What would companies do without their business development representatives?
Consider just how all-encompassing the role is: identifying new business opportunities, partnering with teams across a company to follow through on a business strategy, qualifying and converting inbound leads, hitting the almighty quarterly deal quota, and much, much more.
For the leaders of those teams, otherwise known as business development managers, success means doing all of the above successfully — and then some. “[E]nsuring our team has the tools, support and resources to do their best work and further their career goals is just as important,” Anusha Sharma, the regional VP of sales at Flex, said.
As a sales leader at the NYC-based fintech startup that is building the infrastructure to enable flexible bill payments, Sharma is responsible for the success of her team. It’s a lot of responsibility and a role that the leader says calls for “getting outside your comfort zone on a regular basis.”
That’s all to say that not everyone’s cut out to be a business development manager. In a conversation with Built In NYC, Sharma explained more about what it takes to land the role, what her goals are, what skill set is necessary for success, and more.
As a business development manager, what are your overall goals? How do you measure success in your role?
I am entrusted with developing our top-of-funnel prospecting strategy. That means defining and executing innovative strategies to drive customer acquisition. These workflows, messaging and cadences that add the most value to our target audience — our ideal customer profiles — need to be replicable by our business development representatives (BDRs) so they are successful in their roles. In addition to onboarding and training our BDRs, I am responsible for their success and that the team hit our collective targets as a whole. Success is measured by quality deals that each team member puts on the board. Exceeding our quota is only part of the battle — ensuring our team has the tools, support and resources to do their best work and further their career goals is just as important.
Having a growth mindset is essential in order to overcome the rejections we face countless times a day.”
What skills do you need to develop in order to be successful in your role?
In any sales role, you have to be comfortable getting outside your comfort zone on a regular basis. Having a growth mindset is essential in order to overcome the rejections we face countless times a day. These are all things most sales books will tell you and they are true.
What I haven’t seen mentioned as much is having to be ruthlessly organized, staying on top of your prospects so none of them slip through the cracks, and having empathy for your clients, prospects and colleagues. Besides honing your communication skills, it’s important to develop your discipline and focus — as a salesperson, you will often get pulled in many different directions. It’s important to be able to prioritize and manage your time effectively.
One of my favorite books, “Black Buck” by Mateo Askaripour, illustrates how sales is a part of everyday life. He talks about how you're not selling people on a product or service, but a vision. Learning this will help you “sell” your colleagues in another team on prioritizing your request to help you win customers over and motivate your team to continue crushing it when morale is low.
What are your career goals, and what are you most proud of in your career to date?
As an avid appreciator of the big picture, I’ve always wanted to take on a strategic and leadership role so I’m proud to be where I am today. I enjoy coaching and empowering people to find success and fulfillment in their careers. As someone with a non-traditional background, my goal is to empower the underdogs and level the playing field for people who haven’t had a journey that most people have had. With my humor and passion for connecting with people on a deeper level, I hope to leave a lasting impact on the tech industry and companies I work for by dismantling the stigma around working with people you aren’t used to working with.
I may never be able to shake Vanessa from dealer services who’s been trying to contact me about my non-existent car’s extended warranty, but I will change your mind about who gets to succeed in tech.
