Summary of the role
The Business Development Manager (BDM) owns the front of the company's growth engine: turning inbound interest and outbound targeting into signed, well-scoped brand accounts. The role carries a new account from first contact through discovery, solution design, the formal pitch, the RFP/proposal, commercial negotiation, contract signing, and a clean handoff to the Commercial team for onboarding and ongoing management.
The BDM is the company's first impression to a prospective brand. They must understand the full enabler value chain deeply enough to speak credibly to a brand's e-commerce lead, marketing director, or country GM — and to translate we do end-to-end marketplace operations into a specific, costed, believable plan for that brand's catalogue, channels, and growth targets.
Key tasks and responsibilities:
Lead Generation & Pipeline Development
- Own the inbound inquiry queue: respond fast (target: same business day), qualify, and log every lead in the CRM/pipeline tracker.
- Build outbound pipeline: identify and prioritize target brands by category fit, GMV potential, channel fit, and margin.
- Cultivate referral and partner channels — marketplace partner managers, agencies, suppliers, existing-client referrals.
- Maintain a pipeline that is 3–5× the period target in value (industry-standard coverage), so the number does not rest on one or two deals.
Discovery, Solutioning & Sales Pitches
- Run structured discovery: the brand's current channel state, catalogue, margins, pain points, growth targets, and decision process/timeline.
- Translate discovery into a tailored solution drawing on the right mix of the ten departments — not a generic we do everything pitch.
- Build and deliver the pitch (with Creatives/Marketing/Data support): the brand's problem, our specific plan, projected uplift, proof from comparable clients, and commercial shape.
- Be the credible face of the company to senior brand stakeholders — fluent in marketplace mechanics, category dynamics, and our capability stack.
RFPs, Proposals & Commercial Scoping
- Manage formal RFP responses end to end: requirements capture, internal contributor coordination, timeline management, and a polished, on-time submission.
- Produce professional proposals with clear scope, deliverables, exclusions, pricing, and a 90-day roadmap.
- Scope the commercial shape (model, fees, setup costs) and route to Finance for approval before it goes to the client.
- Maintain a reusable proposal/RFP content library (capability statements, case studies, bios, pricing modules) to cut turnaround time
Negotiation, Contracts & Closing
- Lead negotiations on scope, price, and terms within guardrails agreed with Finance and the CEO.
- Coordinate contracts, NDAs, and service agreements with the Corporate Secretary and legal; manage redlines to signature.
- Drive deals to a clean Closed-Won: signed agreement, agreed pricing, confirmed scope, and a start date.
Handoff to Commercial & Onboarding Coordination
- Produce a Handoff Document for every won account: signed scope, pricing, all verbal commitments made during the sale, stakeholder map and communication preferences, and any risk flags.
- Run a joint handoff meeting (BDM + Commercial account lead, ≤30 minutes) so context transfers cleanly and the brand never has to repeat itself.
- Stay lightly involved through the first 30–90 days to ensure delivery matches what was sold.
Market Intelligence, Sales Enablement & CRM Hygiene
- Track competitor enablers, marketplace policy shifts, category trends, and pricing movements; feed insights back to leadership.
- Keep the CRM/pipeline impeccably current — stage, value, next step, and close date on every deal. Forecasts are only as good as the hygiene.
- Continuously improve the sales toolkit (decks, one-pagers, case studies, qualification scorecard) with Creatives/Data.
Qualifications & Skills:
- 4+ years in B2B business development / sales, ideally in e-commerce enablement, digital agency, marketplace, FMCG/retail, or SaaS sold to brands.
- Demonstrable record of closing new logos and owning the full cycle including RFPs and contracts.
- Fluent in marketplace mechanics (Lazada/Shopee/TikTok Shop) and the enabler value chain.
- Strong commercial/numerical literacy — can scope pricing and model uplift credibly.
- Executive presence: can hold a room with a brand's senior leadership.
- Excellent written communication (proposals, RFPs) and CRM discipline.
