In response to Will Critchlow's Tweet, asking for tips and tricks on hiring business development managers within the Search Industry, I'd like to take the time to put together some points.
I think it's an excellent topic to blog about, as recruitment within the SEO industry has been one of our biggest challenges as a company. Quality SEO people are few and far between, with some of our latest search team relocating from Wales and Scotland to join us.
Having just recruited our second business development manager, I feel we're in a good position to dish out, what I hope is some good advice on finding, vetting and hiring a BDM.
The number 1 difficulty
When business development comes into mind, there is always one recurring issue that pops up; the difference in skill set between an SEO and a salesman. A business development manager's role is complex and intrinsic to your business and I certainly would not simplify it to these two titles, but they are two skills, which I consider at opposite ends of the learning spectrum.
Rather than learning individual skills, it is very likely that you actually learn skill sets. That is, as you aim to learn one skill, you inherently pick up other skills on the way that help you towards this goal. The problem that arises is that there is no natural overlap between SEO and sales. You could be an incredible SEO and never had to deal with a client or sales situation in your life, just as an accomplished salesman could become so without ever encountering SEO.
This becomes a problem in that, do you hire an SEO that you teach to sell, or a salesman that you teach SEO?
Unfortunately, it's not as simple as that.
Define what you're looking for
Before you can start looking, or even think about posting that vacancy on your website, you need to define what you're looking for. By this, I don't mean Googling "Business Development Manager Job Specification", you need to examine how this role is going to fit into your current structure.
The detail of the type of person you are looking for is going to be defined by your business strategy and your current strengths and weaknesses in terms of internal resources.
Business strategy and business development
Anyone agency side in the search world will know there is a massive disparity between clients' levels of understanding. You can encounter businesses that have in-house SEO resources that are looking just for consultation, SMEs that are looking for specific parts of campaigns to be carried out, or clients that need hand-holding throughout the whole process.
While it never pays to make assumptions on a client's level of understanding, there are definite trends between the size and current online presence of a brand vs. whether they will have someone in-house that will have a handle on Search Marketing.
A great first step is to look back over your meeting notes and contact reports and pull together a list of common points that needed explaining to your client base. If you cross-reference this with the level of client you have chosen to target within your business plan, you should start to come to an idea of what kind of level of education was needed during initial meetings.
Take this list as a first draft of "possible things you would like an ideal BDM to know".
Internal resources and business development
From our recently acquired list of "possible things you would like an ideal BDM to know", we can start to look at internal resources. Your BDM is going to be the link between the services you sell and a client who may/may not have any knowledge or understanding of how these services work.
Take stock of your current company intelligence, what's on your website, brochures, leaflets and documentation you have. From our wish-list of "to know", how many of these can be met by:
1) Internal one to one training - do you have the time resource to do this?
2) Information on the website - are there common questions you can answer and arm a BDM with?
3) Brochures / leaflets - does this information already exist in some form?
4) How does this fit in with your current workflow procedures?
5) Who will be responsible for liaising with BDMs providing them with the information they need?
I think the last point is particularly important. As discussions with potential clients progress, you will need direct information on this client's website, competitors, current standing, rankings, on-site SEO and a host of other information.
Your search team will have work procedures in place with a way they tackle all of these situations. The problem with having smart people doing a smart job is, sometimes internal communication goes AWOL because everybody knows exactly what they're doing and gets on with it.
It is therefore vital that a channel is opened between the search team and business development. A healthy flow of information will ensure that your BDM is going into situations they are prepared for, clients are getting the correct information and you're much more likely to be able to deliver those pitch winning ideas.
This integration will likely involve tweaking your workflow procedures, which can be a painful process as nobody likes change when they're in a groove, but it will definitely pay dividends. You may, like many reputable companies, be getting a lot of business via referrals, as well as networking and advertising. There will need to be a shift of how these incoming leads are handled, having one person responsible for the networking and management of these contacts, leads and clients and the front-end can dramatically improve the working efficiency and profit of your agency.
Interviewing potential business development managers
While I certainly wouldn't consider myself a recruitment specialist, (should I have mentioned that earlier??) drawing from experience from all the interviews I've conducted and sat in on, I can certainly say one thing: People from a sales background generally perform very well under interview conditions.
You'd kind of expect it, anyone in a direct client-facing environment has to be able to be articulate, amicable and think on their feet while delivering their ideas in a concise and easy to understand way. These job skills are very closely aligned to interview skills, which unfortunately, makes it harder to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Personally, once you've got some interviews (as a potential employee) under your belt, you pretty much know what to expect in terms of questions; which means prepared answers. This raises the game for the potential employer as you'll need to come up with new ways to scratch the surface on the candidate's true experience, personality and potential benefit to the company.
Both of the business development managers at Further were seen at least five times in an informal setting. This means going for a coffee, chatting about experience, career aspirations and digging around their knowledge and thoughts of the industry.
While I would that getting someone in for 5 interviews would be excessive, staying in contact with potential candidates, letting them know when job opportunities may be available and having out of work meetings can be very productive.
A business development manager is going to be your company's first impression on a potential client a lot of the time. They are going to be the ambassadors for your brand and a client will make a decision whether they trust your company or not, based on the strength of this initial meeting. So, it's pretty important to get right :)
Conducting formal interviews with business development managers
Hopefully, by this stage, you know exactly where a BDM will fit into your business and how you can provide support for them, you've got to know your candidates and are confident in their personality and networking ability and you have a "wish list" for things they're going to bring to the table.
From whatever angle you look at it, search marketing is a fast moving game. Rules change, goal posts move, new web developments, advertising opportunities and business opportunities pop up and disappear constantly. While the core of your team may be responsible for identifying which of these is useful to your business, a business development manager will greatly benefit by being able to talk around all of these areas.
For me, there is a definite line in the sand for potential candidates. It is absolutely possible to teach anybody who wants to learn about various aspects of the web, however you can't teach interest. Interest is core to learning, self-learning and questioning.
It makes me wince when we receive CVs that are flooded with how enthused the applicant is by search engines / the internet / (insert latest 2.0 fad), but when you actually sit them down and ask them, it's blanks all the way.
Curiosity is absolutely vital. If you ask somebody if they're interested in "the web", they'll give you a positive answer, unless they've walked into the wrong job interview. A better question may be:
"Can you name a successful website and give reasons to why you think it was successful?"
It sounds like a basic question, but tests a whole range of skills.
1) Has the applicant named an actually successful website?Can they identify the business opportunity of that website?
2) Can they identify how different elements of site design aided this success?
3) Do they know how the website got popular?
4) Do they know what marketing techniques this website has used?
5) Do they know how this website started?
This question links up understanding of clients' requirements, online marketing techniques, site designs, web usage, customer triggers - all of the things you would hope a BDM would meet a client with.
Delivery of targets and hard sell
There's nothing that gets my back up more than a hard sell. Especially in the UK, culturally, hard sell tactics don't go down too well with top-end decision makers. The last thing you want is to send a "used car" search marketing salesman out there.
As a search marketing agency, you will have to work with your client, which means long-term relationships and clarity, not keeping the client at arms length and giving short-term promises.
This doesn't mean that you shouldn't expect your business development manager to bring home the bread, after all, you are in business to make money.
It's likely your business development manager will have some sales history and track record. This track record will be need to be taken on face value, evaluate what it is they were selling, what type of people they were networking with and how closely this ties in with your objectives.
Any business development manager should agree to have targets set. These targets can be derived from your business plan and projections for the year, these should be discussed and perhaps reworked until both you and the business development manager agree they are fair and achievable.
There will of course be a "bedding in" time, as with any role. This is especially typical of business development managers, who will need to start gathering contacts, making first meetings and getting in front of clients.
It's not what you know, it's who you know
It is not uncommon for a potential candidate to offer up "existing relationships" with clients they've previously had contact with and bringing these established relationships. It is absolutely true, knowing the right people and having those right people say the right things about you can do endless good for your business, this is something again you will have to take on face value.
It's a very difficult thing to quantify, if the candidate is confident they can bring extra value with existing relationships, then a percentage of this should be added on top of any previously agreed targets.
Hypothetically, if you're pulling between two applicants, one which you believe is the personification of your brand and another which doesn't quite check all the boxes, but comes with an impressive "existing relationships" portfolio, I would always lean towards the former, no matter how tempting the latter may seem.
As we discussed earlier, a business development manager is (hopefully) going to be a long-term and incredibly influential part of your business and needs to be fully aligned with your brand and goals. Short term sales aside, they need to be someone that you can rely on.
Baptism of fire
If you're at a stage where you'd like to proceed with a decision, a great final gauge is to put yourself in the client's shoes. Have your BDM candidate give you a pitch.
You're the client, they're representing your brand, provide an outline of business objectives (this can be for an existing site, a test site, your own site, an actual client) and get them to pitch for it.
I was corralled into a similar situation when I first started Further, having to pitch for online marketing business to my interviewers. Role playing makes me feel uncomfortable, but it really does bring out a different side to everyone and gives you the added pressure of "it all feels a little weird".
Turn up the heat, throw in awkward and curveball questions and see how they handle it.
Two heads are better than one
Lastly, what if they were given absolute free reign? How would they manage new and existing business? Would they be using a specific CRM system? Cold calling? Direct Email? Seminars? Networking breakfasts?
The style of client and business management will likely vary radically from person to person. The method and strategies used to manage business and clients will likely reflect on that person's view on how a business should be run.
Keeping your own cards close to your chest at the beginning can show you how aligned your feelings are.
Checklist for hiring business development managers
1) Specify the job role and how it fits into your business
2) Build a wish list from information from past client experience and business plan
3) Work out how your internal processes will change with a business development manager
4) Make sure you're getting someone who is interested enough to embrace the depth of service you offer
5) Try related ways to find candidates - LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter; if your candidates are here, you're off to a good start
6) Gauge whether this person can "bridge the gap" between client needs and the services you offer - can they complete the jigsaw with the right information?
7) Meet good BDM candidates a few times informally before either party commits
8) Get their input on how they would run things given free reign
9) Let them pitch to you as a client
10) Have a solid communications structure in place between BDMs and other teams
Post by Further search marketing.