Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Business Development Consultant

🎯 Role Definition

We are seeking a Business Development Consultant who will act as a strategic sales partner to identify, evaluate and close new business opportunities while expanding relationships with existing accounts. The ideal candidate combines consultative selling, market insight, and partnership-building skills to drive measurable revenue growth, develop and execute go-to-market strategies, and influence cross-functional stakeholders to deliver client-centric solutions. This role requires strong CRM discipline, proven track record in B2B sales or consulting, and the ability to translate market research into scalable commercial outcomes.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Sales Representative / Account Executive with B2B experience
Market Research Analyst or Business Analyst with client engagement exposure
Junior Business Development or Partnership Coordinator

Advancement To:

Business Development Manager / Senior Business Development Consultant
Strategic Partnerships Manager / Head of Partnerships
Director of Sales / VP of Business Development
Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) or Head of Commercial

Lateral Moves:

Product Manager (commercial/product-market fit focus)
Customer Success Manager (enterprise retention & expansion)
Strategy or Corporate Development roles

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Proactively identify, qualify and pursue new business opportunities across target industries by developing a repeatable lead-generation process, leveraging cold outreach, referrals, events, and inbound lead follow-up to build a healthy pipeline.
Develop and execute territory and account plans for new and existing customers, setting quarterly goals, target account lists, and measurable milestones to accelerate pipeline conversion and revenue attainment.
Conduct in-depth market research and competitive analysis to inform go-to-market strategies, positioning recommendations, pricing models, and product-market fit conversations with product and marketing teams.
Lead consultative sales conversations and discovery sessions with key decision-makers (C-suite, procurement, operations) to understand needs, map solutions to outcomes, and create tailored value propositions and business cases.
Prepare high-quality, client-facing proposals, Statements of Work (SOWs), and commercial quotes that clearly articulate value, deliverables, timelines, and ROI, working with legal and finance to finalize terms.
Negotiate contracts and pricing with potential clients and partners to achieve favorable margins while ensuring customer satisfaction and long-term relationship potential.
Manage the full sales cycle from initial outreach through close and hand-off to delivery or account management teams, ensuring a seamless transition and onboarding experience for new clients.
Maintain comprehensive CRM records (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot) with accurate opportunity stages, activity notes, forecasts, and next steps to ensure forecast reliability and pipeline health.
Collaborate with marketing to design, execute and optimize targeted lead generation campaigns (digital, events, webinars, account-based marketing) and convert marketing-qualified leads into sales-qualified leads.
Build and manage strategic partnerships, referral channels, and reseller relationships to extend reach, co-sell opportunities, and unlock new distribution channels.
Drive upsell and cross-sell initiatives within existing accounts by identifying expansion opportunities, aligning internal resources, and presenting renewal and growth strategies.
Conduct product demonstrations, proof-of-concepts (POCs) and pilot programs in collaboration with product and client delivery teams to validate solutions and de-risk commitments.
Deliver regular sales forecasts and pipeline reports to leadership, highlighting risks, opportunities, and actionable next steps to meet revenue targets.
Design and present executive-level presentations and proposals that synthesize market data, customer insights, and solution value to influence senior stakeholders.
Lead RFP/RFI responses end-to-end — coordinating inputs, developing value narratives, pricing constructs and ensuring timely submission of high-quality deliverables.
Implement account-based selling strategies for named accounts, coordinating multi-disciplinary outreach, personalized content, and stakeholder mapping to accelerate decision timelines.
Collaborate with product management and customer success to translate client feedback into product enhancements, roadmaps, and prioritized feature requests that increase adoption and retention.
Mentor and train junior business development staff or cross-functional sellers on qualification frameworks (BANT, MEDDIC), discovery techniques, proposal best practices and CRM hygiene.
Manage relationships with external advisors, industry associations, and ecosystem partners to stay abreast of market trends, partner opportunities, and lead sources.
Establish and track KPIs related to prospecting activity, conversion rates, average deal size, sales velocity and lifetime customer value; implement process improvements based on performance data.
Attend industry conferences, trade shows and client events to build brand awareness, network with prospective clients, and present thought leadership content when appropriate.
Design pricing strategies and commercial models for complex deals including subscription, usage-based, or hybrid pricing that align with client ROI and company margin expectations.

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.
Maintain CRM hygiene and ensure all communications, next steps and decision points are logged and actionable.
Assist marketing with content ideas, case studies, and customer testimonials to strengthen sales enablement materials.
Support internal stakeholders in developing business cases and ROI models for prospective clients.
Help coordinate logistics for client workshops, pilots and onboarding sessions.
Track competitive activity and escalate strategic threats or opportunities to leadership.
Participate in quarterly planning sessions to align sales priorities with company objectives.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Proven expertise with CRM platforms such as Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics — including pipeline management, reporting and automation.
Strong financial acumen: ability to build revenue models, ROI calculations, margin analysis and pricing scenarios.
Experience designing and responding to RFPs, RFIs and complex procurement processes.
Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, modeling) and PowerPoint for executive presentations.
Familiarity with sales engagement and outbound tools (e.g., Outreach, SalesLoft, LinkedIn Sales Navigator) for scalable prospecting.
Experience conducting market research, TAM/SAM analysis, and competitive landscape mapping.
Ability to develop and execute account-based marketing (ABM) strategies and coordinate multi-touch campaigns.
Track record of consultative selling and solution design for enterprise or mid-market clients.
Knowledge of contract terms, basic legal/commercial clauses and experience collaborating with legal teams on SOWs.
Experience with sales forecasting methodologies and quota attainment best practices.
Ability to run pilot programs, proofs-of-concept and customer trials, including success criteria definition and measurement.
Familiarity with analytics and BI tools (e.g., Tableau, Looker, Google Analytics) to surface insights that inform go-to-market decisions.

Soft Skills

Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to present complex ideas clearly to executive audiences.
Strong negotiation and influencing skills to close deals while protecting long-term client value and company margins.
Strategic thinker who can translate market insight into actionable sales plans and scalable processes.
High emotional intelligence and stakeholder management: build trust across clients, partners and internal teams.
Results-oriented with a bias for action, persistence and resilience in long sales cycles.
Collaborative team player who partners effectively with product, marketing, legal and delivery teams.
Problem-solving mindset and the ability to pivot when faced with changing client requirements or market conditions.
Time management and prioritization skills to balance prospecting, proposal development and client engagements.
Coachable leader capable of mentoring junior team members and sharing best practices.
Adaptability to work in fast-paced, high-growth environments and to manage ambiguity.

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 but not required.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Business Administration
Marketing
Finance or Economics
Engineering (for technical product/solution sales)
Data Analytics / Information Systems

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

3 to 7 years of progressive experience in business development, B2B sales, strategic partnerships, or management consulting with a record of quota attainment.

Preferred:

5+ years in consultative or enterprise sales with experience closing multi-stakeholder deals and managing complex procurement cycles.
Industry experience aligned to the employer (e.g., SaaS, professional services, technology, healthcare, fintech) will be considered a strong differentiator.
Demonstrated experience working with CRM systems, sales enablement tools, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver commercial outcomes.