A Day in the Life of a BizDev

Posted by. farabi disrupt. July 23, 2019

BEEP. BEEP. BEEEEP. 

I open my eyes and look at my phone. 

9 am. 

Is it time already?

As I make my way to the bathroom and absent-mindedly squeeze shampoo onto my toothbrush, I mentally review the tasks I had set for myself the previous night. I’ll have to go to Motijheel today. The thought is even more repulsive than the taste of Head & Shoulders in my mouth. As a resident of North Dhaka, the journey to the South is one that daunts even the bravest of souls; it takes half an hour on a weekend, and two-three hours on a week day. Go figure. Ah, well. At least I’ll get to meet lots of prospects. Because despite the journey being arduous beyond measure, the reward is equally great; hundreds of head offices of various companies all within a stone’s throw of one another – a salesperson’s dream come true. So, without further ado, I call my morning Pathao and head off to work.

After completing the morning meeting and filling out all documentation, my team and I set out for the day. We walk to the main road, where we wait for the right bus to pass by. I say “pass by” because buses don’t stop here; they infinitesimally slow down when we flag them, and we hop right on. It’s probably not the most dignified way to travel wearing formal clothes, but it’s definitely the most efficient. During the journey, I find myself fading in and out of consciousness. I’m not sure if I’m falling asleep or passing out from the intense heat, and I don’t really care either. At least I’m not having to sit idle and get bored to death. Soon enough, my colleagues wake me up from my slumber, and we start doing what we do best: prospecting. 

The first place we visit is a bank that we’ve been trying to set up a meeting with for the last two months. The man in charge is older than dirt and sweeter than honey, and is too kind to tell me he doesn’t remember what services I’m selling. I spend the better part of an hour reminding him of what we do, and trying to convince him to get things moving. He ends the meeting by offering us tea. “Oh no, it’s okay, thank you,” I say. I’m parched. Please give me the tea. The kind man listens to my eyes rather than my voice, and orders the tea anyway. “You really didn’t have to!” I say. God bless you, old man. Let’s just hope you’re as generous when it comes to doing business.

We start heading towards our next target, when we chance upon a financial institution unbeknownst to any of us. As we are in the business of selling digital services, almost everyone is a potential client, and we have no reservations about meeting anyone. We walk right in, and set up the impromptu presentation, doing our research of their institution on the fly. God bless Google. The lady we meet is sharp as a tack and formal almost to the point of being rude. Excellent, she won’t mince words, and will move quickly. To my surprise, she too offers us tea at the end of our meeting, and I have no qualms about having a second cup. 

The day goes by in a blur of presentations, interactions with all kinds of people from all walks of life, and cups upon cups of tea. As the sun begins to take on a reddish hue, we decide we’ve done enough for the day, and grab another bus to head back to the office, where we document all meetings and inform our superiors of any mockups or demos that we may require.

Once I’ve left the office, I make my regular stop at the local convenience store to get some groceries and snacks for home. I am exhausted by now, and quickly grab everything I need and head to the checkout line to have my items scanned. 

Pepsi. BEEP. Cereal. BEEP. Cheese. BEEP. Bread. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. 

Why is he scanning the bread so many times?

 BEEP. BEEP. He’s not even stopping. 

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. 

This sound is getting annoying. 

BEEP. BEEP. BEEEEEP.

I open my eyes and look at my phone. 

9 am. 

Is it time already?

Written by Mahmood Chowdhury, Business Development Executive