Business Development Specialist II
Develops sponsor and exhibitor opportunities through prospecting, networking, relationship building, and pipeline management. The role requires 3–5 years of business development or sales experience, strong communication skills, CRM familiarity, and the ability to work independently in a remote environment.
About the job
Responsibilities
Business Development & Prospecting
- Identify and develop new business opportunities with marketplace companies and prospective sponsors and exhibitors, with accountability for pipeline and participation growth.
- Conduct targeted outreach to new prospects, existing leads, and companies within specific geographic markets.
- Research prospective companies and identify relevant decision-makers.
- Build and maintain a strong pipeline of qualified opportunities.
- Develop personalized outreach and follow-up strategies.
Relationship Development & Networking
- Build relationships with prospective sponsors, exhibitors, and industry contacts.
- Attend approximately 1–2 external industry events per month to network, prospect, and develop new business.
- Represent the company and its events professionally at external and customer-facing opportunities.
- Leverage networking, referrals, and existing relationships to create new business opportunities.
Sales & Opportunity Development
- Understand prospect goals and recommend sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities aligned with their objectives.
- Communicate the value of event participation, including access to targeted audiences and decision-makers, industry credibility, and attendee engagement.
- Independently manage assigned sponsor and exhibitor opportunities, engaging the Senior Manager for complex or strategic opportunities.
- Develop increasing independence to own strategic opportunities and the full sales cycle as the pipeline grows.
Pipeline & Market Development
- Maintain accurate prospect and opportunity information in the CRM.
- Track outreach, meetings, qualified opportunities, and pipeline activity; adjust outreach and sponsorship strategies to improve performance.
- Work toward defined business development and pipeline goals.
- Identify opportunities to expand sponsorship and exhibitor participation within new geographic markets and target segments.
- Share insights from prospect conversations and external events to support new business identification.
Collaboration
- Partner with the Senior Manager, Field Event Sales, to align business development activity with sales priorities.
- Collaborate with internal teams to support prospects throughout the sales process.
- Develop increasing independence and ownership as knowledge of the business, event portfolio, and sales process grows.
Requirements
- 3–5 years of experience in business development, sales, partnerships, account development, or a related field.
- Bachelor's degree preferred or equivalent practical experience.
- Proven ability to manage a sales pipeline and develop new business opportunities.
- Experience engaging decision-makers, including company owners, partnership leaders, and business development stakeholders.
- Highly proactive approach to business development and prospecting.
- Strong relationship-building, networking, communication, organizational, and time-management skills.
- Ability to understand prospect needs and match them with appropriate opportunities.
- Thoughtful persistence, strong follow-through, entrepreneurial curiosity, and ability to work independently in a remote environment.
- Familiarity with Google Workspace, CRM and email tools, Slack, and AI-powered productivity and research tools.
Nice-to-Haves
- Experience in event sales, sponsorships, exhibitor sales, or the events industry.
- Experience working in a remote or distributed environment.
- Willingness to travel to internal events and approximately 1–2 external industry events per month.
Skills
Business Development, Sales Prospecting, Pipeline Management, CRM, Google Workspace, Slack, Email Tools, Event Sales, Sponsorship Sales, Exhibitor Sales, Networking, Sales Cycle, Ai Productivity Tools
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