Manager, Business Development - Salt Lake City

Overview

You prospect and close net-new merchant accounts for American Express in the Salt Lake City territory. Your job is to convince businesses to accept Amex cards (or expand their Amex acceptance) by selling the value of the cardholder base and premium customer demographic. You work cross-functionally with pricing, product, and operations teams to structure deals and bring solutions to market.

Role Snapshot

Company Context

Stage: Public (NYSE: AXP)

Size: 83,000+ employees globally

Growth: Mature company with continued expansion in merchant services and B2B segments

Market Position: Premium card network competing with Visa, Mastercard, and Discover for merchant acceptance

GTM Reality

Pipeline Sources:

• 70% Outbound - You identify target merchants, research their business, and initiate contact through calls, emails, and in-person visits
• 20% Referrals - Existing merchant relationships or internal referrals from other Amex divisions
• 10% Inbound - Merchants responding to marketing or inquiring about acceptance

SDR/AE Structure: Self-sourcing. You build your own pipeline and close your own deals.

SE Support: Product specialists available for complex merchant integrations, but you drive most conversations.

Competitive Landscape

Main Competitors: Visa and Mastercard (ubiquitous acceptance), PayPal/Square (easier onboarding for small merchants), Discover (lower fees)

How They Differentiate: Premium cardholder base with higher average transaction values, B2B payment solutions, corporate card programs, co-brand opportunities

Common Objections: "Your fees are too high," "We already accept all major cards," "Our customers don't use Amex," "Integration is too complicated"

Win Themes: Access to affluent customers who spend more, B2B payment capabilities, data insights, brand association with premium service

What You'll Actually Do

Time Breakdown

Prospecting (35%) | Active Deals (40%) | Internal Coordination (25%)

Key Activities

• Territory Research & Targeting: You analyze your Salt Lake City market to identify high-potential merchants - retailers, restaurants, B2B companies - who either don't accept Amex or have low Amex volume. You build target lists and prioritize accounts.
• Outbound Outreach: You make cold calls to business owners and decision-makers, send email sequences, and schedule in-person meetings. Expect a lot of gatekeepers and "we already have payment processing" responses.
• Consultative Sales Meetings: You meet with prospects to understand their business, customer base, and payment needs. You position Amex acceptance as a revenue opportunity (access to premium spenders) rather than just another processor.
• Deal Structuring & Negotiation: You work with internal pricing teams to create competitive offers, negotiate processing rates, and address merchant concerns about fees. Larger deals involve legal reviews and custom contract terms.
• Cross-Functional Coordination: You partner with implementation teams for merchant onboarding, product teams for custom solutions (especially B2B/corporate card programs), and relationship managers who will service the account post-sale.
• Pipeline Management & Forecasting: You maintain your pipeline in Salesforce, provide weekly forecasts, and report on territory performance metrics.

The Honest Reality

What's Hard

• Amex's higher merchant fees (typically 2.5-3.5% vs 1.5-2.5% for Visa/MC) are a constant objection. You spend a lot of time justifying the premium and quantifying the ROI.
• Many merchants already accept all major cards and don't see Amex as incremental. You're convincing them to promote Amex acceptance or optimize their Amex volume.
• Deal cycles vary wildly - a small retailer might sign in 2 weeks, but a regional chain or B2B company can take 3-6 months with procurement, legal, and IT integration requirements.
• You're measured on both new merchant count and the quality of those merchants (processing volume potential), so there's pressure to balance quick wins with strategic accounts.
• Internal approvals for custom pricing or solutions can slow deals down. You're coordinating across multiple Amex business units.

What Success Looks Like

• You consistently bring in 8-12 new merchants per quarter across different business segments
• Your new merchants generate meaningful processing volume within 6 months (they're actually driving Amex transactions, not just passively accepting)
• You build a pipeline that's 3-4x your quarterly target to account for deal slippage and long sales cycles
• You develop domain expertise in 2-3 merchant verticals (e.g., hospitality, professional services, retail) where you can replicate wins

Who You're Selling To

Primary Buyers:

• Business owners (small to mid-market merchants)
• CFOs and Finance Directors (larger merchants and B2B companies)
• Operations or IT leaders (for implementation and integration discussions)

What They Care About:

• Processing costs vs. revenue potential: Will the higher Amex fees be offset by increased sales from Amex cardholders?
• Customer demographics: Do enough of their customers carry Amex to justify acceptance?
• Implementation complexity: How hard is it to integrate Amex into their existing payment systems?
• B2B payment solutions: For business-facing merchants, corporate card acceptance and payment terms flexibility
• Data and insights: What reporting and business intelligence comes with Amex acceptance?

Requirements

• 5+ years of B2B sales experience, ideally in financial services, payments, or merchant services
• Proven track record of net-new business development and exceeding quotas
• Ability to build and manage a territory independently with minimal direction
• Strong negotiation skills and comfort discussing pricing, contracts, and complex deal structures
• Experience working cross-functionally with product, operations, and implementation teams
• Willingness to travel within the Salt Lake City territory for in-person meetings (expect 30-40% local travel)
• CRM proficiency (Salesforce) and strong pipeline management discipline