As an SE leader, I have worked alongside many business development teams and collaborated on many cross-functional initiatives. In a previously published article,SE influence beyond sales, I suggested how SEs can contribute to the success of a Channel Sales or Business Development team in a company. As a matter of fact, I have often advocated for BD as a great career path for SEs looking to grow outside of sales. But for the first time, I have now worked directly in a business development role, working with an ecosystem of technology partners. So with this recent experience, I am sharing a new perspective on what characteristics of Sales Engineering and Business Development share with each other and how they are very different professions.
Business Development is actually much more similar to Sales than Sales Engineering. In many companies, Business Development rolls up to the Sales org, and in others, it's an independent function. Similar to sales, the phases of discovery, evaluation, proposal, negotiation, contract, and legal apply to BD as well. But for this article, let's review a few similarities and differences (in no particular order) between the role of SE vs BD:
Similarities
- Solution Selling:Business Development involves selling as well. Solution-based thinking and mindset are equally important to be able to understand a requirement and propose a set of solutions. An SE's deeper technical expertise and product knowledge can be leveraged in building strong trust and credibility with the partners and help form better relationships. The main difference is that instead of presenting a solution directly to the customer (prospect), in BD, you are often educating a partner on the ways your product solves a problem for a mutual customer.
- Metrics-driven success:Similar success metrics and incentives drive both professions. It's all about achieving your quarterly and yearly targets and working across internal and external stakeholders. Sales Engineering is directly accountable to helping sales reps sell more but BD indirectly influences the sales cycle by signing the partners that are critical to winning deals together.
- Presentation Excellence:Similar to SE, BD requires excellent presentation and articulation skills to present a solution and value proposition to a broad (technical and executive) audience. Excellent objection handling as well as a persuasive, consultative approach is also critical to success in both roles.
- Subject Matter Expertise:To be seen as thought leaders and bring credibility to every interaction, SEs have to stay on top of their product and industry knowledge. Similarly, BDs have to continuously learn and stay abreast of the latest industry trends and competitive landscape to build and grow fruitful partnerships. A lot of research and intellectual curiosity is needed to succeed in both professions.
- Travel:Both professions may require a decent amount of travel. The same way SEs are the most effective when presenting solutions and forming relationships with their stakeholders, BDs benefit from the in-person engagements to build and maintain long-lasting partnerships. Some of BD travel may also be dedicated to attending conferences and industry events, which offer an opportunity to meet existing partners and explore new partnerships.
Differences
- Breadth Vs Depth:As an SE, you need to be hyper-focused on the active opportunities in the sales pipeline. Doing everything possible to enhance the chances of winning these opportunities is what drives SEs day-to-day activities. On the other hand, Business Development focuses on the broader, company-to-company perspective. The emphasis is usually on how the two companies bring their solutions together to win a large number of customers together. Prioritization is also impacted by which industries or portfolios each BD manager is currently focused on. This broader view has the potential to influence many sales opportunities vs impacting the success rate on a few sales opportunities at a time.
- Short-term vs. long-term:I think this is the biggest difference in the mindset I have had to adjust to. Every decision in BD has to be viewed through a short-term impact as well as a longer-term, more strategic view. SEs can (relatively) instantly see the results of their efforts by winning/losing an opportunity, whereas a lot of BD efforts may not bear any fruits until much later in time. This requires a higher level of patience, forward-thinking, and a strategic mindset to be successful.
- Another degree of separation: SEs often complain about losing that final control over the outcome of a sales cycle, because the Account Executive plays the lead role in the entire process. BDs are even further removed from the decision-making process, as they are often not actively engaged with the prospect at all. This greater lack of control can sometimes be frustrating but also empowering when you consider the (potential) influence a partnership can have over the success of a sales organization.
- Higher Risk Tolerance:Many partnerships are formed with both parties aligning on a joint vision for the future. Sometimes that vision will be realized and other times it won't if the partnership fails. So the BD role requires one to think beyond the possible, be hyper-optimistic, and take higher risks of potential solutions that when realized, can bring huge success to both companies.
- Long-term relationships:In either role, being able to develop relationships and build trust is critical but the BD relationships are much longer-term and much broader in scope. Ideally, there are years' worth of winning and retaining customers together for a partnership to be truly successful. In a BD role, a lot of energy and effort should be invested in supporting and nurturing these relationships.
In summary, I have personally noticed that a lot of my SE experiences, traits, and expertise have translated really well to the Business Development role. This journey hasn't been without challenges and hard work to learn new processes, capabilities, and a shift in mindset but has offered a unique perspective and an opportunity to impact and influence the outcome beyond a sales cycle. I have a lot more to learn as I continue the path in this journey.
I hope this perspective is helpful to SEs considering a role change in the future. If there are others who have crossed this bridge and experienced this transition, please share your thoughts and lessons learned in the comments below.
Originally published on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/se-vs-bd-sales-engineering-business-development-sachin-wadhawan/