Torchora
Back to Home

Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Business Development Intern

💰 $15 - $25 / hour

Business DevelopmentInternshipSalesMarketing

🎯 Role Definition

We are seeking a proactive Business Development Intern to support the growth team in generating qualified leads, researching target markets, assisting with outreach and proposal development, and improving processes to scale customer acquisition. This internship offers practical experience with CRM systems (Salesforce / HubSpot), sales outreach tools (LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Outreach), data-driven reporting (Excel / Google Sheets), and collaboration across Sales, Marketing, and Product teams. Ideal candidates are detail-oriented, coachable, and comfortable with a mix of research, communication, and data tasks.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Undergraduate or graduate students in Business, Marketing, Finance, Economics, or related majors.
  • Marketing or sales-focused internships (Marketing Intern, Sales Intern).
  • Campus ambassador, entrepreneurship club leadership, or startup project experience.

Advancement To:

  • Business Development Representative (BDR) / Sales Development Representative (SDR)
  • Account Executive / Inside Sales Representative
  • Partnerships Coordinator / Channel Sales Specialist
  • Growth Associate or Junior Product Manager

Lateral Moves:

  • Marketing Coordinator (demand generation or digital marketing)
  • Customer Success Specialist
  • Market Research Analyst

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Conduct targeted market research to identify ideal customer profiles (ICPs), verticals, and high-opportunity accounts; synthesize findings into concise, actionable lists and briefings for the sales team.
  • Generate and qualify inbound and outbound leads through a combination of cold email, LinkedIn outreach, phone prospecting, and community/research channels to build a predictable lead pipeline.
  • Maintain and update the CRM (Salesforce/HubSpot) with accurate contact information, activity logs, lead statuses, and account-level notes to ensure data hygiene and measurable pipeline health.
  • Support creation of outreach sequences and A/B tests for email cadences, subject lines, and messaging; track open, reply, and conversion metrics and recommend optimizations.
  • Create tailored outreach templates, value propositions, and one-pagers for different buyer personas and industries in collaboration with Sales and Marketing.
  • Assist in qualifying inbound leads through discovery calls, basic needs assessment, and scheduling meetings for Account Executives; follow playbook and routing logic.
  • Build and maintain prospect lists using LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Crunchbase, Apollo, and other prospecting tools; enrich records with firmographics and contact details.
  • Prepare and deliver polished sales collateral, pitch decks, and proposal templates to support deal progression and RFP responses.
  • Analyze sales activity and conversion funnel metrics (MQL → SQL → Opportunity) and produce weekly and monthly dashboards to inform leadership decisions.
  • Support cross-functional outreach campaigns (product launches, events, webinars) by coordinating email blasts, registration follow-ups, and post-event lead nurturing.
  • Research partnership and channel opportunities by identifying complementary companies, assessing fit, and drafting outreach and introductory materials for partnership managers.
  • Assist with competitive analysis by monitoring competitor pricing, positioning, new product features, and go-to-market tactics; summarize implications for our outreach strategy.
  • Conduct discovery and qualification calls under supervision and create concise call summaries with next steps, decision-makers, and timeline.
  • Collaborate with marketing to support ABM (account-based marketing) tactics—identify accounts for targeted campaigns and provide account-level intel and lists.
  • Support contract and proposal administration by gathering required documentation, preparing pricing worksheets, and collaborating with legal or ops as needed.
  • Participate in weekly pipeline reviews and sales/marketing syncs; capture action items and follow up with stakeholders to remove blockers.
  • Create and maintain playbooks and standard operating procedures for prospecting, outreach, objection handling, and lead routing to scale BD practice.
  • Assist in tracking and improving lead response time, follow-up cadence, and SLA adherence between marketing and sales teams.
  • Conduct voice-of-customer research via interviews or survey outreach to capture pain points, buying triggers, and feedback to inform product and sales messaging.
  • Support pilot programs and early-stage partner onboarding activities by coordinating logistics, collecting feedback, and tracking pilot KPIs.
  • Help manage and analyze pricing tests, promotional offers, and trial conversion data to inform pricing strategy and sales incentives.
  • Research and prepare briefing materials for sales leadership and Account Executives before key meetings, including account history, stakeholder map, and recommended talking points.
  • Maintain organized documentation of outreach results, test learnings, and best practices to accelerate onboarding of future interns and entry-level reps.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc lead-generation projects and exploratory market segmentation analyses to uncover new vertical opportunities.
  • Collaborate with data and analytics teams to translate business questions into measurable queries and dashboards.
  • Assist in designing and implementing outreach automations and integrations between CRM, outreach platforms, and marketing automation tools.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the growth team to align priorities and deliverables.
  • Provide administrative support for sales events, webinars, and trade shows, including registration coordination and follow-up outreach.
  • Contribute to digital content localization and personalization efforts for targeted markets or regions.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • CRM proficiency: hands-on experience or familiarity with Salesforce, HubSpot, or similar CRMs for contact management and pipeline tracking.
  • Lead generation tools: experience using LinkedIn Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, Crunchbase, Apollo, or similar prospecting platforms.
  • Outreach and sequencing: familiarity with email automation tools such as Outreach.io, Salesloft, Yesware, or Mailchimp for cadence management.
  • Data analysis & reporting: strong Excel and Google Sheets skills, including VLOOKUP, pivot tables, basic formulas, and data visualization for weekly dashboards.
  • Sales enablement collateral: ability to draft brief proposals, one-pagers, and slide decks in Google Slides or PowerPoint.
  • Basic SQL or analytics exposure (preferred): ability to write simple queries or work with data teams to extract lead and funnel metrics.
  • Marketing automation & analytics: basic understanding of HubSpot/Marketo, Google Analytics, and tracking UTM parameters for campaign performance.
  • Proposal and contract support: familiarity with templated proposals, pricing worksheets, and basic legal/contract routing processes.
  • Multichannel outreach: competency in cold calling, email outreach, and LinkedIn messaging best practices.
  • Productivity & collaboration tools: comfortable with Slack, Zoom, Asana, Trello, or Jira for project coordination.

Soft Skills

  • Strong verbal and written communication with polished, concise messaging tailored to different buyer personas.
  • Coachability and growth mindset—open to feedback, rapid learning, and applying sales playbooks.
  • Attention to detail and organizational skills to maintain accurate CRM data and follow-up tasks.
  • Analytical thinking and curiosity to interpret data, identify trends, and recommend process improvements.
  • Time management and prioritization across concurrent projects and outreach sequences.
  • Resilience and persistence for high-volume outreach and follow-up in a fast-paced environment.
  • Interpersonal skills for cross-functional collaboration with marketing, product, and customer success teams.
  • Problem-solving orientation and ability to propose pragmatic solutions under supervision.
  • Customer-centric mindset with empathy for buyer needs and pain points.
  • Professional demeanor for external communications with prospective clients and partners.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Currently pursuing or recently completed a Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in Business, Marketing, Finance, Economics, Communications, or a related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Coursework or minor in Sales, Entrepreneurship, Data Analytics, or Project Management.
  • Certificates or short courses in sales prospecting, CRM administration, or digital marketing are a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Business Administration
  • Marketing and Digital Marketing
  • Finance / Economics
  • Communications / Public Relations
  • Data Analytics / Information Systems

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 0–2 years of professional experience; 0–1 prior internship preferred.

Preferred:

  • Prior internship or part-time experience in sales, marketing, customer success, or startups.
  • Experience managing outreach campaigns, maintaining CRM records, or conducting market research projects.
  • Demonstrated experience with lead generation tools, cold outreach, or campus entrepreneurship initiatives.
Explore More Careers