When companies want to invest in a profession to help their business prosper and grow, they turn to a Business Development Specialist. This individual uses their experience and business acumen to identify ways to promote and maintain brand relevance in the face of competition. Their tasks involve researching new business opportunities, creating business plans and staying on top of industry-specific trends.

Typically reporting to a Business Development Manager or Director, this professional must be able to work independently, yet have the skills to work as a part of a team. They work in an office setting, sitting for long periods of time, and may be required to work overtime or on weekends if the job demands.

Business Development Specialist Duties and Responsibilities

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• • Market Research: In order to have an understanding of how a brand can be positioned in a certain industry, the Business Development Specialist must conduct extensive market research. This involves keeping track of competitors’ product developments and marketing strategies, as well as identifying purchase patterns and emerging trends.
  • Analyzing Business Processes: In order to recommend ways to bring in more revenue, Business Development Specialists must first analyze the current business processes of a company. To do this, they review spending habits, marketing and branding efforts, as well as factors that can have an influence on performance.
  • Manage Financial Information: These professionals manage financial information, which involves financial analysis, reconciliations as well as sales and profit prediction reports. They collect information from cash flows, income statements, balance sheets and ratio analysis.
  • Customer Service: As the main way to increase revenue is to grow sales, the Business Development Specialist is often tasked with the responsibility of developing and maintaining client relationships. In order to assess prospective clients, these individuals are tasked with attending networking and industry events, creating new client presentations and facilitating client meetings. They must be customer-oriented in order to explain the product and its details to clients, pitch the sale as well as be available to address issues or concerns.

A person in this position helps to sell products or services for a particular specialized industry in order to attract new business, uses a variety of marketing techniques to attract potential customers, schedules meetings with these customers, and conducts focus groups to pinpoint consumer wants and needs.