Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for B2B Business Development Manager

🎯 Role Definition

The B2B Business Development Manager is responsible for identifying, developing, and closing new business opportunities with other businesses and strategic partners. This role combines strategic prospecting, consultative selling, territory and account planning, and cross-functional collaboration with product, marketing, and customer success to deliver sustained revenue growth. The ideal candidate drives a predictable sales pipeline, owns the end-to-end sales cycle for mid-market and enterprise accounts, and converts high-value opportunities into long-term partnerships while meeting quota and KPIs.

Key SEO phrases: B2B Business Development Manager, B2B sales, new business development, strategic partnerships, enterprise sales, pipeline management, revenue growth, go-to-market.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Account Executive — inside or field sales with proven quota attainment and territory experience.
Sales Development Representative (SDR) / Business Development Representative (BDR) — advanced to full-cycle seller.
Strategic Partnerships or Channel Specialist — transitioned into direct business development.

Advancement To:

Senior Business Development Manager / Team Lead
Director of Business Development / Head of Partnerships
VP of Sales / Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)

Lateral Moves:

Enterprise Account Executive
Strategic Partnerships Manager
Product Marketing Manager (go-to-market focus)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Proactively generate and qualify a sustainable pipeline of B2B opportunities through targeted prospecting, outbound outreach, inbound lead follow-up, LinkedIn engagement, and account-based marketing initiatives to consistently exceed monthly and quarterly pipeline targets.
Manage the full sales lifecycle for mid-market and enterprise accounts, including discovery, solution design, proposal development, negotiation, contract execution, and handoff to customer success while maintaining a high close rate against quota.
Develop and execute territory and account plans that prioritize high-potential segments and named accounts, using market research and competitive intelligence to drive revenue growth and increase market share.
Build and maintain strong executive-level relationships with prospective clients and key stakeholders to influence decision-making, shorten sales cycles, and secure multi-year agreements or volume-based contracts.
Conduct consultative discovery calls and on-site or virtual product demonstrations that articulate ROI, total cost of ownership, and business value tailored to each prospect’s industry and use case.
Prepare detailed commercial proposals, pricing strategies, and contractual terms in collaboration with finance and legal teams to ensure commercial viability and risk mitigation while optimizing margin.
Collaborate with product management and engineering to convey customer feedback, feature requests, and competitive gaps that inform the product roadmap and improve go-to-market positioning.
Coordinate cross-functional efforts with marketing to design account-based marketing (ABM) campaigns, targeted content, events, and webinars that accelerate pipeline velocity and nurture prospects through the funnel.
Use CRM (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot) to manage opportunity stages, forecast revenue, maintain accurate pipeline hygiene, and produce weekly and monthly forecast reports for Sales Leadership.
Lead and participate in RFP/RFI responses, solution scoping, and proof-of-concept (POC) engagements, ensuring timely and competitive submissions that align with client requirements.
Negotiate multi-year pricing, service level agreements, and partnership terms with a focus on upsell, renewals, and expansion to maximize customer lifetime value and reduce churn risk.
Track, analyze, and report on key sales KPIs including pipeline coverage, win rate, average deal size, sales cycle length, and customer acquisition cost to drive continuous improvement and process optimization.
Establish and manage channel partner relationships and referral networks, including onboarding, enablement, joint GTM planning, and co-selling activities to extend reach into adjacent markets.
Design and deliver persuasive presentations and executive-level pitches that address business challenges, quantify outcomes, and secure stakeholder buy-in across procurement, IT, and business units.
Identify industry trends, regulatory changes, and competitive moves to refine positioning, messaging, and pricing strategies that keep offerings differentiated and compelling.
Create and execute strategic outbound campaigns (email sequences, targeted calls, events) using Sales Engagement Platforms and LinkedIn Sales Navigator to accelerate pipeline creation.
Mentor and onboard junior sellers or technicians in best practices for prospecting, discovery, objection handling, and CRM usage to raise overall team performance.
Maintain up-to-date knowledge of product features, roadmap, and integrations to effectively position solutions and answer technical or compliance-related questions during the sales process.
Partner with customer success teams to identify cross-sell and upsell opportunities within existing accounts, coordinating timing and messaging for expansion campaigns.
Drive deal closure through expert stakeholder mapping, economic buyer identification, and coordinated internal sprints to clear legal, procurement, and technical hurdles quickly.
Prepare and deliver accurate revenue forecasts and quota attainment plans, including risk mitigation strategies for at-risk deals and action plans to accelerate pipeline movement.
Represent the company at industry conferences, trade shows, and networking events to generate leads, build brand awareness, and establish market credibility.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

CRM proficiency (Salesforce, HubSpot, or similar) — pipeline management, opportunity forecasting, and reporting.
Sales engagement and prospecting tools (LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Outreach, Salesloft).
Strong Excel competency for revenue modeling, quota tracking, and performance dashboards (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, basic macros).
Proposal and contract management experience including commercial pricing, SOWs, and NDAs.
Familiarity with SaaS business models, ARR/ACV metrics, commission structures, and subscription renewals.
Experience running and measuring Account-Based Marketing (ABM) programs and collaborating with marketing automation platforms.
Ability to run or coordinate proof-of-concept (POC) trials and technical pilots with internal engineering teams.
Experience with sales analytics and BI tools (Tableau, Looker, Google Sheets) to produce meaningful insights and forecasts.
Strong presentation software skills (PowerPoint/Google Slides) for executive-level proposals and board-ready decks.
RFP/RFI response experience, including the ability to craft technical and commercial responses under tight deadlines.

Soft Skills

Consultative selling: ability to diagnose business problems, craft tailored solutions, and demonstrate measurable ROI.
Relationship building and stakeholder management at C-level and operational levels.
Negotiation and closing skills — comfortable handling complex contracts and multi-stakeholder negotiations.
Strategic thinking and territory/account planning to prioritize high-value opportunities.
Excellent written and verbal communication — clear, persuasive, and audience-appropriate.
Problem-solving and analytical mindset with attention to detail and data-driven decision making.
Resilience, persistence, and adaptability in fast-paced, evolving markets.
Collaboration and cross-functional influence without direct authority.
Time management and prioritization in a quota-driven environment.
Customer-centric orientation with a focus on long-term retention, upsell, and net revenue retention.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Finance, Economics, Engineering, or related field.

Preferred Education:

MBA or relevant advanced degree preferred for senior or enterprise-focused roles.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Business Administration
Marketing
Finance
Technology or Engineering (for technical B2B products)
Economics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

3–7 years of progressive B2B sales, business development, or account management experience for mid-market roles.
5–10+ years preferred for enterprise or strategic partnership responsibilities.

Preferred:

Proven quota attainment (meeting/exceeding annual targets) in B2B or SaaS environments.
Experience selling to enterprise buyers, procurement teams, and technical decision-makers.
Track record of building pipeline from inbound and outbound channels, and closing multi-stakeholder deals.
Experience working with channel partners, VARs, or systems integrators a plus.
Demonstrated ability to produce accurate forecasts and lead cross-functional sales cycles end-to-end.