I'm sure many of you have noticed the trend to rename sales reps as "Business Development Managers". The job hasn't changed, just the title. It's a ploy to distance the sales teams from the slimy sales reputation. This has created a huge problem for those of us who can create value for our companies by being actual Biz Dev, and creates an even more dire situation for manufacturers who can't figure out why they have hit a plateau.
So, question is, are there any manufacturers out there that have an honest-to-goodness BD team?
Definitions:
Sales: ABC (Always Be Closing)
BD: ABO (Always Be Opening)
Sales cares about the month and the quarter. They grind it out, and bring in the POs. They carry quotas, and make numbers. BD sets direction into new areas, and is working to make sure sales has new places to attack in 18 or 24 or 36 months. They are paid on achievement of objectives. They are drawing maps into uncharted areas that allows a skilled sales team to get in and start killing it quickly.
Related posts: What is the difference between BD and Sales? and Business Development vs Sales