Sales & Business Development are the roles that drive revenue, open new markets, build relationships, and help companies scale. Whether you’re selling products or services, entering new territories, managing key accounts, or developing strategic partnerships — success in this sector depends on understanding customers, persuasion, negotiation, resilience, and strategic thinking. Roles vary: Sales Representative, Account Executive, Business Development Representative/Manager, Sales Manager, Partnerships / Alliances, Channel Sales, etc. Backgrounds are often in business, marketing, or a related field, but experience, results, networking, and soft skills are extremely important. Commission / bonus structures are often a big component of compensation.
$83,172
Average Salary
5%
Annual Sector Growth
1.8 million
Job offer
12M
Companies
Remote / Virtual Selling & Hybrid Models — more selling over video, remote calls; less always-in-person. Digital tools for demos, CRM, virtual product trials are more common.
Data-Driven Sales & Use of Analytics — using data to track pipeline health, predict churn, optimize lead scoring, personalize outreach.
Specialization of Roles — SDRs (Sales Development Reps), BDRs, Account Executives, Customer Success are more clearly defined. The separation between lead generation vs closing vs account expansion is sharper.
Emphasis on Customer Experience & Long-term Relationships — it’s not just about closing deals anymore; retention, upsell, trust, post-sale support are part of business development success.
Use of Sales Tech / Automation / AI — tools for automating outreach, forecasting, CRM enhancements, AI-assisted sales content, chatbots, and sales enablement platforms are becoming standard.
Prospecting & Lead Generation: identifying good prospects, outreach, cold/ warm leads
Negotiation & Closing Skills: handling objections, contract terms, pricing, closing deals
Communication & Relationship Building: trust, listening, understanding customer needs, maintaining relationships over time
Use of Sales Tools / Technology: CRM (e.g. Salesforce, HubSpot), analytics dashboards, sales enablement tools, possibly LinkedIn / sales intelligence tools
Resilience, Adaptability, Goal Orientation: meeting quotas, handling rejection, continuous improvement