Business Development Representative - Data & AI

Sikich is a professional services firm that emphasizes growth and innovation, seeking a Business Development Representative for their Data & AI team. The BDR will be responsible for driving pipeline growth by managing outreach, qualifying prospects, and supporting account-based marketing strategies to generate business opportunities.

Responsibilities:

• Identify, qualify, and nurture high-potential accounts to grow the overall value of the sales pipeline
• Accelerate the movement of prospects through early funnel stages, from initial engagement to first meeting
• Monitor and report on pipeline value and prospect progression as key performance indicators
• Build and maintain a pipeline with a minimum number of target companies and related individuals, as defined by team goals
• Categorize targets based on the potential business value to Sikich, prioritizing high-value opportunities
• Collaborate with services and sales teams to apply clear criteria for adding organizations to the target list
• Ensure every target account is linked to the DAi service catalog, strengthening the relevance of messaging at both the organizational and individual level
• Conduct thorough research to confirm targets meet sales qualification standards, including monitoring industry news, financial performance, and organizational changes
• Keep target lists accurate and current in Microsoft CRM
• Continuously monitor prospect activity, including financial performance, job changes, strategy shifts, and public announcements
• Respond quickly to major changes at any prospect with targeted, timely outreach
• Use automation and modern technology (such as Copilot, GPT, and other AI tools) to support research and monitoring
• Demonstrate a strong understanding of Sikich DAi’s go-to-market strategy and service catalog to ensure messaging is relevant and reaches the right individuals
• Collaborate with marketing to measure and improve campaign effectiveness
• Ensure all communications are tailored, authentic, and do not sound AI-generated
• Manage contact records and target lists in Microsoft CRM, ensuring data is current and accurate
• Track engagement data from marketing systems (e.g., Marketo), LinkedIn, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator
• Proactively conduct outreach via phone, email, LinkedIn, and other tools to identify opportunities aligned with DAi’s services
• Take initial phone calls and organize first meetings with qualified prospects, serving as the first point of contact in the sales process
• Be prepared to hold conversations with C-suite executives, focusing on the value of meeting with Sikich DAi and securing an appointment
• Strive to get target individuals interested and excited about engaging with Sikich DAi
• Execute ABM activities to build and maintain an active sales funnel at required quantity levels
• Engage in high-level nurture activity, including re-engaging prospects who have previously interacted but failed to reengage
• Nurture existing customer organizations to uncover additional opportunities for engagement
• Demonstrate creativity in outreach, composing targeted messaging to understand and address reasons for lack of engagement and reactivate relationships
• Establish and maintain strong, long-term partnerships with clients, ensuring they remain active recipients of outreach and are represented in the pipeline over time
• Work closely with marketing to leverage social media, podcasts, and other digital channels as part of a comprehensive strategy to reach and nurture prospects
• Compose friendly, professional, and recipient-relevant communications for outreach and follow-up
• Demonstrate excellent email communication skills, as much of the outreach will be performed electronically

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent years of experience
• 3+ years of experience in a consulting environment
• Experience managing targeted lists and conducting research for sales qualification
• Proficiency with Microsoft CRM, Marketo, LinkedIn, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator
• Strong collaboration skills with marketing teams
• Excellent communication skills for professional outreach, especially written communication that feels authentic and personal
• Ability to organize and conduct initial prospect meetings and calls, including conversations with C-suite executives
• Understanding of account-based marketing and pipeline management
• Ability to leverage and automate processes using modern technology and AI tools
• Values driven – You embody and model absolute integrity and servant leadership and you have a bias for action and continuous innovation
• Uncompromising problem solver – You see opportunities in every business challenge and can develop, articulate and implement solutions
• Collaboration – You are a relationship builder across all levels of the organization and across all business units
• Instills trust – You do what you say, without ego, and you follow through on commitments consistently and credibly
• Impact & influence – You are relentlessly focused on making a difference and can gain support for ideas, proposals and solutions. You get others to act, with or without formal authority, to advance initiatives and objectives
• Experience with social media and podcast marketing is a plus