A Day In The Life: Business Development and COVID

At Fios Genomics, our team is currently working remotely. We caught up with Tanya Bykova, one of our Business Development Managers, to learn more about her days with travel currently on pause.

What does your day look like as a Business Developer?

At the time of writing, during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, everyone from the Fios team is working remotely, and my daily routine has changed in several ways. Whilst I am not preparing for trips at the moment, my days are spent on calls to existing clients to speak about new exciting projects. I am also discussing with potential new clients about our capabilities and exploring areas we could assist them with. I prepare technical proposals and quotes for clients and follow-up with inbound enquiries from our website, just as I normally would when working from the office. I always make sure to keep myself up to date with the current industry developments in research and new technologies: this helps me in better assisting our clients.

What keeps you motivated when working remotely?

Going for a morning run or a walk before work really sets me up for the day. Having a dedicated workspace also helps to maintain the divide between work and home life. Having my workspace organised and looking the way I like it makes me want to be where I am and puts my mind in the right “work mode”. Whilst I’m working, my office door is always closed and that allows me to work with no distractions and really focus on my task at hand. Setting regular breaks through the day is also crucial, as your mind needs to rest every now and then. In that way, I stay more productive. It is important to maintain the lines between home and work life as unblurred as possible.

How do you keep yourself organised as a Business Development Manager?

I set myself daily milestones and tasks as well as long term ones. Having a sense of achievement completing those milestones and monitoring your own progress on a day to day basis really helps to stay motivated and on track. I swear by my diary and a to-do list software to keep myself on track and to make sure that everything gets done.

What was your favourite thing about working at the office?

Being with my colleagues and the office chat of course! Even with working from home, we have daily catch-ups and always make time for a chat as well, discussing our plans and business successes. It may not be the same as being in the office, but it ensures we stay focused and engaged with the team.

How do you stay in touch with clients?

There is a variety of ways we keep in touch with our clients, mainly this is via email and phone. In pre-COVID19 times we would be traveling often for face-to-face meetings;  nowadays we have switched to conference calls and it is working very well for us.

What is the one thing people don’t realise about business development?

It is much more than just a sales job, especially in a service provider company; it is understanding your client’s requirements and the ways they work, recognising the market and different work cultures. It involves being up to date with our clients’ needs in terms of bioinformatics, to then source and prepare examples of our work in their area: all to showcase what we can do and how we can support their research. You have to be prepared to put in a lot of effort, time and self-motivation. However, it is a very satisfying job and all the effort proves worth it at the end when we see our clients’ successes in research.

What do you think are the key skills required?

Having a range of skills in this job is essential. For example, being resilient, methodical and having an analytical mindset is just as important as having creative thinking, being approachable, a great team player and self-aware. Organisation and prioritisation are key, as you have to be able to manage different tasks at once.

Of course, this is not really a skill, but in order to be successful in business development it helps to enjoy what you do. This is what really motivates you in doing a great job, and can be really evident and inspiring to others.

Find out more about Fios

Visit our Services page or get in contact with our team today about your research.