz business development is, it's a wide ranging thing.

It encompasses a lot of things. And if that's not your full time job, you're, it's gonna be tough for you to take it all on. So, you know, just focus in on one area and see where it goes.

Galen Low: I love that. I love that sort of curiosity aspect because, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm in a way like relieved that, you know, and, and your answer wasn't, oh yeah.

Like you gotta like, do all the training that a sales team does, or you gotta read this textbook or take this course. Like a lot of it is that curiosity and what resonated with me is that, and a lot of places I worked there is this sort of wall almost. And if not even like an adversarial relationship between the sales and business development team and the project management team. Or the account management team and the project management team where like some of their goals are a bit at odds.

And sometimes it's just because that empathy hasn't been built both ways of like, understanding, like you said, business development team probably spread pretty thin, probably under a lot of pressure, probably could use some help. And likewise, you know, not understanding that, like project managers also might be able to help.

And so like, like that sort of conversation of how can I help and exploring that. And just like you said earlier with a launch and optimize, like give it a go and, and, you know, if you could find an opportunity to, to get started, see how it goes and then, and then take it from there. I really like that.

if people wanna learn more about this propel framework, to learn more about your consultancy, to learn more about you, where can they go?

Christian Banach: Yeah, I would say the best place to go would be our website, christianbanach.com. We have a lot of resources on there. If you're, again, curious of exploring about business development, blogs, webinars, we have a newsletter that comes out that you could sign up to.

So that would be a great place to kind of dip your toe into water and, and further explore this. I'm also on LinkedIn. You can look me up Christian Banach, happy to answer any questions. If you want to email me directly on there, you know, happy to, uh, provide my perspective if you're considering getting more involved in biz dev.

Galen Low: awesome. I will add those links into the show notes below for anyone listening. Christian, this has been such a value pack conversation. Thank you for taking us through this framework. Thank you for all your thoughts and sharing your experience about business development in general, but just even from that project management lens, I, I just don't think it gets talked about enough. So, thank you again for sharing your perspective today.

Christian Banach: Absolutely, Galen. This has been a, a lot of fun. I really appreciate you having me on here.

So, what do you think? Should project managers care about business development? Or is it just a distraction that keeps PMs from being able to focus on delivering high quality work?

Tell us a story: have you ever inherited a project scope, budget and timeline that was impossible to deliver? How did it make you feel and what would you have done differently if you were involved in the sales process?

Leave your thoughts on the comments below!

And if you wanna hone your skills as a strategic project leader, come and join our collective. Head over to thedigitalprojectmanager.com/membership to get access to a supportive community that shares knowledge, solves complex challenges, and shapes the future of our craft — together.

From robust templates and monthly training sessions that save you time and energy, to the peer support offered through our Slack channel, community events, and mastermind groups, being a member of our community means having over a thousand people in your corner as you navigate your career in digital project delivery.

And if you like what you heard today, please subscribe and stay in touch on thedigitalprojectmanager.com.

Until next time, thanks for listening.

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A Business Development Manager is a professional who is responsible for the growth of their department. They work with their sales team to develop mutually beneficial proposals, negotiate contract terms and communicate effectively with stakeholders.

Nikoletta holds an MSc in HR management and has written extensively about all things HR and recruiting.

This Business Development Manager   job description template is optimized for posting to online job boards or careers pages and easy to customize for your company.

Business Development Manager Responsibilities:

• Developing a business development strategy focused on financial gain
• Arranging business development meetings with prospective clients

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We are looking for an ambitious and energetic Business Development Manager to help us expand our clientele. You will be the front of the company and will have the dedication to create and apply an effective sales strategy.

The goal is to drive sustainable financial growth through boosting sales and forging strong relationships with clients.

Responsibilities

• Develop a growth strategy focused both on financial gain and customer satisfaction
• Conduct research to identify new markets and customer needs
• Arrange business meetings with prospective clients
• P romote the company’s products/services addressing or predicting clients’ objectives
• P repare sales contracts ensuring adherence to law-established rules and guidelines
• K eep records of sales, revenue, invoices etc.
• P rovide trustworthy feedback and after-sales support
• Build long-term relationships with new and existing customers
• Develop entry level staff into valuable salespeople 

Requirements and skills

• Proven working experience as a business development manager, sales executive or a relevant role
• P roven sales track record
• Experience in customer support is a plus
• P roficiency in MS Office and CRM software (e.g. Salesforce)
• P roficiency in English
• Market knowledge
• Communication and negotiation skills
• Ability to build rapport
• Time management and planning skills
• B Sc/BA in business administration, sales or relevant field

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Business Project Manager: Job Description and Requirements

As businesses become increasingly complex and fast-paced, the role of the business project manager has become vital in ensuring the success and growth of organizations. In this article, we will discuss the job description and requirements of a business project manager.

Explanation of Business Project Manager Role

A business project manager is responsible for planning, executing, and finishing projects within budget, time, and scope. They act as the bridge between the project teams, stakeholders, and clients, ensuring effective communication and collaboration. Business project managers have excellent leadership, problem-solving, and decision-making skills that are necessary to navigate through the complexities of a project. Moreover, they play a crucial role in risk management, ensuring that projects are completed with minimal disruption to the organization’s resources or reputation.

Importance of Business Project Manager in Organizations

Business project managers bring immense value to their organizations. They are responsible for improving project outcomes, reducing costs, increasing efficiency, and ensuring the achievement of project objectives. With their strategic thinking and leadership skills, business project managers can identify the right people, tools, and strategies needed to complete projects successfully. Additionally, they bring accountability, transparency, and standardization to project management, ensuring that projects align with the overall business objectives.

The role of the business project manager has evolved to become indispensable for modern organizations. They ensure that businesses remain competitive by delivering complex projects successfully while managing risks, budgets, and timelines. In the following sections, we will explore the required skills, education, and experience needed to become a successful business project manager. As a business project manager, the responsibilities that come with the role are vast and diverse. From developing and implementing project plans to facilitating effective communication and coordination between teams, the job demands a wide array of skills and expertise from the individual holding it.

One of the primary responsibilities of a business project manager is the development and implementation of project plans. This involves creating a plan of action for the project, outlining the different tasks that need to be completed, defining the timeline, and determining the available resources required to meet the project’s goals. This is a crucial part of the project’s success, and the business project manager must be adept at creating plans that are effective, detailed, and realistic.

The second responsibility of a business project manager is managing project teams. This involves assembling and leading teams of professionals, assigning project tasks, overseeing their progress, and ensuring that the team is motivated and productive. A proficient project manager should excel at managing and communicating with team members, delegating tasks, using feedback, and providing adequate resources for the team to work efficiently.

Ensuring project delivery within the specified time, budget, and scope is another critical responsibility of a business project manager. The project manager must ensure that the team is working within the set budget, avoid missed deadlines, and ensure that the project’s objectives are met. To achieve these goals, the manager must be an expert at project management methodologies, risk management techniques, and problem-solving skills.

Risk assessment, mitigation, and management is yet another significant responsibility of a business project manager. The project manager must anticipate potential risks and develop strategies to mitigate them. This may involve developing contingency plans, identifying and mitigating potential conflicts, and developing mitigation and risk management processes that can ensure the project completes successfully.

Monitoring performance metrics and project progress is equally critical. The project manager must ensure that the team is making progress toward the goals and objectives on the project plan. Regular monitoring of performance metrics helps identify issues early, allows for informed decision-making, and enables corrective action to be taken when necessary.

Lastly, facilitation of communication and coordination between teams is an essential responsibility of the business project manager. This includes facilitating team meetings, promoting the exchange of ideas, and ensuring that all stakeholders are aware of the project’s progress. Effective communication is key to the success of any project, especially when dealing with a diverse team and stakeholders, making it vital for the business project manager’s success.

The responsibilities of a business project manager are broad and diverse. An effective project manager must understand the different aspects of project management, possess excellent communication skills, and approach the work with flexibility and problem-solving skills. The job demands excellent leadership skills, strategic thinking, and a systematic approach to handling complex projects. When executed correctly, a business project manager can lead the organization to greater success by bringing structure and organization to projects, ensuring that they are completed efficiently, on time and within budget.

Education and Experience Requirements for Business Project Manager

To become a successful Business Project Manager, you must meet certain education and experience requirements. These requirements will vary depending on the organization and position you are applying for, but in general, you can expect to need the following:

Degree Requirements: Most companies prefer candidates with a bachelor’s degree or higher in business, engineering, computer science, or a related field. A degree in business administration with a focus on project management and leadership is highly desirable.

Relevant Work Experience: To qualify for a Business Project Manager’s role, you must have at least 1-2 years of experience in project management. Candidates should also have professional experience in a related field, such as business analysis, process engineering, or product management, to acquire a deeper understanding of the business operations and project requirements.

Certification Requirements: Certifications are becoming increasingly crucial in project management. Thus, a certification in Project Management Professional (PMP), PRINCE2, or Agile Scrum Master (ASM) can give you an edge over other candidates. These certifications demonstrate your understanding of project management best practices and show that you can supervise projects from initiation to completion.

Additional Qualifications: As a Business Project Manager, you will be responsible for leading a team of professionals and ensuring project success. Therefore, you should also possess excellent communication, negotiation, and leadership skills. You should also have experience with project management software and tools, such as Asana or MS Project, to manage project timelines and budgets effectively. Additionally, candidates with experience in risk management, change management, or stakeholder management will be highly valued.

To qualify for a Business Project Manager role, you must have at least a bachelor’s degree in business, engineering, or computer science, along with relevant work experience in project management. You should consider obtaining a project management certification to showcase your experience and knowledge. Finally, additional qualifications such as strong communication, leadership, and risk management skills are highly desirable.

Skills Required for Business Project Manager Role

Business project management requires a unique set of skills that are essential in ensuring project success. A business project manager plays a vital role in overseeing projects from conception through to completion, ensuring that they meet the set goals within the allocated budget and timeframe. To be successful in this role, individuals must possess the following skills:

Interpersonal and Communication Skills

One of the crucial skills required of a business project manager is the ability to communicate and work with various team members effectively. Being able to communicate clearly and listen actively ensures that everyone involved in the project understands their roles and responsibilities. It also ensures that feedback and ideas are adequately shared, allowing for conflicts to be resolved efficiently.

Technical Knowledge and Expertise

A business project manager must be knowledgeable and have expertise in the specific field they are responsible for. This enables them to understand the technical aspects of the project and communicate with technical team members effectively. The manager must also understand current technologies, tools, and trends to ensure that the project is up-to-date with industry standards and requirements.

Leadership Qualities

Leadership is a critical aspect of a business project manager’s role. A successful leader must be able to motivate and inspire a team of individuals who may have competing interests and objectives. The leader must encourage teamwork, build relationships, and provide guidance to ensure that the project’s objectives are met.

Creative Problem-Solving and Analytical Skills

A business project manager must be able to manage, analyze and solve complex problems that may arise throughout the project life cycle. Creative problem-solving skills will help the team identify innovative solutions and approaches to challenges. In addition, analytical skills are crucial in identifying potential problems early and mitigating risks.

Attention to Detail

Success in business project management requires paying close attention to details. The manager must pay attention to every aspect of the project, ensuring that no detail is overlooked. Attention to detail can help identify potential problems or risks before they become significant issues.

Adaptability and Flexibility

Business project management is subject to change, and a manager must be adaptable and flexible in their approach. The manager must be open to new ideas and changes throughout the project life cycle to ensure that they meet the project objectives within the allocated budget and timeframe.

Mastering the skills listed above is essential for any individual looking to become a successful business project manager. These competencies will help the manager lead their team effectively, manage complex problems, and deliver projects that meet the set objectives.

Attributes of a Successful Business Project Manager

Being a successful business project manager requires more than just having knowledge of the field. It also requires the possession of certain attributes that allow one to excel in their job. Below, we’ll discuss five of the most important attributes that a successful business project manager should possess:

Positive Attitude and Work Ethic

Project management can be a challenging and high-pressure job. As such, it’s essential to have a positive attitude and a strong work ethic to stay motivated and productive. This enables the project manager to maintain a sense of calm and composure when faced with difficult situations and makes it easier for them to interact with their team and keep everyone engaged and in high spirits.

Dedication and Commitment to Excellence

Another essential attribute that successful business project managers possess is dedication and commitment to excellence. They are committed to delivering a high-quality project that meets or exceeds stakeholders’ expectations. This means they’re diligent, hardworking, and committed to delivering the best possible results.

Project Management Creativity

A successful business project manager has exceptional project management skills and knows how to think creatively. They can identify innovative approaches to solving problems that provide value to the project and deliver successful outcomes. Project management creativity is essential, especially in situations where the project faces significant difficulties or budget constraints, and a solution needs to be found quickly.

Resourcefulness

Being resourceful is another important attribute of a successful business project manager. They are adept at finding a way to make things happen, no matter what obstacles are in their way. Whether it’s finding a way to complete a project task using a limited budget, negotiating with suppliers for better pricing, or identifying opportunities for agile development, successful business project managers find ways to make things work.

Self-Motivated and Proactive

Successful business project managers are self-motivated and proactive. They don’t wait around for things to happen; instead, they create opportunities and forge ahead with ideas, identifying opportunities and finding ways to optimize processes, making the team more productive. Self-motivation and proactivity also help the PM to anticipate problems before they arise and continuously strive for improvement, enhancing project outcomes.

Successful business project managers possess critical attributes that contribute to their ability to excel in their job. Positive attitude and work ethic, dedication and commitment to excellence, project management creativity, resourcefulness, and self-motivation, and proactivity are all essential for a business project manager to succeed. Possessing these traits can contribute to your organization’s success and help you achieve your project goals on time and within budget.

The Importance of Technology and Project Management Software

In today’s fast-paced business environment, technology is a critical component for the success of any project. Business Project Managers are expected to be proficient in the use of technology and tools that facilitate efficient communication, collaboration, and project management.

Technology and Tools the Business Project Manager Should Know

Business Project Managers should be familiar with a variety of technology and tools that are commonly used in project management. Some of these tools include:

Project Management Software  – This type of software is designed to help teams plan, execute, and monitor projects. It provides features like task management, scheduling, resource allocation, and reporting. Examples of popular project management software include Trello, Asana, and Microsoft Project.

Collaboration Tools  – These are tools that facilitate communication and collaboration between team members. Examples of popular collaboration tools include Zoom, Slack, and Microsoft Teams.

Cloud Storage  – It is important for Project Managers to have access to secure cloud storage for project files and documentation. Examples of popular cloud storage systems include Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive.

Virtual Meeting Tools  – These tools enable teams to conduct virtual meetings and presentations. Examples of popular virtual meeting tools include Zoom, Skype, and Microsoft Teams.

Time Tracking Software  – This type of software helps teams to track the amount of time spent on tasks and projects. Examples of popular time tracking software include Toggl and Harvest.

Project Management Software and its Importance

Project management software is a critical tool for Business Project Managers. It provides a variety of benefits that can help to streamline the project management process and improve team collaboration. Some of the key benefits of project management software include:

Centralized Communication  – Project management software provides a single platform for team communication, allowing members to easily collaborate and stay up-to-date on project progress.

Improved Task Management  – Project management software provides task management tools that enable Project Managers to assign, track, and monitor tasks easily. This promotes accountability and ensures that everyone is on the same page.

Enhanced Resource Allocation  – Project management software provides features that allow Project Managers to allocate resources efficiently, ensuring that team members are utilized effectively.

Real-time Reporting  – Project management software provides reports that are generated in real-time, providing Project Managers with up-to-date information on project progress and enabling them to make informed decisions.

Business Project Managers must be proficient in the use of technology and tools that facilitate efficient communication, collaboration, and project management. Project management software is a critical tool that helps to streamline the project management process and improve team collaboration. By leveraging these tools effectively, Business Project Managers can ensure that projects are completed on time, within budget, and to the satisfaction of all stakeholders.

Best Practices for a Business Project Manager

Being a business project manager requires not only knowledge and experience but also certain skills and practices that will help you achieve success. Below are the best practices for business project managers that you should keep in mind.

Leading Change Management with Compassion

Change management is one of the most challenging aspects of business project management. It requires a deep understanding of human nature, emotions, and behavior. A good project manager knows how to lead change management with empathy and compassion. They should be able to communicate effectively, listen to concerns, and provide support to team members during the process.

Stakeholder and Customer Engagement

Stakeholder and customer engagement is crucial to the success of a project. A business project manager should understand the needs and expectations of stakeholders and customers and communicate with them regularly. They should also be able to manage their expectations and prioritize their requirements.

Collaborating and Networking

Collaboration and networking are key to achieving project objectives. A good project manager should be able to work collaboratively with team members, stakeholders, and partners. They should also be able to network and build relationships with key stakeholders in the industry.

Managing a Project Change Process

Managing a project change process requires planning, communication, and collaboration. A good project manager should be able to identify changes that are necessary, plan how to implement them, and communicate them to team members and stakeholders. They should also be able to manage risks associated with changes and ensure that the project stays on track.

Managing Conflict and Challenges

Conflict and challenges are unavoidable in business project management. A good project manager should be able to manage conflicts and challenges effectively. They should be able to identify the root causes of conflicts, communicate effectively, and negotiate for a win-win solution. They should also be able to manage risks associated with challenges and adapt accordingly.

Being a business project manager requires a wide range of skills and practices. By implementing the best practices outlined above, you can become an effective and successful project manager.

Example of Business Project Manager Job Description

Business project managers are responsible for overseeing the successful completion of projects within a company. They play a critical role in ensuring that projects meet business objectives, are completed on time, and within budget.

Overview of the Role

The business project manager is responsible for leading projects from the planning stage to completion. They work with cross-functional teams to establish project goals and objectives, develop project plans, and identify project deliverables. Business project managers must be adept at managing resources, including people, time, and budget.

Job Responsibilities and Requirements

As a business project manager, some of the core job responsibilities include:

• Developing and managing project plans, timelines, and budgets
• Coordinating with stakeholders, including project team members, management, and customers
• Identifying and managing risks and issues that may impact project outcomes
• Conducting regular status meetings and providing progress reports to project teams and management
• Ensuring that project work aligns with business goals and objectives
• Monitoring project deliverables and ensuring that they meet quality standards
• Providing guidance and leadership to project team members

To be successful in this role, business project managers should have experience leading cross-functional and geographically dispersed project teams. They should have strong communication and interpersonal skills, as well as the ability to manage conflicts and negotiate with stakeholders. Business project managers should also have experience developing project plans and timelines, as well as have a strong understanding of project management methodologies and tools.

Qualifications and Experience

While qualifications for this role may vary by organization, most business project managers have a bachelor’s degree in business administration or a related field. Relevant certifications in project management, such as PMP from the Project Management Institute (PMI), are highly valued.

In addition, business project managers typically have several years of experience in project management, with a proven track record of successfully delivering projects on time and within budget. They should have experience working on large-scale projects with multiple stakeholders, as well as experience coordinating resources across different departments or business units.

Additional Information

Business project managers should be comfortable working in a fast-paced, dynamic environment. They should be able to manage multiple projects simultaneously and thrive under pressure. Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail are critical in this role, as business projects involve a lot of moving parts.

In addition, business project managers should be comfortable leveraging project management tools and software, such as Microsoft Project, Jira or Asana, to track project progress, monitor deliverables and manage project changes.

Business project managers play a vital role in leading projects that are critical to the success of organizations. They must be adept at managing resources, communicating with stakeholders, and coordinating complex projects to ensure successful outcomes.

Sample Business Project Manager Job Posting/ Advertisements

In order to provide you with a clear understanding of the job requirements for a Business Project Manager, we have created a sample job advertisement and posting.

Example of Business Project Manager Job Advertisement

Are you a highly organized and driven individual with a passion for project management? Do you have experience leading teams and implementing successful business projects? We are seeking a Business Project Manager to join our growing team!

As our Business Project Manager, you will be responsible for overseeing a variety of projects, from ideation to execution. You will coordinate with cross-functional teams to ensure that projects are delivered on time, within budget, and at a high level of quality. Your ability to manage multiple deadlines and maintain strong communication with stakeholders will be essential to your success in this role.

Responsibilities:

• Lead and manage all aspects of assigned projects, from initiation to delivery
• Develop detailed project plans that outline deliverables, timelines, and resources needed
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure effective coordination and communication
• Identify and proactively manage project risks and issues
• Monitor project progress and adjust plans as necessary
• Provide timely status updates and reporting to stakeholders

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Project Management or related field
• Minimum of 5 years of project management experience
• Proven track record of delivering successful projects on time and within budget
• Strong leadership and communication skills
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment
• PMP certification is a plus

If you are a strategic thinker with a passion for project management and a desire to work in a collaborative and dynamic environment, we would love to hear from you!

Sample Job Posting

Job Title:  Business Project Manager

Job Type:  Full-time

Location:  [Insert City, State]

Salary:  [Insert Salary Range]

We are seeking a highly motivated and organized Business Project Manager to join our team! In this role, you will be responsible for leading a variety of business projects and ensuring their timely and successful completion.

• Develop and maintain project plans that outline timelines, deliverables, and resources needed
• Lead cross-functional teams to ensure successful project execution
• Communicate project status updates and reporting to stakeholders
• Collaborate with internal teams to identify areas for process improvement
• Excellent leadership and communication skills
• Able to thrive in a fast-paced environment

If you are a results-driven project manager with a passion for business success, we encourage you to apply for this exciting opportunity.

Tips for Preparing a Career in Business Project Manager

If you want to pursue a career in business project management, it’s important to know what it takes to be successful in this field. Here are some tips to help you prepare for a career as a business project manager:

Identifying Key Skills

Before you can become a successful business project manager, you need to identify the key skills required for this role. Some of the key skills for business project managers include strong communication skills, problem-solving abilities, leadership skills, adaptability, and the ability to manage budgets and timelines effectively. Take the time to assess your strengths and weaknesses to see where you need to focus your development efforts.

Gaining Relevant Experience

Experience is critical for business project managers, and one of the most effective ways to gain experience is by working on projects in a related field. Look for opportunities to work on cross-functional projects within your organization or volunteer for roles that require project management skills. It’s also a good idea to seek out internships or entry-level positions in project management to help you gain the experience you need.

Building a portfolio

As you gain experience, you should create a portfolio of your work to showcase your skills to potential employers. Your portfolio should include examples of projects you’ve worked on and the specific contributions you made to those projects. Be sure to highlight your leadership skills, ability to manage budgets and timelines, and any other relevant experience that demonstrates your qualifications for a business project management role.

Network Building

Networking is an essential part of career development, and it’s particularly important in the business project management field. Attend industry conferences and events, join professional organizations, and connect with others in your field through social media to build your network. Use your network to learn about job opportunities, seek mentoring relationships, and stay up-to-date on industry trends.

Education and Professional Development

To be a competitive candidate for business project management roles, you should consider pursuing additional education and professional development. Look for certifications or training programs that will help you build specific skills or expand your knowledge of project management best practices. Pursuing a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) is also a great way to demonstrate your commitment to your career and gain the skills and knowledge you need to be successful as a business project manager.

Preparing for a career in business project management requires strategic planning and focus on developing the key skills, gaining relevant experiences, building a portfolio, networking and pursuing education and professional development opportunities. By following these tips, you can position yourself for success in this exciting and rewarding field.

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What Is Business Development? Full Definition & Guide (Plus Tools)

Our a handy and comprehensive business development guide aims to answer all your questions about the business development role and what it could mean for your business.

Have you ever heard the term 'business development' thrown about during meetings and get the feeling that no one actually knows what it means?

Well, let us dive into some of the most important things to know about this term and its growth potential role for a business.

What Is Business Development?📌

• The Difference Between Business Development And Marketing🤝
• Bridging The Gap Between Your Customer And Your Product🌉
• Growing Those Strategic Partnerships🌱

Moving Into And Understanding Markets🧐

• Business Development Skills📑

Business Development vs Sales📈

When things go wrong😱, business development tools🔧, remember the importance of networking📱.

We've all seen roles advertising for a “Business Development Executive” or “Development Manager” or perhaps the more punchy “Development Strategist” , and even the big bad “VP of Business Development”.

If you're a small business owner, you might end up going to a Business and Development center for advice.

But what do these roles actually mean? 🤔

Business development (BD) is essentially any activity or idea that aims to make a business better over time.

This means making use of customers, implementing strategic partnerships, using your markets, and building your company's reputation.

It can also be incorporating the business to form an LLC or Limited Liability Company, which provides tax advantages that could benefit everyone in the long run 📈 .

BD roles at any level, from executives through to VPs, are looking at how they can make the business grow their increased revenue, physically expand and develop, while fostering strategic and long-term partnerships in the process.

🤔 So why is there so much confusion about what this is and what it means?

A development professional tends to talk to multiple departments:

• Customer Services
• Strategic management
• Product launches
• Growing brand awareness

The Difference Between Business Development And Marketing 🤝

Marketing is the process of creating, relaying, and delivering offerings that have value to your customers or strategic partners. Identifying every available growth opportunity is key.

Whereas your business professional will look for ways to appeal to target markets , your marketing team will adapt their marketing skills and budget to create the material that allows for that target appeal, creating a complementary partnership and long-term relationships.

The professionals might develop the plan, while the marketing team creates marketing content and copy.

However, whereas content creation can be easily outsourced to freelancers, agencies, or even college writing services, a development expert should know your company inside out.

Success comes when both departments work together to ensure the successful marketing of a product, based on the development and research informing the subsequent marketing material.

How Will A Business Grow In Different Areas?

• Building strategic partnerships for future business growth, and considering potential partners in business.
• Looking at their existing markets and development opportunities.
• Growing company reputation with a well-grounded business plan.

Bridging The Gap Between Your Customer And Your Product 🌉

Let's face it, without your customer you wouldn't have a business. They pay for what you're selling and are the reason why your business will fly or fall.

Development professionals will look at the relationship between what you're selling (or what you could sell) and what the customer actually needs, to align the gap and provide something of added value, and build upon existing strong relationships.

It aims to bridge the gap between your customer and your product. Take a car company selling a new sports car as an example.

You might be selling the latest model but are seeing a decline in sales. It turns out your customer is being sold a car with everything you think they need - parking sensors, interior Wi-Fi, the full works.

But they have to pay X amount more, and they don't need those additions, so they would rather go to another car company instead that sells their product for less money and with fewer gadgets.

What Will Your Development Professional Do?

• Look at customer interaction with a product to establish the issue.
• Talk to the product development team to create the product the client wants.
• Work with marketing to develop the new branding and rollout.
• Generate potential leads before passing them on to the sales department.
• Look at new strategic partnerships to help reach the customer.

Growing Those Strategic Partnerships 🌱

Strategic partnerships are any relationships with other organizations that can help you grow your customer base , focus on an ideal customer, move into new markets, or help your business to develop unique strengths it didn't have previously.

This is essential to develop any size of business, from the smallest of new start-ups through to huge established corporations.

Traditionally, a larger company may provide the infrastructure or capital while the smaller business offers the expertise in a particular skill that the more prominent company needs.

• Cross-publishing collaborations are the perfect way to see how strategic partnerships can benefit business development.
• Academic publishing has been hugely disrupted by a mandate that all scientific, peer-reviewed publications should be made open access.

A larger publisher might suffer in this climate, as it is harder to make business model changes on a company-wide level quickly and effectively.

The development professional in that large company might look to a smaller publisher with expertise in changing subscription journals over to the acceptable open access model. The smaller company will benefit from the larger company's investment in its technical expertise.

The Development Professional Would:

• Source the strategic partners that can provide them with the technical expertise.
• Develop and work with them to grow the business relationship.
• Work out what the strategic partner wants and how this will benefit them in other ways (if it isn't just the financial benefit).
• Negotiate the cost and outline the contract terms.

Strategic partnerships work at every level, from maintaining positive relationships with the press to establishing good relationships with your key suppliers.

A successful business development strategy works to establish beneficial relationships that will grow the business by increasing profit, reach, knowledge, and reputation.

• What Should Your Development Professional Do?
• Growing Your Company Reputation
• Developing Ethics & Transparency
• Roles And Responsibilities

Understanding your markets is mainly about understanding your customers on a wider level, and leveraging this understanding will help with business growth.

Here's what Matt Janaway from MarketingLabs has to say:

"Understanding your target customer no matter what market you want to move into is the only way you'll succeed. You need data to support your decisions and to ensure you're making the right steps to get the best results. Your research can't stop once you've decided to take the plunge with a new market though.

Continued testing, research and strategy adjustments are key to ensure you are delivering the right messaging to your new target audience, even when you have established your business within a market.

Just because something worked well before doesn't mean you can't get it to work better with a few tweaks based on what your data is telling you."

Suppose you're doing this without the help of a strategic partner. In that case, your development professional will need to research or work with a team that understands the potential market's purchasing tendencies and culture, while also establishing whether developing into that market will ultimately benefit the business.

Let's consider that a company is looking to expand into market X, but wants to know whether their product Y will be a hit with their customers.

Your business professional needs to determine how the potential customer will react to the product, whether it will be of value to them, and whether the success in that market will help grow the business.

Just because something worked well before doesn’t mean you can’t get it to work better with a few tweaks based on what your data is telling you.

What Should Your Development Professional Do? 💼

• Work with the market research team or consultant to conduct market analysis .
• Analyze how the customer would react to the proposed product with marketing tools.
• Speak to the marketing team who adapts the branding to the target culture .
• Establish potential sales leads and pass these on to sales.
• Decide whether this market move will ultimately benefit the business.

Growing Your Company Reputation ✊

Company reputation is key to business growth.

Customers won't buy your product if they don't trust you, and partnerships can't be strategic if people don't want to work with you, while markets won't pick up your products if they don't know who you are.

People need to recognize your brand and product for all the right reasons.

Another important aspect to consider is product adoption . How are your customers reacting to your product? The ability to measure and increase the product might prove valuable in the long run.

Developing Ethics & Transparency👐

A company's reputation will grow if it markets itself as an ethical and transparent company. The development strategist ensures that the business fulfills all customer needs without cutting corners ethically.

Growing employee loyalty is just as crucial as developing customer loyalty . Happy employees represent a company that operates with integrity and transparency, as people tend to trust an organization that treats its staff well.

As well as maintaining transparency in its interactions with clients, organizations, and employees, keeping to an environmentally friendly policy is also vital for the business to develop as an ethical establishment.

Global companies often lose potential clients because they have overlooked an unethical warehouse where people manufacture their goods, or they have disposed of their waste in a harmful way.

The development professionals will look at core company values and make sure they align with fundamental human rights and environmental policies.

Roles And Responsibilities 👀

The role of a development professional will vary from company to company.

A small company might have the business executive looking at overall company growth , while larger teams might have each member dedicated to a particular project, like a product or market launch.

Job titles across different companies could be:

• Development Executive
• Development Strategist
• Development Manager
• Development Director
• Development Consultant
• Development Representative
• Development Associate
• Development Analyst
• Development Officer

As some companies see the business development role as overlapping with sales or marketing, you might find smaller companies merging the roles or falling under different business functions entirely.

Business Development Skills 📑

As with any role, there is a set of fundamental skills that will lead you to thrive in a business development position.

Here are our top 10 recommendations for what would make you successful in the role and create opportunities for growth. We've put a couple of them together as sometimes you can't have one skill without the other.

• Research And Strategy
• Analytically Minded
• Communicative And Collaborative
• Creative Thinking
• Project Management
• Goal-Oriented
• Negotiation
• Critical Thinking And Decision Making
• Staying Humble

1. Research And Strategy

Researching cutting-edge industry trends , new product potential, and market expansion is an essential part of the role. Checking out small business blogs and learning more can be highly beneficial.

Strategizing what to do with your research is necessary for implementing the work as you'll need to have an action plan to take your research from theory into practice.

Being customer-focused is excellent, but only if you can give the client what they want without costing your business too much money.

Expectation management is integral, as it's walking the fine line between offering the client a fantastic product while still making a profit.

2. Analytically Minded

You need to be able to spot patterns and trends in a wide range of information, from reports and datasets to articles and industry research, to succeed in your business development efforts.

Drilling down to the core problem is also essential for planning and strategizing along the way.

3. Communicative And Collaborative

Whether you're pitching to a new client, running a cold calling campaign , or encouraging different departments to work with you (or each other).

Having outstanding interpersonal skills is essential for successfully managing many aspects of a business development project. Being willing to help others is also a vital element of strategic partnerships.

4. Creative Thinking

Businesses can grow only if the development department has new and innovative ideas.

Creative thinking about launching products or solving problems is essential for overcoming obstacles to growth and creating something unique for your current and potential clients.

5. Project Management

You will have a lot on your plate, and being hyper-organized is the key to success.

Running each new development opportunity as a project will provide you with an overarching business strategy , a set plan , and a budget to work with.

It also allows you to spin many plates in one, go through implementing timeline management having excellent planning skills.

6. Goal-Oriented

Good business developers will be working towards a set goal . Which new product will reach the customers? And will entering this new market benefit the company?

Working towards established and quantifiable goals, and enjoying the achievements, or learning from failures, will make you an asset to a business development team.

7. Negotiation

You might not be on the sales team, but you'll need to know how to negotiate.

Whether you're trying to secure a new client account, negotiate a good deal with a supplier or strategic partnership with long-term value, negotiation is crucial to the business development process.

8. Resilience

You'll be pulled in 100 different directions, and you'll need buckets of resilience to learn from mistakes and pick yourself up after your failures.

Sometimes you won't know whether something was successful, and you'll have to keep working through those uncertainties.

9. Critical Thinking And Decision Making

Making decisions and having logical thinking is essential for ensuring business growth and project success , especially while under pressure. This includes kickstarting a new task and dealing with changes and sunset projects .

You'll be the person people look to for solutions or advice, so you'll need to make logical short- and long-term planning decisions that all reach a common goal.

10. Staying Humble

Lastly, your ability to stay humble will ensure that you keep growing and improving your success rate.

Success has a way of getting to our heads, which can hamper new business relationships and set you back. Be open to learning from everyone and anyone.

If business development is the process of researching new products and where they will fit into a new market, then sales is the process of selling the product successfully to that market.

You cannot sell the product without first putting the development legwork in, but you won't make money and develop your business without selling its message to potential clients.

The Customer, The Product & The Market 🙌

The development arm of a business will look at identifying your ideal customer/s and finding out what product they want, then developing the product and making sure it's a good fit in the current market.

Finally, the professionals would maximize the referrals from current customers.

In essence, it's lead generation as you develop a list of potential new opportunities (your target market).

It's all the work you put in to make sure that you're selling the right product to the right market, and securing growth opportunities for your business.

Sales: Successfully Selling Your Product To The Customer💸

Sales are the team that takes forward the selling of the product once you've carried out all your background product and market testing and sending it out through the correct sales channels.

To maximize your sales in the market, you'll need a flourishing sales team with established KPIs that increase in size as your product becomes more successful and ensure all leads are processed through the sales funnel.

The chosen KPIs may change depending on your business and its sales cycle.

A successful salesperson's sales tasks should include:

• Handling prospecting ,
• Pitching to the stakeholders
• Converting qualified leads
• Effectively bringing new business to your company within their sales role
• Creating appealing invoice letters

A Combined Role: Where The Two Overlap 📰

In larger companies, the sales team might not have time to chase up all the leads generated by the development team.

In fact, hiring an intermediary in a Sales Development role can help ratify a sales lead from Biz Dev before it gets passed on to the Sales Executives for follow-ups, freeing up their time to spend on successful sales.

Alternatively, the Sales Development role might source leads , while the Development team focuses on product development and market expansion.

What are some of the Business Development mistakes ?

Companies often have a lower success rate if they don't understand the need for independent Sales and Business Development teams .

If a company expects its Sales team to blindly sell a product to a market that doesn't need it or generate all the leads themselves, they won't have time to sell the product successfully, or it will become futile as the customer doesn't want that product.

Or, the company hires too much of one and not enough of the other.

A sales team without any leads starts from scratch and sells blind, whereas a business development team with a small sales arm might research their products and market perfectly, but have no one to sell to.

Another vital mistake a business can make, is not having a comprehensive and consistent handbook that every employee know's inside and out. Confusion amongst your employees can seriously hurt your sales.

Strong relationships with partners will also encourage effective communication in all facets of the development role, ensuring all teams are kept in the loop.

A key factor of development in a business is saving time , and giving professionals enough time to focus on key business areas.

• NetHunt CRM

Tools like fully-integrated sales and marketing CRMs , sales management tools, or software that syncs to your email and allows you to manage documents on the go are all perfect for the development professional.

Here are our top 16 tool recommendations for assisting development in a business and why we think these are useful.

Important disclosure: we're proud affiliates of some tools mentioned in this guide. If you click an affiliate link and subsequently make a purchase, we will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you (you pay nothing extra). For more information, read our affiliate disclosure .

HubSpot is a fully integrated CRM that acts as a one-stop-shop for all your marketing, sales, and customer service needs. It's the perfect CRM for business development, providing all your business analytics and sales funnel in one functional space.

As seen in the image above, there are various hubs to choose from.

If your team is focused on marketing, sales or other services, HubSpot can cater to every business need. HubSpot has recently added a new hub to its family, known as the 'Operations Hub' .

This hub focuses on everything you need to make sure your business strategy is succeeding.

One of HubSpots features that stands out, is its ability to target your specific audiences. This ensures that the marketing or sales team knows of all the important steps.

• Easy to use
• Effective email integration
• Quality free version
• Educational knowledge hub
• Can be buggy
• Updates frequently

HubSpot has four pricing plans.

• The first plan is free .
• The second plan the starter and is best for small to medium sized teams at $45 /month.
• The third plan is the professional plan and is suited for medium to large sized teams at $800 /month.
• The fourth plan is the enterprise plan and is ideal for large companies at $3200 /month.

Jotform is an incredibly dynamic online f orm-building and data management platform designed to turbocharge your business growth and supercharge your processes!

Packed with fantastic features like ultra-customizable forms, seamless integrations, multi-user access, and slick white-labeling, your organization will be a lead-capturing, sales-streamlining, customer interaction-boosting powerhouse.

And with top-notch security standards like HIPAA, SOC2 and GDPR compliance , your sensitive data is in safe hands.

Get ready to elevate your business development to new heights with Jotform.

Jotform effortlessly handles diverse business functions , including sales, marketing, customer support, and operations. It revolutionizes and simplifies your organization's management processes by providing tailor-made forms, seamless payment processing, and integration with essential business tools.

• Seamless integrations: Connect effortlessly with your favorite tools like CRM, marketing automation, and project management software.
• White-labeling: Customize forms to match your brand's look and feel with logos, colors, and fonts.
• Robust data collection: Efficiently gather and manage valuable information with versatile form-building capabilities.
• Single sign-on (SSO): Enhance security and streamline user access with centralized authentication.
• Limitless APIs: Integrate and expand your platform's functionality with endless possibilities.
• Powerful reporting: Visualize your data with customizable reports and insights.
• PDF capabilities: Generate and manage professional PDFs from form submissions.
• E-signature support: Streamline document signing with built-in e-signature functionality.
• Multi-user access: Jotform facilitates teamwork with multi-user access, enabling seamless collaboration and form sharing across your organization.
• Net Promoter Score (NPS): Measure customer loyalty and satisfaction with customizable NPS surveys.
• Limited features in free version
• Starter: Free forever
• Bronze: $34/month billed annually
• Silver: $39/month billed annually
• Gold: $99/month billed annually  
• Enterprise: Contact their sales team for a custom quote

Bonsai is a simple all-in-one business management and financial solution for freelancers, agencies, and small businesses.

Their features are integrated to work seamlessly together and you can automate the entire customer relationship journey - from the proposal, and e-signing contracts to invoicing and tax season. Bonsai offers hundreds of free proposals, contracts, invoices, and more templates .

On top of that, they offer Bonsai Cash service - you can get a physical or virtual payment card to simplify your business expense management . Bonsai has international coverage across the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and more, with 180 currencies supported.

They currently integrate with Google Calendar, Zapier, and Slack.

• Many features
• Smart project automation
• Large variety of free templates
• Bonsai Cash is only available for US users

Bonsai has three pricing plans:

• The first plan is the starter plan at $24 /month.
• The second plan is the professional plan at $39 /month.
• Lastly, their business plan is $79 /month.
• All of these plans are billed monthly, while users have the option to subscribe annually to get two months for free.

Close is a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool that saves time with email automation , predictive dialers, and calling, all in one easy-to-access place. Unlike other CRM tools, its highly automated features save valuable time and are extremely easy to access.

Close has some impressive integration options with platforms like Zoom, Slack, Asana, Gmail and so much more.

With Close, you can interact with your entire team with great collaboration tools and ensure that nobody is left in the dark about any project.

The UI with Close is simple to use and everything you need is easily accessible.

• Great automated email function
• Excellent for outbound sales
• Technical support needs improvement

Close has four pricing plans.

• The first is the starter, great for small teams at $29 /month.
• The second is the basic plan, suited for outreach at $69 /month.
• The third is the professional plan, ideal for teams looking to automate their entire email platform at $99 /month.
• The fourth and final plan is the business plan, best for CRM and sales optimization at $149 /month.

5. NetHunt CRM

NetHunt CRM helps sales and marketing teams to organize their customer base and automate processes. It allows its users to organize a customer base, generate and manage leads, track the progress of the deals and activity of your teams.

With NetHunt, you can automate the entire buyer journey with the help of automated lead capturing, drip campaigns, distribution of tasks, and automated notifications that are sent out to the team every time something noteworthy is happening in the sales pipeline.

On top of that, the tool is extremely customizable, which allows you to set up the CRM based on your processes.

• Strong integration with Gmail
• Full customization
• Advanced email marketing features
• Sales and workflow automation
• Limited functionality of mobile apps
• Advanced features are not included in Basic Plan

NetHunt CRM has 3 pricing plans.

• The first plan is Basic at $24 per month.
• The second plan is Business at $48 per month.
• The third plan is Advanced at $96 per month.

NetHunt also comes with a special Startup Plan where the first 3 months are free and the following 9 months are at 50% off.

Amelia is a simple yet powerful automated booking specialist , working 24/7 to ensure your customers can book appointments or events and pay online while you sleep.

The Amelia WordPress booking plugin will fully automate the interaction with potential customers, help them pick the right service and employee, take care of the payments, real-time SMS reminders both for the customer and employee for booked, canceled, or rescheduled appointments.

Amelia is easy to navigate, and you do not need to worry about any training to use the software. It's integration with Google Calendar makes it an attractive option for businesses.

• Updated features
• Good calendar synchronization
• Customer service needs work
• Occasionally glitches

Amelia has three pricing plans.

• The first plan is the basic one at $59 /year.
• The second plan is the pro plan at $109 /year.
• The third and final plan is the developer plan at $249 /year.

7. Pipedrive

Pipedrive fully automates leads from chatbots and web forums, saving you time spent on lead generation. Integrated insights and AI allow for quick and easy reporting on key business areas

Your marketing department or sales teams will enjoy managing leads and potential clients with Pipedrive.

Pipedrive offers many collaborative business opportunities , from being able to use on mobile and integrate with other apps, while maintaining communication with team members, it stands out.

Pipedrive has an impressive deal closing statistic. Users can expect to close 28% more of their deals after a year of using Pipedrive.

• Good sales pipeline management
• Nice integrations
• Technical service can be improved
• Mobile app can be improved

Pipedrive has four pricing plans.

• The first plan is the essential plan at $12.50/month.
• The second plan is the advanced plan at $24.90/month.
• The third plan is the professional plan at $49.90/month.
• The fourth and final plan is the enterprise plan at $99.00/month.

Streak is incorporated into your Gmail and automatically pulls information from your contacts and emails to save you time on data input. It manages your sales pipeline and ensures you are always kept up to date with reminders and tasks.

It's perfect for business development professionals who use Gmail extensively.

With Streak, expect simple navigation and task organization. Users who use Streak praise it for its functionality and multipurpose features/tools.

Whether you are in the office or on the go, Streak offers effective features on all its platforms.

• Good Gmail integration
• Sufficient features with free version
• Occasional syncing issues
• Slow loading time now and then

Streak has four pricing plans.

• The first plan is free.
• The second plan is for solo professionals at $15 /month.
• The third plan is the pro plan at $49 /month.
• The fourth and final plan is suited for enterprise at $129 /month.

Copper is perfect for small business development professionals. It integrates Gmail and G-Suite , allowing you to align business leads in one place for your sales and business development teams.

One of Copper's new features is its ability to send you custom business reports and keep you updated with all you need to know.

You are able to personalize and adjust all your business needs in the report settings to make sure you are getting the accurate information you need.

With Copper, you can also track all your leads in a simple-to-use UI and set up a pipeline that is best suited for you and your business needs.

• Effective automation of data entry
• Good mobile version
• Have to pay for better features
• Customer support can be hard to reach

Copper has three pricing plans.

• The first plan is the basic plan at $25 /month.
• The second plan is the professional plan at $59 /month.
• The third and final plan is the business plan at $119 /month.

10. Prezentor

Prezentor enables salespeople to save time before, during, and after a sales meeting. They give you highly personalized sales content that is interactive and adapts to the customer's interest, improving the customer dialogue and win rate.

All with sales analytics, so your salespeople and business developers know what to focus on in any given situation.

This is an excellent sales management tool that manages how you communicate with clients via email, social media, and via your phone.

Manage your data and sales with automation tools that tell exactly what the client wants. Prezentor users have reported increased sales and increased client interest in the presentation data tools.

Prezentor aids in communicating hard-to-understand topics by breaking them down and having the clients see the bigger picture and better understand the services offered.

• Effective data collection
• Creates nice presentations
• Not easy to amend presentations
• Switching between applications can be tiresome

Prezentor has three pricing plans.

• The first plan is for individuals getting started at $22 /month.
• The second plan is for professionals at $41.64 /month.
• The third and final plan is for experts and large teams at $68.25 /month.

11. Calendly

Calendly is perfect if you're trying to sync meeting times across international teams , as it allows you and your co-workers to view one calendar and suggest times that work for everyone.

Calendly allows for syncing of meetings and easy collaboration between teams with an overall view on each team member's tasks. Calendly integrates with many useful apps like Zoom, Slack and HubSpot, to name a few.

With Calendly, you can rest easy knowing your calendar will never be double-booked again.

• Easy meeting scheduling
• Not a wide variety of customization

Calendly has four pricing plans.

• The first plan the basic plan which is free .
• The second plan is the premium plan for small teams at $8 /month.
• The third plan is the pro plan for teams and businesses at $12 /month.
• The fourth and final plan is the enterprise plan and the price is determined based on the needs of the business.

12. Proposify

Proposify streamlines the sales process, so all your sales templates, proposal content, pricing and sign-off are all located in one place. Proposify also allows for monitoring of proposal interaction with templates to inform reach out.

Proposify gives you insights into the best content and sales presenting for your proposal to ensure you can confidently close your sales deals.

You can customize and personalize your proposals based on your client's needs and wants, getting straight to the point.

With Proposify you can monitor your sales teams and reps at anytime, giving them the information they need at different stages of the closing process.

• Highly customizable
• Large variety of templates
• Slow functionality at times
• Occassionally crashes

Proposify has three pricing plans.

• The first plan is free and for solo professionals.
• The second plan is the team plan at $49 /month.
• The third and final plan is the business plan at $590 /month.

13. DottedSign

DottedSign is an eSignature and document management tool developed by Kdan Mobile that is flexible, simple and fast, saving you time. It is ideal for managing signatures on the go.

With DottedSign, you can sign off on deals from anywhere, your mobile device or desktop.

All tasks that are needed for signing are stored in one place, making it easily accessible and hassle-free.

DottedSign is environmentally friendly, without the need for physical paper documents, you can rest assured knowing you are contributing to the health of the planet too.

• Sends email reminders

DottedSign has four pricing plans.

• The second plan is the pro version at $4.99 /month.
• The third plan is a business plan at $47.49 /month.
• The fourth and final plan is for enterprise and cost is determined .

14. EngageBay

EngageBay is a single, unified and affordable digital platform for small and medium businesses that combines marketing automation, sales automation, ticketing helpdesk, and a free CRM, all in a single solution.

With features such as Email Marketing, Lead Generation tools, Contact Management, Deal Pipeline, Telephony, Email Sequences, full-service Help Desk Automation, and many others, EngageBay is a complete solution for business marketing, sales, and service needs.

EngageBay's software is easy to use, with a simple UI. It has integrations with Zapier, Shopify, Quickbooks, and many more.

• Feature-rich
• Easy to use in general
• Good customer support
• Some navigation elements can be improved

EngageBay's all-in-one plan has four pricing options.

• The second plan is a basic plan at $10.79 /month.
• The third plan is the growth plan at $35.99 /month.
• The fourth and final plan is the pro plan at $57.59 /month.

Trello is all about team collaboration and how you can use this SaaS software to manage all your projects in one place.

As your team grows, you can customize and personalize projects and tasks, while keeping team spirit up in the process. Easily integrate tools like Dropbox, Google Drive, Slack and more to enhance productivity.

Trello has a simple UI and impressive automation. With Trello, the whole team is kept up to date and nobody gets left behind.

• Effective project management
• Could have more templates

Trello has four pricing plans.

• The second plan is for small teams at $5 /month.
• The third plan is for larger teams at $10 /month.
• The fourth and final plan is for enterprise and for 25 users it is $17.50 /month, this can change based on your requirements.

16. Appointy

Appointy is a multi-functional online scheduling software for marketing, sales, customer success , and business development teams that eliminates the need for back-and-forth emails to find the perfect time to meet.

It automates meeting scheduling throughout your sales pipeline so you can save time and focus on qualifying, winning, and serving more leads faster.

Trusted by 45,000+ growing businesses and mid-large enterprises to reduce admin tasks, Appointy can help you manage your meetings, send automated SMS/email reminders, integrate with iCal, Google, and Outlook calendars, schedule resources and employees, and make data-driven decisions - all from one easy-to-use interface.

When talking about BD, we cannot forget one of the most important contributions to a successful business: networking.

Networking helps to meet other BD professionals. That way, you expand on your expertise but interact with new ideas from different professionals, and venturing out to find new growth opportunities.

Trade Shows are one of the best places to meet development professionals and throw ideas around.

Nowadays, social media networks like LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook Business help BD professionals to reach out to a wider target audience at the click of a button.

It is one thing to network and create a platform for conversation and prospective relations in the future, but you need to maintain those networking relationships too in order to grow your business and keep up to date with trends.

Networking can help you understand some of the best strategic business decisions that need to or can be made to fit your business.

You Are Ready To Succeed 💯

With all this guide provides, you are set to go out and implement strategies that will work for your business.

It takes time to build a solid business foundation, but once it has been established, the opportunities for growth are endless.

Use the tools mentioned to help you achieve your short-term and long-term development goals.

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Career Guide: What Is Business Development?

The business field just keeps growing. Employment in all business and financial operations jobs is projected to grow 8% from 2020 to 2030, about as fast as average for all occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics . *

Business development managers, or business developers, are vital to this growth. Business developers can be in entry-level positions right out of college, all the way up to CEO and other C-suite positions.

Blake Escudier , Purdue Global Faculty in the School of Business and Information Technology, helps us understand the duties and responsibilities of a business developer.

What Is Business Development?

Business development involves developing and implementing growth opportunities within and between organizations. The goal is to create long-term value from customers, markets, and relationships.

“Business development incorporates marketing and sales,” Escudier says, “but there's much more to it.”

While marketing focuses on reaching a wider audience, and sales typically leverages a one-to-one approach, business development seeks to grow a business. The goal is more than to increase profits; it’s to make intelligent business decisions for the overall health of a business.

What Does a Business Development Manager Do?

A business developer’s role is to contribute innovative ideas to help a company grow within its industry. They conduct market research and analyze a company’s current products and services to identify opportunities to increase customer engagement.

Among the business developer’s day-to-day roles, according to Indeed , are as follows † :

• Coordinate with sales teams to develop mutually beneficial proposals
• Develop and maintain client relationships
• Gather actionable information from customer and competitor data
• Identify and research potential clients
• Make and give presentations to prospective clients and internal executives
• Monitor project teams to ensure contracts are executed as agreed
• Negotiate contract terms with clients and communicate with stakeholders

Business developers must stay knowledgeable about the current market to effectively target opportunities for growth. They are expected to have expert knowledge of their target audience and to engage with prospects to generate new business.

What Are the Skills Required for Business Development?

Business development requires a wide range of skills, from marketing to sales to project management and more.

“The skills could be very broad, depending on what level you're working on with the company,” Escudier says. “But everyone in a company, in their own way, is doing business development just by doing their job.”

Among the most common necessary skills are as follows:

Customer Service and Communication

Business developers must be able to write and speak confidently and clearly. They must call prospects, maintain long-term relationships with strategic partners, listen to concerns of potential clients, and share valuable information with stakeholders.

Business developers need to have a basic understanding of marketing concepts in order to position goods and services effectively. Business developers should be able to analyze new markets, understand the competition, and identify and educate new target prospects.

Negotiation

A business developer should be able to negotiate. They must generate leads and keep them engaged as they move through the sales funnel, even though they might not be the one responsible for closing deals.

Planning and Project Management

Business development is an involved process, so managing it closely is vital to a business developer’s success. Some of the skills needed to be a great project manager carry over to the business development industry, including leadership, team management, and personal organization.

Forecasting and Data Analysis

Business development professionals must know how to analyze data to forecast future trends and use that data to present to managers and executives. The metrics business developers track will vary depending on the sales cycle, needs of the company, and industry.

Sales Management

Similar to sales professionals, a business development professional must be able to identify members of the company's target audience and effectively find and follow up on opportunities for growth. Business developers typically work closely with sales team members to move prospects along the sales process.

Who Is a Good Fit for Business Development?

“Individuals who want to grow their career would be a good candidate for business development,” Escudier says. “They think, ‘What can I do to help my company?’ That’s what business development is all about.”

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce , business development candidates benefit from these traits:

• Adaptability: Good business developers don’t take rejection personally, seeing it instead as a learning opportunity. They shift gears as needed to get positive results.
• Listening: Good business developers should always be listening to clients and other employees. They need to take time to understand the client’s needs and then tailor their pitches.
• Negotiating: This goes hand in hand with listening. Working with your client and then finding the best way to negotiate with them will benefit the company.
• Relationship and Trust Building: Business developers realize that potential clients prefer people they know, like, and trust. Successfully building relationships involves being trustworthy and collaborative.

How Do You Become a Business Development Manager?

Becoming a business development manager will require a mix of education and experience. Here are four steps you can take to help you enter business development:

• Get an education. According to Indeed.com , many employers will require you to have a bachelor’s degree in business administration or management, or other related fields, possibly with specializations in business development. You could also pursue a master’s degree to increase your value.
• Find a mentor. A good mentor will help you expand your professional network and teach you more about launching a career as a business development manager. You could seek out a teacher, former manager, fellow alumni from your school, or any other experienced professional who could share their experiences, guidance, and advice.
• Develop a range of skills. Work on the hard skills listed above, such as marketing, sales, and project management, along with soft skills like listening and planning. You should also be familiar with customer relationship management software, spreadsheets, word processing, and business presentation software.
• Consider career goals. As a business development manager, you can climb the ranks through senior management, or you can start your own business. Focus on your goal and focus your knowledge and skills on that outcome.

What Is the Future of Business Development?

Business development is a growing field. Business development positions are the sixth most in-demand emerging job roles, according to the 2020 Future of Jobs Survey , conducted by the World Economic Forum. ‡

10 Jobs With Increasing Demand Across Industries

Escudier says he sees a growth in open positions in business development.

“One online job search company shows over 33,000 different jobs for the term ‘business development’ right now,” he says. The reasons are simple.

“Every business wants to maintain their position and not fail. Therefore, the company has to invest in business development,” Escudier says. “Today, with advances in technology and information access, with the potential for more of the internet of things and artificial intelligence, business development experts are going to have more data available to evaluate and to do their jobs better.”

Begin Your Career in Business Development

Purdue Global offers several paths to achieve the skills you need for a career in business development. Among the degrees you can explore are as follows:

• Associate of Applied Science in Business Administration
• Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (concentration in business development)
• Master of Science in Management and Leadership

Find out more by contacting Purdue Global today.

About the Author

Purdue Global

Earn a degree you're proud of and employers respect at Purdue Global, Purdue's online university for working adults. Accredited and online, Purdue Global gives you the flexibility and support you need to come back and move your career forward. Choose from 175+ programs, all backed by the power of Purdue.

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Your Path to Success Begins Here

Learn more about online programs at Purdue Global and download our program guide.

Connect with an Advisor to explore program requirements, curriculum, credit for prior learning process, and financial aid options.

Purdue Global cannot guarantee employment or career advancement.

*Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook , Business and Financial Occupations, www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/home.htm . National long-term projections may not reflect local and/or short-term economic or job conditions, and do not guarantee actual job growth.

†Source: Indeed, “Business Developer Job Description: Top Duties and Qualifications,” https://www.indeed.com/hire/job-description/business-developer

‡Source: World Economic Forum, “The Future of Jobs Report 2020,” https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs_2020.pdf

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Business Development: Roles, Responsibilities, and Skills

Business Development Manager has recently become a widely sought-after professional position in modern companies.

In practical terms, someone in this role is like a chef who combines various ingredients based on the recipe they create into a single dish.

Similarly, in business, there are many aspects such as products, trends, consumers, and others that are then crafted into a strategic package that can create a valuable business.

These elements are skillfully crafted by a Business Development Manager, and you can learn more about their responsibilities, salary, and recruitment tips in this article.

What is a Business Development Manager?

If asked what a Business Development Manager is, the answer can vary depending on the scale of the business, the company’s life cycle stage, and business goals.

However, experts agree that a Business Development Manager is a strategic position responsible for helping a business grow to achieve its desired objectives.

A Business Development Manager will integrate elements such as data, product knowledge, trends, consumers, human resources, finances, third parties, and even legal aspects, combining them into a business development plan.

“A business development manager integrates all company functions with the goal of increasing revenue, sales, product value, services, branding, and mitigating business risks,” according to American Express .

This task is not limited to business owners, salespeople, or marketers alone. It requires someone to help blend these elements and functions together.

Moreover, in the current landscape, competition is no longer just about the quality of the product. It is about the speed and accuracy with which a business responds to market changes.

Roles and authorities of a Business Development Manager

Business Development Manager, has the following tasks:

Formulating, implementing, and overseeing business strategies, ensuring that everything leads towards business development.

Identifying and conducting research to assess business risks and new opportunities, whether in terms of trends and market positions, consumers, competitors, stakeholders, or third parties.

• Building and maintaining positive relationships with consumers by listening to their desires and needs or creating retention programs.
• Exploring new opportunities while maintaining good relationships with third parties such as suppliers or vendors.
• Collaborating with the product development team to create products based on conducted research.
• Monitoring sales progress and ensuring it aligns with predetermined targets.
• Monitoring every aspect of the consumer journey, from awareness and leads to conversion.
• Collaborating with the finance team to ensure efficient business operations.
• Monitoring all documentation processes related to operational and business development, from invoices to employment contracts.
• Collaborating with various teams such as design, marketing, and CSR to maintain a positive company image (brand).

In addition to the points mentioned above, Business Development Manager also has the authority to determine the standards and criteria needed for the sales and customer service teams.

Business Development Manager’s focus differs at each business scale

Quoting Oasis, the focus of a Business Development Manager varies at each business scale.

In a startup company, a Business Development Manager is more focused on building strong products and services in the eyes of consumers.

Additionally, a Business Development Manager in a startup ensures that the products and services align with the market it enters. At this level, a business development manager also actively seeks funding, investors, and employees aligned with the company’s vision.

Meanwhile, at the medium-sized business level, Business Development Manager focuses on adding more value to the products and services provided.

In contrast, at the large-scale company level, they begin to have broader responsibilities. They start considering product intensification and diversification, the use of technology, and even seeking new strategies that can bring efficiency to business operations.

Skills required by Business Development Manager

Being a Business Development Manager undoubtedly requires a foundational knowledge of the products or services offered by the company.

In addition to that, a Business Development Manager should possess both soft skills and hard skills, including:

Soft Skills:

• Good communication, both verbal and written, as a Business Development Manager interacts with various functions in the organization and conveys ideas.
• Critical thinking, the ability to think rationally and solve problems based on data, facts, and observations.
• Negotiation skills, as a Business Development Manager frequently builds relationships with consumers and third parties, requiring negotiation abilities.
• Willingness to take risks, fearlessness of failure, and a forward-thinking mindset.
• Progressive thinking, an open-minded approach and adaptability to help identify opportunities.
• Time management, as business operates within limited cycles, and markets often experience anomalies, requiring effective time management.
• Decision-making expertise, the ability to make quick, precise, and astute decisions.

Hard Skills:

• Business Development Manager should also possess technical skills such as:
• Market research capabilities, SWOT analysis, STP, and trend analysis.
• Understanding financial basics like ROI and budget planning.
• Familiarity with marketing metrics such as engagement rate, leads, traffic, churn rate, and retention rate.
• Ability to create effective presentations.
• Proficiency in project management methods.
• Understanding basic legal knowledge, including contract law and environmental law.
• Mastery of technology supporting business development processes, such as CRM software, data analysis, marketing automation, or digital ads.

Estimated salary of Business Development Manager

According to Indeed , the average base salary for an entry-level Business Development Manager as of January 2024 is IDR 8,420,245 per month or approximately IDR 101,042,940 per year.

However, according to data gathered by Michael Page in 2020, the gross base salary for a Business Development Manager can reach double digits and varies across industries.

For example, in the financial industry, Business Development Manager has an average gross base salary of around IDR 34 million per month, followed by the IT industry at IDR 33 million.

Career prospects for Business Development Manager

The position of Business Development Manager will continue to evolve and be in demand indefinitely, even if a company is already settled or established. For those interested in pursuing this position, you can start from conventional roles, such as marketing, finance, customer service, digital marketing, sales, or even IT jobs.

Currently, there are entry-level positions specifically designed to pave the way for a career in Business Development Manager. Examples include business development officer, business analyst, business operation, business intelligence, acquisition specialist, and customer success specialist.

Tips for companies looking for Business Development Manager

Whether you are an HR or a business owner, there are several things to consider when recruiting a Business Development Officer to ensure effectiveness and alignment with the business needs. Mekari Talenta offers some tips when you want to hire a Business Development Manager.

1. Align with goals and business scale

Before hiring a Business Development Manager, you need to assess your business’s current position in its life cycle. Is your business still in the stage of acquiring customers or a startup, a medium-sized business in take-off, or a large-scale enterprise looking to expand? As mentioned earlier, at each business level, the role and focus of Business Development Manager vary.

2. Conduct recruitment branding

Recruitment branding is a recruitment process that emphasizes the company’s image throughout. You can showcase your product values, company profile, work culture, and current company focus during the recruitment process. This is done to give candidates a broad overview of your company.

3. Clearly outline qualifications

Ensure that in your job postings, you specify clear qualifications, including both job descriptions and required skill sets. This is done to conduct pre-assessments and make your recruitment process more specific.

4. Conduct technical tests and portfolio review

Business Development Manager requires proficient technical skills according to the business needs. Therefore, in your recruitment process, you need to conduct technical tests. This can include a case study that can be presented through a presentation. Additionally, a Business Development Manager usually has a portfolio. Make sure you request a portfolio for evaluation during the recruitment process.

5. Utilize talent pipeline

You can gather data through a talent pipeline from job listing websites, your own job portal, or even from your internal employees. A talent pipeline is a collection of potential candidates gathered from various sources, allowing you to pick candidates when needed. Read more about the talent pipeline here.

To execute an effective talent pipeline, Mekari Talenta can assist you in gathering various candidates entering your company. This is because Mekari Talenta provides an Applicant Tracking System feature that can automatically monitor candidate data, making the recruitment process more efficient.

Applicants data can be used in the next recruitment process if you need a Business Development Manager.

Mekari Talenta also has Manpower Planning feature, allowing you to manage employee data accurately, including performance, positions, salaries, and other data.

This way, you can easily promote a Business Development Manager internally without taking too much time. Ready to have a reliable business development manager? Prepare Mekari Talenta in your company by discussing your company’s needs with our sales team .

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15 Key Project Roles & Their Responsibilities

Managing a project is a team effort that involves several key project roles and each has its own responsibilities so everything can progress as smoothly as possible. Before you begin that project, take a moment to understand the project management roles and their responsibilities so you can assemble an effective project team.

Now let’s review 15 critical project roles and their responsibilities in the project life cycle. Some of these project management roles are individual roles and others involve multiple participants.

1. Project Sponsor

While there might be a superior position, like executive sponsor, for most projects there’s a project sponsor sitting on top of the project roles pyramid. This is the person who’s deeply invested in the project and its success.

The project sponsor is in direct communication with the stakeholders which is the reason the project has been initiated. They tend to monitor the budget and hold the purse strings of the project. They also have the final say in making any project decisions, which include resources.

The project manager reports to the project sponsor and helps with the project charter , which is a statement of scope, objectives and people involved in the project.

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2. Project Manager

The project manager is the one who’s responsible for the project. They plan it, develop a schedule, assemble a project team and manage their workload throughout the project’s life cycle. Project managers are also responsible for managing risk and the budget.

The project manager is the one who drives the project forward, but they’re not working independently. They collaborate with multiple project roles and are also responsible for reporting on progress to the project sponsor and any stakeholders who also have a vested interest in the project.

The project manager is the point person for vendors and independent contractors, creating contracts and managing their services. You can think of the project manager as a bridge that connects the executives or clients to the project team working on the project deliverables.

3. Senior Project Manager

A senior project manager is an experienced professional in the project management field. Senior project managers are usually employed by large organizations that have an extense project portfolio. Senior project managers oversee the planning and execution of programs and large-scale initiatives that require the cross-functional collaboration of several departments of an organization.

Senior project managers may work in many different industries such as construction, manufacturing, retail or technology-related fields. It’s important that they demonstrate specific knowledge of their industry and years of experience proving their capability to deliver successful projects of that kind.

4. Project Coordinator

Often there’s a go-between that helps facilitate the project manager’s job in terms of project operations. They’ll work with the project team and are especially helpful when there are remote teams working in different time zones on the same project. The project coordinator helps to keep the operations running smoothly for the project manager and the project team.

5. Project Administrator

Project administrators support project managers, project coordinators and project analysts, so they’re usually employed by large organizations that have multiple project roles and a large project portfolio. Project administrators, as their name implies, are in charge of administrative tasks such as making reports, planning meetings and facilitating team collaboration activities.

6. Project Analyst

Project analysts act as support to project managers, program managers and PMOs. They’re responsible for gathering and analyzing data for project management decision-making. Project analysts facilitate the work of other project management roles by creating reports and project documentation, analyzing databases, doing quantitative and qualitative research, among other similar activities.

7. Project Director

Project directors lead project management teams and external parties such as contractors, sub-contractors and other individuals who participate in the execution of a project. In addition to this, they are the liaison between projects and key stakeholders in companies. Their scope is wider than project managers, as they can oversee multiple projects and are in charge of resource management decision-making. Project directors also oversee project managers and other project roles when it comes to areas such as quality management, performance reporting and budgeting.

8. Project Management Consultant

A project management consultant is a project management professional that offers services to external organizations and works for finite time periods that are defined by a contractual agreement. Project management consultants might be part of project management consulting firms or might work as a freelancer.

If you need to hire a project management consultant to manage a project or establish project management best practices in your organization, gather as many consulting proposals as possible so you can compare their approaches and determine who’s the best fit for your team.

9. Project Officer

This project management role is similar to that of a project coordinator, project administrator or project assistant. Project officers are in charge of administrative tasks and organizational aspects of running a project, such as creating and managing project documentation, scheduling project meetings, managing relationships with vendors and contractors, supporting project team members, among other duties.

10. Project Executive

Similar to a senior project manager, a project executive is an experienced project management professional who leads the project management efforts of an organization. They usually work for project-based organizations that have a project management office (PMO). They make high-level decisions related to staffing, purchasing and strategic planning and are responsible for the success of projects, programs and other large-scale initiatives.

11. Creative Project Manager

A creative project manager is a project manager who’s in charge of the planning, scheduling and tracking or creative projects in marketing and advertising. A creative project manager might be employed as an in-house project management expert to lead creative projects or can be part of a creative agency. Besides the traditional functions of a project manager, a creative project manager acts as the liaison between the creative team and the project stakeholders to deliver successful projects.

12. Change Control Board

A c hange control board or change review board is a group of project management team members who are in charge of approving changes to the project plan. This board is critical for filtering change requests because otherwise team members or stakeholders could make changes to the project plan, which if left unnoticed, could greatly affect the project schedule or budget. The project roles that can be part of this change control board can vary from one project to another, depending on the size of the organization.

13. Steering Committee

A steering committee is an advisory board that has governance over an organization or project. Steering committees are formed by a cross-functional team of executives. Steering committees oversee project management teams and ensure projects are aligned with their organization’s strategic goals and business objectives.

14. Project Management Office (PMO)

Sometimes an organization will have a segment devoted to developing a set of standards and policies to govern their project management and to make sure those standards and policies are being followed. This tends to occur only in larger organizations, which might not always apply.

However, if it does exist the project management office will decide on the processes used in a project and how to follow them. The PMO will also archive the project for historical data, collecting and analyzing its results. Project managers are supported by the PMO.

15. Project Owner

A project owner is a person within an organization who advocates for the initiation of a project and is held responsible for its success or failure. Project owners typically come up with the project vision, business case and help secure funding for the project from sponsors. Then, once the project gets approved, they work with project managers to make sure their vision guides the project planning and execution phases.

16. Project Leader

A project leader is a project management professional who excels at managing teams. The main responsibility of a project leader is to guide and support project team members to make sure they’re all working towards the same goal as they execute their tasks and produce deliverables.

This role is especially important in larger organizations where there are many employees from different departments working on projects and programs. While most of those employees have expertise in their respective fields, they’re typically not so well-versed in project management, which is where project leaders come into play.

17. PMO Director

A PMO director is an experienced project management professional who leads the efforts of a PMO office. The responsibilities of a PMO director include defining the project management best practices that will be followed by an organization, choosing project management methodologies and deciding how resources will be allocated across projects and programs.

18. Project Team Members

These are the people who execute the tasks assigned to them by the project manager. There can be a team lead, who manages the team, who the team reports to and who in turn reports their progress to the project manager. In general, all team members are on equal footing.

The project team members have skills relevant to the project and can work with varying degrees of autonomy depending on the project management methodology that’s used in the project. They’re responsible for executing their tasks and updating their statuses to the project manager to track the overall project progress.

More Project Management Templates

ProjectManager isn’t only one of the best project management software in the market, it’s a hub of project management templates , blogs, videos and guides. Here are a few free templates for anyone on the project management team.

Project Plan Template

While some members of the project management team are not involved in the process of creating a project plan, they’re all informed about it to some degree. This free project plan template is a great place to start creating a simple project plan anyone can understand.

Project Budget

The project budget is a key project management document that sets the limits for spending on a project. This free project budget template helps project managers create a project budget that can easily be shared with stakeholders and other project management roles.

Gantt Chart Template

Gantt chart templates are versatile tools that can be used by project managers, program managers, PMOs and team members. This free Gantt chart template for Excel is ideal for any of these project roles.

How ProjectManager Helps Everyone on Your Project Team

The project team needs project tools to help them work more effectively and track progress. ProjectManager is award-winning project management software that’s packed with features that help everyone working on the project.

Live Project Tracking Updates

Let’s start with the project sponsor. They’re interested in how the project is progressing against where it should be in the project plan. When team members update their statuses on ProjectManager, that data instantly reflects throughout the software. Project sponsors aren’t interested in the nitty-gritty, so a real-time dashboard gives them a bird’s-eye view of the project’s progress as it’s happening.

Gantt Charts for Project Planning & Scheduling

When it comes to planning and scheduling the project, project managers will find the online Gantt chart tool especially helpful. Task lists on spreadsheets are easy to upload and can open up in ProjectManager as a new project. Then just add the task duration and it populates a timeline. From here, the project manager can make milestones, assign team members tasks and even attach relevant documents and images for direction.

Resource Management Calendars

Of course, project managers need more than just tools to monitor the project. They need to reallocate resources to keep things moving smoothly. ProjectManager has tools to manage tasks and resources to see if team members have enough work. Reallocate their workload from the workload page.

Related Content

ProjectManager offers a wealth of resources for all roles in project management. We have hundreds of tutorial videos and blog posts that cover all aspects of project management.

• How to Start a Project Management Career
• Top 30 Project Management Skills
• Top 10 Project Management Qualifications
• Best 12 Project Management Certifications

ProjectManager has tools for every project role. Online software means ProjectManager is reflecting the actual project as it’s happening, so better decisions can be made. No matter what your project role is, there are features that can help you do your job better. See for yourself by taking this free 30-day trial today.

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21 Skills Every Business Development Pro Should Have (or Work on)

Updated: August 18, 2022

Published: May 24, 2019

The role of the agency business development executive has been called the " most dangerous job in an agency ," due to the short lifespan, stress, and confusion surrounding the responsibilities of the role.

Yet, it is one of the most important positions in the agency. The success of the business development person directly influences future growth and stability.

They get hired for having strong professional qualities -- leadership skills, organizational mindset, creative thinking -- that would make them competent candidates for managing the intense pressure. But having those skills is not all the role entails. Too often, agency leaders develop unrealistic expectations for the person taking on the duties, who may not have the qualities a good executive needs.

Agency leaders want someone with an enviable Rolodex who can bring in client accounts without much effort, in addition to being able to write proposals, market the agency, prospect, manage accounts when necessary, and command the respect of the team. This unrealistic view of what the agency wants in a person and the type of people actually looking to work in a sales role for the agency sets up the relationship for failure.

According to the Marketing Agency Growth Report 2018 , 35% of agencies struggle to find employees who are the right fit for the position and 12% of agencies feel one of their biggest struggles is retaining employees. To prevent high turnover in the position and to better understand what really makes a successful business development professional, consider screening business developer professionals for these key business development skills:

Business Development Skills

• Understands People's Buying Patterns and Trends
• Believes in Inbound Marketing
• Asks Great Questions and Listens Intently
• Sets Goals and Develops Action Plans
• Is the Right Type of Salesperson for the Role
• Possesses a High Curiosity Quotient
• Ability to Build a Brand
• Sets Realistic Expectations with Clients
• In-Depth Knowledge of the Agency Business

1. Understands People's Buying Patterns and Trends

As a marketer, you know the famous stat: Buyers complete up to 57% of decision-making process before they ever even contact a vendor . With the increasing amount of information available online -- either from a brand, its competitors, or its previous customers -- buyers are more educated than ever before.

But does your salesperson know and understand the implications of this? Once upon a time, the seller had control of the information. Now, they need to serve as an advisor who can personalize the solution to the specific buyer and her challenges.

Business development professionals need to be able to be well-versed in strategies that will help them build trust with a buyer and move the person through the sales cycle through education and qualification.

David C. Baker of ReCourses emphasizes that you need to hire someone who understands this consultative selling approach.

"Seldom do sales people with a successful background in transactional selling make the transition to consultative selling," he said. "The process and selling points and presence are completely different. For example, a transactional seller will drive the process to close a sale even if profitability is sacrificed in order to accomplish that. A consultative seller is more patient and might close three to five new substantial clients every year. Their ego doesn't require constant stroking."

2. Believes in Inbound Marketing

Many agencies still rely on cold calling and emailing, referrals, and networking to generate quality leads. While these can be a valuable source of business development, the best sales reps understand the role of marketing in attracting, qualifying, and nurturing the very best prospects They buy into the idea of inbound marketing and understand that CMOs and executives aren't waiting around for an agency to approach them. They are in charge.

Michael Gass, founder of Fuel Lines , frequently cites a stat from a study of CMOs that found that 80% of those surveyed found their vendors, not the other way around.

"The recession, the rise of social media and the rapid advance of technology have dramatically altered business development. The Mad Men rainmaker days are over," Gass said. "So before hiring someone responsible for your agency's business development efforts, in addition to the questions regarding their traditional business development expertise, you should be asking what they really know about social media, content marketing, and how to generate inbound leads."

Your business development manager should support and, in some cases, drive the marketing efforts of the agency, and they should place the same value on the leads they did not source themselves.

3. Asks Great Questions and Listens Intently

"The most successful business development people are those that can ask great questions," said Dave Currie, president of The List . "Through their professional curiosity they ask great questions and listen with intent toward identifying and truly understanding the issues, the impact of those issues to the prospect's organization in measurable terms, and the importance of solving that issue for the prospect now versus later."

Prospects are already educated about your agency, your services, and the competition, so the business development person needs to be able value to the conversation, not just restate what the potential client already knows.

To hire for this skill, Currie's team uses two objective measures in the interview stage, an Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and a Conversational Capacity test .

4. Sets Goals and Develops Action Plans

Good sales reps understanding that they need useful, meaningful goals and an established plan for reaching these goals. This helps with a few different problems business reps in agencies face. An established plan helps with clarity surrounding the person's role, responsibilities, and priorities. Without this, the rest of the team won't buy into or support a sales plan. For many people in an agency, sales is an unknown (and mistrusted) role, and if the new biz person can't drum up support and encouragement, they will struggle to feel a part of the team and find success in her role.

"Business development professionals don't always get the support they need, even with well-intentioned leadership, so the ideal business development professional has to ‘drive the ship' regardless of what materials they have, without waiting or making excuses," said Lee McKnight of RSW/US .

Before hiring a business development person, McKnight suggest that agency CEOs/owners:

• Set their own expectations: how much, realistically, can one individual can do and how much support will they need from leadership?
• Consider the business development team structure: Will they be the only person driving business development? Or will you create a team around this person?
• Review the person's previous responsibilities: Were they self-sufficient? What were they in charge of? Can they find leads, set initial meetings, and run pitches?

The business development professional should create an annual plan to establish business development needs aligned with finding new client growth. This will also help to prevent a common issue that causes the business development person to fail: Once sales start climbing, they are pulled into account management to handle the additional workload. The plan should reveal how important it is to make working on business development every single day -- not just when things are slow -- a priority, and it should align with hiring and capacity forecasts.

5. Is the Right Type of Salesperson for the Role

"While sales and business development roles are both tied to generating revenue, they require paradoxically different skills," said Jody Sutter of The Sutter Company . "These days, the director of business development describes a caretaker of the pitch process and requires strengths like acute attention to detail and strong project management skills. Good business development hires tend to be people-pleasers who get fulfillment from supporting a team so that it can perform at its best."

The other type is the sales-focused personality -- what Brent Hodgins, managing partner at Mirren , describes as the "hunter" role for proactive prospecting.

"The hunter is a more aggressive salesperson, focused on results (versus detail and process)," Hodgins said. "In fact, while sometimes appearing less organized on the surface, they can perform well at delivering new leads. However, someone focused on managing competitive reviews/RFPs tends to be more detail oriented and buttoned down but finds little inspiration in the idea of picking up the phone to call on prospects. Often without even realizing it, ‘pitch managers' actually resist prospecting. This is common with most account people as well."

Hodgins continued: "Agencies often attempt to have one character type take on both roles. It then fails, with the blame landing squarely on the shoulders of the business development director. The hunter is fired for not being a cultural fit and disorganized, while the pitch manager is fired for not proactively generating new leads for the agency."

The issue is: Do you simply want someone to prospect for new clients, qualify, and set up meetings so that the owner/CEO can close the deal? Or do you need someone to build a team around -- someone who can create the business development strategy, processes, and be an important member of the leadership team?

"Most ad agency CEOs expect their business development leads to excel at both roles and are often disappointed when they don't," said Sutter.

6. Possesses a High Curiosity Quotient

According to an article written by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic in Harvard Business Review , those who possess a high curiosity quotient are more adept at handling complexity and ambiguity -- they are more skilled in producing "simple solutions to complex problems."

This is a skill that Peter Levitan thinks every business development person should have, especially as the marketing and agency landscape becomes more complex and competitive.

"We can train business development professionals in sales techniques, in understanding our agency's skills, and the needs and pain points of our prospective clients. We cannot, however, train people to be curious," Levitan said. "That means being actively curious about our staff and culture, our industry, the client's persona and category, and importantly, understanding the true value of our sales proposition. The bottom line is that curious people build stronger relationships and that is the essence of a great salesperson."

7. Ability to Build a Brand

Agencies understand the importance of building a brand, creating a differentiated and meaningful market position, and generating awareness and value around the brand for their clients -- yet they so rarely do this for themselves. And that means most agencies are indistinguishable from another: They offer the same services, describe themselves in the same way, sell to anyone, and fail to communicate their value.

Karla Morales-Lee of The Art of business development believes that hiring someone who understands the importance of brand building in attracting and selling prospects is essential.

"In my experience, agencies look for all the wrong things when hiring a business development person," said Morales-Lee. "Cold calling no longer works. Today, the best business development people are marketing-savvy brand ambassadors. Beyond the day to day, you need to hire someone who can build a brand externally and a business development culture internally."

Business development professionals need to not only be able to define their brand but also be able to drive change throughout the marketing and sales practices of the company -- by defining an ideal client profile and qualifying which clients are a good fit (and which are not), marketing its firm, hiring and recruiting practices, and even determining its value through pricing.

8. Sets Realistic Expectations with Clients

A business development development rep should be well-versed in setting and managing expectations with prospects so your firm can exceed those expectations. This might be about when a proposal will be delivered -- promising "tomorrow" when it typically takes your team three days to create a proposal is not acceptable -- or creating an accurate picture of what it will be like to work with your agency. This person needs to be able to communicate your agency's values, personality, and culture to help potential clients understand what it will be like to work with your team and if your point of views match up.

9. In-Depth Knowledge of the Agency Business

While some will disagree with this, many believe that the person responsible for representing your agency in pitches or in "get to know you" meetings should have an understanding of the agency business and the services you are selling. Now, if the agency's owner can take over the role of a "closer," and you simply need a salesperson to prospect and qualify, this is not as important. This might also not be necessary if you are willing to put in the time to train and budget to educate the person and give her a reasonable amount of time to ramp up.

The business development person will be helping clients not only make marketing decisions but business decisions. They should have a good understanding of general business strategies, the concerns and challenges of leaders, customer acquisition and retention, and the financial metrics that matter to executives. They have to be seen as a business advisor who can help the client to solve business problems through the services your agency offers.

Business Development Manager Skills

• Organizational skills
• Communication skills
• Technical skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Negotiating skills
• Collaboration skills
• Problem-solving skills
• Analytical skills
• Business writing skills
• Self-motivated
• Business acumen
• Flexibility and adaptability

So, how can you be successful as a business development manager ? Here are a some skills you should develop.

Want to learn more about business development? Check out this role your sales team might be missing: a capture manager .

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• A Game-Changing Business Development Strategy to Achieve Consistent Growth

Your business development strategy can be key to the success or failure of your firm. In this post, we’ll explore how to create a strategy and associated plan that can propel an individual, a practice or an entire firm to new levels of growth and profitability.

Business Development Defined

Business development (BD) is the process used to identify, nurture and acquire new clients and business opportunities to drive growth and profitability. A business development strategy is a document that describes the strategy you will use to accomplish that goal.

The scope of business development can vary a lot from organization to organization. Consider the model professional services organizations use to get new business shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. The three stages of the business development funnel

The first two stages of the model, Attract Prospects and Build Engagement, are traditional marketing functions. The final stage, Turn Opportunities into Clients, is a traditional sales function. In its traditional role, business development would be looking for new channels of distribution or marketing partners.

But roles are changing and naming conventions evolve. In today’s world many firms refer to the entire marketing and sales process as business development. We know, it can be confusing. So let’s sort it out a bit.

Business Development vs. Marketing

Marketing is the process of determining which products and services you will offer to which target audiences, at what price. It also addresses how you will position and promote your firm and its offerings in the competitive marketplace. The result of all this activity should be an increasing awareness of your firm among your target audience — and a stronger flow of qualified leads and opportunities.

Download the Business Development Guide

Historically, business development has been a subset of the marketing function that was focused on acquiring new marketing or distribution relationships and channels. While this role still exists in many companies, the business development title has become interchangeable with many marketing and sales functions.  

Business Development vs. Sales

Sales is the task of converting leads or opportunities into new clients. Business development is a broader term that encompasses many activities beyond the sales function. And while there is some overlap, most traditional BD roles are only lightly involved in closing new clients.  

Business development is often confused with sales. This is not too surprising because many people who are clearly in sales have taken to using the title of Business Developer . Presumably this is done because the organization believes that the BD designation avoids the stigma sometimes associated with sales.

Nowhere is this practice more prevalent than in professional services. Accountants, lawyers and strategy consultants do not want to be seen as “pushy sales people.” This titular bias is firmly rooted despite the fact that developing new business is an important role of most senior members of professional services firms. Also, the many aspects of the traditional business development role (finding new distribution channels, for instance) don’t translate easily to the professional services environment.

Since so many clients want to meet and get to know the professionals they will be working with, the Seller-Doer role is well established in many firms. The preference for Seller-Doers also tends to discourage firms from fielding a full-time sales force.

As an alternative approach to leveraging fee-earners’ time, some firms have one or more Business Developers on staff. In the professional services context, these folks are often involved in lead generation and qualification, as well as supporting the Seller-doers in their efforts to close new clients. In other organizational contexts, this role might be thought of as a sales support role.

The result of this confusing picture is that many professional services firms call sales “business development” and make it part of every senior professional’s role. They may also include some marketing functions, such as lead generation and lead nurturing, into the professional’s BD responsibilities.

It is on this expanded role — in which business development encompasses the full range of lead-generation, nurturing and sales tasks — that we will concentrate on in this post.

See also: Heller Consulting Case Story

Business Development Examples

To clarify what the professional services business development role entails, let’s consider this business development example:

Bethany is the Director of Business Development at a fictional mid-sized architecture firm. She is not an architect herself. Nor is she involved in any aspect of delivering client projects. Instead, her role is exclusively focused on signing new business for her firm—whether new or existing clients. 

For new clients, Bethany spends much of her time responding to RFPs, communicating directly with inbound leads generated by the marketing/sales enablement team, and nurturing potential clients that she met at a recent industry conference. Bethany also collaborates with the marketing team in the development of any materials she needs to sell to new accounts.

When it comes to existing accounts, Bethany also plays a major role. She meets monthly with delivery teams to understand whether current client projects are on scope or if change orders are needed. She also maintains a relationship with clients’ key stakeholders. If an opportunity for more work opens, she knows that her relationship with the client is an important component of the potential deal.

In this example, Bethany is the primary driver of business development but that does not mean she is doing this alone. Her colleague, Greg, is a lead architect at the firm. While Greg’s primary focus is delivering for his clients, business development—and even marketing—is also an important part of his professional life. Greg often attends industry conferences with Bethany, where he is a speaker and subject matter expert and she is the primary networker. The business development dynamic should not end with Bethany, and it should permeate the whole organization.

In this business development example, you can see that the range of roles and responsibilities is wide. This is why it is essential that business development be delivered strategically. Let’s talk about what that means.

Strategic Business Development

Not every business development activity has the same impact. In fact, many are opportunistic and tactical in nature. This is especially true for many Seller-Doers. 

Caught between the pressures of client work and an urgent need to bring in new business, they cast about for something quick and easy—maybe a small piece of business at a low price point—that will produce short term results. Of course, this is no real strategy at all.

Strategic business development is the alignment of business development processes and procedures with your firm’s strategic business goals. The role of strategic business development is to acquire ideal clients—the kind that are highly profitable and aren’t overly demanding—for your highest priority services using brand promises that you can deliver upon.

Deciding which targets to pursue and strategies to employ can be a high stakes decision. A good strategy, well implemented, can drive high levels of growth and profitability. A poorly conceived strategy can stymie growth and frustrate valuable talent.

Yet many firms falter at this critical step. They rely on habit, anecdotes and fads — or worse still, that innovation killer, “this is how we have always done it.” In a later section, we’ll explain how to develop your strategic business development plan. But first let’s explore some of the strategies that might go into that plan.

Top Business Development Strategies

Let’s look at some of the most common business development strategies and how they stack up agains what today’s buyers are looking for .

Networking is probably the most universally used business development technique. It’s built on the ideas that professional services buying decisions are rooted in relationships, and the best way to develop new relationships is through face-to-face networking.

It certainly is true that many relationships are established in that way. And if you are networking with members of your target audience, you can develop new business. But there are limitations. Today’s buyers, however, are very time pressured, and networking is time consuming. It can be very expensive, if you consider travel and time away from the office.

Newer digital networking techniques can help on the cost and time front. But even social media requires an investment of time and attention.

A close relative of networking, referrals are often seen as the mechanism that turns networking and client satisfaction into new business. You establish a relationship, and that person refers new business to you. Satisfied clients do the same.

Without question, referrals are common, and many firms get most or all of their business from them. But referrals are passive. They rely on your clients and contacts to identify good prospects for your services and make a referral at the right time.

The problem is, referral sources often don’t know the full scope of your services or the range of ways you can help a client. So many referrals are poorly matched to your capabilities. Other well-matched referrals go unmade because your referral source fails to recognize a great prospect when they see one. Finally, many prospects that might be good clients rule out your firm before even talking with you. One  study puts that number at over 50%.

Importantly, there are new digital strategies that can accelerate referrals. Making your specific expertise more visible is the key. This allows people to make better referrals and increases your referral base beyond clients and a few business contacts.

Learn More: Referral Marketing Course

Sponsorships and Advertising

Can you develop new business directly by sponsoring events and advertising? It would solve a lot of problems if it works. No more trying to get time from fully utilized billable professionals.

Unfortunately, the results on this front are not very encouraging. Studies have shown that traditional advertising is actually associated with slower growth. Only when advertising is combined with other techniques, such as speaking at an event, do these techniques bear fruit.

The most promising advertising strategy seems to be well-targeted digital advertising. This allows firms to get their messages and offers in front of the right people at a lower cost.

Outbound Telephone and Mail

Professional services firms have been using phone calls and mail to directly target potential clients for decades. Target the right firms and roles with a relevant message and you would expect to find new opportunities that can be developed into clients.

There are a couple of key challenges with these strategies. First they are relatively expensive, so they need to be just right to be effective. Second, if you don’t catch the prospect at the right time, your offer may have no appeal relevance — and consequently, no impact on business development.

The key is to have a very appealing offer delivered to a very qualified and responsive list. It’s not easy to get this combination right.

Thought Leadership and Content Marketing

Here, the strategy is to make your expertise visible to potential buyers and referral sources. This is accomplished through writing, speaking or publishing content that demonstrates your expertise and how it can be applied to solve client problems.

Books, articles and speaking engagements have long been staples of professional services business development strategy. Many high visibility experts have built their practices and firms upon this strategy. It often takes a good part of a career to execute this approach.

But changing times and technology have reshaped this strategy. With the onset of digital communication it is now easier and much faster to establish your expertise with a target market. Search engines have leveled the playing field so that relatively unknown individuals and firms can become known even outside their physical region. Webinars have democratized public speaking, and blogs and websites give every firm a 24/7 presence. Add in video and social media and the budding expert can access a vastly expanded marketplace.

But these developments also open firms to much greater competition as well. You may find yourself competing with specialists whom you were never aware of. The impact is to raise the stakes on your business development strategy.

Combined Strategies

It is common to combine different business development strategies. For example, networking and referrals are frequently used together. And on one level, a combined strategy makes perfect sense. The strength of one strategy can shore up the weakness of another.

But there is a hidden danger. For a strategy to perform at its peak, it must be fully implemented. There is a danger that by attempting to execute too many different strategies you will never completely implement any of them.

Good intentions, no matter how ambitious, are of little real business development value. Under-investment, lack of follow through and inconsistent effort are the bane of effective business development.

It is far more effective to fully implement a simple strategy than to dabble in a complex one. Fewer elements, competently implemented, produce better results.

Next, we turn our attention to the tactics used to implement a high-level strategy. But first there is a bit of confusion to clear up.

Business Development Strategy Vs. Tactics

The line between strategy and tactics is not always clear. For example, you can think of networking as an overall business development strategy or as a tactic to enhance the impact of a thought leadership strategy. Confusing to be sure.

From our perspective, the distinction is around focus and intent. If networking is your business development strategy all your focus should be on making the networking more effective and efficient. You will select tactics that are aimed at making networking more powerful or easier. You may try out another marketing technique and drop it if it does not help you implement your networking strategy.

On the other hand, if networking is simply one of many tactics, your decision to use it will depend on whether it supports your larger strategy. Tactics and techniques can be tested and easily changed. Strategy, on the other hand, is a considered choice and does not change from day to day or week to week.

10 Most Effective Business Development Tactics

Which business development tactics are most effective? To find out, we recently conducted a study that looked at 824 professional services firms. The research identified those firms that were growing at greater than a 20% compound annual growth rate over a three-year period.

These High Growth firms were compared to firms in the same industry that did not grow over the same time period. We then examined which business development tactics were employed by each group and which provided the most impact.

The result is a list of the ten most impactful tactics employed by the High Growth firms:

• Outbound sales calls from internal teams
• Providing assessments and/or consultations
• Business development materials
• Speaking at targeted conferences or events
• Networking at targeted conferences or events
• Conducting and publishing original research
• Live product/service demonstrations
• Presenting in educational webinars
• Marketing partnerships with other organizations
• Case studies

There are a couple of key observations about these growth tactics. First, these techniques can be employed in service of different business development strategies. For example number four on the list, speaking at targeted conferences or events, can easily support a networking or a thought leadership strategy.

The other observation is that the top tactics include a mix of both digital and traditional techniques. As we will see when we develop your plan, having a healthy mix of digital and traditional techniques tends to increase the impact of your strategy.

Business Development Skills

Now that we have identified the key business development strategies and tactics, it is time to consider the business development skills your team will need. Business development skills require a broad range of technical skills but there are some that make a difference.

When the Hinge Research Institute studied marketing and business development skills in our annual High Growth Study , we found that the firms that grow faster have a skills advantage within their marketing and business development teams.

In Figure 2 below, we see which business development skills are the most important for the high growth firms:

Figure 2. Skill ratings by marketing function (High Growth vs. No Growth firms)

Let’s dive into the top three skills from this list. 

The number one business development skill high growth firms enjoy are strong project management skills. And for experienced business development specialists, this makes good sense. Staying organized, accurately tracking business development activity, and managing accounts are essential for building and maintaining strong business relationships. Sound project management practices also allow the business development team to product stronger proposals more quickly without sacrificing quality.

The next most important skill is simplifying complex concepts. In business development conversations, it is vital that team members are able to communicate your firm’s service offerings and capabilities in a ways that prospects can understand. Speaking in industry jargon or presenting overly complicated charts creates unnecessary confusion and friction. Therefore, it is no surprise to see that the fastest growing professional services firms have an advantage in communicating complex information in a way that buyers understand.

The third most important business development skill is data analytics. Firms that make a habit of regularly monitoring key metrics have a real advantage. They can see what marketing techniques are working and which are having problems. The allows them to make course corrections in near real time. Firms that rarely or never look at data are running blind, relying instead on potentially misleading anecdotal evidence.

Review the other business development and marketing skills in the figure above and determine which skills your team should aim to develop.  Developing these skills should be a key priority of your business development team.

How to Create Your Strategic Business Development Plan

A Business Development Plan is a document that outlines how you implement your business development strategy. It can be a plan for an individual, a practice or the firm as a whole. Its scope covers both the marketing and sales functions, as they are so intertwined in most professional services firms.

Here are the key steps to develop and document your plan.

Define your target audience

Who are you trying to attract as new clients? Focus on your “best-fit” clients, not all possible prospects. It is most effective to focus on a narrow target audience. But don’t go so narrow that you can’t achieve your business goals.

Research their issues, buying behavior and your competitors

The more you know about your target audience the better equipped you will be to attract their attention and communicate how you can help them. What are their key business issues? Is your expertise relevant to those issues? Where do they look for advice and inspiration? What is the competitive environment like? How do you stack up?

Identify your competitive advantage

What makes you different? Why is that better for your target client? Are you the most cost-effective alternative? Or the industry’s leading expert? However you position your firm, your claims need to be true, provable and relevant to your target audience. It is very useful to document this positioning as you will use it over and over again as you develop your messages and marketing tools.

Choose your overall business development strategy

Pick the broad strategy or strategies you will use to reach, engage and convert your prospects. You can start with the list of top strategies provided above. Which strategy fits with the needs and preferences of your target audiences? Which ones best convey your competitive advantage? For example, if you are competing because you have superior industry expertise, a thought leadership/content marketing strategy will likely serve you well.

Choose your business development tactics

A great place to start is the list of the most effective tactics we provided above. Make sure that each technique you select fits your target audience and strategy. Remember, it’s not about your personal preferences or familiarity with a tactic. It’s about what creates a connection with your audience.

Also, you will need to balance your choices in two important ways: First, you will need tactics that address each stage of the business development pipeline shown in Figure 1. Some techniques work great for gaining visibility but do not address longer-term need to nurture prospects over time. You need to cover the full funnel.

Second, you need a good balance between digital and traditional techniques (Figure 2). Your research should inform this choice. Be careful about assumptions. Just because you don’t use social media doesn’t mean that a portion of your prospects don’t use it to check you out.

When, how often, which conferences, what topics? Now is the time to settle on the details that turn a broad strategy into a specific plan. Many plans include a content or marketing calendar that lays out the specifics, week by week. If that is too much detail for you, at least document what you will be doing and how often. You will need these details to monitor the implementation of your plan.

Specify how you will monitor implementation and impact

Often overlooked, these important considerations often spell the difference between success and failure. Unimplemented strategies don’t work. Keep track of what you do, and when. This will both motivate action and provide a great starting place as you troubleshoot your strategy. Also monitor and record the impacts you see. The most obvious effect will be how much new business you closed. But you should also monitor new leads or new contacts, at the bare minimum. Finally, don’t neglect important process outcomes such as referrals, new names added to your list and downloads of content that expose prospects and referral sources to your expertise.

If you follow these steps you will end up with a documented business development strategy and a concrete plan to implement and optimize it.

Free Resource

The Business Development Guide

How Hinge Can Help

Hinge, a global leader in professional services branding and marketing, helps firms grow faster and become more profitable. Our research-based strategies are designed to be  implemented.  In fact, our groundbreaking  Visible Firm ®  program  combines strategy, implementation, training and more.

Additional Resources

• Keep pace with the marketplace, generate leads and build your reputation all at once:  Marketing Planning Guide.
• Find out how to turn your firm into a high-visibility, high-growth business. Download our free executive guide,  The Visible Firm® , in which we layout a detailed roadmap of this research-based program.
• For more insights, check out our blog post, How to Develop a Winning Go-to-Market Strategy for Your Firm  

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Project team roles and responsibilities (with examples)

21 Mar 2023 By Jo Johansson

In this article 📖

Your project outcome is only going to be as good as the team behind it. There are no two ways about it—your project’s success depends on the skills, expertise, and experience of the project team you assemble.

That starts with an understanding of project team roles and responsibilities. 

And that’s exactly what we’re here to do today.

What is a project team?

A project team is a group of individuals brought together to work on a specific project or initiative. The team will include roles needed for project planning, development, and implementation.

The team members collaborate to achieve a set of predetermined goals as stated in the project scope . This could be the launch of a product or service, or delivering a new design or feature for a client. 

Each member of the team has a unique set of skills and responsibilities that contribute to the success of the project —ultimately, completing the project on schedule and on budget.  

Establishing a project team helps you ensure important projects have a dedicated group made up of various skills and experiences so the work can be completed as efficiently as possible. 

Team roles can be assigned to full-time or part-time employees, contractors, subject matter experts, or other external stakeholders.

Roles and responsibilities definition 

Roles and responsibilities are related concepts. This article will cover the roles of a project team (what specific positions and functions make up a project team), as well as the responsibilities (the duties and tasks tied to each specific role).

5 key project team roles and responsibilities

Every project has different requirements, so team structure can vary. But the five major roles in a project team are project sponsor, project manager, business analyst, resource manager, and project team member.  

Let’s dive into the roles and responsibilities of each, and how they work together.

1. Project sponsor: The person driving the vision

The sponsor is the in-house champion of a project, overseeing operations from a high level. This person works directly with the project manager, clearing any obstacles that threaten to stall the project and signing off on all major components. 

A member of senior management typically fills this role. A project sponsor’s responsibilities include the following: 

• Creating the project vision
• Earning buy-in from executive leadership
• Making critical decisions
• Approving the project budget 

2. Project manager (or leader): The person managing day-to-day operations

Project managers or leaders are responsible for day-to-day operations and ensuring the project is completed on time, on budget, and achieves its objectives. 

On a small project, the manager might oversee each team member. On a larger-scale project, they are more likely to oversee team leaders, who each manage their own group. 

The project manager is responsible for the following:

• Creating the project plan and schedule
• Recruiting project staff
• Managing the budget
• Managing the project schedule
• Delegating project tasks to team members
• Managing all project deliverables
• Communicating with upper management and other stakeholders

3. Resource manager: In charge of resource allocation and utilization

The resource manager is critical when putting together your project team. Now, if your project isn’t big enough to require a resource manager, you’ll simply have to act as one. So what does that mean exactly?

• Identify the right people for a project
• Match project team roles and skills with project needs
• Allocate and schedule the right resource within the project timeline and budget
• Stay on top of resource availability and utilization
• Monitor and optimize the use of resources throughout the course of the project to make sure it can be completed successfully

4. Business analyst: Makes sure you have the data you need

The business analyst is responsible for gathering and analyzing data related to the project. They help identify the project’s requirements and determine the best approach to achieve the project’s objectives. They work with stakeholders to ensure that the project’s deliverables meet the organization’s needs.

The business analyst ensures the project team has the technology and tools to do their jobs effectively. They might also recommend new tools for streamlining workflows and improving quality, such as resource scheduling software . 

A business analyst:

• Helps define the project and its goals
• Gathers technical requirements from team members
• Documents and analyzes project requirements
• Helps project team solve equipment management problems
• Tests solutions to ensure their effectiveness

5. Project team member (or project delivery team): Individual contributors assigned to different project tasks

Project delivery team responsibilities vary between projects and roles (which may include anything from developers and engineers, to designers and copywriters). 

At a high level, all project team members are assigned the tasks required to complete the project, and are responsible for: 

• Contributing to the project goals and objectives
• Completing individual tasks within the expected time frame
• Collaborating with other team members 
• Communicating with the project manager about roadblocks

Other roles in a project team

Some larger projects require additional project management roles and responsibilities to support the core project team. These may include: 

• An executive sponsor is a senior owner of the project (with more authority than the project sponsor) and the ultimate decision-maker
• A project owner is usually the person who proposed the project. They assist the project manager in ensuring successful implementation
• A project lead is someone who carries out a lot of the tasks of the project manager but doesn’t have as much experience or official qualifications
• A team leader is responsible for training team members and monitoring progress toward project objectives
• A functional manager’s responsibility can vary, but the primary function is to ensure the project team has the resources it needs, and address problems that slow down the project
• A program manager coordinates all projects related to a specific program and provides guidance to the project manager
• A subject matter expert (SME) has advanced knowledge of a specific area, practice, or process. They provide guidance and strategy to the project team
• A project coordinator or project management office (PMO) offers administrative support to the project team and establishes standards to ensure the team’s processes align with broader organizational goals
• Project stakeholders are people (internal or external to the project) who have an interest in and influence over the project. Their responsibilities and interests vary between (and even within) projects
• A steering committee includes senior-level stakeholders (such as the project sponsor) and company managers, and provides strategic support to help define business needs and achieve project outcomes

Project team roles and responsibilities example

Roles in a team project can get confusing (fast). So to demonstrate how project team roles work together, let’s use the example of an in-house marketing team undertaking a website redesign. 

Project sponsor: This is the person who “owns” the project. In this case, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) might decide the website needed an overhaul as part of a big rebranding initiative. For this project, the responsibilities of the project sponsor could look something like the following:

• Ensures the redesign aligns with strategic business goals 
• Assigns with the project manager
• Provides resources and support for the redesign
• Serves as an escalation point when problems arise

Project manager: This person oversees the execution of the project and manages the team. In this case, let’s say it’s the creative director. The project manager:

• Communicates with the sponsor and project team
• Sets milestones and deadlines
• Ensures the redesign stays on schedule and on budget
• Monitors the progress of the project

Resource manager: As the name implies, this person ensures the team has everything it needs to complete the redesign. In this case, let’s say it’s the chief information officer. 

• Identifies the best project team roles based on the project scope
• Plans and allocates people and resources ( meeting rooms , equipment , etc.)
• Monitors utilization throughout the project and tracks billable hours

Project team members: These are the folks responsible for executing the redesign. They report to the project manager. The following roles need to be assigned:

• Front-end and back-end engineers
• QA engineer
• UX/UI designer
• Visual designer

Project team role and responsibilities matrix

Because roles and responsibilities can vary between projects, it can be helpful to create a RACI project team matrix at the very beginning of the project to clarify the expectations of each position.

RACI stands for responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed. It helps define the roles within a project management team and then identifies who needs to be looped in or assigned to each task.

It’s simple really, if everyone knows their roles within a project team , your project is much more likely to run smoothly.

The project team roles and responsibilities table below shows an example RACI matrix for project sponsors, project managers, resource managers, and project team members, but can be expanded to include more roles and tasks.

Now that we know more about what project team roles to include in a project along with their different responsibilities, find out how you actually go about building your project team here.

Project team roles FAQs

How do you decide what roles are needed on a project team.

To define the team roles needed for your project, outline the goals and key deliverables of the project. Think about the skills you need to ensure those deliverables are high quality, and then match and assign team members accordingly.

What are the benefits of defining project team roles?

The benefits of clearly defined roles include: 

• Increase individual accountability 
• Reduce confusion and overlap
• Give team members a feeling of ownership and clarity around expectations
• Enable project managers to delegate tasks and assess team members’ performance
• Establish a structure for effective problem-solving and collaboration

Can required project roles vary from project to project?

They absolutely can, depending on the nature of the project, the team structure, and the availability of specific skills and expertise. What matters is that the responsibilities for each role are clearly defined before work begins on the project. 

What are the best practices when putting together a project team?

You’ll want to:

• Create a project scope
• Develop and follow a clear project plan 
• Identify the project team roles needed for your project, and schedule your resources
• Establish some core project team values 
• Encourage a collaborative project team culture 

What are the roles in a project team?

To summarize, the roles on a project team can include:

• Project sponsor 
• Executive sponsor 
• Project owner
• Project manager
• Project lead
• Team leader
• Project team member or project delivery team 
• Resource manager 
• Business analyst 
• Functional manager
• Program manager 
• Subject matter expert (SME) 
• Project coordinator or project management office (PMO)

Clearly defined project team roles mean a greater chance of project success

With the right project team, you’ve instantly increased the chances of project success (because let’s not forget— 70% of projects fail ). So you’ll want to invest in getting the right people on board from the get-go.

While it’s tempting to grab whoever’s available to get started faster and track against timelines, the wiser thing to do is to wait, assess, and carefully put together your team. As we said earlier—your project will be better for it.

Find the right people—faster—with Resource Guru

Whether you’re working with a big or small project team, resource management software can help find and allocate the right resources, monitor utilization, and create more accurate resource forecasting .

Try Resource Guru for free for 30 days . (No credit card required. No strings attached.)

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Jo Johansson

👋 I'm Jo, Senior Content Marketing Manager at Resource Guru. I spend my days creating educational content that helps people be more productive at work, so they can enjoy their time off work. Got any ideas or requests? Drop me a line at [email protected].

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10 Key Business Development Strategies (with Examples)

In today’s world, if you want your business to grow and succeed, you need a good plan for making it happen.

There are many different ways to help your business grow, and in this article, we’ll discuss some of the best business development strategies and techniques available.

There’s a lot you can do, from finding more customers for what you already sell to coming up with new products to sell or even teaming up with other businesses.

We’ll also examine how using the Internet and technology can benefit your business and why it’s important to consider how your business affects the world and people’s lives.

What is a Business Development Strategy?

A business development strategy is a plan that a company follows to grow and get better.

Imagine it like a map that helps a business decide where to go next to make more money, find more customers, or introduce new products.

It involves figuring out what the business is good at, what customers want, and how to reach more people or sell more things.

The goal of a business development strategy is not just to grow sales, but also to build a sustainable business model that can adapt to changing market conditions and capitalize on new opportunities.

A well-crafted business development strategy ensures that a company remains competitive and continues to thrive in its industry.

Business Development Strategies

Download the above infographic in PDF

1. Market Penetration Strategy

When we talk about business development strategies, a market penetration strategy is like the bread and butter for companies aiming to grow. It’s all about making your existing products or services a bigger hit in the markets you’re already playing in. Imagine trying to sell more ice cream in a town that loves your flavors — that’s market penetration.

Why it’s important: It’s less about reinventing the wheel and more about pushing the pedal on what already works. You can cut prices to outdo the competition, ramp up your marketing to make sure everyone knows your name, or offer deals that customers can’t resist.

Examples: Let’s say you run a coffee shop in a bustling neighborhood. To increase your market share, you might introduce a loyalty card that gives customers a free drink after they buy ten. This not only encourages repeat business but can also bring in more foot traffic as word spreads.

Why it’s a smart move: By focusing on market penetration , you’re building on your existing successes. It’s a tried and true method among business development techniques that can lead to increased sales without the costs and risks associated with targeting entirely new markets or developing new products from scratch.

In essence, beefing up your presence in current markets with strategies that have proven their worth can be a game-changer for your business. It’s about maximizing what you already do best and making sure as many people as possible know about it.

2. Market Development Strategy

Diving deeper into our exploration of business development strategies, let’s chat about the market development strategy. It’s like being an explorer, charting unknown territories, except instead of new lands, you’re venturing into new markets or customer segments with your tried-and-true products or services.

Why it’s exciting: Market development is thrilling because it opens up a world of possibilities. You could take your existing product and introduce it to a different city, country, or even a completely new demographic. It’s about finding new playgrounds where your product can shine.

Examples: Imagine you’ve been selling an innovative bike lock in urban areas where biking is a popular mode of transportation. A market development strategy might involve launching this product in suburban areas where there’s a growing interest in biking, thanks to new bike-friendly infrastructure.

How it works: This approach requires research and understanding of the new market. You’ll need to know what these new customers want, how they shop, and what kind of messaging speaks to them. It’s a classic technique in business development strategies that can pay off by expanding your customer base and opening new revenue streams.

Why it’s a brilliant tactic: By leveraging market development, you’re not just sticking to the safe confines of your existing market. Instead, you’re taking a calculated risk to grow your business. It’s a powerful way to utilize your existing successes and replicate them in a new context, making it a cornerstone among business development techniques.

In conclusion, market development is about seizing new opportunities and taking your successful product or service to new frontiers. It’s an adventurous and strategic move that requires understanding and adapting to new markets, but with the right approach, it can significantly amplify your business’s growth.

3. Product Development Strategy

The product development strategy stands out as a beacon for innovation. This strategy is about bringing new products or services to the table in your existing market. It’s akin to a chef creating a new, exquisite dish to wow patrons who already love the menu.

Why it sparkles with potential:  Product development is exhilarating because it taps into your creative resources to meet evolving customer needs or fill gaps in the market. It’s your chance to say, “Look what we can do!” and strengthen your position in the market with fresh offerings.

Examples:  Consider a tech company known for its consumer electronics. They might leverage a product development strategy by introducing smart home devices to their lineup, catering to their tech-savvy customer base’s desire for a more connected living experience.

The practical part:  Successful product development hinges on understanding your customers’ needs and staying ahead of industry trends. It requires a blend of market research, product innovation, and sometimes, a dash of daring. Among business development techniques, this one is particularly challenging because it involves creating something new, yet it’s also immensely rewarding.

Why it wins:  Embarking on product development can reinvigorate your brand and encourage customer loyalty. By continuously evolving your product offerings, you’re showing customers that you’re committed to innovation and addressing their changing needs. It’s a way to keep your audience engaged and interested in what you’ll do next.

In essence, a product development strategy is about breathing new life into your business with innovative offerings that captivate your existing market. It’s a vibrant testament to your commitment to growth and adaptation, positioning you as a forward-thinking leader in your industry.

4. Diversification Strategy

Diversification strategy is all about spreading your wings and flying into new territories with new products or services. It’s like opening a new chapter in your business’s story, venturing into uncharted waters to uncover new opportunities and revenue streams.

What makes it intriguing: Diversification is exciting because it pushes your business beyond its comfort zone. You’re not just expanding; you’re transforming. This could mean developing new products that complement your existing offerings or stepping into a completely different market with something innovative.

Examples: Consider a company that manufactures high-end cameras. They decide to diversify by entering the smartphone market with a device that boasts superior photography features. This move not only taps into the lucrative smartphone market but also leverages the company’s expertise in imaging technology.

How to implement it: Successful diversification requires thorough market research , innovation, and sometimes, a bit of courage. It’s important to assess how your new product or service fits with your brand and whether it addresses a genuine need in the market.

Why it’s a game-changer: Diversification is among the more ambitious business development techniques because it can significantly reduce risk by not putting all your eggs in one basket. Plus, it can rejuvenate your brand, making it relevant to a broader audience.

In summary , a diversification strategy is about boldly expanding your business into new areas with new offerings. It’s a move that requires careful strategic planning and a deep understanding of both your capabilities and the needs of the market. When done right, diversification can be a transformative growth strategy, setting your business on a path to new heights and successes.

5. Strategic Partnerships and Alliances

This strategy is about joining forces with other businesses to achieve common goals, leveraging each other’s strengths to unlock new opportunities.

Why it’s compelling: Strategic partnerships are like having a buddy system in the business world. They allow you to share resources, knowledge, and markets with another organization, making it easier to tackle ambitious projects or enter new markets. It’s about creating a win-win situation where both parties can grow and succeed.

Examples: Imagine a software company offering custom software development services and specializing in educational technology. By forming an alliance with a content creation firm that produces high-quality educational material, they can offer a more comprehensive learning platform. This partnership not only enhances their product offering but also opens up new customer segments.

How it works: Forming a strategic partnership or alliance involves identifying potential partners who share your vision and complementary strengths. The key is to clearly define the terms of the partnership, including roles, responsibilities, and how success will be measured.

Why it’s effective: This approach is one of the more synergistic business development techniques, as it enables companies to combine their efforts for greater impact. Partnerships can help businesses achieve objectives that would be difficult or impossible to achieve alone, such as expanding into new geographical markets or combining technologies to create innovative solutions.

In essence, strategic partnerships and alliances are about collaboration and mutual growth. By carefully selecting the right partners and aligning your goals, businesses can unlock new potentials and navigate the path to success more efficiently.

6. Mergers and Acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) represent a powerful avenue among business development strategies, where companies either merge with or acquire another company to boost growth, access new markets , or enhance capabilities. Think of it as joining forces with others to conquer territories or pooling resources to build an empire. It’s a fast track to expansion that can otherwise take years to achieve organically.

Why it’s impactful: M&A can dramatically change the scale of your business, providing instant access to new customers, technologies, and resources. It’s a strategy that can lead to significant market power and competitive advantages almost overnight.

Examples: A classic example would be a large tech company acquiring a smaller startup that offers innovative technology or services that complement the larger company’s product offerings. This not only eliminates a potential competitor but also integrates new technologies into the company’s portfolio, driving further innovation and growth.

Executing the strategy: Success in M&A requires diligent due diligence, strategic alignment, and effective integration planning. It’s crucial to ensure that the companies’ cultures, values, and business models align to avoid integration challenges post-acquisition.

Why it’s a savvy move: From a business development perspective, mergers and acquisitions can offer a shortcut to growth that organic methods can’t match. It allows companies to diversify their offerings, enter new markets rapidly, and acquire strategic assets or skills they lack.

In essence, M&A is about making bold moves to accelerate your company’s growth trajectory. While it comes with its set of challenges and risks, including cultural integration and financial investment, the potential rewards in terms of market expansion, enhanced capabilities, and increased competitiveness make it a crucial tactic in the arsenal of business development strategies.

7. Customer Retention Strategies

Venturing further into our journey through business development strategies, let’s zero in on customer retention strategies. Unlike the exploratory nature of entering new markets or launching new products, customer retention is all about deepening relationships with the customers you already have.

Why it matters: Retaining customers is often more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. Loyal customers not only continue to buy from you but are also more likely to recommend your products or services to others, acting as brand ambassadors.

Examples: An online streaming service introduces a tiered membership program, offering exclusive content and early access to new releases for premium members. This not only incentivizes longer subscription commitments but also enhances the perceived value of the service.

Key techniques: Effective customer retention strategies can include loyalty programs, exceptional customer service, feedback loops for continual improvement, and personalized marketing efforts. These techniques recognize and reward customer loyalty, creating a more personalized and satisfying experience.

Why it’s a cornerstone strategy: Focusing on customer retention is a crucial component of business development strategies because it builds a stable revenue base and fosters a community of loyal customers. This, in turn, can lead to more predictable sales and a stronger brand.

In essence, customer retention strategies are about showing appreciation for your current customers, ensuring they feel valued and understood. This not only secures their continued business but also transforms them into vocal supporters of your brand, contributing to a virtuous cycle of growth and loyalty.

8. Networking and Relationship Building

Let’s talk about networking and relationship building. Unlike direct sales tactics or digital marketing efforts, networking is about cultivating long-term relationships that can lead to opportunities, referrals, and partnerships down the line.

Why it matters: In the realm of business development, who you know can be just as important as what you know. Building a strong network can open doors to new clients, insights into industry trends, potential partners, and even investors. It’s about creating a web of connections where value is exchanged mutually over time.

Example: Imagine attending industry conferences, not with the primary goal of immediate sales, but with the intention of meeting other professionals in your field, sharing knowledge, and learning about their needs and challenges. Over time, these connections can lead to collaborative projects, referrals, or simply valuable advice.

How to approach it: Effective networking is rooted in genuine interest in others and a willingness to offer help and resources without the immediate expectation of getting something in return. It’s about building trust and rapport by being reliable, knowledgeable, and generous.

Why it’s a strategic move: Networking and relationship building are fundamental business development techniques because they leverage the power of human connections. Relationships built on trust and mutual respect can be the most durable and valuable assets in your business development arsenal.

N etworking and relationship building aim to cultivate meaningful relationships that can evolve into powerful catalysts for business growth.

9. Digital Transformation and Innovation

As we dive deeper into the world of business development strategies, it’s impossible to overlook the immense impact of digital transformation and innovation. This strategy is about leveraging the latest digital technologies to fundamentally change how your business operates and delivers value to customers. Think of it as the process of turning your traditional analog business into a smart, tech-savvy enterprise ready to face the modern digital world head-on.

Why it’s crucial: In today’s fast-paced business environment, technology can be a major differentiator. Digital transformation not only streamlines operations but also enhances customer experiences, opens up new channels for engagement, and fosters innovation. It’s about staying relevant and competitive in a digital-first world.

Examples: Consider a traditional brick-and-mortar retailer that adopts an omnichannel approach, integrating their in-store experience with a seamless online shopping platform. This might include a mobile app that customers can use to scan products in-store, read reviews, check out online, and even receive personalized recommendations based on their shopping history.

How to implement it: Embracing digital transformation requires a clear vision, strong leadership, and a willingness to invest in new technologies. It often involves adopting cloud computing, leveraging big data analytics, automating processes with AI, and enhancing customer interactions through digital channels.

Why it’s a game-changer: Digital transformation and innovation can revolutionize the way you do business, making you more agile, efficient, and customer-centric. It’s a powerful business development technique that not only drives growth but also builds resilience against disruptions in the market.

The journey towards digital transformation and innovation is about reimagining your business for the digital age. It offers a unique opportunity to innovate, differentiate, and deliver exceptional value to your customers.

10. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

CSR is about businesses taking responsibility for their impact on society and the environment. It’s a strategy that aligns a company’s operations with social values and environmental sustainability practices. Think of it as doing well by doing good; when companies invest in CSR, they not only contribute positively to the world but also build trust and loyalty among customers and employees.

Why it’s important: Today’s consumers and workers are increasingly conscious of the ethical practices of the companies they buy from and work for. Implementing CSR initiatives can enhance your brand’s reputation, attract and retain top talent, and open up new business opportunities with like-minded partners and customers.

Examples: Imagine a clothing manufacturer that decides to source materials exclusively from suppliers that adhere to fair labor practices and environmental standards. Additionally, they might launch a recycling program, encouraging customers to return used items for recycling in exchange for a discount on their next purchase.

How to engage in CSR: Effective CSR goes beyond one-time charitable donations; it involves integrating sustainable and ethical practices into everyday business operations. This might include reducing carbon footprints, enhancing employee welfare programs, engaging in community development projects, or supporting social causes through partnerships with non-profits.

Why it’s a strategic move: CSR is among the most impactful business development techniques because it builds a strong emotional connection with stakeholders. Companies that are seen as socially responsible can differentiate themselves in crowded markets, foster loyalty among customers, and create a positive corporate image that attracts investment and partnership opportunities.

Corporate Social Responsibility is not just a moral obligation; it’s a strategic business development approach that can drive long-term success. By prioritizing CSR, companies not only contribute to a better world but also build a strong, sustainable brand that resonates with today’s ethically minded consumers and employees. It’s a testament to the power of combining profit with purpose to achieve growth and impact.

FAQs on Business Development Strategies

1. What is the purpose of a business development strategy? The primary purpose of a business development strategy is to identify and implement opportunities for growth within and outside a company. This can include increasing revenue, expanding into new markets, developing new products or services, enhancing customer relationships, and forming strategic partnerships or alliances.

2. How do I choose the right business development strategy for my company? Choosing the right business development strategy involves understanding your business’s current position, goals, and the specific challenges and opportunities in your industry. Analyze your target market, competition, internal capabilities, and resources. It’s also essential to align the strategy with your company’s overall vision and mission.

3. Can you give examples of effective business development techniques? Effective business development techniques include networking and relationship building, leveraging social media and digital marketing, attending industry events and trade shows, conducting market research to identify new opportunities, and employing customer feedback to improve products and services.

4. How does market penetration differ from market development? Market penetration focuses on increasing the market share of an existing product within its current market, often through competitive pricing, marketing initiatives, and sales promotions. Market development, on the other hand, aims to enter new markets or target new customer segments with existing products, requiring adaptations to marketing strategies and possibly the product itself to meet different customer needs.

5. What role does innovation play in business development strategies? Innovation is crucial for sustaining growth and staying competitive. It involves developing new or improved products, services, processes, or business models that meet emerging customer needs or create new markets. Innovation can differentiate a company from competitors and drive long-term success.

6. How important are strategic partnerships and alliances in business development? Strategic partnerships and alliances are vital for leveraging complementary strengths, resources, and markets to achieve mutual growth objectives that might be difficult to accomplish independently. These collaborations can provide access to new markets, technologies, expertise, and customer bases.

7. What are some common mistakes in implementing business development strategies? Common mistakes include failing to conduct thorough market research, not aligning the strategy with the company’s core competencies and goals, underestimating the resources required, neglecting existing customers in pursuit of new ones, and not adapting to market feedback or changing conditions.

8. How can a company measure the success of its business development strategies? Success can be measured through various metrics, including revenue growth, market share expansion, customer acquisition and retention rates, profitability improvements, and achievement of strategic goals. Regularly reviewing these metrics and adjusting strategies as necessary is key to sustained growth.

9. Why is customer retention considered a business development strategy? Customer retention is crucial because acquiring new customers can be significantly more expensive than keeping existing ones. Retained customers often make repeat purchases and can become brand advocates. Effective retention strategies can lead to sustained revenue growth and profitability.

10. How does CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) enhance business development? CSR enhances business development by building a positive brand image, fostering customer loyalty, attracting and retaining talent, and potentially opening up new markets or customer segments. Companies that are viewed as socially responsible can differentiate themselves from competitors and achieve sustainable growth.

Conclusion and Key Takeaways

In conclusion, navigating the complexities of today’s business landscape requires a strategic approach to development that encompasses a broad range of tactics and methodologies.

From diving into the depths of market penetration and development strategies to exploring the innovative horizons of digital transformation, businesses have at their disposal a plethora of paths to achieve growth and sustainability.

The key takeaways from our exploration into business development strategies and techniques underscore the importance of a multifaceted approach tailored to your company’s unique goals and market conditions.

Key Takeaways:

• Strategic Alignment: Ensure that your business development strategies are in harmony with your company’s overall vision, mission, and capabilities. Tailoring strategies to fit your unique strengths and market position can lead to more effective and sustainable growth.
• Customer-Centric Approach: Whether it’s through retention strategies, innovation, or CSR initiatives, keeping the customer at the heart of your business development efforts is crucial. Understanding and addressing their needs can drive loyalty and long-term success.
• Adaptability and Innovation: In a rapidly changing business environment, staying adaptable and open to innovation can set you apart from competitors. Embrace digital transformation and continually seek new ways to improve your offerings and processes.
• The Power of Relationships: Building and maintaining strong relationships through networking, strategic partnerships, and alliances can open up new opportunities and resources critical for growth.
• Measure and Adjust: Regularly measuring the success of your business development strategies with clear metrics is essential. Be prepared to adjust your approach based on performance data and shifting market dynamics.
• Sustainability and Responsibility: Incorporating CSR into your business development strategies not only contributes positively to society but also enhances your brand’s reputation and appeal to modern consumers and employees.

By embracing these key insights, businesses can develop a robust framework for growth that leverages the best practices in business development strategies and techniques.

Remember, the path to success involves not just the pursuit of growth for its own sake but doing so in a manner that is sustainable, responsible, and aligned with your core values.

Here’s to your business’s continued growth and success in navigating the exciting challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

About The Author

Silvia Valcheva

Silvia Valcheva is a digital marketer with over a decade of experience creating content for the tech industry. She has a strong passion for writing about emerging software and technologies such as big data, AI (Artificial Intelligence), IoT (Internet of Things), process automation, etc.

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Roles and Responsibilities of Business Developers

It's not enough to keep the business alive and stable. It has to grow continuously to stay afloat. The best business owners know this, and they hire business developers to cast their net wide and look to the horizon while the sales department fishes out the best new clients and takes over the contract leg work.

An Overview of the Business Development Trade

A business developer’s job is ultimately to generate new revenue and help companies grow. They do this by identifying new business opportunities and looking for new markets, new partnerships, new ways to reach existing markets, or even new products and services that can better cater to the needs of those existing markets.

A Business Developer’s Typical Day

Business development managers tend to lead similar day-to-days as salespeople, only their responsibilities differ. The roles of salespeople and business development managers can be performed by the same person in a company, depending on its size and task distribution.

Meetings - BDMs usually make the first contact with a client, which could involve meeting them in person. Think of video calls, business brunches and lunches, but almost every day. The majority of their week is spent talking to people, scheduling future meetings, presenting their products and services, and trying to hook prospective clients enough to then pass them on to the sales team. The sales department also has a lot of meetings on its calendar, but they're mostly with clients who BDMs have already approached. It all depends on the company's organization, but salespeople are typically in charge of "sealing the deal" and contract signing. From that point on, account executives take over and make sure the relationship with clients is healthy and long-lived. Correspondence - Cold emailing is the sales bread&butter. The road to meeting one client is paved with hundreds of emails that end up unread or seen. The sales team and the business development manager keep in touch with clients via emails, messages, and phone calls. All their questions and doubts must be answered in a timely fashion.

Research - It's the BDM's job to always look for new markets where the company can expand its business. Market research includes the PEST(LE) analysis (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental factors) that allows business development managers to create a profile of the best potential clients to contact. The sales team gets a sense of direction and starts approaching them. They also need to do some research of their own, but on a micro-scale, from client to client, if they want to personalize their offer. Reporting - The sales team usually reports to the head of sales or business development managers, while BDMs report to upper management. Most reports are standardized and include KPIs. Managers meet the sales team regularly to discuss their progress and check if they're achieving the set goals. BDMs also present the results to the upper management to show how realistic were their sales forecasts.

Difference Between BDM’s and AE’s

The roles of salespeople, business development managers, and account executives can be performed by the same person in a company, depending on its size and task distribution. There are, however, some distinct differences that set apart these roles.

Average Salary

According to Glassdoor, the average salary of a business development manager in the US amounts to $71,965 per year. On the other hand, Payscale says it's $75,530, which is more or less the same. The good news is that this position often implies bonuses that could add another $25,000 to the base pay. Since the four roles of project managers, account executives, sales managers, and business developers are sometimes performed by the same person, we'll compare the average salaries of all of them.

Becoming a Business Developer: Get Started

Here's what you'll need if you want to become a business development manager:

• A bachelor's degree in business, economics, marketing, management, or a similar field
• Experience in sales or customer service
• Perseverance and persistence
• Strong communication and negotiation skills
• Proactivity
• Presentation skills

The best way to become a BDM is through sales. Sales agents learn quickly how to deal with emails, phone calls, spreadsheets, balance sheets, and budgets. Once you get a grip of all that, upgrading to a business developer shouldn't be that big of a leap, as the two roles are similar. However, you'll need to focus much more on market research and thinking big. It's also possible to switch from being an account executive to a BDM and vice versa. The key here is an individual's personality. Some people are simply better at nurturing relationships, while others are great at making remarkable first impressions. Once again, think about the difference between farmers and hunters.

A Business Developer’s Career Path

This career could start out in sales, marketing, customer support, or customer success, followed by the entry role of Business Development Representative. Once a business development manager gains experience, they move on to senior roles such as VP of Business Development or Head/Director of Business Development. Their seniority could be reflected by the market share they cover or the vastness of the territory they're in charge of. Like all other successful salespeople and managers, BDMs become thriving bookwriters, university professors, and company owners. If this is the career path you're aspiring to walk down, try listening to some of the most successful entrepreneurs and business developers out there!

Every good business development manager needs the best set of tools to contact and interact with their clients. The list includes video call platforms, CRM tools, emailing platforms, and project management software like Zoom, Whereby, Trello, Bitrix24, ActiveCollab, ClickUp, Monday.com, Asana, Mailtrack, Lemlist, RocketBolt, ActiveCampaign, and Miro.

Hiring a Business Development Manager

First things first, is a business developer really what you need? If you:

• own a small company that needs to grow
• already employ people who nurture the relationship with existing clients
• operate in an industry where there's space for expansion of the market share

The answer is probably yes. When you're starting a business or expanding it, you'll definitely need someone to point out growth opportunities. A business developer is also someone who will represent your company and persuade new clients to do business with you. When hiring a BDM, you should focus on investigating their sales skills and the list of clients they've secured in the past. If they don't have much relevant experience, but you're willing to take on a beginner, give them a chance to demonstrate their abilities. Think of cliche interview questions like "How would you sell me this pen?" but adapt them to your industry. This exercise will show how much the candidate has prepared for the interview and how quickly they can react to unexpected situations. The ideal candidate is charismatic, extroverted, witty, socially intelligent, resourceful, and a quick learner. Remember, this person is like your company's storefront, and you need to make a striking first impression!

When we talk about roles in an agency, we're actually discussing types of jobs. In a chaotic environment where clients are gods and deadlines are doomsdays, the lines between these jobs become blurred.

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What is a Project? Understanding the Fundamentals, Lifecycle, and Best Practices

• 10 mins read

• Updated on June 28, 2024

A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. It’s a carefully planned and organized effort to accomplish a specific goal within defined constraints of time, budget, and resources. Unlike ongoing operations, projects have a definite beginning and end, with a clear set of objectives to be achieved.

The execution of a project requires a dedicated team, led by a project manager, who collectively possesses the necessary skills and expertise. This team is responsible for planning, executing, monitoring, and ultimately delivering the intended outcomes of the project.

Distinguishing Characteristics of Projects

While projects can vary greatly in their nature and complexity, they share certain fundamental characteristics:

1. Defined Scope and Objectives : Projects have clearly defined goals and deliverables that must be achieved within specified parameters.

2. Temporary Nature : Projects have a definite start and end date, unlike ongoing operational activities.

3. Resource Constraints : Projects operate within constraints of time, budget, and available resources.

4. Unique Outcomes : Each project is designed to produce a unique result, whether it’s a product, service, or specific outcome.

5. Cross-Functional Teams : Projects often require the collaboration of individuals from various disciplines and departments within an organization.

Project Categorization

Projects can be classified in various ways, depending on the criteria used for categorization. Here are some common ways to group projects:

By Funding Source:

☑ Internal Projects: Funded and managed within an organization.

☑ External Projects: Funded by external sources, such as clients or governmental agencies.

☑ Joint Ventures: Collaborative projects funded by multiple stakeholders.

By Industry:

☑ Construction Projects: Building infrastructure, residential, or commercial structures.

☑ Software Development Projects: Creating software applications or systems.

☑ Research and Development Projects: Developing new products, technologies, or processes.

☑ Marketing and Advertising Projects: Executing marketing campaigns or branding initiatives.

By Methodology:

☑ Waterfall Projects: Following a sequential, linear approach with distinct phases.

☑ Agile Projects: Utilizing an iterative and incremental approach with shorter development cycles.

☑ Hybrid Projects: Combining elements of both waterfall and agile methodologies.

Project Examples

To better illustrate the concept of a project, let’s explore a few examples from various domains:

☑ Construction : Building a new office complex or renovating an existing commercial space.

☑ Information Technology : Implementing a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system or migrating data to a cloud-based platform.

☑ Product Development : Designing and launching a new consumer electronics device or a line of clothing.

☑ Event Management : Organizing a large-scale conference, trade show, or fundraising gala.

☑ Business Process Improvement : Streamlining supply chain operations or optimizing customer service processes.

Key Project Management Terminology

To effectively communicate and collaborate within project teams, it’s essential to understand some of the key terminology used in project management:

1. Project Charter : A formal document that authorizes the project, defines its objectives, and outlines the high-level requirements and constraints.

2. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) : A hierarchical decomposition of the project into manageable components, tasks, and deliverables.

3. Critical Path : The sequence of tasks that determines the shortest possible duration for completing the project, with any delay directly impacting the overall project timeline.

4. Risk Management : The systematic process of identifying, analyzing, and mitigating potential risks that could negatively impact the project’s objectives.

5. Change Control : The process of formally introducing, evaluating, and approving or rejecting changes to the project’s scope, schedule, or budget.

The Project Management Life Cycle

Most projects follow a standardized life cycle, which serves as a framework for effectively managing and controlling the project from inception to completion. The typical project management life cycle consists of the following phases:

1. Initiation : Defining the project’s objectives, scope, and obtaining the necessary approvals and resources.

2. Planning : Developing a comprehensive project plan , including schedules, budgets, resource allocation, and risk mitigation strategies.

3. Execution : Carrying out the project activities according to the plan, while monitoring progress and addressing any issues or changes.

4. Monitoring and Control : Continuously tracking and evaluating project performance, identifying deviations from the plan, and implementing corrective actions as needed.

5. Closure : Formalizing the acceptance of project deliverables, documenting lessons learned, and officially closing out the project.

Project Management Best Practices

Adhering to industry-recognized best practices can significantly increase the chances of project success. Here are some essential best practices for effective project management:

1. Stakeholder Engagement : Identifying and actively involving all relevant stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle to ensure their needs and expectations are met.

2. Clear Communication : Establishing open and consistent communication channels among project team members, stakeholders, and sponsors to facilitate collaboration and decision-making.

3. Risk Mitigation : Proactively identifying, assessing, and addressing potential risks to minimize their impact on project objectives.

4. Change Management : Implementing a structured process for evaluating, approving, and controlling changes to the project’s scope, schedule, or budget.

5. Continuous Improvement : Regularly reviewing project performance, capturing lessons learned, and incorporating improvements into future projects.

By following these best practices, project managers can navigate the complexities of project execution, ensure alignment with organizational goals, and deliver successful outcomes that meet stakeholder expectations.

Roles and Responsibilities in Project Management

Successful project execution relies on the coordination and collaboration of various roles and responsibilities within the project team. Here are some key roles and their primary responsibilities:

1. Project Sponsor : The individual or group within the organization that provides the financial resources and executive support for the project. They are ultimately accountable for the project’s success.

2. Project Manager : The leader responsible for planning, executing, monitoring, and controlling the project from start to finish. They ensure that the project objectives are met within the defined constraints of time, budget, and scope.

3. Project Team Members : The individuals with the necessary skills and expertise who perform the actual work to complete the project tasks and activities.

4. Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) : Specialists or consultants who provide specific domain knowledge or technical expertise to the project team as needed.

5. Project Management Office (PMO) : A centralized group or department within an organization that provides guidance, standards, and best practices for project management methodologies and processes.

Project Management Tools and Techniques

To effectively plan, execute, and control projects, project managers and teams leverage a variety of tools and techniques. Some commonly used tools and techniques include:

1 Project Management Software : Comprehensive platforms that provide features for task scheduling, resource allocation, time tracking, collaboration, and reporting.

2. Gantt Charts : Visual representations of project schedules, displaying tasks, dependencies, and timelines.

3. Critical Path Method (CPM) : A technique for identifying the critical path and calculating the earliest and latest start and finish times for project activities.

4. Earned Value Management (EVM) : A methodology for measuring project performance by comparing the planned value, earned value, and actual costs.

5. Risk Analysis : Techniques such as risk registers, probability-impact matrices, and risk response strategies to identify, assess, and mitigate potential risks.

6. Stakeholder Analysis : A process for identifying stakeholders, assessing their interests and influence, and developing appropriate engagement strategies.

By leveraging these tools and techniques, project managers can effectively plan, execute, and control projects, ensuring successful delivery and stakeholder satisfaction.

Organizational Project Management

As organizations increasingly rely on projects to drive innovation, growth, and strategic initiatives, effective project management has become a critical competency. Many organizations have adopted organizational project management (OPM) practices to standardize and optimize their project management processes across the enterprise.

OPM involves establishing a project management framework, including policies, methodologies, tools, and governance structures, to ensure consistent and efficient project execution. It often involves the creation of a Project Management Office (PMO) to provide centralized oversight, support, and guidance to project teams across the organization.

By implementing OPM practices, organizations can improve project success rates, enhance resource utilization, foster knowledge sharing, and better align projects with organizational strategies and objectives.

According to the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Pulse of the Profession report, organizations that undervalue project management as a strategic competency for driving change report an average of 67% more of their projects failing outright.

Furthermore, the same report indicates that high-performing organizations successfully complete 77% of their projects, while low performers complete only 56% of theirs, highlighting the critical role of project management in organizational success.

These statistics emphasize the significant impact that well-managed projects can have on an organization’s ability to achieve its strategic objectives and drive innovation. As businesses increasingly rely on projects to navigate complex challenges and opportunities, understanding the fundamentals of project management becomes crucial for professionals across various industries.

Nimble’s intuitive project management platform streamlines the entire project lifecycle, from planning to execution and monitoring. With features like customizable workflows, real-time collaboration tools, and advanced analytics, Nimble empowers teams to manage projects more efficiently, enhance communication, and deliver successful outcomes aligned with organizational goals.

Project Portfolio Management

In many organizations, multiple projects are often running concurrently, each with their own objectives, resource requirements, and constraints. Project portfolio management (PPM) is a strategic approach to analyzing, prioritizing, and managing an organization’s portfolio of projects to ensure alignment with overall business goals and optimal resource allocation.

Key aspects of PPM include:

1. Project Selection : Evaluating and prioritizing potential projects based on factors such as strategic fit, anticipated benefits, risks, and resource requirements.

2. Resource Allocation : Allocating limited resources (human, financial, equipment) across the project portfolio to maximize value delivery and minimize conflicts or bottlenecks.

3. Portfolio Monitoring and Control : Continuously monitoring the performance of the project portfolio, making adjustments as needed, and terminating projects that are no longer aligned with organizational objectives or priorities.

4. Portfolio Optimization : Periodically reviewing and rebalancing the project portfolio to ensure it remains aligned with evolving business strategies and priorities.

Effective PPM helps organizations make informed decisions about which projects to pursue, ensuring that resources are focused on the most valuable initiatives and enabling better coordination and optimization across the project portfolio.

Project Management Certifications and Professional Development

As the demand for skilled project managers continues to grow across industries, various professional certifications and educational programs have emerged to enhance project management knowledge and competencies. Some widely recognized certifications include:

1. Project Management Professional (PMP)® : Offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI), this globally recognized certification validates an individual’s knowledge and experience in leading and directing project teams.

2. Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)® : Also offered by PMI, this certification is designed for entry-level project managers or those seeking to demonstrate their understanding of project management principles.

3. Certified Scrum Master (CSM) : This certification, provided by Scrum Alliance, focuses on the Scrum framework and equips individuals with the knowledge and skills to effectively facilitate and lead Agile projects.

4. PRINCE2® : A widely recognized project management certification, particularly in the United Kingdom and Europe, that provides a structured methodology for managing projects.

In addition to certifications, many universities and professional organizations offer Project Management degree programs, specialized courses, and continuing education opportunities to support the ongoing professional development of project managers.

Project Management and Organizational Strategy

Effective project management is not only crucial for the successful delivery of individual projects but also plays a vital role in supporting and enabling an organization’s overall strategy and objectives. By aligning project portfolios with strategic priorities, organizations can ensure that their resources and efforts are focused on initiatives that drive value and contribute to their long-term goals.

Project management practices can also foster organizational agility, enabling organizations to respond quickly to changing market conditions, customer demands, or emerging opportunities by efficiently launching and executing new projects.

Furthermore, the principles of project management, such as risk management, stakeholder engagement, and continuous improvement, can be applied beyond individual projects to enhance organizational processes, decision-making, and overall operational efficiency.

As organizations increasingly recognize the strategic value of project management, many are investing in building robust project management capabilities, establishing project management offices (PMOs), and fostering a project-centric culture to drive innovation, growth, and competitive advantage.

Agile Project Management

While traditional project management methodologies like Waterfall follow a sequential, plan-driven approach, Agile project management takes an iterative and incremental approach. Agile methodologies, such as Scrum and Kanban, have gained widespread adoption, particularly in the software development and IT sectors, but their principles can be applied to various types of projects.

Key aspects of Agile project management include:

1. Iterative Development : Projects are broken down into small, manageable increments or sprints, with each iteration delivering a potentially shippable product increment.

2. Cross-functional Teams : Agile teams are self-organizing and cross-functional, with members possessing diverse skills to complete the work without relying heavily on external resources.

3. Continuous Feedback : Regular feedback loops and collaborative ceremonies, such as daily stand-ups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives, ensure continuous improvement and alignment with customer/stakeholder needs.

4. Adaptive Planning : Agile embraces change, allowing for flexible planning and adjustments to project scope, requirements, and priorities based on evolving circumstances.

5. Continuous Delivery : Agile emphasizes delivering working software or functional components frequently, enabling early and continuous delivery of value to customers or stakeholders.

Agile project management emphasizes collaboration, flexibility, and customer satisfaction, making it well-suited for projects with rapidly changing requirements or high levels of complexity and uncertainty.

Project Management in Different Industries

While the fundamental principles of project management remain consistent across industries, the specific practices, tools, and techniques may vary depending on the industry and project type. Here are some examples of how project management is applied in different industries:

1. Construction and Engineering : Project management in these industries often focuses on managing complex schedules, coordinating multiple subcontractors and vendors, ensuring compliance with safety regulations and building codes, and managing risks associated with weather, site conditions, and resource availability.

2. Information Technology (IT) and Software Development : Agile methodologies like Scrum and Kanban are widely adopted in these industries, emphasizing iterative development, cross-functional teams, and continuous delivery of working software increments.

3. Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals : Project management in these industries must navigate stringent regulatory requirements, clinical trials, and complex supply chains. Risk management, quality assurance, and stakeholder management are critical components.

4. Marketing and Advertising : Project management in these industries often revolves around coordinating cross-functional teams, managing creative processes, adhering to tight deadlines, and ensuring alignment with client requirements and branding guidelines.

5. Non-profit and Government : Project management in these sectors may involve managing grants, funding cycles, and stakeholder engagement across multiple organizations or communities. Effective communication and change management are essential.

While the specific tools, techniques, and challenges may differ, the core principles of project management – planning, organizing, executing, monitoring, and controlling resources to achieve specific objectives – remain applicable across industries.

Understanding what constitutes a project is the first step in mastering effective project management. As we’ve explored, projects are unique, temporary endeavors with specific goals, timelines, and resource constraints. They differ from ongoing operations and require dedicated planning, execution, and monitoring to achieve success. Whether you’re new to project management or looking to refine your skills, recognizing the fundamental characteristics and lifecycle of projects is crucial. By grasping these concepts, you’ll be better equipped to navigate the challenges and opportunities that projects present in any industry or organization.

As you move forward in your project management journey, consider exploring tools and methodologies that can help you apply these principles effectively. Nimble project management offers a  comprehensive suite of features designed to support the entire project lifecycle, from initiation to closure. By leveraging such tools, you can streamline project planning, enhance team collaboration, and ensure successful project delivery. Discover how Nimble can help you put these project management concepts into practice and drive your projects to success. Take a free trial .

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What is a Project?

Discover what defines a project, its key characteristics, and lifecycle stages. Learn how effective project management drives organizational success and explore modern tools for streamlined project execution.

What Is Task Management? Strategies for Time Management, Organization, and Workflow Efficiency

Master task management strategies to boost productivity and efficiency. This guide covers planning, prioritization, time optimization, workflow streamlining, and overcoming procrastination for successful project delivery.

What is an Action Plan? A Guide to Creating Effective Project Goals – (With Examples)

Learn how to create and implement effective action plans to boost project management and personal productivity. Discover key components, practical uses, and best practices for achieving your goals.

What Is Project Portfolio Management (PPM)? A Short Guide

Discover the essentials of Project Portfolio Management (PPM), an approach to managing projects and programs within teams, departments, or organizations by taking a strategic portfolio approach.

What is Gantt Chart?

A Gantt chart is a tool that helps project managers and their teams visually track the progress and completion of each task within a project.

What is Sprint Planning? How to do Effective Sprint Planning?

Sprint Planning is the process of planning the scope and other related aspects of a Sprint. Sprint Planning is done before the start of a Sprint in what is known as a Sprint Planning meeting.

Introduction to Work Management

Work Management is a system that organizations use to structure their workflow for every level and team. It is a process that helps a business manage the flow of work and the load of work simultaneously to improve results and performance.

An Introduction to Resource Management

Resource management is the process of organizing and prioritizing the allocation of resources to projects. This is done by assigning people and material to tasks, ensuring that they have the appropriate equipment and know what they are doing.

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• Executive Summary
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Project Roles & Responsibilities

A successful project requires the project team to participate (at some level) in the planning process, buy-in to the project plan, and be responsible for completion of assignments. It is important to have a defined formal structure for the project and for the project team. This provides each individual with a clear understanding of the authority given and responsibility necessary for the successful accomplishment of project activities.  This section describes the typical roles and responsibilities for projects.  Roles may be assigned to one or more individuals.  Conversely, individuals may have one or more roles on a project.

Project Sponsor   - The Project Sponsor is the executive (AVC or above) with a demonstrable interest in the outcome of the project and who is ultimately responsible for securing spending authority and resources for the project.  The Project Sponsor will:

• Oversee high-level project progress
• Provide input to and approval of the project charter
• Provide and approve project budget and resources.
• Approve any project change requests
• Champions the project to provide exposure and buy-in from senior management.
• Approve the project completion.

Project Manager - The Project Manager is the person assigned by Information Technology Division to ensure that the project team achieves the project objectives and completes the project.  The Project Manager develops the project charter and plan with the team and manages the team’s performance of project related tasks.  The Project Manager also secures acceptance and approval of deliverables from the project sponsor and stakeholders.  The Project Manager will:

• Develop, monitor, and review project management deliverables and activities within the project plan
• Communicate to and receive feedback from the project team
• Escalate and resolve issues as needed
• Initiate project meetings in consultation with project team and sponsor
• Develop project and implementation plans
• Prepare deliverables for approval by stakeholders
• Schedule and track resource
• Communicate project status to Project Sponsors and stakeholders

Project Owner - The project owner is typically the head of the business unit that proposed the project or is the recipient of the project output or product.  The project owner bears the business responsibility for successful project implementation.  The Project Owner will:

• Assist the project manager in providing leadership for and managing the team’s performance of project activities
• Acts as a “champion” for the project, in partnership with the project sponsor.
• Assist the project manager in providing leadership towards the completion of project tasks.
• Actively encourage buy in from other project stakeholders

PMO Director   - The Project Management Office (PMO) Director supports the Information Technology Division's commitment to a more structured project planning process. The Director helps the IT Division select the right projects and supports their successful implementation through planning, project work, and oversight.  The PMO Director ensures that all Information Technology projects are managed in accordance with approved BSU Project Management Methodology.    The Project Management Office Director is available for:

• General Project Management questions and advice
• Facilitation of project planning, project kickoff, reviews, and lessons learned sessions
• Project Management training, mentoring, and consulting
• Service Now technical support (online Project Portfolio Management (PPM) platform)
• Project Portfolio oversight, reporting, and escalation

Functional Director   – The Functional Director is responsible for providing resources (both people and equipment) as needed according to the project plan.  They may also function as a Subject Matter Expert and provide oversight and guidance for the project.

Service Owner   - The Service Owner is accountable for a specific service (Infrastructure, Application or Professional Service) within the organization regardless of where the technology components or professional capabilities reside.

Subject Matter Expert (SME)   - The Subject Matter Expert is that individual who has a high level of expertise in performing a specialized job, task, or skill within the organization.  Project Managers need to work with SMEs in the research and execution phases of a project and should involve them in the technical validation of project charters and plans.

Project Team   -  The Project Team has responsibility for conducting project activities. Project Team members, as necessary, assist the Project Manager in planning the development effort and help construct commitments to complete the project within established schedule and budget constraints. The Project Team may include the subject matter experts responsible for implementing the project solution. Customers and/or Stakeholders should interact with the Project Team to ensure that requirements are properly understood and implemented.  The Project Team may include both UMass Boston staff members and external Consultants brought on for the project engagement.

Stakeholders   - Stakeholders are persons or organizations that are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively impacted by the project, or who might exert influence over the project.

Project Manager

Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Experienced Level

Job Description

The project manager plays a crucial role in ensuring successful project delivery by effectively collaborating with internal stakeholders. This involves regular communication with technical teams to align on project requirements, timelines, and deliverables. The project manager coordinates with finance and procurement departments to manage budgets and resources efficiently. By fostering a collaborative environment and leveraging the expertise of each department, the project manager ensures that projects are executed seamlessly, meeting both client expectations and organizational objectives.

Who we are Do you want to join our Geo-data revolution? Fugro’s global reach and unique know-how will put the world at your fingertips. Our love of exploration and technical expertise help us to provide our clients with invaluable insights. We source and make sense of the most relevant Geo-data for their needs, so they can design, build and operate their assets more safely, sustainably and efficiently. But we’re always looking for new talent to take the next step with us. For bright minds who enjoy meaningful work and want to push our pioneering spirit further. For individuals who can take the initiative, but work well within a team.

Job responsibilities:

Leads or coordinates project planning, resourcing, staffing, progress reporting, people management and troubleshooting for various projects. Ensures project results meet requirements regarding quality, reliability, schedule and cost.

Having strong operational management in country will complement the strategy for operational presence in country, allowing technical and operational support for business development.

Enhances efficiency and productivity, ensuring projects are completed on time and within budget. Their expertise in optimizing processes and driving continuous improvement reduces operational costs and increases profitability, boosting the company's financial performance

Ensures rigorous oversight of processes and resource management, preventing waste and inefficiencies. Their expertise in identifying and addressing operational weaknesses will help maintain tighter controls, minimizing losses and enhancing overall profitability.

Operational Efficiency (Process Optimization, Resource Allocation, Performance Monitoring, Quality Control, Technology Utilization, Training and Development, Communication and Collaboration, Risk Management)

You bring (qualifications & experience)

Bachelor’s degree with 3-8 years of experience in a supervisory or management role – preferably with marine operations.

Ability to deliver the work with all stakeholders (internally and externally) to a defined project goal within the set boundaries.

Able to set priorities and determine actions, time and resources (tools, software, people, and budget as appropriate.) to achieve pre-defined goals. Monitor and manage timely delivery, leading to reliability and client satisfaction.

Dedication and ability to work successfully with others in a team.

Experience in Stakeholder Collaboration, Resource Management and Continuous Improvement.

Excellent verbal and written skills both internally and with Client (English is essential, other dialects may be advantageous).

What we offer

Fugro provides a positive work environment as well as projects that will satisfy the most curious minds. We also offer great opportunities to stretch and develop yourself. By giving you the freedom to grow faster, we think you’ll be able to do what you do best, better. Which should help us to find fresh ways to get to know the earth better. We encourage you to be yourself at Fugro. So bring your energy and enthusiasm, your keen eye and can-do attitude. But bring your questions and opinions too. Because to be the world’s leading Geo-data specialist, we need the strength in depth that comes from a diverse, driven team.

Our view on diversity, equity and inclusion

At Fugro, our people are our superpower. Their variety of viewpoints, experiences, knowledge and talents give us collective strength. Distinctive beliefs and diverse backgrounds are therefore welcome, but discrimination, harassment, inappropriate behaviour and unfair treatment are not. Everybody is to be well-supported and treated fairly. And everyone must be valued and have their voice heard. Crucially, we believe that getting this right brings a sense of belonging, of safety and acceptance, that makes us feel more connected to Fugro’s purpose ‘together create a safe and liveable world’ – and to each other.

Disclaimer for recruitment agencies:

Fugro does not accept any unsolicited applications from recruitment agencies. Acquisition to Fugro Recruitment or any Fugro employee is not appreciated **.**

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United Arab Emirates

Project Management Graduate Programme

• Closing at: Jul 14 2024 at 23:55 BST

Project Management Graduate Programme (Transmission 2024 Intake)

Start Date: 23 September 2024

Base Locations:  Inverness, Glasgow, Perth, Aberdeen, or Argyll

Salary:  £33,000 per annum + a range of other benefits to support your family, finances and wellbeing.

Working Pattern:  Permanent | Full Time |  Flexible First  options available

Degree Disciplines: Engineering, Project Management, or other STEM related degree. 

What is the Role?

As a Project Management Graduate joining SSEN Transmission, you will follow a specialist pathway. Specialists will work with experts in their specialism, gaining exposure within a business area for the duration of their graduate programme with the aim of providing experience that will lead to a substantive post. 

Our graduates work collaboratively in a variety of contexts, while also taking ownership of their role by working under their own direction to drive action forward. A key principle of the graduate programme is continuous professional development and SSE has built a learning culture where value is placed on learnings that go beyond the immediate task. Throughout the programme, you will have the support of our Graduate Programme Manager and a business mentor, who will provide guidance and support to enable you to reach your full potential. 

At SSE, we are currently working on several high-profile projects which are ensuring we can provide sustainable and reliable energy to all. To achieve our Net Zero ambitions, we are seeking graduates who are eager to gain the knowledge and experience needed to work towards a Project Manager role. You will need the drive to become a project management professional ultimately leading on major infrastructure projects.  

You could be working with our engineers on the selection of appropriate technologies to meet project requirements, coordination of key surveys & studies, coordinating initial design works, acquisition of land rights & wayleaves and submission of Planning Applications. Or you could be working with our business development teams, focusing on new innovations and projects. 

Building and maintaining productive and enduring relationships with Contractors, Stakeholders, Communities & the public to support sustainable delivery of projects is key to this role so you will need to be a strong communicator with great interpersonal skills. 

We have Project Management positions based across Scotland, inclusive of Inverness, Glasgow, Perth, Aberdeen, Argyll. Graduates will add value to our Offshore and Onshore Delivery teams in a specialist role. SSEN Transmission are currently working on a number of high-profile transmission projects which are ensuring our transmission network is able to transmit clean renewable energy whilst being safe, efficient, and structurally sound, therefore providing sustainable and reliable energy to all. 

What do I need to join? 

At SSE we're proud to celebrate difference. We all have different skills, experience and backgrounds and we strive to have a friendly and inclusive culture where you can be yourself.  Safety is at the heart of everything we do at SSE and we live by the mantra 'if it's not safe, we don't do it'. You should show alignment with our core values and have a genuine passion and interest in the energy sector.  

You’ll have a minimum of a 2:2 in Engineering, Project Management, or other STEM related degree discipline. 

As the organisations grows and becomes more international, our graduates need to be highly flexible in order to embrace the changes and keep up with the fast-paced evolution of the business.  Our graduates are agile in their thinking and seek to address knowledge gaps. You should be comfortable working to and setting stretching individual targets and using your own initiative to overcome challenges. 

You can find out more about what to expect during the recruitment process  here .  

About our Business 

SSEN Transmission  owns and operates the electricity transmission network in the north of Scotland, transporting energy from where it is generated to where it is needed, providing a safe and reliable supply of electricity to the communities it serves. Home to some of the UK's greatest resources of renewable energy, SSEN Transmission is playing a critical role in the transition to a low carbon future, developing, building, maintaining and operating a network for net zero.

What’s in it for you?

An excellent package with 34 days holiday entitlement, enhanced maternity/paternity leave, discounted healthcare, salary sacrifice car leasing and much more, view our full benefits package  on our careers site. As an equal opportunity employer we encourage diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We actively encourage applicants from all protected characteristics and commit to providing any reasonable adjustments required during the application, assessment and upon joining SSE. Search for  ‘Inclusion & Diversity at SSE’  to find out more.

All applications should be submitted online.

If you would like to discuss any working differently requirements or adjustments you may require throughout the recruitment and selection process, please contact  [email protected] . If you would prefer a call to discuss adjustments let us know by email and we are arrange a call with you at a time that suits you.

Before commencing employment with SSE, you'll be required to fully complete our pre-employment screening process consisting of a basic criminal records and credit check.

Due to recent immigration rule changes to the Skilled Worker route, this role falls below the minimum “New Entrant” salary threshold and therefore does not meet the requirements to allow for sponsorship.

Please note that any successful candidate must be able to evidence a valid right to work prior to commencement of employment.  

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Our Benefits

• Sharesave Scheme
• 34 days of annual leave
• Option to purchase up to 10 days holiday
• Interest-free technology loans
• 24/7 free and confidential employee counselling service
• Private healthcare discounts
• Subsidised gym memberships
• 21 weeks full pay maternity leave
• Cycle to Work scheme with generous £2500 limit
• Interest-free salary advance to cover transport season tickets

Explore our full list of benefits:

UK benefits booklet

ROI Benefits Booklet

NI Benefits Booklet

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• Software design and development

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Requirements vs. user stories in software development

User stories fulfill the same purpose as software requirements but through different means. learn how to write user stories and how they relate to software requirements..

• Gerie Owen, Cubic Transportation Systems

In software development teams, it is easy to confuse software requirements with user stories. After all, both describe what the stakeholder expects from the application in terms of design, functionality and usability.

At the highest level, software requirements are critical. Without clear, unambiguous requirements, development teams cannot fully deliver on the expectations of their stakeholders. Therefore, software requirements form the basis of all aspects of software development. Since there are many types of and approaches to software requirements , it is important that development teams and their stakeholders understand the differences to facilitate and develop software that meets and exceeds expectations.

What are software requirements?

Business analysts usually present software requirements to development teams in the form of a requirements document. They are comprehensive, which makes them useful not only in actual development, but also in traceability and documenting test coverage.

Effective development teams use many types of software requirements. For this reason, teams often use software requirements in the Waterfall methodology and often associate them with large, heavily regulated projects.

In the context of the Waterfall methodology, software requirements document development begins with design requirements, followed by technical and nonfunctional requirements and then functional and usability requirements. Teams complete requirements documents before development starts. If they need to make changes after approval, they must follow a change control process.

What are user stories?

User stories are a method by which teams develop requirements within the Agile methodology. Since Agile focuses on incremental development to create potentially shippable software in each sprint, requirements must be focused and detailed. Therefore, user stories can be thought of as increments of functional requirements.

User stories are components of Agile epics , which describe the application functionality in terms of the big picture. Teams write user stories from the perspective of the end user, describing what the user wants to do and why. Teams develop user stories and place them in the backlog until they are assigned to Scrum teams' sprints .

Software requirements provide a comprehensive view of the application and include both functional and nonfunctional expectations, whereas user stories provide details on small increments.

Software requirements vs. user stories

There are major differences in how testing teams implement requirements and user stories. Software requirements provide a comprehensive view of the application and include both functional and nonfunctional expectations, whereas user stories provide details on small increments. This means testing with user stories enables teams to delve deeply into the details and is more flexible and adaptable to change.

Benefits of testing with requirements include the following:

• Traceability. Tracing test cases to each software requirement provides an effective approach to meeting compliance requirements.
• Test coverage. Linking test cases to requirements ensures full test coverage.

Benefits of testing with user stories include the following:

• Collaboration. User story-based testing invites collaboration as developers and product owners need to discuss the story and any necessary changes.
• User focus. Testing with user stories enables a clear focus on the user and ensures that the user's needs are met.
• Early defect detection. The iterative approach of user story testing lets teams find defects earlier in the testing process.

How to write a user story

Well-written user stories have the following elements:

• Feature. The epic to which the user story is related.
• Scenario. The short description of the feature, i.e., the story name.
• User role. The persona who provides the point of view.
• Achievable action. The value which the persona gains -- this narrows the perspective.
• Desired business value. The value the business stands to gain from the achievable action.
• Acceptance criteria. The criteria that work must meet in order to determine completeness.

The most effective user stories are written from the user's perspective. They are designed to answer three questions:

• Who wants something? The answer describes the user persona and their role.
• What do they want? The answer provides the action that the user wants to do.
• Why is this needed? The answer provides the benefit that the user needs to achieve.

User stories are formatted as follows: As a <user>, I want to <perform some action> so that I can <achieve some benefit>.

Acceptance criteria are a critical part of the user story. The acceptance criteria describe in detail how to determine if the requested functionality meets the needs of the user. Depending upon the type of user story, teams can write acceptance criteria as rules or as scenarios.

When teams use the rules approach, acceptance criteria are usually a numbered list that defines the criteria for the action. Scenario-oriented acceptance criteria are expressed in a "given, when, then" format -- given (list preconditions), when (describe the action taken), then (the expected result). Teams can write and link test cases within user stories using acceptance criteria.

Teams often use INVEST criteria -- which stands for Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small and Testable -- to determine that a user story is ready for development.

User stories are suited to Gherkin syntax, as this format provides a structured and understandable way to define scenarios and expected outcomes. Gherkin syntax is plain language text that can be used with the software testing tool Cucumber to create code directly from requirements. This approach is most often used with behavior-driven development .

Both software requirements and user stories are effective approaches to defining needs in a software project. Although requirements tend to be associated with the Waterfall methodology and user stories form the basis for Agile incremental development, both can and should be used for effective testing, complete traceability and test coverage.

Gerie Owen is lead quality engineer at ZS. She is a conference presenter and author on technology and testing topics, and a certified Scrum master.

Dig Deeper on Software design and development

How to write a business requirements document in Agile

How to compare acceptance criteria vs. definition of done

Who writes acceptance criteria?

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More From Forbes

The role of ai in erp systems: boosting our future economy and jobs.

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Saurabh is the Vice President & Head of Digital Modalities at SAP , leading AI adoption to increase sales & business development productivity

AI is transforming various sectors, with a significant impact on enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. These systems are crucial for managing core business processes like customer relations, HR, supply chain and finance. Integrating AI into ERP systems enhances these processes, driving economic growth and job creation. I say this with confidence as an ERP and AI leader with over 15 years of experience leading ERP-powered digital transformation across prominent organizations in Asia and North America. Throughout this digital transformation journey, I have focused on how leveraging AI embedded in ERP can transform business operations and the broader economy.

In this article, I will explore how AI-powered enterprise systems can enhance efficiency and productivity and drive innovation while creating jobs and driving economic growth.

Enhancing Efficiency And Productivity

AI-powered ERP systems can automate repetitive tasks (i.e., processing invoices, managing inventory and inputting data), which reduces time and resource expenditure, boosting productivity and allowing employees to focus on strategic activities like decision-making and problem-solving.

AI can even help leaders make more insightful business decisions by analyzing large datasets at a time—for example, to optimize resource allocation. For instance, by predicting demand patterns, businesses can adjust inventory levels to avoid overstocking or stockouts, ensuring resources are used efficiently and increasing profitability. Going one step further, in asset-intensive industries, AI-powered ERP systems can predict equipment failures by analyzing historical data and identifying patterns. This enables preventive maintenance, reducing costly downtime and extending equipment lifespan.

Best High-Yield Savings Accounts Of 2024

Best 5% interest savings accounts of 2024, driving innovation and competitive advantage.

There are several ways AI can help businesses innovate. Consider the following.

• Data-Driven Decision-Making: AI enhances an ERP system's ability to process and analyze vast amounts of data in real-time, facilitating more informed decision-making. Predictive analytics help businesses anticipate market trends, customer preferences and potential risks, providing a competitive edge.

• Personalizing Customer Experiences: AI analyzes customer data to deliver personalized experiences, tailoring marketing strategies, product recommendations and customer service interactions. This personalization increases customer satisfaction and loyalty, driving revenue growth.

• Innovative Product Development: AI aids in R&D by analyzing market data, customer feedback and emerging trends. This helps businesses identify opportunities for new products and services that meet evolving customer needs, maintaining competitive advantage and fostering innovation.

Challenges And Considerations For AI-Powered ERPs

Onboarding or leveraging AI-powered ERP systems poses challenges such as high initial costs, integration complexity and data quality issues. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs), in particular, may struggle with limited budgets and expertise, hindering full utilization of these systems. Potential roadblocks include resistance to change from employees, data security concerns and the need for ongoing maintenance and updates.

To realize the economic benefits, organizational leaders should ensure proper training, address data governance and foster a culture of innovation. It's crucial to conduct a thorough needs assessment to align the ERP system with business goals. Leaders should prioritize scalable solutions, ensure robust cybersecurity measures and establish clear ROI metrics to monitor performance. Engaging stakeholders throughout the implementation process and choosing a flexible ERP platform that can adapt to future needs will also be essential for success.

Creating New Job Opportunities

The integration of AI into ERP systems creates job opportunities in AI development, data analysis and data management. Skilled professionals are needed to develop, implement and maintain AI algorithms and ensure data accuracy. As ERP systems advance with AI, there is also a growing demand for ERP specialists who understand both technical and business aspects. Roles such as ERP consultants, system analysts and implementation specialists are essential to navigate the complexities of AI-powered ERP systems.

Looking at this benefit through a slightly different lens, consider how AI allows employees to focus on higher-value activities requiring critical thinking, creativity and interpersonal communication. This shift creates more strategic and analytical roles, which can enhance job satisfaction and career growth.

Supporting Economic Growth

AI-powered ERP systems are becoming more accessible and affordable for SMEs, enabling them to compete with larger enterprises. By optimizing operations and improving efficiency, SMEs can offer better products and services, contributing to economic growth and job creation.

AI in ERP systems is also a cornerstone of Industry 4.0, which merges digital, physical and biological systems. These technologies transform manufacturing, supply chain and other sectors, leading to increased productivity, innovation and economic growth.

Countries embracing AI and advanced ERP systems are better positioned to compete globally. By fostering innovation and improving business efficiency, AI helps nations attract investment, create high-quality jobs and drive sustainable economic development.

The integration of AI into ERP systems holds immense potential for boosting our future economy and job market. As businesses and governments invest in AI and advanced ERP technologies, they pave the way for a more productive, innovative and prosperous future. Embracing AI's full potential is essential for shaping a sustainable and thriving economy, ensuring that technological advancements benefit both industry and society.

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