Business Development Manager Interview Questions Guide

Introduction

Hiring the right Business Development Manager in Sales is critical to driving pipeline growth, expanding market reach, and converting opportunities into revenue. A strong BDM balances strategic planning with hands-on selling and partner development.

This guide provides a structured set of Business Development Manager interview questions, including basic, intermediate, and advanced prompts, plus targeted pre-screening interview questions ideal for one-way video interviews. Use these to standardise early screening and focus live interviews on fit and culture.

Business Development Manager Interview Questions

Basic Business Development Manager Interview Questions

• How would you describe the core responsibilities of a Business Development Manager?
• What methods do you use to identify new sales opportunities?
• Explain how you qualify leads before passing them to the sales team.
• How do you build and maintain relationships with prospects and partners?
• What CRM tools and sales technologies have you used and why?
• Describe a time you achieved a sales target. What steps did you take to reach it?
• How do you manage your time when balancing prospecting, meetings, and follow-ups?
• What key metrics do you track to measure business development success?

Intermediate Business Development Manager Interview Questions

• Give an example of a prospecting campaign you designed. What channels did you use and what were the results?
• Describe a complex negotiation you led. How did you prepare and what outcome did you secure?
• How do you approach territory planning and account segmentation for maximum coverage?
• Explain your process for building a sales pipeline from cold outreach to closed deals.
• How have you collaborated with marketing to improve lead quality and conversion rates?
• Share a time you re-engaged a dormant account. What strategy worked and why?
• How do you set realistic sales forecasts and adjust them when data changes?
• Describe how you evaluate and prioritise partnership opportunities.
• What methods do you use to coach or influence internal sales teams to follow up on leads?
• How do you track and report progress to senior leadership or stakeholders?

Advanced Business Development Manager Interview Questions

• Outline a multi-year market entry strategy you developed. How did you assess risk and opportunity?
• Describe how you design an incentive model to align channel partners with company goals.
• How do you use data and analytics to optimise lead scoring and conversion rates?
• Explain a time you architected a scalable process to grow revenue across multiple regions.
• What frameworks do you use for pricing strategy when entering competitive markets?
• Discuss how you evaluate and integrate strategic partnerships, including contractual and operational considerations.
• How would you restructure a sales pipeline with declining velocity and rising churn?
• Describe your approach to building and mentoring a business development team for sustained growth.
• How do you balance short-term quota attainment with long-term account development?
• Share your experience with cross-functional initiatives to launch new products or services commercially.

Pre-Screening Video Interview Questions for Business Development Manager

These pre-screening interview questions are ideal for one-way video interviews on ScreeningHive. Use them to evaluate communication, sales thinking, cultural fit, and role-specific experience before scheduling live interviews.

1. Please introduce yourself and summarise your experience as a Business Development Manager in Sales.

   This question evaluates clarity, relevant experience, and whether the candidate can present a concise professional summary suitable for client or partner interactions.

2. Describe your most successful deal, including your role, the strategy you used, and the result.

   This prompt assesses deal management skills, strategic thinking, measurable impact, and the candidate's ability to articulate contributions.

3. How do you source and qualify leads? Give a recent example and the criteria you applied.

   Use this to check the candidate's lead generation methods, qualification framework, and attention to metrics like conversion rate and deal size.

4. Explain a time you overcame a major obstacle during a sales cycle and what you learned.

   This question reveals problem solving, resilience, negotiation tactics, and ability to learn from setbacks.

5. What CRM processes and reporting do you rely on to prioritise your pipeline and forecast revenue?

   This evaluates technical competence with CRM systems, discipline in pipeline management, and approach to forecasting accuracy.

Conclusion

This collection of Business Development Manager interview questions supports hiring managers, recruiters, and HR teams in the Sales industry to assess candidates at every stage. The structured basic, intermediate, and advanced prompts, combined with pre-screening interview questions, help identify top performers quickly and consistently.

ScreeningHive enables efficient one-way video interviews, faster screening, and standardised evaluations so hiring teams can focus live interviews on candidate fit and strategy. Start your hiring process with a streamlined approach and consider a FREE sign-up to begin using one-way video interviews for scalable pre-screening.