Business Development vs. Sales: Roles, Goals, and Handoffs Business development builds or finds growth opportunities; sales, on the other hand, takes qualified opportunities and turns them into customers. The border between the two can be blurry depending on the company’s context, as some teams use the term business development for outbound prospecting opportunities or partnerships and new markets development.

Business Development vs. Sales: Roles, Goals, and Handoffs Business development builds or finds growth opportunities; sales, on the other hand, takes qualified opportunities and turns them into customers. The border between the two can be blurry depending on the company’s context, as some teams use the term business development for outbound prospecting opportunities or partnerships and new markets development.

Before deciding who should own a given task, clarify what the terms mean in the context of your business. Titles alone will not bring resolution.

Compare the work, not the labels Area Business development Sales “Typical question” Where can new opportunities come from? Can we help this buyer to reach a decision? “Possible work” Prospecting, partnerships, market exploration Discovery, evaluation, proposals, closing “Useful evidence” Qualified opportunities or productive partnerships Buyer progress, won business, customer fit “Common handoff” Context, fit, reason to continue A defined next step and accepted ownership Neither of the two roles has an exclusive claim to relationships or revenue. The work of sales involves building relationships, and the work of business development should always involve tying the work to business results.

There are two common flavors of business development Prospecting and qualification A business development representative (BDR) may research accounts, have conversations, and qualify the opportunity before handing it over to an account executive.

In this flavor, the immediate output is a conversation that is useful to sales. Metrics around meetings booked without qualification can motivate teams to book the wrong kinds of meetings.

Partnerships and market development A business development manager can develop partnerships, whether it is exploring new referral joints, building a distribution channel, or simply testing a new segment. The work may involve multiple stakeholders and take more time before revenue is seen.

In this case, a daily sales meeting goal may miss what the business development team does. The team needs outcomes in the form of milestones specific to the type of partnership or test.

These are two different operational models. Do not combine the metrics of the two and expect to understand what is happening.

State the handoff before it becomes a fight Suppose there is a BDR that talks to a sales leader about not following up on certain leads. “Interested in a demo” is a vague handoff.

An example of a useful handoff would be:

What was the process and problem the team talked about Why the account was chosen (and who may be involved). What the buyer is looking for in the next conversation What the expected next step is and by when What objections, constraints, or commitments were mentioned The AE should accept the ownership of the opportunity or explain why it is not ready. This feedback helps the prospecting team to refine the qualification criteria.

What should each team measure? In prospecting-flavored business development, measure accepted qualified opportunities, conversation quality, and the progression of the deals handed over. For rejection reasons, analyze them and adjust the qualification criteria.

In strategic partnerships, measure milestones agreed upon with the partner, the involvement of the partner, and attributable outcomes (with a rule for attribution).

For sales, the important metrics are the conversion, the sales cycle, win/loss reasons, and the suitability of the won customers. A signed deal that was “forced” on the sales team may hurt the customer and the company in the long run.

Our guide to KPIs for B2B SaaS includes detailed explanations and formulas for many of these metrics.

Can one person do both? Certainly. A founder or a small team may do research, prospect, qualify, demonstrate, negotiate, and support the onboarding of a customer.

The separation between the two roles is in the work and the cadence. Save some time for developing the future opportunities alongside supporting the opportunities at hand. Not doing so creates a scenario where the team burns out during a busy period and does nothing the following month.

As the organization grows, split the work between the two roles when the volume of work and the complexity justify the split. There is no magic headcount or deal size that dictates the need to have a BDR and an AE.

Make the operating agreement explicit Document who is responsible for what, what makes an opportunity “ready,” where the context is stored, and how feedback flows to the previous owner of the opportunity. Relate it to your B2B SaaS sales process.

CadenceKing’s tools for outreach and nurturing can help organize the prospecting and handoff process. The explicit agreement and roles enable better coordination and conversation with the buyer.