Top 12 Business Development Representative Skills to Put on Your Resume
In today's crowded hiring arena, a Business Development Representative needs more than charm and hustle. You need demonstrable skills that signal momentum, rigor, and the ability to open doors. The list below zeroes in on practical capabilities that move pipeline and build trust—skills employers actually scan for on a resume.
Business Development Representative Skills
- Salesforce
- HubSpot
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator
- Market Research
- Cold Calling
- Email Marketing
- CRM Software
- Negotiation
- Lead Generation
- Networking
- Presentation
- Data Analysis
1. Salesforce
Salesforce is a cloud-based CRM platform that centralizes sales activities, customer data, and workflows so you can track pipeline, automate touchpoints, and coordinate with marketing and success in one place.
Why It's Important
It sharpens lead tracking, forecasting, and outreach. Less guesswork, more follow-through. A cleaner pipeline and fewer missed handoffs.
How to Improve Salesforce Skills
Make it work the way you sell. Then let it do the heavy lifting.
Customize your pipeline: Align stages, fields, and page layouts to your actual sales motion and ICP. Clear definitions curb sandbagging and confusion.
Automate the repetitive: Use Flow for routing, task creation, alerts, and follow-ups. Retire legacy Process Builder where possible.
Clean data relentlessly: Enforce required fields, validation rules, duplicate and matching rules. Schedule routine audits; use enrichment tools where policy allows.
Prioritize with scoring: Set up Einstein Lead Scoring or a simple points model tied to intent, fit, and engagement. Work the hottest first.
Integrate your stack: Connect marketing automation, chat, calling, and support so context flows with the record. Notes and activities should live in Salesforce, not scattered elsewhere.
Keep learning: Use Trailhead modules and internal enablement to stay current on features and best practices.
Done right, Salesforce becomes a force multiplier for speed, focus, and conversion.
How to Display Salesforce Skills on Your Resume
2. HubSpot
HubSpot is an all-in-one platform for CRM, marketing, and sales engagement. It keeps contacts tidy, sequences humming, and reporting within reach.
Why It's Important
For a BDR, it streamlines prospecting and nurturing. Every touch gets tracked, cadences stay consistent, and insights roll up cleanly.
How to Improve HubSpot Skills
Work the CRM daily: Keep contact and company timelines updated. Log calls, notes, and outcomes so nothing slips.
Automate with Workflows and Sequences: Trigger tasks, handoffs, and emails based on behavior. Free your calendar for real conversations.
Personalize at scale: Use tokens and snippets smartly. Reference role, industry, and pain points—never generic spray-and-pray.
Tune lead scoring: Align points to buying signals and fit. Revisit monthly; prune noise.
Use the Social and Prospects tools: Monitor mentions, engage where your buyers hang out, and surface visiting accounts for timely outreach.
Standardize with Playbooks: Create call guides and objection handling notes inside records. Consistency wins.
Measure, then adjust: Review sequence step performance, meeting rates, and pipeline influence. Kill underperformers, double down on winners.
How to Display HubSpot Skills on Your Resume
3. LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Sales Navigator helps you find, filter, and follow the right people and accounts, then reach out with context that actually lands.
Why It's Important
It narrows the search to decision-makers, surfaces buyer intent cues, and fuels personalized outreach. Less wandering, more winning.
How to Improve LinkedIn Sales Navigator Skills
Dial in your ICP: Use advanced filters (function, seniority, headcount, tech, geography). Save the searches you’ll reuse.
Set sales preferences: Teach the algorithm your sweet spot so recommendations get sharper.
Write InMail that earns replies: Reference a trigger (post, funding, role change). Keep it short. Lead with value, not a pitch.
Save leads and accounts: Let alerts flag job moves, company news, and buyer activity. Strike while it’s relevant.
Engage publicly: Comment thoughtfully, share relevant insights, and warm up prospects before the ask.
Sync with your CRM: Push notes and connections so your team sees the whole picture.
Keep refining: Review response rates and lead lists monthly. Trim the deadwood, expand what works.
Leverage training: Use platform tutorials and internal workshops to master features like Relationship Explorer and Buyer Intent signals.
How to Display LinkedIn Sales Navigator Skills on Your Resume
4. Market Research
Market research gathers and interprets buyer, competitor, and market signals to shape who you target, what you say, and where you spend effort.
Why It's Important
It cuts through assumptions. You find real demand pockets, craft sharper messaging, and choose channels with intent.
How to Improve Market Research Skills
Define the target: Build segments by firmographics, technographics, and problems worth solving. Write it down. Share it.
Mine analytics: Use GA4 and your CRM to see which pages, campaigns, and industries convert. Follow the data trail.
Ask directly: Run brief surveys and interviews with customers and lost deals. Short, pointed questions beat long guesswork.
Map competitors: Track pricing, positioning, proof, and product gaps. Keep a simple matrix current.
Watch the wider market: Read industry reports and analyst notes. Spot changes early.
Listen socially: Monitor conversations, complaints, and praise across networks and communities. Real talk, unfiltered.
Iterate: Revisit quarterly. Markets shift; your research should too.
How to Display Market Research Skills on Your Resume
5. Cold Calling
Reaching out to prospects who haven’t raised a hand yet. Interruptions done respectfully, with relevance, to create new conversations.
Why It's Important
It sparks net-new pipeline, tests messaging in the wild, and uncovers needs not visible online. Still one of the fastest feedback loops in sales.
How to Improve Cold Calling Skills
Prep matters: Research the account, role, and likely priorities. Two minutes of context saves the call.
Lead with a hook: Open with a sharp, specific problem or trigger. Ditch long intros.
Listen like a pro: Ask one question at a time. Paraphrase what you heard. Dig gently.
Handle objections: Anticipate the top five. Acknowledge, probe, then pivot to value.
Follow up: Most wins come after multiple touches. Call, email, and connect—without spamming.
Respect rules: Honor do-not-call lists, local regulations, and time zones. Professionalism first.
Review your calls: Use call recordings or coaching tools to refine tone, pacing, and questions.
How to Display Cold Calling Skills on Your Resume
6. Email Marketing
Targeted, timely emails that build interest, nurture trust, and earn replies. Less fluff. More outcomes.
Why It's Important
It scales personalized outreach, warms cold accounts, and accelerates handoffs to AEs. Measurable and adaptable.
How to Improve Email Marketing Skills
Segment tightly: Group by persona, industry, and stage. One-size emails underperform.
Personalize beyond the name: Reference a pain, goal, or trigger unique to that prospect.
Write subject lines that earn the open: Clear, curiosity-sparking, no gimmicks.
Keep design light: Mobile-first, skimmable, with a single, clear call to action.
Test relentlessly: A/B subject lines, openings, CTAs, and send times. Small changes, big lift.
Mind deliverability: Clean lists, authenticate domains, and prune non-engagers.
Measure what matters: Track replies, qualified meetings, and influenced pipeline—not just opens.
How to Display Email Marketing Skills on Your Resume
7. CRM Software
CRM tools record interactions, standardize workflows, and make every handoff traceable. Names like Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 are common in BDR stacks.
Why It's Important
Centralized data, coordinated outreach, cleaner reporting. You move faster and lose fewer deals in the cracks.
How to Improve CRM Software Skills
Integrate key tools: Connect calling, email, chat, and marketing so activity auto-logs.
Customize for clarity: Trim fields, align stages, and build views that match how you work.
Automate routine steps: Routing, reminders, and handoffs should fire without manual effort.
Harden reporting: Standardize definitions and dashboards. If it isn’t measured the same way, it isn’t comparable.
Go mobile: Update notes and tasks on the move. Fresh data beats end-of-day memory.
Train and reinforce: Short refreshers, playbooks, and office hours keep adoption high.
Protect data quality: Required fields, validation, and regular dedupe cycles keep records trustworthy.
How to Display CRM Software Skills on Your Resume
8. Negotiation
Shaping terms with prospects and partners so both sides can say yes—and stay happy after the ink dries.
Why It's Important
It unlocks value without burning trust. You trade smartly, protect margins, and set the tone for a long relationship.
How to Improve Negotiation Skills
Prep your BATNA: Know your best alternative and walk-away points. Confidence follows clarity.
Listen for interests: Beneath positions lie real needs. Surface them, then propose swaps that fit.
Communicate crisply: Simple language, no jargon shields. Anchor with evidence.
Use trades, not discounts: Ask for access, volume, longer terms, or references in exchange for concessions.
Manage emotions: Stay curious, not combative. Pace the conversation.
Document agreements: Summarize decisions and next steps so momentum doesn’t stall.
For deeper dives, look to well-known negotiation frameworks and professional development resources focused on practical exercises and role plays.
How to Display Negotiation Skills on Your Resume
9. Lead Generation
Systematically finding and warming the right buyers so sales conversations start at a jog, not a crawl.
Why It's Important
No leads, no pipeline. Strong lead gen fills calendars, feeds forecasts, and steadies revenue.
How to Improve Lead Generation Skills
Target precisely: Build lists that mirror your ICP using firmographic and intent signals.
Create useful content: Case studies, calculators, benchmarks—assets that solve problems and earn attention.
Tune email and sequences: Personal, concise, and aligned to buyer stages. Test and refine.
Use social smartly: Sales Navigator for prospecting, company and personal profiles for credibility, and consistent engagement.
Show up at events: Webinars, conferences, and community roundtables. Lead with value; follow with a crisp CTA.
Ask for referrals: Happy customers know others like them. Make it easy to introduce you.
Run paid with intent: Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads targeted by keyword, industry, and title. Track to opportunities, not just clicks.
Tighten CRM loops: Score, route, and nurture. Speed-to-lead wins more than clever copy.
How to Display Lead Generation Skills on Your Resume
10. Networking
Building a web of real relationships—peers, partners, customers—that opens doors and shortens cycles.
Why It's Important
Warm introductions bypass noise. They speed trust, sharpen intel, and create compounding opportunity.
How to Improve Networking Skills
Level up your LinkedIn: Tight headline, proof-packed About section, and activity that signals expertise.
Attend the right rooms: Industry events, niche communities, and webinars where your buyers gather.
Join associations: Contribute, don’t just lurk. Panels, posts, and peer help get you noticed.
Offer value first: Share resources, intros, and insights. Reciprocity follows.
Follow up fast: Reference specifics from the conversation. Suggest a next step while energy is high.
Use tools thoughtfully: Contact sharing, event apps, and note-taking—organized beats ad hoc.
Be consistent: A few meaningful touches each week beat sporadic bursts.
How to Display Networking Skills on Your Resume
11. Presentation
Clear, persuasive communication that frames problems, positions solutions, and earns the next meeting.
Why It's Important
It converts curiosity into conviction. People buy clarity—and confidence.
How to Improve Presentation Skills
Start with the audience: What do they care about? Shape your narrative to their metrics and motivations.
Structure for flow: Hook, problem, impact, proof, next step. Cut the filler.
Design slides to serve: Few words, strong visuals, readable fonts. Slides support you—they’re not the script.
Practice out loud: Rehearse transitions and stories. Record and review. Trim where you ramble.
Invite engagement: Questions, quick polls, or a short demo moment. Make it a two-way street.
Nail the Q&A: Anticipate tough questions. Answer directly, then bridge back to value.
How to Display Presentation Skills on Your Resume
12. Data Analysis
Turning raw numbers into direction. Gathering, cleaning, and visualizing data so decisions get sharper.
Why It's Important
It reveals what’s working, what’s wasteful, and where to push next. Patterns replace hunches.
How to Improve Data Analysis Skills
Master core tools: Excel or Sheets for analysis, your CRM for dashboards, and a BI tool like Tableau or Power BI for visuals.
Know your data: Definitions, sources, and gaps. Document fields and make sure teams use them consistently.
Raise data quality: Standardize formats, remove duplicates, and set validation rules. Bad data poisons insights.
Learn basic stats: Averages, distributions, significance, and correlation. Enough to avoid false conclusions.
Build useful dashboards: Meetings booked, stage conversion, cycle time, and sourced pipeline. Update automatically.
Practice weekly: Analyze a campaign, sequence, or segment each week. Share takeaways.
Stay current: New metrics and methods emerge. Follow analyst communities and internal revops guidance.
Tell the story: Present insights with context and a recommended action. Data plus direction.
How to Display Data Analysis Skills on Your Resume
