Business Development Associate - Equipment Finance in Minnetonka, Minnesota at Gulf Coast Bank & Trust

Summary

To build a complete understanding of the equipment finance business and become a more effective seller, the Business Development Associate will complete a structured cross-departmental training program during the first several months of employment. This program rotates the new hire through every stage of the deal lifecycle — Sales, Collections, Credit/Syndications, Documentation, Account Servicing, and Accounting — with periodic returns to the sales floor to apply learnings in real time. The program concludes with a 360° understanding of the business before the associate operates independently.

Benefits: What we offer

• Energetic and collaborative work environment.
• Competitive salary.
• Comprehensive benefits package that includes the following (based on eligibility and requirements):

Employee Stock Ownership Program,

Retirement Savings Plan,

Medical, Dental, & Vision programs,

Health Savings Accounts, and

Flexible Spending Accounts.

• Career Growth opportunities - tuition reimbursement.

Responsibilities

Sales & Business Development

• Call on prospects on a regular basis generated through cold calls, on-site visits, and networking.
• Follow-up on leads, evaluate business potential, introduce products to customers and close deals.
• Responsible for ensuring all terms comply with approved program structure. Ensure changes are communicated inter-departmentally, executed appropriately, and documented thoroughly.
• Manage relationships and ensure timely communication to acquire future business. This applies to both direct end user (Customer) and vendor relationships.
• Maintain a report that tracks prospects, referral sources, last time contacted, next step, and closing result.
• Review pipeline and activity report weekly with Manager.
• Build a pipeline and constantly review the flow of new business opportunities to ensure that quarterly sales targets are achieved.
• Prepare all new business proposals and collect complete package of required information to submit to underwriting.
• Communicate with clients on a consistent and thorough basis to keep the Client appraised of all activity. Ensure the client receives the information necessary to effectively run their business as expected.

Cross-Departmental Training Program

The Business Development Associate will participate in a structured rotational training program covering the following areas. Each phase concludes with a manager confirmation that the associate has a firm grasp of the material before advancing. Between rotations, the associate returns to the sales floor to make calls, shadow experienced reps, and reinforce sales skills.

• Sales Foundation: Meet the team across all departments and leadership; learn KLC's products, markets, and value proposition; participate in daily sales activities (calls, proposals, pipeline management); build familiarity with CRM, tools, and workflows; and shadow senior reps on live deals from start to finish.
• Collections: Understand the full post-funding customer experience; learn payment structures, delinquency stages, and collection workflows; handle inbound and outbound collection calls alongside the team; gain insight into what makes a deal perform — and what causes problems; develop empathy for the customer lifecycle and deal-quality impact.
• Credit/Syndications: Learn credit analysis fundamentals — how deals are underwritten and approved; review financial statements, credit reports, and risk assessment criteria; understand syndication processes — how deals are packaged and placed with funding sources; sit in on credit committee discussions and syndication calls; learn funder appetite, deal structuring, and pricing considerations.
• Documentation: Learn the documentation process from approval to funding; understand lease agreements, loan docs, UCC filings, and compliance requirements; track deals through the doc queue and identify common bottlenecks; learn what causes funding delays and how to prevent them on the front end.
• Account Servicing: Learn post-funding account management — modifications, payoffs, insurance, and customer inquiries; understand how ongoing servicing impacts customer retention and referral potential; handle live customer service interactions with support.
• Accounting: Overview of how deals flow through the books — revenue recognition, commissions, and reporting; understand the financial impact of deal structures on company P&L; learn how accounting interacts with other departments on funding and reconciliation.
• Leadership Session: Dedicated session with senior leadership covering their area of expertise and how it connects to the sales role, with Q&A and key takeaways for day-to-day application.
• Continued Education (self-directed): Read the CLFP (Certified Lease & Finance Professional) Book to build industry credentialing knowledge.
• Perform additional tasks and projects assigned based on business needs or upon management’s discretion to support the KLC team.

Skills/Experience/Education

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience (administrative, financial, or organizational) required.
• Thorough understanding of business/financial concepts, terminology, and practices necessary.
• Professional presentation, communication, and negotiation skills appropriate to one-to-one and mass audiences.
• Basic understanding of Microsoft Software products – Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Ability to sell financial services.
• Willingness and aptitude to learn across multiple departments and apply cross-functional knowledge to the sales role.
• Must be outgoing, professional, and exercise sound judgment.

Essential Mental & Physical Requirements

• Ability to travel if required to perform the essential job functions.
• Ability to work under stress and meet deadlines.
• Ability to read and interpret a document if required to perform the essential job functions.
• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer may be required.
• Ability to lift/move/carry approximately 15 pounds if required to perform the essential job functions. If the employee is unable to lift/move/carry this weight and can be accommodated without causing the department/division any “undue hardship” then the employee must be accommodated; hence omitting lifting/moving/carrying as a physical requirement.

This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, or qualifications associated with the role and may be amended or changed at any time at the company’s discretion.

Gulf Coast Bank & Trust Company and its subsidiaries is committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce. We are committed to equal employment opportunities without regard to race, color, genetic information, religion, sex, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, military and veteran status, physical and mental disability, and any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We believe in attracting, retaining, and promoting quality talent and recognize that our diversity is critical to the success of the company.