Business Development Foundations – Robbie Kellman Baxter

Business development can be the innovation hub of your organization, and an exciting career for visionary and strategic professionals. It can be a source of disruptive strategies and partnerships that help companies to leapfrog their competitors. And yet, the term “business development” is thrown around by many executives who don’t fully understand its power to transform.

Business development teams identify areas of opportunity: new products, new markets, new partnerships, and new distribution channels. It’s critical to start with clear objectives. Are you using business development (BD) as a marketing tool, a sales channel, a source of innovation, or a corporate development hub? Management consultant Robbie Kellman Baxter shows you how the best BD professionals identify and build momentum for new initiatives. She also gives you the insight you need to launch a BD function in your organization, explains how to manage a BD team, and shares how to scale the BD function as your opportunities grow.

Topics include:

• Define business development.
• Explain the purpose of business development.
• Distinguish business development from other functions.
• Identify the skills and personality requirements for a business development role.
• Measure business development performance.
• List options for organizing a business development team.
• Describe how to make business development relevant at the C-level.