The first step in standing out as a job candidate, no matter the company, is learning fresh and valuable skills. When hiring business development managers at Shamrock, our recruiters look for individuals who are highly self-motivated and want to align their growth with ours by gaining skills that make them an asset to both themselves and their team.
Below is our list of the top ten skills that we believe every business development manager needs to be successful in a growing organization like Shamrock.
Every Business Development Manager Needs:
- Project Management: From handling leads and tracking sales calls to performing ongoing check-ins with existing customers, juggling day-to-day tasks is impossible without proper project management. This skill is integral to work-life balance as it provides emotional stability and stress relief as work continues flowing through the pipeline.
Project management includes the ability to make decisions and prioritize. When managing a book of business that requires continuous upkeep, deciding to complete or delegate projects is a must for business development managers.
- Sales Skills: Working alongside sales representatives and account managers is an essential part of the job for any business development manager. Of course, cross-collaboration such as this requires fundamental sales knowledge about how to open and close accounts, maintain sales within various market trends and build rapport with clients.
However, an important step in acquiring basic sales skills as a business development manager is knowing how to rely on previous client experiences for future opportunity, which is commonly reflective of their comfort level and amount of time spent within the industry.
- Technical Skills: Successfully leveraging technology can benefit business development managers by streamlining tasks and freeing up time to focus on company strategy. It also allows more time to work on becoming an expert within their industry. For example, free time to a business development manager in the transportation industry might mean extra downtime to research or stay up to date on different TMS or CRM software.
In today’s age, technical skills are a must-have and picking them up even while off the clock will prove beneficial no matter the position.
- Marketing: Contract negotiation, closing deals and pitching new strategies to leadership all involve basic marketing skills. While this skill is often gained through on-the-job experience, it’s an important quality that can also exist inherently within people who enjoy pitching fresh ideas.
Outstanding business development managers can market anything to anyone, whether a client, executive or peer. They understand the unique art of storytelling and can tell their company’s story effectively, making them strong candidates for company leadership positions.
- Coachability: A business development manager is never done learning. Ultimately, a strong reliance on employee training programs and mentorship often gives way to long-lasting success. However, without a desire to learn from managers and receive feedback, they may struggle to maintain a proper growth mindset.
Being coachable doesn’t just involve the desire to be coached, but the desire to coach others as well. Often natural leaders, business development managers find that encouraging others to go above and beyond what is required helps them become an effective teammate and leader.
- Communication: Exceptional communication is necessary when it comes to developing relationships with clients, stakeholders and leadership. Asking relevant questions and knowing how to speak succinctly are incredibly helpful skills while navigating different relationships.
Clear communication can make it or break it when building genuine relationships. Diverse in its nature, communication can assist the customer all the way from onboarding to consistent engagement, or provide stakeholders with key updates, reports and more. Knowing when and how to tailor communication to the audience is a universal skill that is undeniably important.
- Prospecting: Prospecting is a special skill that relies heavily on understanding the customer experience and knowing how to pinpoint where prospects are within that journey. Consequentially, this skill takes having an open, curious and quick mind to take advantage of new opportunities with clients or find fresh talent entering the job market.
Whether searching for a new client or returning to a previous opportunity, prospecting requires a forward-thinking individual who can spot potential while knowing how, where and when they will thrive best with the company.
- Resilience: Resilience is paramount when nurturing a growing business. Everyone knows that growth is often defined by taking one step back before learning how to take two steps forward. Being resilient to these changes, even in the face of rejection, means keeping track of the wins while also learning from the losses.
For business development managers seeking to become more resilient, finding mentors within their organization or simply observing those who have overcome setbacks in their life can be a great way to start cultivating this skill.
- Social Skills: A business development manager with social skills might find that starting and maintaining relationships with clients and partners is the most exciting part of the job. Social skills often come easily to those with high emotional intelligence or those who have been in the sales industry long enough to be comfortable with the frequent socializing.
Reading a room, becoming empathetic to others’ needs and staying self-aware of their own emotional regulation are valuable whether stepping into a C-suite office, speaking to a client on the phone or taking a prospect out for happy hour.
- Adaptability: Finally, staying adaptable to new situations, ideas and people can leave a positive impact. Because conditions and pressures are sure to change within each industry, it is vital to avoid letting those changes clash with self-motivation and confidence.
Deciding to have an adaptable mindset early on in their career can leave a lasting impression on both the people who lead and work alongside business development managers, as well as current and future prospects. Adaptability can handle the heavy lifting whether working with diverse personality types, facing challenges head-on or fostering innovation within the role.
Committing to Development
Committing to improving the skills and qualities needed for this position requires plenty of interest in, and dedication to, professional and personal development. At Shamrock, we understand that investing in these skills early on is non-negotiable to the success of emerging leaders that will continue to shape the future of Shamrock and its industries.
If you’re interested in joining our team, check out our open positions!