Business Development Manager

About the Company
PhD iZone , part of  Elysium Group of Companies, Madurai , supports PhD scholars and research candidates with professional research, publication, academic, and related support services.
We are looking for an experienced and result-oriented  Business Development Manager (BDM)  to lead our business development and sales operations, drive revenue growth, manage the sales team, develop new business opportunities, and build strong relationships with research scholars, PhD candidates, academic professionals, and institutions.
About the Role
The  Business Development Manager  will be responsible for managing the overall business development and sales function of PhD iZone. The role involves leading the sales team, setting and achieving revenue and enrollment targets, developing sales strategies, monitoring the complete sales funnel, handling key client discussions, improving conversion rates, and coordinating with academic and research teams for successful client onboarding and servicing.
The ideal candidate should have strong leadership, sales strategy, negotiation, team management, client relationship, and revenue-growth capabilities.

Key Responsibilities
Sales & Business Development
Develop and execute business development strategies to achieve monthly, quarterly, and annual revenue targets.
Lead the overall sales function and ensure consistent achievement of business targets.
Identify new business opportunities and develop new lead-generation channels.
Build and maintain a strong sales pipeline from lead generation to enrollment and payment.
Handle high-value prospects and personally participate in important counselling, negotiation, and closing discussions.
Develop strategies to improve lead-to-enrollment conversion and overall sales performance.
Explore institutional, university, corporate, and research-related business opportunities.
Develop referral, partnership, and repeat-business channels.
Identify market trends and competitor activities and recommend appropriate business strategies.
Sales Team Leadership
Lead, manage, mentor, and motivate the BDE/inside sales team.
Set individual and team-wise targets and monitor performance against defined KPIs.
Conduct daily, weekly, and monthly sales reviews.
Monitor calling, counselling, follow-ups, proposals, negotiations, conversions, and collections.
Coach team members on sales techniques, objection handling, negotiation, and closing.
Identify performance gaps and implement improvement plans.
Establish and maintain a structured sales process and reporting system.
Ensure effective utilization of CRM and sales tracking systems.
Lead & Conversion Management
Monitor the complete sales funnel:  Lead → Connected → Qualified → Counselling → Proposal → Follow-up → Negotiation → Decision → Enrollment/Payment .
Analyse lead sources and identify high-performing channels.
Ensure timely follow-up of qualified and pending leads.
Develop and improve sales scripts, counselling approaches, objection-handling methods, and closing strategies.
Track lost opportunities and analyse reasons for non-conversion.
Implement strategies to improve conversion rates and average deal value.
Client Counselling & Relationship Management
Understand scholars' research requirements, PhD stage, publication needs, and project requirements.
Recommend appropriate PhD iZone services based on client requirements.
Handle key client meetings, presentations, negotiations, and closures.
Build long-term relationships with scholars and institutional clients.
Generate repeat business, referrals, and cross-selling opportunities.
Ensure a smooth handover from sales to the academic/research servicing team.
Business Growth & Strategy
Identify opportunities for expanding PhD iZone's service portfolio and market…