Before looking towards how director of business development salary, let know what business development is all about, and its basics.
What is Business Development?
Business development is the process of identifying, nurturing, and acquiring new clients and business possibilities in order to promote growth and profitability. A business growth strategy is a document that details the measures you will take to achieve your objectives. Business development can include a vast range of responsibilities that differ greatly between companies. Consider the picture below, which represents the paradigm of how professional service firms acquire new clients.

Attracting prospects and building engagement are the model’s first two steps, which are conventional marketing activities. Turning opportunities into clients, the last stage, is a conventional sales process. Business development would often seek new partners for marketing campaigns or avenues of distribution.
However, responsibilities are shifting, and naming practices are evolving. The entire marketing and sales process is referred to by many businesses nowadays as “company development.” I am aware that it may be unclear. So let’s organize things a little.
Business Development Examples
Let’s have a look at this business development sample to better understand what this role entails:
Director of Business Development Bethany works for a fictional mid-sized architecture firm. She is not herself an architect. She is also not involved in any way in completing the contracts the business has agreed to. Instead, the sole focus of her job is securing new business for her company from both existing and new clients.
Bethany spends a lot of her time nurturing potential clients she met at a recent industry conference, responding to RFPs for new clients, and corresponding with inbound leads produced by the marketing/sales enablement team. As part of the creation of the fresh materials she needs to promote to new accounts, Bethany also works with the marketing team.
Bethany is involved with current accounts as well. She has monthly meetings with the delivery teams to determine whether the scope of ongoing client projects is being met or whether change orders are required. She also keeps in touch with important clients’ stakeholders for her firm. She is aware that her relationship with the customer is crucial to any future contract if the possibility of more business arises.
Although Bethany is the main force behind corporate progress in this illustration, this does not imply that she is working alone. Consider that she works with Greg, a lead architect at the company. Greg should still prioritize business development and even marketing in his work life, even though serving his clients comes first for him.
Greg might accompany Bethany to an industry gathering where he serves as a speaker and subject matter authority while she acts as the main networker. The business growth dynamic ought to extend beyond Bethany and encompass the entire company.
You can see the huge range of jobs and duties in this business development example. For this reason, business development must be done strategically rather than on the fly. Now let’s discuss that.
What Are the Basics on How Director of Business Development Salary?
Sales, marketing, project management, product management, vendor management, and other divisions are all involved in business development. Additionally engaged are cost-cutting initiatives, alliances, negotiations, and networking. The objectives of company growth serve as the motivation for and alignment between all of these various departments and operations.
For instance, a company might have a good or useful service that sells well in the United States or another similar country. The business development team evaluates the possibility of additional growth. After careful consideration, investigation, and analysis, it is determined that the good or service can be extended to a new area, such as Brazil.
Marketing
Marketing is the process of successfully selling things to end users through promotion and advertising. To accomplish sales goals, marketing plays a complementary function. Initiatives for business development may include a marketing budget. With larger funds, aggressive marketing techniques like cold calling, in-person meetings, road shows, and the distribution of free samples are possible. Passive marketing techniques, like restricted web ads, print ads, social media ads, and billboards, sometimes come with lower budgets.
Sales
For a certain revenue target, salespeople may concentrate on a specific market or clientele. In this instance, business development analyzes the Brazilian markets and determines that $1.5 billion in sales may be reached in three years. The sales department uses its sales techniques to target the consumer base in the new market with such established goals.
Project Management/Business Planning
Can new facilities be built in the new market to accommodate business expansion, or will all products be created in the base country and imported into the targeted market? Will the latter option necessitate the establishment of an extra facility in the base country? The business development team makes these judgments based on their cost and time assessments. The project management and implementation team then goes into action to achieve the targeted outcome.
Product Management
Regulatory standards and market requirements differ from country to country. A given type of medicine may be permitted in India but not in the United Kingdom, for example. Is a tailored or entirely new version of the product required for the new market?
According to the company strategy, these requirements drive the activity of the product management and manufacturing departments. A business development plan evaluates cost considerations, legal permissions, and regulatory conformance.
How director of business development salary
How much does a Director of Business Development in Tech make?
In the United States, the typical director of business development earns $165,412. A director of business development’s average bonus is $32,499, or 20% of their pay, with 78% of people indicating that they receive a bonus each year. Directors of Business Development earn the most in Portland, with a total salary that is 30% higher than the national average.
Salary Ranges for Directors of Business Development
Directors of business development earn salaries ranging from $30,000 to $390,000 in the United States, with a median pay of $160,000. The median salary for directors of business development is between $160,000 and $235,000, with the top 86% earning $390,000.
How much tax will you have to pay as a Director of Business Development
In 2018, an individual filing in this tax bracket would pay an estimated average federal tax of 32%. Directors of Business Development might expect a take-home pay of $130,791 per year after a federal tax rate of 32% is deducted, with each paycheck equaling around $5,450*.