Overview
You manage a business development team at American Express focused on acquiring new merchant accounts (businesses that accept Amex cards) in the Boston territory. You're coaching reps, running pipeline reviews, dealing with forecast accuracy, and likely carrying your own book of strategic accounts. This is a player-coach role in a large, established sales organization with defined processes and metrics.
Role Snapshot
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Role Type | Sales Manager (Player-Coach) |
| Sales Motion | Outbound-heavy with some inbound referrals |
| Deal Complexity | Consultative to Enterprise |
| Sales Cycle | 2-6 months (varies by merchant size) |
| Deal Size | Varies widely - SMB to enterprise merchants |
| Quota (est.) | Team quota: $2-5M+ annually in merchant revenue |
Company Context
Stage: Public (Fortune 500)
Size: 83,062 employees
Growth: Mature organization, steady expansion in merchant services
Market Position: One of the "big three" card networks alongside Visa/Mastercard, premium brand positioning
GTM Reality
Pipeline Sources:
- 70% Outbound - Your team prospecting directly to businesses, cold calling restaurant owners, retail chains, service businesses
- 20% Referrals - Existing cardholders, internal leads from consumer side
- 10% Inbound - Businesses reaching out (less common than Visa/MC due to higher merchant fees)
SDR/AE Structure: You manage the team doing both prospecting and closing
SE Support: Product specialists available for complex merchant processing setups
Competitive Landscape
Main Competitors: Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Square, Stripe, PayPal
How They Differentiate: Premium cardholder base (affluent customers), strong brand, dispute resolution favoring merchants, business card programs
Common Objections: "Your fees are too high," "We already take Visa/MC," "Our margins can't support another 3%," "Not enough Amex customers to justify it"
Win Themes: Access to premium customer segment, higher average transaction values, marketing co-op opportunities, charge card users (no credit limit)
What You'll Actually Do
Time Breakdown
Team Management (40%) | Your Own Deals (30%) | Internal Meetings (30%)
Key Activities
- 1-on-1s and coaching: Weekly calls with each rep reviewing their pipeline, listening to calls, helping unstick deals. You're diagnosing why conversion rates are low or cycles are stretching.
- Pipeline reviews: Thursday morning forecast calls where you scrub every deal, push reps on commit dates, explain to your director why deals slipped again.
- Your own strategic accounts: Carrying 5-10 larger prospects (multi-location retailers, restaurant groups) where you're directly managing the relationship because the deal size warrants manager involvement.
- Cross-functional coordination: Partnering with product, pricing, underwriting, and implementation teams. Merchant services deals die in contracting and setup if you don't stay on top of internal handoffs.
The Honest Reality
What's Hard
- The fee objection is real and constant - Amex merchant fees are typically 2.5-3.5%, higher than Visa/MC. You lose deals on price regularly, especially with low-margin businesses.
- Managing a team in a quota-driven environment means monthly/quarterly stress cycles. You're accountable for team performance and reps missing quota impacts your comp and standing.
- Large merchants have procurement processes that drag. A national retail chain can take 6-9 months from first conversation to signed contract, with legal reviews, pilot programs, and endless internal approvals.
- Your reps will churn - this is a grind role for BDRs. You're hiring and ramping new people while trying to hit team numbers.
- Internal bureaucracy - getting pricing exceptions approved, navigating underwriting for risky merchant categories, coordinating implementation timelines across departments.
What Success Looks Like
- Team hits 90%+ of quarterly quota consistently
- Rep retention above company average (keeping good performers)
- Pipeline coverage ratio of 3-4x (enough opportunities to weather slippage)
- Clean forecast accuracy - your commits actually close in the quarter you call them
Who You're Selling To
Primary Buyers:
- Business owners (restaurants, retail stores, service businesses)
- Finance/Operations leaders at mid-market and enterprise companies
- Procurement teams at large merchants
What They Care About:
- Processing fees and total cost (biggest factor)
- Customer demographics - do they actually have Amex cardholders?
- Contract terms, setup complexity, integration with existing POS systems
- Chargeback policies and dispute resolution
Requirements
- 3-5+ years B2B sales experience, with 1-2+ years managing a sales team
- Track record hitting team quota in a structured sales environment
- Experience coaching reps through consultative/complex sales cycles
- Comfortable with CRM hygiene, forecasting, and pipeline management discipline
- Ability to carry your own strategic accounts while managing a team
- Based in or willing to relocate to Boston area