As a 'Company with a Cause,' Beyond Attracts Top Sales Talent

PRINCETON, N.J., July 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Beyond Inc., a start-up provider of payment processing and other business services, has succeeded in recruiting a large and diverse sales staff in less than three months – thanks in no small part to the innovative philanthropic partnership at the company's heart.  

When Beyond launched in May, CEO Robert O. Carr announced that Give Something Back, a non-profit organization that provides mentors and college scholarships to low-income students, would be the beneficiary of his majority shareholder position in the new company.

"That's the reason I chose Beyond over any of the other opportunities," said Crystal Patterson, a team lead based in San Antonio, TX. "Beyond is a company that's on a mission to help young people. I looked at that and thought – I can go and get a job anywhere and make money. It's kind of cool to work for a company where I can make a good living and also do something bigger, helping with what I hold dear to my heart."

In less than three months, Beyond has recruited 200 people, including 120 sales personnel working across the country to provide point-of-sale, payment processing, lending, and integrated HR tools & services to small and mid-size business owners. At a recent company-wide meeting held in Tulsa, OK, Beyond's newly hired sales professionals constantly cited the Give Back partnership as a key driver for themselves and their customers.

"When I tell prospective customers that, in addition to being honest and transparent with them, we're going to put underprivileged kids through college with Give Something back, they are very excited about being part of this," said Eric Thomas, a Tulsa-based veteran salesperson who joined the company as a business advocate (Beyond's term for its sales personnel) in late June.

"We can tell merchants, 'Hey, you can get the products you need at a good price, while helping promising young students to have a chance to go to college and succeed in life.' Why would business owners say no?" added Ray Kim, of Yorba Linda CA, who just joined Beyond as Vice President of Sales after 16 years with Heartland Payment Systems (HPY), which Carr founded in 1997. "I've seen Bob Carr present a million-dollar check to Chapman University in Orange, CA. It's a good feeling to be part of that."

"Beyond is a company with corporate responsibility in its DNA," Carr noted at the company's launch. "Our commitments to our customers and to Give Back are two sides of the same coin. At Beyond, we believe that we succeed when our customers succeed and when our communities succeed. By investing in the minds and futures of smart, capable young people, we are building a well-prepared workforce and contributing to a thriving economy – which creates greater opportunities for our customers and for our company."

"I actually lead with the Give Back connection when I make a sales call," said business advocate Teri Rich, of Nashville, who joined Beyond on June 3 and swiftly became the first person in the company to post $10,000 in sales in a single month. "I'm very glad to inform merchants that they're getting state-of-the-art innovation and service at a very fair price, with Give Something Back as the ultimate benefactor. This is an organization that changes lives."

Rich worked in sales at Heartland for seven years before leaving in 2010 to attend to a family business. When she heard that Carr had formed a new company, her immediate response was, "Count me in."

"For a long time, I've known Bob Carr to be a man of great generosity and huge heart," Rich added. "Where in the world has anybody ever heard of a CEO who gives his full ownership share-- which is 50 percent of the company-- to a public charity? I just love that!"

Carr – who built Heartland Payment Systems from a $2 million startup to a $4.3 billion enterprise – stresses that Beyond's partnership with Give Back represents only one aspect of its corporate commitment to doing business the right way.  

The company underscores its dedication to transparent, customer-first service with the Beyond Promises: Ten principles setting out the company's commitment to fair treatment, plain language (instead of unintelligible fine print) and full disclosure, with no hidden fees and no unexpected surcharges.

To recruit and retain a loyal, professional salesforce, Beyond has created a compensation model that offers portfolio ownership, a full slate of benefits, and uncapped earning potential. In addition, every Beyond employee hired in 2017 will have the opportunity to own part of the company.

"Companies in this sector must work hard to attract the very best employees," Carr said. "Our commitment to our core principles of fairness and transparency and our ongoing partnership with Give Back set us apart from our competitors. Already, we're seeing that Beyond's unique emphasis on doing business the right way is attracting top-quality employees and drawing a loyal and engaged customer base."

Give Back, which Carr founded in 2003, serves students who have faced economic hardship and other adversity, including the incarceration of a parent or placement in the foster care system. So far, Give Something Back has provided more than $35 million in scholarships to more than 1,500 scholars at partner colleges and universities across the country.

Beyond provides the POS, payments, lending, and integrated HR tools and services that small to mid-sized companies need to make their business operations simple, streamlined, and secure. Beyond was founded in 2017 by Robert O. Carr, a prominent businessman and philanthropist whose track record of success reflects his deep belief that "doing the right thing" for customers and employees ultimately produces the best bottom-line results. Carr is the author of two books: Through the Fires: An American Story of Turbulence, Business Triumph and Giving Back and Working Class to College: The Promise and Peril Facing Blue-Collar America.