WHAT DOES A DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DO?

Published: Nov 26, 2024 - The Director of Business Development collaborates closely with Product and R&D teams to integrate industry insights and client feedback into the company’s offerings, enhancing the value proposition through continuous improvement and analysis. Tasked with exceeding KPIs and sales targets, this role drives the development and management of new strategic partnerships while fostering growth with existing ones, ensuring alignment with strategic business objectives and a focus on new and innovative projects. Additionally, responsible for conducting comprehensive product evaluations, coordinating due diligence, and overseeing project implementations to strengthen brand presence and customer relationships.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Director of Business Development

1. Director of Business Development Duties

  • Agency Knowledge Intimacy: Intimately understand capabilities as an agency
  • Historical & Strategic Immersion: Become immersed in agency history, case studies, and strategic direction
  • Opportunity Leverage: Leverage an understanding of marketing campaigns across Social, Digital, TV/Radio Broadcast, Film, Print, and Media to drive new business opportunities
  • Relationship Development: Develop and maintain relationships across various industry verticals
  • Client Acquisition & Understanding: Seek to acquire and understand clients’ business, motivations, needs, and establish an articulate and business savvy response that meets needs
  • Service Alignment: Understand needs and align clients with buyable services at relevant stages during account
  • Operational Understanding: Understand the practicalities of resourcing, concepting, production, and delivery
  • Strategic Relationship Building: Strategically and rapidly build strong relationships with clients and Agency teams
  • Smooth Account Integration: Successfully integrate new accounts into business sphere ensuring a smooth transition to assigned teams
  • Communication & Liaison Expertise: Be a talented communicator and liaison between the company, business development team, and clients.

2. Senior Director of Business Development Details

  • Dual Leadership/Execution Skills: Player/coach role capable of managing a team but also personally driving projects and sales.
  • Reporting Skills: Prepare regular reports on account status to communicate the progress of monthly/quarterly initiatives to internal and external stakeholders.
  • Self-Management Skills: Work independently and proactively with minimal supervision.
  • Relationship Management Skills: Develop and maintain relationships with executives in the telecom, media, and Internet domains.
  • General Management Skills: General manager who can manage legal, finance, and employment matters in APAC.
  • Cross-Functional Collaboration Skills: Work cross-functionally with LotusFlare product, account management, and technical colleagues to accomplish customer goals and deliver on commitments, time and to a high quality standard.
  • Administrative Tracking Skills: Track invoices, POs, SOWs, or contract renewal paperwork.
  • Customer Relationship Skills: Delight customers and drive customer references and case studies.

3. Director of Business Development Responsibilities

  • Go-to-Market Strategy Design: Design and drive Go-to-Market strategies and innovative offerings in collaboration with a cross-organizational team.
  • Product & R&D Interaction: Interact with the Product & R&D teams to utilize industry insights and client feedback, including analyzing results, to continuously improve the company’s value proposition.
  • KPI Achievement: Meet and exceed KPIs and sales targets.
  • Strategic Partnership Management: Drive, build and manage new strategic partnerships, nurture existing strategic partners.
  • Partner Value Increase: Increase the value of current partners and users while attracting new ones.
  • Strategic Product Focus: Combined with the strategic objectives of the business division and focusing on new products/projects that have been approved by county of origin, or disruptive products which are in the late stages of research and development.
  • Product Evaluation: Carrying out a comprehensive evaluation of the product/project, including technical, marketing, registration, pricing, sales forecast and other perspectives, finalizing with a proposal.
  • Due Diligence Coordination: Coordinating further Due Diligence.
  • Project Implementation Facilitation: Facilitating the implementation of the project via comprehensive business negotiations and supervision.
  • Brand Enhancement and Customer Relations: Enhancing the company's brand, tapping potential customers and maintaining customer relations in cooperation.
  • New Customer Cultivation: Cultivate new customer relationships and close deals with mutual value.
  • Customer Engagement Expansion: Expand current customer engagements and provide market feedback and developments to product teams.
  • Product Intuition Development: Develop a keen intuition of the product(s) and earn the respect of technical stakeholders and buyers (CDO, CDS, CIO).
  • Long-term Strategic Partnership Engagement: Identify and engage strategic partners that balance tactical opportunities with long term value.
  • Privacy and Data Ecosystem Monitoring: Monitor and act on Privacy Preserving ecosystem developments, Privacy Enhanced Technologies, Machine Learning, Predictive Analytics, Data Privacy, Cybersecurity, etc. are intellectual playground.
  • Market Quantification and Education: Quantify markets and opportunities, articulate segmentation and contribute to educational campaigns and thought leadership syndication.
  • GTM Strategy Execution: Develop and execute GTM strategies that map industry need, product capabilities and company resources.

4. Director of Business Development Accountabilities

  • Support Coordination Skills: Overall responsibility of supporting Local PD Heads and teams in assigned countries.
  • Expertise Coordination Skills: Closely coordinate with GPD Leadership and other Group partners to bring in subject matter expertise and/or ensure the sharing of best practices across the region.
  • Partnership Development Skills: Develop and execute plans, in collaboration with local BUs, to grow the value of existing partnerships by deepening relationships and penetration of respective client bases.
  • Meeting Leadership Skills: Organize and lead monthly business review discussions with Local PD Heads and teams.
  • Project Support Skills: Provide direct support on regional or country-sponsored projects, or engage other Group functions to provide necessary resources.
  • Negotiation Skills: Assist in deal negotiations and development of new business opportunities in assigned countries.
  • Strategic Planning Skills: Work with the Local PD Heads on annual strategic planning exercise.
  • Subject Matter Expertise Skills: Support RCEs as Subject Matter Expert providing industry perspectives and functional expertise to manage PD strategy in respective countries.
  • Performance Management Skills: Work very closely with AIA management and key partners in the assigned countries to achieve target, year-on-year growth and building a strong foundation for long-term sustainable rapid growth.
  • Strategy Implementation Skills: Ensure that detailed plans are jointly developed to execute PD growth strategies in line with the overall Business Strategy.
  • Strategic Advisory Skills: Provide critical strategic support and advice to the CEO and Leadership Team.
  • Organizational Consulting Skills: Provide advice to CEOs and key regional executives on the appropriateness of local structure, talent, and resourcing and play a leadership role in ensuring change where gaps exist.
  • Strategy Development Skills: Contribute to the development of the Group Partnership Distribution strategy.
  • Regional Strategy Coordination Skills: Work with Regional functions of key regional PD partners to develop regional strategies and initiatives, and to ensure alignment and implement partnership plans in the countries.
  • Industry Engagement Skills: Support presence in the industry, including traveling to conferences, leading webinars, and meeting directly with users and prospective clients.
  • Philanthropic Advisory Skills: Help family offices understand how they can support families through donor advised funds, family foundations, or other family investment vehicles.
  • Market Expertise Development Skills: Develop deep expertise in the impact investing market, including specific knowledge across key issues such as climate, racial justice, community investing, gender equity, and global health.
  • Collaborative Business Development Skills: Work with a team-based business development approach to collaboratively support team growth goals across a variety of activities.

5. Director of Business Development Functions

  • Market Analysis Coordination: Manage and coordinate analysis, research and market studies, gathering information and building external relationships
  • Opportunity Identification and Evaluation: Identify and evaluate new business and project opportunities in new market segments and potential target clients to extend and maximise sales to meet sales goals and inform decision making.
  • Cross-Functional Partnership: Partner with internal staff across functions, which may include Marketing and Public Relations, and promote the growth and development of team members to ensure staff are adequately resourced to perform.
  • Materials Development Oversight: Oversee and manage the development, production and preparation of qualifications, proposals, reports and materials, which may include conducting presentations to potential and new customers to achieve client expectations and growth and profit objectives in accordance with the company's plans and strategy and to inform decision making for planning, structure and execution.
  • Strategy Management and Monitoring: Manage, review, update and monitor the Business Development & Sales strategy, targets, pipeline and the achievement of strategic priorities against plans to drive implementation, participating in total quality management and continuous improvement to inform strategy recommendations and promote enhancement.
  • Profit and Growth Driving: Drive increased profit to achieve the Company's growth objectives through strategic planning and identification and development of strategy including development of any new market sectors.
  • Market Trend Tracking and Strategy Development: Track new markets and emerging trends, develops strategy for entry to market and guides long-term objectives to meet business needs and requirements.
  • Market Research Performance: Performs market research and analysis and implements the recommendations of the agreed strategic marketing plan.
  • Resource Alignment and Opportunity Evaluation: Evaluate all opportunities to ensure resources are focused on the best opportunities and align with company strategy.
  • Marketing Initiative Planning: Planning and overseeing new marketing initiatives
  • Conference and Event Attendance: Attending conferences, meetings, and industry events
  • Market Feedback Provision: Provide market feedback to the company leadership regarding competitive offerings and related to competitive offerings and market conditions.
  • Operational Evaluation: Evaluates operational issues to determine how competitive and current it is with the latest trends in the industry.
  • Competitive Monitoring: Monitoring competitors and reviewing Lendlease’s offering in light of competitor’s developments
  • Sales and Marketing Management: Take ownership of the management of the sales and marketing functions of the business.
  • Performance and Development Management: Manage the performance and career development of direct reports.
  • Talent Development Leadership: Lead the conversation framework process and develop talent through on-going succession and development planning.
  • Safety Culture Leadership: Provides leadership and clear communication conveying the Lendlease safety culture supports driving EH&S initiatives.
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