A strong business development (BD) team is essential for companies looking to grow sales and expand into new markets. However, hiring and training the right BD team takes time, strategic planning, and investment. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the key steps for building a high-performing BD team to drive business growth. 

We’ll cover everything from writing the BD role descriptions to finding and assessing top talent. You’ll learn interview tactics for identifying driven, personable BD team players. We’ll provide tips on effective sales, communication, and product training methods. You’ll also gain insights into setting BD performance metrics, keeping the team engaged, and continually developing their skills. 

Follow this guide to hire, train, and retain a business development dream team ready to take your sales to the next level. Let’s get started.

Define the Role of Business Development

Before beginning the hiring process, take time to clearly define the role and responsibilities of your business development team. Typical BD activities may include:

– Researching new market/customer opportunities

– Generating new sales leads  

– Building relationships with prospects 

– Managing sales pipelines

– Developing partnerships and channels

– Supporting marketing in campaigns and events

– Understanding customer needs and pains

– Maintaining expert product/industry knowledge

– Negotiating deals and closing sales

The specific BD functions will depend on your business model, offerings, and growth strategies. Clearly outline the goals and priorities for your BD team based on current business objectives. This well-defined role scope will help attract suitable candidates and set expectations during the hiring process.

Determine Your Business Development Needs

Once you’ve defined the core BD responsibilities, analyze your existing resources and needs. Consider the following:

– How many BD team members do you need?

– What backgrounds, skill sets, and experience levels are required? 

– What markets, territories, or accounts will they be responsible for?

– Will the team be structured with different levels like BD manager, director, coordinator etc?

– What are the immediate and longer-term business development goals?

– Is travel required to meet clients/prospects in person?

Determining your ideal BD team structure and objectives will make it easier to assess talent fits, create job descriptions, and evaluate candidates. Define the critical requirements upfront so hiring aligns with your specific business development needs for optimal growth.

Create Job Descriptions 

Now you’re ready to write detailed job descriptions for your open BD roles. Include the following key sections:

Position Summary

Briefly summarize the overall role, level, and goal. For example:

“We are seeking a driven, quota-hitting Business Development Manager to generate new client acquisitions in the western territory. This individual will be responsible for prospecting, qualifying leads, managing the sales cycle, and closing enterprise deals.”

Responsibilities 

Outline the core expectations and daily/weekly responsibilities of the role. Be as specific as possible about essential BD functions based on your earlier role definition.

Requirements/Qualifications

List must-have qualifications including:

– Education and experience

– Hard skills (e.g. sales processes, negotiation, CRM expertise)   

– Soft skills (e.g. communication, relationship-building, persistence)

– Important certifications or industry knowledge 

– Software and tools experience (MS Office, Salesforce, LinkedIn Sales Navigator etc.)

– Minimum sales quotas/targets to hit

Preferred Qualifications

Note any “nice to have” skills or experience that would be bonuses, but not dealbreakers. These may include:

– Specific industry experience

– Background selling certain product types 

– International sales experience

– Proficiency in additional languages

The more detailed and clear your descriptions, the better chance you have of finding truly qualified candidates worth interviewing.

Where to Find BD Candidates

Now that roles are defined, get ready to source promising applicants. Some top places to find business development candidates include:

– Your existing network – Ask around internally, referrals are often the best hires

– LinkedIn – Post roles and search profiles using BD sales keywords 

– Industry events and conferences – Meet potential candidates in person

– Sales recruitment agencies – Let experts source and screen for you

– Job boards – Post on niche sales boards like SalesGravy Job Board

– University career centers – Connect with recent graduates

– Social media – Post on channels like Twitter and Facebook 

– Sales groups/associations – Engage with local BD professional groups

– Previous applicants – Revisit past candidates that may still be interested

Cast a wide net across multiple channels to meet your hiring goals faster.

Interview Questions to Ask  

When screening potential BD team members, use a structured interview approach. Prepare a list of questions aimed at assessing their most important qualifications and skills needed to succeed in the role. 

Examples of insightful business development interview questions:

– Walk me through your ideal sales process from prospecting to close.

– How do you go about building strong relationships with clients?  

– What tools and systems help you organize your pipeline? 

– How do you stay on top of industry news and trends?

– What qualities make you a successful BD rep?

– How do you motivate yourself when dealing with rejection?

– What sales performance metrics or quotas have you consistently achieved?

– What negotiations tactics have you found most effective?

– How would you convince a prospect to choose us over a competitor?

– Where do you see bottlenecks in our sales cycle?

– What questions would you ask to fully understand our customers’ needs?

– How have you successfully opened doors to new accounts or markets?

– What sales tools would you be excited to learn and use here?

Their responses will reveal sales abilities, industry/product knowledge, strategic thinking, communication skills, and cultural fit. Take notes for each candidate and compare at the end.

Assessing Business Development Skills

Beyond direct interview questions, incorporate these exercises to deeply evaluate candidates’ BD competencies:

Personality Tests

Have applicants take pre-employment personality and behavioral assessments like DISC or Myers-Briggs. Review results to gain insight into work style, motivations, and strengths.

Roleplaying  

Conduct mock sales conversations roleplaying common BD scenarios like delivering a presentation, responding to pricing concerns, resolving objections etc. Gauge skills firsthand.

Writing Samples

Request writing samples like previous sales emails or LinkedIn outreach messages. Assess communication abilities.

Case Studies    

Present real sales challenges and have candidates walk through how they would approach them. Analyze problem-solving abilities.

Situational Judgment 

Present complex hypothetical sales situations and discuss how they would handle them. Assess ethics. 

Testing practical skills will indicate on-the-job performance beyond just interview charisma. 

Making the Hire

After conducting thorough candidate screening, review and compare your assessments. Make offers to the applicants that have the optimal blend of sales drive, industry acumen, communication abilities, and likable persistence to achieve goals. 

Ensure to check references to confirm past performance and uphold sound hiring practices. When top choices accept, congratulate them and share next steps for onboarding. With your stellar BD team coming aboard, it’s time to ramp them up for success through comprehensive training.

Onboarding New BD Team Members

A stellar onboarding process is crucial for getting your new business development hires off to a running start. Follow these best practices:

Set up 

– Have their workspace, laptop, email, tools access ready on day one

– Share calendars and key contacts lists

– Provide branded materials like business cards, stationery

Introduce

– Give a warm team welcome and office tour  

– Introduce to key teammates and leaders

– Clarify roles and responsibilities  

– Cover policies, processes, tools, and communication norms

Educate 

– Provide background on company history and culture

– Share strategic sales plans and goals

– Review product and services training decks

– Define sales methodology and metrics

– Explain commission and incentive structures

Follow up

– Check in regularly and solicit feedback

– Assign new rep a mentor or peer buddy

– Schedule 30/60/90 day milestone reviews

– Celebrate quick wins and progress

Investing in robust onboarding creates engaged, productive reps ready to vigorously build your sales pipeline.

Training the Business Development Team

Your BD team may be skilled at sales, but they’ll still require extensive training on your unique products, customers, processes, tools, and more. Build a structured sales enablement program covering:

Product and Industry Knowledge Training

– Deep dives on product features and value proposition

– Roleplays for answering common product questions

– Competitive analyses comparing your strengths  

– Industry basics including trends, terminology, major players

– Training on new products and releases

Sales Process and Pipeline Training

– Ideal prospect profiling for your customers 

– Scripts and templates for calls and emails 

– Crafting persuasive presentations and proposals  

– Using CRM to manage pipeline and forecasts

– Proper lead qualification and handoff protocols

– Administrative tasks like contracts and billing

Communication and Presentation Skills

– Delivering impactful sales pitches

– Storytelling and translating product value  

– Addressing objections and negotiating 

– Active listening and questioning skills

– Presentation best practices (slides, demos etc.)

– Writing effective emails and LinkedIn outreach

Using CRM and Other Tools

– Mastering your sales tech stack

– Entering deals and tracking pipeline health

– Logging activity for pipeline reviews

– Building reports and dashboards

– Integrating daily workflows across tools

– Following processes for keeping data updated

Ongoing Skills Development 

– Sales methodology training like Miller Heiman, SPIN, Challenger

– Coaching with roleplaying exercises and film review

– Workshops, lunch & learns, and online modules

– Attending industry conferences and events

– Joining peer sales enablement groups 

Continuous sales training ensures reps stay at the top of their game as your offerings and markets evolve.

Measuring Business Development Success 

To keep your team on track, clearly define expected BD performance metrics and quota goals. Monitor:

– Sales activity – Calls made, emails sent, touches per lead 

– Pipeline metrics – New leads generated, pipeline value, conversion rates

– Win rates – Proposals sent, deals won/lost and reasons

– Sales cycle length – Average time from prospect to close

– Revenue goals – Sales quotas hit, commission earned

– Account expansion – Growing existing accounts  

– Partner performance – Channel sales through partners

– Sales forecast accuracy – Hitting predictable revenue

Track metrics using your CRM and sales analytics tools. Review reports regularly to pinpoint highs and lows. Course correct quickly to achieve goals.

Keeping the BD Team Engaged

A happy, motivated team will perform better long-term. Boost their engagement with:

– Recognition – Call out top performers publicly  

– Competitions – Run spirited sales contests

– Rewards – Offer incentives like gift cards or extra PTO

– Milestones – Celebrate tenure, closed deals, or quota achievements  

– Mentorship – Develop personal career growth plans

– Communication – Check in often and solicit feedback

– Team building – Host bonding events and offsites

– Flexibility – Offer work from home and flex days

When your team feels appreciated for hard work and has camaraderie, retention and motivation rise.

Conclusion

Hiring and training a stellar business development team is a process. First, carefully define the sales roles and requirements your business needs. Source qualified yet personable candidates through networking and interviews. Assess their sales competencies with exercises like roleplaying and writing samples. 

Make offers to top talent fits and invest in thorough onboarding. Develop their skills through extensive sales methodology, product, tools, and communications training. Motivate them by celebrating wins, offering incentives, and building a great culture. With the strategies in this guide, you’ll build an empowered BD team equipped to boost sales, profits, and customer acquisition.