What Is The Difference Between Business Development and Sales?
Business development and sales have a lot in common. After all, they share the same goal: to bring in revenue for the company and, as a result, increase profits. These processes are two sides of the same coin. While they work together to accomplish something similar, they aren’t exactly the same. What is the difference, then, and why do those differences matter? The difference between business development and sales is that one focuses on building strong relationships and company brand whereas the other focuses on the acquisition and retention of new customers However, this entails much more than you might think and this brief description is just the tip of the iceberg.
The Difference Between Business Development and Sales
What is Business Development?
Business development is the process of creating new growth opportunities by building strong relationships with prospects and partners. For those working in business development, the main goal is to facilitate conversations with strategic alliances, potential clients, and referral partners through various tactics. Essentially, it’s more future-focused compared to sales. In business development, the focus is usually on securing revenue for tomorrow. Some business development-related tactics may include:
Center of influence marketing
Referral strategy and leveraging client relationships
Developing strong strategic alliances and partners
In-house and external events
Content strategy and creation
Networking and trade shows
What is Sales?
Sales is the process of establishing and maintaining appropriate customer relationships. The main goal of sales representatives is to convert leads into customers. In sales, you are concerned with the here and now. You want to take prospects through the sales cycle. It’s all about closing sales and generating revenue today. In general, sales teams focus on the following:
Identifying potential leads
Qualifying leads through a discovery process
Asking closed and open-ended questions
Determining a need
Presenting solutions
Closing the deal
Managing and maintaining the account after the sale
Why Are Both Necessary?
Business development and sales go hand in hand. Simply put, you can’t have an understanding of one without understanding the other. Businesses that are only focused on future revenue are likely to miss out on improving customer experience. Similarly, businesses that only focus on today’s transactions won’t see future growth. No matter what industry you represent, both business development and sales are necessary for success in a highly competitive world.
Partner with Dinkel Business Development Today
If you want to learn more about the difference between business development and sales, we’re here to help. Dinkel Business Development can help your business grow by creating a business development plan that engages your prospects and partners using a proven system of relationship marketing and outbound lead generation. Let’s start building relationships together today! Please call us at 443.226.0163 or reach us via email at john@dinkelbd.com to get started.
