Who will most likely qualify for membership in the Business Development Professionals Alliance (BDPA):
- Professional service providers or business owners from mid-market B2Bs
- B2B Companies: directors of business development
- Commercial Lenders/Business Bankers: presidents, C-level executives, EVPs/SVPs
- Business Attorneys: partners or principals
- CPAs: partners, principals or presidents
- Commercial Insurance Brokers: managing partners, principals or presidents
- Valuation Firms: partners, principals or presidents
- Commercial Printers: partners, principals or presidents
- Commercial Real Estate Brokers: managing partners, principals or CEOs
- Consulting Firms: managing partners, principals or CEOs
- Investment Bankers: managing partners, principals or CEOs
- IT (Networking, Security, CRM, SaaS, Custom Solutions): managing partners, principals or CEOs
- Marketing/PR Agencies: managing partners, principals or CEOs
- Industrial Markets: directors of business development
- Other B2B Channel Partners: directors of business development
Who will not be considered for membership:
“Direct sellers” (a.k.a. network marketers/multi-level marketers/MLM); tradespeople; most B2B/B2C inside sales and most B2C outside salespeople; residential-only real estate agents; mortgage brokers; consumer-only insurance agents; travel agents; consumer-only bankers; consumer attorneys, such as personal injury, bankruptcy, criminal and family law; health and fitness industry workers, including doctors, nurses, dentists, chiropractors, mental health practitioners, personal trainers, and home healthcare agency employees; national/regional firm financial planners and advisers; oil and gas and real estate investment salespeople; most franchisees; non-business owners; academics; most entertainers; most professional athletes; rank-and-file non-profit and public-sector employees and those who sell to the public sector.
Who might qualify for membership (on a case-by-case basis):
Executives of non-profits with a meaningful number of business owners and corporate executives as members with whom they are in regular, meaningful contact; certain government officials, such as those elected or appointed to office and those in procurement; media workers, such as broadcast news anchors, broadcast reporters, newspaper and magazine reporters and columnists, and local business bloggers; boutique financial planners and advisers; certain high-end B2C salespeople, such as those selling or leasing luxury vehicles, aircraft and luxury watercraft; certain franchisees who sell B2B products and services; and professional athletes who own a B2B business with at least ten employees.