Job Description

Business Development Representative (BDR)

Last year, I had the realization that I want to work in the real estate field when I grow up. So, I knew I needed to land an internship at a real estate company that upcoming summer. As I searched through different employment websites, I came across a job posting to be a Business Development Representative (BDR) at a private real estate investment company in Los Angeles called ESI Ventures. By only looking at the title of the job, it sounded intimidating, so I decided to do a quick Google search. But after finding out what a BDR actually did, it seemed way simpler than I thought. 

A BDR is a sales representative in charge of finding new business opportunities for a company. This involves doing research on prospects that may be good to target, tracking down the contact information of the decision-makers of those prospects, and reaching out to them via cold calling or cold emailing. The end goal of my job was to find potential tenants for a vacant space in one of ESI Ventures’ buildings and put them into contact with our company’s CEO. It was a tedious process, but a rewarding one in the end. 

In order for you to really understand what the job of a BDR entails, I’ll outline the three main duties of the job: 

• Researcher 
• Mediator 
• Salesperson

Researcher 

Finding different businesses to target and reach out to required quite a bit of research. The three main things I needed to research were:

• The demographics of the surrounding area of the building
• Businesses that would be a good fit to occupy the vacant space
• The contact information of the primary decision-maker of the business

The type of business we were looking for to fill the vacant space was a restaurant. So, I first started by doing research on the market around the property to see what kind of restaurant would prosper in the area. As the demographic of the area was a little on the younger side and the space was large with high ceilings, I figured a brewery or brewpub would be the best option. Next, I drafted up a list of around 150 breweries and brewpubs in Los Angeles that could occupy our space. 

This is when the research really started. After I made the list of breweries and brewpubs, I had to track down the contact information of the owner, president, or general manager of the restaurant I was targeting. This meant I needed to find 150 phone numbers and/or emails, which is no easy task. I would search through the restaurant's website, social media pages, company software, or even call the restaurant and ask hosts or hostesses if they had their information. This would take hours sometimes, and this was the “easy” part of getting a deal done. In the end, I was able to locate all the numbers and/or emails.

Mediator 

I know what you’re thinking. What does a BDR have to do with being a mediator? Well, let me give you an example. 

One time, there was a brewpub I was targeting called Border X Brewing. After looking on the company website and searching on Google, I couldn't find any relevant phone numbers or emails. So, I decided to give their location in Bell, CA, a call. I got on the phone with one of the hostesses and asked her if she had the owner’s contact information. She said she did but didn't usually give it out. I explained the opportunity I was presenting, and she told me that the owner had mentioned the idea of relocating to her. Because of this, she made an exception and gave me the owner’s phone number.

Immediately after, I gave the owner a call and gave him a brief introduction of myself and why I was calling. He disregarded everything I said and asked me, “who are you and how did you get my number?” I reintroduced myself and told him that one of the hostesses at the brewpub gave it to me. He then freaked out about the fact that one of his employees gave out his personal information and was taking it out on me. I reassured him that it was for good measure as it was a business opportunity for him, and I meant no harm. After a little back and forth, I was able to calm him down and have a meaningful conversation. Like the hostess said, he was looking into relocating, and I was able to set up a meeting with him and our CEO. This type of situation happened quite a few times during my time as a BDR with some going south and other times where I was able to mediate the situation and make something out of it. Like I did in this one. 

Troubleshooter 

The last and most important job of a BDR is being a troubleshooter. This means being able to identify where you're going wrong in a sales pitch and making the necessary adjustments. I learned this early working as a BDR. 

When I started my first round of calls, I would give my sales pitch right off the bat with no introduction or transitions. This tactic was way too gimmicky and sounded rehearsed. It led to very little interest in the space I was trying to rent out. So, I had to take a step back and reevaluate my pitch to see how I could make it more effective. 

This led to me starting my calls off with a very direct and simple question which was, “are you guys looking to expand to another location any time soon?” This question was straight to the point and gave me direct insight on whether they were even interested in occupying the vacant space before I had to explain it. And yes, there were people that gave me a straight-up no, but that just saved me time. Most of the time, they would tell me they are looking to expand and would ask me to tell them about the offering. That is when I would pitch the open space to them with the hope that it would spark interest. In the end, I found that this method was a lot more effective than the previous one I was using, and it led to me putting over 50 breweries and brewpubs into contact with our CEO.

Passive Sentences: 0%

Flesch Reading Ease: 67.4

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 8.6