The Many Types of Sales Roles: Business Development Representative (BDR)
This post is part of our five-part series discussing various types of sales roles.
What does a BDR do?
A Business Development Representative is often a person’s first role in their sales career. Usually, a Business Development Representative, or BDR, works to expand their company’s customer base by generating new business opportunities with prospects through a prospecting system. Forget the old stereotype of nagging someone to buy something they’re not interested in. Instead, this position is all about consulting, customer relations, and engaging people who see potential value in your product! Additionally, BDRs often book Needs Assessment meetings for these prospects and other sales team members to help move the sales process along.
What skills will you gain (or improve upon) from a BDR role?
Determination. This means not only determination to succeed in your role but also determination to help your customer! Treat each lead like gold, knowing that each potential client is an opportunity not only for professional growth but also a way to help someone solve a problem in their life or business.
Ambition. Even though you’ll have a manager, you’ll learn to be a self-starter. Through this role, you’ll improve your time management and prioritization skills.
Curiosity. In this role, you don’t want to be afraid to ask questions, both to your team and your prospects. Listening to others and hearing their stories can help your career growth immensely.
Communication. Are you a people person? If so, great! As a BDR, you’ll learn how to grab prospects’ attention with creative email headlines and work on maintaining their interest over time.
Adaptability. The role will likely challenge you to step out of your comfort zone. Remaining flexible and willing to adapt is vital to growth and success in a sales role!
Gina Navarro, a Services Account Executive at ServiceNow, started her career in sales as a BDR. She used all the above skills in her role and is grateful for the professional growth she experienced and the skills she developed. She says:
“As a BDR I was able to learn true grit, patience, persistence, and most importantly how to step outside of my comfort zone. For most, this is the first real look into the sales world after college, and a really important learning period. You have the opportunity to support different people within your organization that are at different levels than you, speak to people from different companies, and form your own unique selling style. It is also a great entry point into new careers. For example, I started my career selling advertising but wanted to get into software. I had very little knowledge on that topic so I wanted to start from the ground up, and that meant becoming a BDR again, which was a really great choice for me.”
Can you show me a sample job description?
Check out this current BDR job description at Amazon Web Services here!
Interested in pursuing sales but unsure where to start? Consider enrolling in one of our sales programs. Contact us here.