Business Development Specialists are generally responsible for moving qualified sales leads through the initial stages of the sales pipeline. Business Development Specialists focus on ‘outbound’ leads by identifying, connecting, and qualifying leads that have particularly high buying potential. Doing so requires them to research, proactively reach out, and develop knowledge of particular markets and customer segments. Context is important to consider when hiring Business Development Specialists. Some key factors include prospecting volume, industry, and customer persona. This template contains interview content for a Business Development Specialist who needs to do high-volume prospecting in professional services and technology industries.
+
Active Listening
+
Prospecting
+
Relationship Building
+
Business Acumen
+
Organizational Skills
+
Influencing
Business Development Specialist interview questions that effectively assess core skills
While it might seem difficult to figure out whether a candidate will succeed as a BD Specialist in your company, a well-developed set of interview questions for Business Development Specialists will tap into the core skills required to perform in a BD Specialist role.
But where do you start? How do you develop a set of great set of Business Development Specialist interview questions?
The best interview questions come directly from a job analysis. A job analysis is an evidence-based method that focuses on assessing key features of a particular role. These features describe both the job itself (i.e., tasks, responsibilities, and performance objectives), and the characteristics required of someone to perform successfully in the job (e.g., knowledge, skills, and abilities). A job analysis forms the basis of many HR practices such as compensation, performance management, and - you guessed it - how to interview and hire candidates.
Business Development Specialist interview questions and answers
At Hireguide, we’ve done the job analysis work for you. We’ve used the method to identify a core set of skills associated with the Business Development Specialist role, and we’ve developed and validated a list of behavioral, situational, and work sample questions with answer guides that tap directly into those core skills.
And that’s not all. We’ve compiled these questions and created a Business Development Specialist interview template for you that integrates other interviewing best practices. Skills-based interviews will not only help you make higher quality and evidence-based hiring decisions, but research also shows they enhance fairness and reduce bias in your hiring process.
Business Development Specialist interview guide
BD Specialist sample interview question 1
Who do you think our target audience/customer is for [insert company's product/service], and what tactics would you use to stay up-to-date with their needs and market trends?
Answer Tips
- Accurately describes your company's main customer profile for product/service
- Elaborates on how your product/service addresses main customer's needs
- Shares tactics for researching customer needs and market trends
- Identifies relevant data sources to obtain up-to-date information
- Suggests using a CRM tool to monitor needs and trends
BD Specialist sample interview question 2
We're going to do a short, two-minute enactment of a prospecting call. Imagine I am a potential customer for [insert company’s product/service]. How would you run this cold call?
Answer Tips
- Asks questions to learn about the customer's needs
- Uses active listening skills (e.g., repeats identified needs back to customer)
- Identifies whether the product/service is a good fit for the customer
- Tailors the call to the customer's needs and focuses on the solution
- Is warm, personable, and authentic
BD Specialist sample interview question 3
From your past experience, describe how you have handled working with customers from diverse cultural or demographic backgrounds.
Answer Tips
- Communicates the value of working with clients from various cultural backgrounds
- Treats all with customers with courtesy, respect and empathy regardless of background
- Highlights key customer differences they've encountered in the past
- Sought out cultural-specific customer knowledge in the past when appropriate
- Seeks diverse customers and advocates for a diverse customer base
