Business Development Associate - Equipment Finance

Description

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