Well paid 'Business Development' jobs
Discussion
Hi Chaps
Just wanted to get peoples persective on these,
I am not talking 25k basic salaries here, i'm talking 50k+ basics, OTE's of 140k etc.
What are peoples perceptions of these kind of roles, are they just as hard as the equivalent 25k role, or do they accept that those applying come with experience and deserve a better level of support etc?
Quite simply, ive been approached about one, and its the contrast of the 'risk' of a relatively independant Bus Dev role versus the relative security of my current job, where I have a team dedicated to creating the opportunity and is far more of a team 'solution' type of sales process.
I have had Bus Dev roles in the past that were very very hard work, but on crappy salaries its not as motivating/you dont feel valued compared with what could be on offer here.
I'm not sure what i'm trying to get across here, i guess its evaluating security (4yrs in position, company car etc) versus big money potential - would you risk it? (I am married, baby, house etc)
Cheers!
Just wanted to get peoples persective on these,
I am not talking 25k basic salaries here, i'm talking 50k+ basics, OTE's of 140k etc.
What are peoples perceptions of these kind of roles, are they just as hard as the equivalent 25k role, or do they accept that those applying come with experience and deserve a better level of support etc?
Quite simply, ive been approached about one, and its the contrast of the 'risk' of a relatively independant Bus Dev role versus the relative security of my current job, where I have a team dedicated to creating the opportunity and is far more of a team 'solution' type of sales process.
I have had Bus Dev roles in the past that were very very hard work, but on crappy salaries its not as motivating/you dont feel valued compared with what could be on offer here.
I'm not sure what i'm trying to get across here, i guess its evaluating security (4yrs in position, company car etc) versus big money potential - would you risk it? (I am married, baby, house etc)
Cheers!
Chr1sch said:
Hi Chaps
Just wanted to get peoples persective on these,
I am not talking 25k basic salaries here, i'm talking 50k+ basics, OTE's of 140k etc.
What are peoples perceptions of these kind of roles, are they just as hard as the equivalent 25k role, or do they accept that those applying come with experience and deserve a better level of support etc?
Quite simply, ive been approached about one, and its the contrast of the 'risk' of a relatively independant Bus Dev role versus the relative security of my current job, where I have a team dedicated to creating the opportunity and is far more of a team 'solution' type of sales process.
I have had Bus Dev roles in the past that were very very hard work, but on crappy salaries its not as motivating/you dont feel valued compared with what could be on offer here.
I'm not sure what i'm trying to get across here, i guess its evaluating security (4yrs in position, company car etc) versus big money potential - would you risk it? (I am married, baby, house etc)
Cheers!
Personally, no I would not risk it. Just wanted to get peoples persective on these,
I am not talking 25k basic salaries here, i'm talking 50k+ basics, OTE's of 140k etc.
What are peoples perceptions of these kind of roles, are they just as hard as the equivalent 25k role, or do they accept that those applying come with experience and deserve a better level of support etc?
Quite simply, ive been approached about one, and its the contrast of the 'risk' of a relatively independant Bus Dev role versus the relative security of my current job, where I have a team dedicated to creating the opportunity and is far more of a team 'solution' type of sales process.
I have had Bus Dev roles in the past that were very very hard work, but on crappy salaries its not as motivating/you dont feel valued compared with what could be on offer here.
I'm not sure what i'm trying to get across here, i guess its evaluating security (4yrs in position, company car etc) versus big money potential - would you risk it? (I am married, baby, house etc)
Cheers!
Firstly, the large salary is an indication of what is expected and how difficult the job is, hence they are offering to compensate you heavily for your trouble. Secondly, you have to ask why this position has become available at this moment in time? With the way the economy is at the moment and with the way that i have experienced businesses want to limit spending etc I have found in BDM roles that employers want more and more and businesses are expecting lower and lower prices.
Chris
toohuge said:
Personally, no I would not risk it.
Firstly, the large salary is an indication of what is expected and how difficult the job is, hence they are offering to compensate you heavily for your trouble. Secondly, you have to ask why this position has become available at this moment in time? With the way the economy is at the moment and with the way that i have experienced businesses want to limit spending etc I have found in BDM roles that employers want more and more and businesses are expecting lower and lower prices.
Chris
I agree with the last sentence, I work as BDE for a large ftse 100 Company and agree that employers expect higher sales whereas the market conditions indicate that it is a struggle to retain what you have. Firstly, the large salary is an indication of what is expected and how difficult the job is, hence they are offering to compensate you heavily for your trouble. Secondly, you have to ask why this position has become available at this moment in time? With the way the economy is at the moment and with the way that i have experienced businesses want to limit spending etc I have found in BDM roles that employers want more and more and businesses are expecting lower and lower prices.
Chris
That said, Its no different now that it ever has been or will be.
To the OP- It really depends on your background/experience. If this a generic BD role then its a suspiciously high salary- Whereas if the sector is more specialised I would expect it to be higher.
Know nothing about your current role so cant exactly comment on whether I feel its worth the risk....
swerni said:
Define " business development".
It's a term which is now as abused as "head hunter".
What does the role actually involve?
Is it?It's a term which is now as abused as "head hunter".
What does the role actually involve?
Biz dev at my last place was just that - directing the new business team to win new contracts.
I suppose it depends on sector. I can imagine some sectors where biz dev coud be as 'simple' as head hunting new partners/ senior bods with a client following - law for example.
swerni said:
Define " business development".
It's a term which is now as abused as "head hunter".
What does the role actually involve?
Is it?It's a term which is now as abused as "head hunter".
What does the role actually involve?
Biz dev at my last place was just that - directing the new business team to win new contracts.
I suppose it depends on sector. I can imagine some sectors where biz dev coud be as 'simple' as head hunting new partners/ senior bods with a client following - law for example.
Business Development can of course equal "sales", and did at one of the places I worked. The guy they had was brought in to find business opportunities outside of the core markets, and in the five years I was there he never bought in enough new business to cover his salary. He must have had a good lawyer though because he was then given a couple of big existing accounts to look after so his figures looked nice.
To move up you need to have a really good understanding of the product, the market and the customers, and make sure that the targets are sensible.
To move up you need to have a really good understanding of the product, the market and the customers, and make sure that the targets are sensible.
Thanks for the replies gents,
It is without a doubt a sales job, you are expected to take leads from various sources (inbound enquiries, marketing, inside sales, cold calling etc) and convert that into business. Its software sales to the Corporate sector.
They have approached me because of my broader experience in the field and track record which is good, but I would like the opportunity to earn some serious money, but at the end of the day i have horrible images in my head of days of prospecting on the phone etc which I would like to feel I have moved on from in a sales perspective.
Its a bloody hard decision, rock and hard place come to mind....
It is without a doubt a sales job, you are expected to take leads from various sources (inbound enquiries, marketing, inside sales, cold calling etc) and convert that into business. Its software sales to the Corporate sector.
They have approached me because of my broader experience in the field and track record which is good, but I would like the opportunity to earn some serious money, but at the end of the day i have horrible images in my head of days of prospecting on the phone etc which I would like to feel I have moved on from in a sales perspective.
Its a bloody hard decision, rock and hard place come to mind....
Chr1sch said:
Thanks for the replies gents,
It is without a doubt a sales job, you are expected to take leads from various sources (inbound enquiries, marketing, inside sales, cold calling etc) and convert that into business. Its software sales to the Corporate sector.
They have approached me because of my broader experience in the field and track record which is good, but I would like the opportunity to earn some serious money, but at the end of the day i have horrible images in my head of days of prospecting on the phone etc which I would like to feel I have moved on from in a sales perspective.
Its a bloody hard decision, rock and hard place come to mind....
You describe exactly what I do.It is without a doubt a sales job, you are expected to take leads from various sources (inbound enquiries, marketing, inside sales, cold calling etc) and convert that into business. Its software sales to the Corporate sector.
They have approached me because of my broader experience in the field and track record which is good, but I would like the opportunity to earn some serious money, but at the end of the day i have horrible images in my head of days of prospecting on the phone etc which I would like to feel I have moved on from in a sales perspective.
Its a bloody hard decision, rock and hard place come to mind....
I spend a huge amount of time working away from home - travelling all over the world, working very long hours and the job itself is incredibly stressful particularly in the current economic climate.
I have young children and I feel like I have missed a lot of their growing up
It's not a good time to be selling complex and expensive solution - nobody want's to spend any money.
Over the last couple of years in particular I have found that's it's virtually impossible to get budget approval for projects - even where we have been able to clearly demonstrate a ROI of 5-10X in the first 18-24 months. And this is the decision coming from senior VP's and senior directors of major blue chips rather than no-marks with no budget responsibility.
I'm in the process of trying to get out of my current role and move into something else as quite frankly in the current climate the reward comes nowhere near to equalling the efforts.
If you chose to do it go into it with your eyes wide open. Understand exactly what the targets are, how well they achieved against them in the last 3-4 years (since the recession really started to bite in terms of budget) what your marketing budget is and exactly what your current opportunity pipeline looks like in terms of numbers of projects, how well qualified they are and how mature the opportunity is. Also seek to understand exactly how your predecessor performed and why they chose to leave.
Treat the job opportunity the same way you would treat a sales opportunity and qualify it hard - really hard - as it will save you a lot of trouble in the future. Fifty or sixty grand sounds like good money - but it can start to look like you are being underpaid if you are working like a dog and not converting sales.
swerni said:
You need to look at the OTE not the basic, so in this case 140k
There are exceptions with jobs that are paid that much in Oil Industry and are not ridiculously demanding / stressful but obviously is exception to the 'norm' and I agree in your case, especially in BD/Sales where you are expected to produce. johnfm said:
swerni said:
Define " business development".
It's a term which is now as abused as "head hunter".
What does the role actually involve?
Is it?It's a term which is now as abused as "head hunter".
What does the role actually involve?
Biz dev at my last place was just that - directing the new business team to win new contracts.
For instance where I used to work in a recruitment consultancy, the directors would decide on a new sector to target then the BD Director would go out and find new clients in that sector. Once that sector was handed over to a consultant then new business sales became their responsibility.
Another interpretation I have come across was someone who looked at acquisitions, joint venture deals and new target markets for a large oil company. Actually developing the business. Equally valid title IMO, but not really anything to do with sales to users.
Calling someone a BD Executive/Consultant/Manager when they're selling mobile phone contracts to SMEs is a bit of a stretch IMO.
AJS- said:
Calling someone a BD Executive/Consultant/Manager when they're selling mobile phone contracts to SMEs is a bit of a stretch IMO.
In my industry anyone who begs for mortgage or insurance business is now a BDM.The majority of them have little or no influence on the product they offer, or the terms they offer it on. Most have little or no say on how well the product performs or whether an application will go through. Some are distinctly hazy on the qualifying criteria to access their product. They are all still in Business Development, never "sales" and never ever a "Rep".
scotal said:
AJS- said:
Calling someone a BD Executive/Consultant/Manager when they're selling mobile phone contracts to SMEs is a bit of a stretch IMO.
In my industry anyone who begs for mortgage or insurance business is now a BDM.The majority of them have little or no influence on the product they offer, or the terms they offer it on. Most have little or no say on how well the product performs or whether an application will go through. Some are distinctly hazy on the qualifying criteria to access their product. They are all still in Business Development, never "sales" and never ever a "Rep".
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