Strategic Business Development Skills Course in Doha, Qatar

Strategic Business Development Skills addresses how organizations find and secure new sources of growth, whether through new clients, new markets, partnerships or new services. The course distinguishes business development from day-to-day selling and shows how to align opportunity-seeking with organizational strategy. Participants learn to scan markets for opportunities, assess them against clear criteria, build and qualify a pipeline, map decision-makers in target organizations, and develop strategic partnerships and alliances. Proposal writing and responding to tenders, a key route to new business in the Gulf, receive particular attention.

Learning is practical and grounded in realistic B2B situations. Participants build an opportunity assessment, practice stakeholder mapping and consultative discovery conversations, and draft the core sections of a proposal for feedback. Tools introduced can be applied immediately to current opportunities. The course is available as a public course in Doha, live online, or as an in-house program for organizations strengthening their business development function.

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Distinguish strategic business development from transactional selling

• Identify and evaluate growth opportunities against strategic criteria

• Build, qualify and manage a business development pipeline

• Map decision-making units and stakeholders in target organizations

• Develop and structure strategic partnerships and alliances

• Write persuasive proposals and compliant tender responses

This course is aimed at professionals responsible for generating new business and growth opportunities.

• Business development managers and executives

• Sales managers moving into strategic roles

• Bid, proposal and tender professionals

• Partnership and alliance managers

• Entrepreneurs and SME owners

• Consultants and professional services managers

Module 1: The Business Development Role

• Business development versus sales and marketing

• Aligning business development with organizational strategy

• Growth routes: new clients, markets, services and partners

• Personal brand and professional networking

Module 2: Identifying and Assessing Opportunities

• Market scanning and opportunity sources

• Opportunity assessment criteria and scoring

• Ideal client profiles and target account lists

• Building a business case for pursuing an opportunity

Module 3: Pipeline and Stakeholder Management

• Pipeline stages, qualification and forecasting

• Qualification frameworks such as BANT and MEDDIC

• Mapping decision-makers, influencers and buying processes

• Consultative discovery meetings with prospective clients

Module 4: Partnerships and Alliances

• Types of partnership: referral, reseller, joint venture, consortium

• Selecting and evaluating potential partners

• Structuring partnership agreements and governance

• Managing partner relationships over time

Module 5: Proposals and Tenders

• Bid/no-bid decisions

• Analyzing tender requirements and evaluation criteria

• Structuring persuasive, client-focused proposals

• Pricing presentation and post-submission follow-up

Qatar's growing private sector, infrastructure programs and diversification efforts create opportunities for organizations that can identify and pursue new business systematically. Much commercial activity in the country involves formal tenders, partnerships and consortia between local and international firms. Strong business development skills help companies compete for this work and expand into new sectors, supporting the economic diversification and private-sector growth objectives of Qatar National Vision 2030.

Join a scheduled class at our training center in Doha or attend live online. For organizations, the course can run as an in-house program at your premises or online, tailored to your sector, case studies and timetable.