Manager, Business Development - Wisconsin/Minnesota

Overview

You manage a business development team at American Express focused on bringing in new merchant accounts in the Wisconsin/Minnesota territory. You'll spend roughly 50% of your time coaching reps through deals and reviewing pipeline, 30% working your own strategic accounts, and 20% on internal forecasting and territory planning. You're selling merchant services (payment processing, corporate cards, B2B solutions) to businesses that need to accept payments or manage employee spend.

Role Snapshot

Company Context

Stage: Public (NYSE: AXP)

Size: 83,000+ employees globally

Growth: Mature company expanding merchant footprint in specific territories

Market Position: Premium brand leader in payments/cards, competing against Visa/Mastercard networks and other merchant acquirers

GTM Reality

Pipeline Sources:

• 60% Outbound - Your team is prospecting businesses in territory (manufacturing, healthcare, retail, hospitality, agriculture/food processing)
• 25% Inbound - Warm leads from brand recognition, website inquiries, referrals from cardmember network
• 15% Partners - Referrals from existing relationships, industry associations, chambers of commerce

SDR/AE Structure: You manage a team of BDRs/AEs (likely 4-6 direct reports) who are full-cycle. No dedicated SDR team feeding them—they source and close.

SE Support: Shared pool of payment consultants and technical resources for complex integrations, but most deals don't require heavy technical support.

Competitive Landscape

Main Competitors: Square/Block, Stripe, PayPal, Chase Merchant Services, Fiserv/Clover, traditional merchant acquirers, regional banks

How They Differentiate: Brand prestige, cardmember network spending power (Amex customers typically spend more), B2B solutions, premium customer service

Common Objections:

• "Your merchant fees are higher than Visa/MC"
• "Not all my customers have Amex cards"
• "We already have a processor and switching is a hassle"
• "Our local bank offers us better terms"

Win Themes: Higher average transaction values from Amex cardmembers, integrated B2B payment solutions, brand association, better fraud protection

What You'll Actually Do

Time Breakdown

Team Management (50%) | Own Deals (30%) | Internal (20%)

Key Activities

• Deal Reviews: Weekly pipeline reviews with each rep. You're coaching them on discovery, objection handling, and how to position integrated solutions vs just merchant processing. A lot of "why haven't you talked to the CFO yet" conversations.
• Strategic Account Work: You personally work 8-12 larger accounts (regional healthcare systems, manufacturing companies, multi-location retail/hospitality chains). These are longer cycles with procurement processes and multiple stakeholders.
• Ride-alongs: You're in the field with reps 1-2 days a week doing joint calls, mostly to close bigger deals or unstick stalled opportunities. This territory requires driving between Milwaukee, Madison, Minneapolis, St. Paul, and smaller markets.
• Forecasting & Reporting: You're updating your VP weekly on where the team is against quota, which deals are forecasted to close this quarter, and where you need help. Amex has rigorous CRM hygiene requirements.
• Hiring & Onboarding: You're probably hiring 1-2 people per year as the team expands or backfills attrition.

The Honest Reality

What's Hard

• Merchant services is a competitive, commoditized market. Businesses get hammered by sales calls from processors. Breaking through requires persistence and a strong value prop beyond just rates.
• You're managing both up and down—reps need coaching and motivation, leadership wants predictable forecasts and consistent quota attainment. You're squeezed in the middle.
• Large enterprise deals involve procurement, legal reviews, and technical integration discussions that can drag for months. You'll have deals slip quarters.
• The Amex brand helps with credibility but the pricing objection is real—you're not the cheapest option and need to justify the premium.
• Managing underperformers at a big company like Amex means navigating HR processes and performance improvement plans, which takes time and energy.
• This territory is geographically spread out—you and your reps will spend significant time traveling between markets.

What Success Looks Like

• Your team hits 95-105% of quota consistently across quarters
• You close 2-3 strategic deals personally per quarter in the $200K+ range
• You develop at least one rep who gets promoted or becomes a top performer
• Clean pipeline with accurate forecasting (your VP trusts your commits)

Who You're Selling To

Primary Buyers:

• CFOs and Controllers at mid-market companies ($10M-500M revenue)
• Business owners at multi-location retail/restaurant chains
• VP Finance or Procurement at larger enterprises

What They Care About:

• Total cost of acceptance (not just discount rate—they want to see net economics)
• Customer spending power (will Amex cardmembers spend more?)
• Ease of integration with existing POS/ERP systems
• Fraud protection and dispute resolution
• Consolidated B2B payments if they have corporate spend needs

Requirements

• 5+ years in B2B sales, preferably in payments, fintech, or financial services
• 2+ years managing or leading a sales team (player-coach or full manager)
• Track record of consistently hitting quota in a competitive market
• Ability to work strategic deals yourself while coaching others
• Willingness to travel extensively across WI/MN territory (this isn't a remote role)
• Experience with CRM systems (likely Salesforce) and pipeline management
• Strong business acumen—you need to speak the language of CFOs and finance leaders