Biz dev vs sales: What's the difference? Let's ask ChatGPT
I asked it to tell me the difference between biz dev and sales, and the results are pretty good
I was speaking with a friend the other day, who works in software engineering, about sales vs business development. She didn’t really understand how the two roles differ. In her mind a salesperson did business development and a business development person did sales. While the two roles appear to be similar, they’re fairly distinct. In some instances they’re complementary. But they’re not the same thing!
I was having trouble explaining the differences between these two roles to her, as, though I had an intuitive understanding that they are, in fact, distinct, I hadn’t ever had to explain to someone why they were distinct. I never had to make it concrete: I just knew the fact.
I realized that ChatGPT could help, so I gave it this prompt: What is the difference between business development and sales? Compare and contrast the roles, and explain how they differ, and what similarities, if any, they have. Finally, suggest a few ways to convey how these two roles ought to be thought of as distinct roles for different employees.
This is a fairly constrained prompt, and constrained prompts usually force ChatGPT to provide robust responses1. And, I was not disappointed. Its output follows after the section break. I think it’s useful for anyone looking to hire for either of these roles, or simply to understand how they differ.
Business development and sales are both vital to the growth of a company, but they serve different functions and require different skill sets. Here are some of the key differences and similarities:
Business Development:
Business development is a strategic role, typically focused on creating opportunities for growth. This can come in many forms, such as building partnerships, identifying new markets, or developing new product or service lines.
Long-term Perspective: Business development often involves a long-term perspective, as it seeks to create opportunities that will drive growth in the future.
Strategic Relationships: It's about building strategic relationships and partnerships that are beneficial to the organization. This could involve negotiating deals, securing partnerships, or acquiring resources.
Market Understanding: A business development professional needs a deep understanding of the market, the industry, and the competitive landscape. They need to identify trends, opportunities, and threats in order to strategize effectively.
Innovation: Business development often involves creating new ideas for products or services, or identifying new markets or customer segments.
Sales:
Sales, on the other hand, is a tactical role that focuses on generating immediate revenue. Sales professionals are responsible for selling the company's products or services to customers.
Short-term Perspective: Sales typically involves a shorter-term perspective, as the goal is to close deals and generate revenue in the present.
Client Relationships: The role of a salesperson is to build relationships with clients, understand their needs, and sell them the product or service that best meets those needs. They need to be able to handle objections and close deals.
Product Knowledge: A salesperson needs to have a deep understanding of the product or service they're selling. They need to be able to explain its features, benefits, and value to the customer.
Target Achievement: Sales roles often have clear targets or quotas for the number of sales to be made or the revenue to be generated within a certain period.
Similarities:
Customer-focused: Both roles are customer-focused and require excellent communication and relationship-building skills.
Revenue Generation: Both roles contribute to the company's revenue and growth, albeit in different ways.
Inter-departmental Collaboration: Both roles often require collaboration with other departments, such as marketing, product, and customer service, to achieve their goals.
To convey the distinct roles for different employees, here are a few suggestions:
Job Descriptions: Clearly define the roles and responsibilities in the job descriptions. This helps set expectations right from the start.
Training and Orientation: During onboarding, provide training to help employees understand their specific roles and how they fit into the bigger picture.
Inter-departmental Meetings: Regular meetings between the business development and sales teams can help to clarify roles and responsibilities, and also foster collaboration.
Performance Metrics: Use different performance metrics for the two roles. For example, a business development professional might be evaluated on the number of strategic partnerships formed, while a salesperson might be evaluated on the number of sales made.
Leadership Communication: Leaders should communicate the distinct roles and value of both business development and sales. This can help to avoid confusion and ensure that everyone understands the importance of both roles to the company's success.
Remember, both roles are critical and complementary. The most successful organizations are those that manage to strike a balance between strategic business development and tactical sales execution.
Note, though, that constrained prompts are often unnecessary. It just happens that for this particular use case, a constrained prompt was useful.