Introduction

The BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT training course examines the creation of long-term business growth in three distinct stages.

1. First, in the pre-sales stage, you’ll learn to understand your business model, your position in the market, and new and existing customers and products.

2. Second, in the pitch stage of business development, you’ll learn effective business pitching skills, enabling you to develop persuasive presentations, gain the negotiation skills required to close deals, explore how communication can mitigate conflict resolution, and establish and maintain business relationships.

3. The final modules of the course will help you to develop account management and program management skills for sustainable post-pitch success.

Upon completion, you’ll walk away with the ability to compile a business development plan, strategically analyze change, and anticipate new business opportunities.

OBJECTIVES

• Understand your markets, customers, and products, and develop the ability to anticipate new business opportunities.

• Create a business development plan and strategy for pursuing new opportunities and growth.

• Pitch and negotiate effectively and adopt relationship management skills for long-term, sustainable value creation.

• Verify your skills in business development management with a certificate of completion from UCT.

METHODOLOGIES

• Enjoy a wide range of interactive content, including video lectures, infographics, live polls, and more

• Investigate rich, real-world case studies

• Apply what you learn each week to quizzes and ongoing project submissions, culminating in a development plan for your business

OUTLINES

MODULE 1 Understanding My Business Model and Context

Explore the current model of your business to understand your differentiation and position in the market.

• Define the who, what, and how of a business using a business analysis technique

• Discuss how the elements of cost leadership, differentiation, cost focus, and focused differentiation impact marketing

• Execute a SWOT analysis

• Use the Business Model Canvas tool to understand a business

MODULE 2 Sources of Business Revenue: The Customer and Product

Investigate both new and existing customers and products and how business opportunities can best be marketed.

• Demonstrate an understanding of existing products using the BCG growth–share matrix

• Review new and existing customers and products

• Determine how the span of marketing relates to sales

• Deduce who the customer is along five descriptive dimensions

MODULE 3 The Pitch and Negotiation

Communicate the business opportunity through an effective pitch and develop negotiation skills.

• Identify the benefits and limitations of pitching styles

• Describe how persuasion relates to pitching

• Articulate the role of negotiation in price positioning

• Compare single-party and multi-party negotiations

• Assess a pitch and recommend improvements

MODULE 4 Relationship Management and Influence

Analyze the impact of effective communication, conflict resolution, and ethics on relationship management.

• Describe the appropriate interpersonal strategy for effective relationship management

• Articulate how effective communication can be used in conflict management

• Investigate ethics and business practices in different cultural contexts

• Recommend the most appropriate interpersonal strategy for a specific context

MODULE 5 Programme Management for Business Development Professionals

Develop the account and program management skill set for post-pitch success.

• Describe how to set up, implement, and monitor a business development plan

• Categorise the functions of project, program, product, and account managers

• Evaluate product and market growth using the product life cycle

• Compile a business development plan

MODULE 6 Strategic Innovation for the 21st Century

Apply strategic thinking to understand the nature of change and anticipate new business opportunities.

• Recognise how Porter’s Five Forces model can be used to identify new products and customers

• Discuss how the nature of change informs the understanding of the environment

• Assess the impact of uncertainty on an organization’s scenario planning

• Evaluate how to take an organization into a new space using Porter’s Five Forces model