Co-Founder and CEO of Ask Bob AI | Empathetic Builder of Things that Matter | Normalizing Bipolar

Seasoned in the realms of finance and technology, I bring over 20 years of diverse experience as a founder and C-suite executive. I've navigated businesses from startups to Fortune 500 companies, specializing in operations, product and business development, as well as client service management. My approach is rooted in strategic growth, innovation, and fostering mentally healthy workplace cultures. Passionate about mental health advocacy and a compelling communicator, I am dedicated to guiding companies towards sustainable success and cultivating next-level teams.

Andrew DeGood

President & Co-Founder ✔ Husband ✔ Father ✔ Entrepreneur ✔ Payments ✔ B2B ✔ 2x Inc 5000 ✔ Helping Small Businesses ✔ Connector ✔ Creator ✔ Merchant Services ✔

Valued Merchant Services - https://www.valuedmerchants.com has a history of providing merchants with local personal service and support, cost effective solutions, state of the art technology, reliable 24/7/365 technical support and customer service and a host of other benefits. 

Valued Merchant Services has a commitment to provide each merchant with a customized solution to meet each of their unique needs in the most cost effective manner.

See our A+ Rating, Accreditation and Reviews with The Better Business Bureau - http://www.bbb.org/idahofalls/business-reviews/credit-card-processing-companies/valued-merchant-services-in-idaho-falls-id-90007103

Learn about our back to back top 1000 ranking in Inc Magazine's 500/5000 Fastest Growing Businesses List 2011-2012 - http://www.inc.com/inc5000/profile/valued-merchant-services

Specialties: Sales, Sales Management, Sales Training, Merchant Acquisition, Portfolio Management, Capital Sourcing, Merchant Services, Credit Card Processing, ATM Machine Sales/Service, Bank and Association Partnerships, Gift Cards, Check Services, Referral Partnerships, Merchant Services, Merchant Accounts, Ecommerce, Mobile Payments and more

Chris Del Grande

The Most Profitable Thing I Did? Stop Sounding Like a Salesperson.

Once I stopped sounding like a salesperson,
my income and trust skyrocketed.

Here’s what changed.

Early in my career, I tried to sound “professional.”

Perfect openings.
Polished transitions.
Confident closing language.

I sounded exactly like someone trying to sell something.

And prospects felt it immediately.

Their tone tightened.
Questions became defensive.
Conversations turned into negotiations before trust ever existed.

I thought the problem was objections.

It wasn’t.

The problem was distance.

Sales language creates separation.
Human language creates connection.

The moment someone feels managed,
they stop being honest.

And honesty is where real deals live.

So I started doing something uncomfortable.

I stopped performing.

I talked like a normal person.
I admitted uncertainty when it existed.
I explained things the way I’d explain them to a friend or another business owner.

Instead of pitching outcomes,
I told stories.

Stories about merchants who switched too fast.
Stories about mistakes people made.
Stories about what actually happens six months after the decision.

Something interesting happened.

Prospects leaned in.

Because stories don’t feel like persuasion.
They feel like experience.

And experience builds credibility faster than scripts ever could.

“Unselling” doesn’t mean lacking structure.
It means removing pressure.

You stop chasing agreement
and start building understanding.

You ask real questions.
You react naturally.
You allow conversations to breathe.

When people stop feeling sold,
they start thinking clearly.

That’s when decisions happen.

Close rates improved.
Referrals increased.
Relationships lasted longer.

Not because I became more convincing
but because I became more trustworthy.

Here’s the paradox:

The less you sound like a salesperson,
the more comfortable people feel buying from you.

Professionalism isn’t polish.
It’s authenticity with competence behind it.

Be informed.
Be honest.
Be human.

Trust compounds faster than technique ever will.

Why Reviewing Resumes Is Mostly a Waste of Time

I’m going to say something unpopular.

If you’re recruiting commission-only 1099 reps and spending hours reviewing resumes…

You’re optimizing the wrong thing.

Resumes measure employment success.

Not ownership potential.

A resume answers one question:

“How well did this person perform inside someone else’s structure?”

1099 roles ask something completely different:

“Can this person create structure where none exists?”

Independent contractors win because of:

Self direction
Initiative
Risk tolerance
Comfort with volatility
Personal accountability

None of that shows up on a resume.

Someone have:

Perfect corporate tenure
Promotions
Big brand logos

…and completely collapse in a commission-only.

Here’s the twist most recruiters miss.

The best 1099 performers have messy backgrounds.

Career pivots
Gaps
Side hustles
Multiple industries
Self-employment

If you filter by resume polish, you accidentally select for:

Salary dependence
Structure reliance
Risk avoidance

Which is the opposite of what independent contractors require.

Titles don’t help either.

Manager
Account Executive
Director
Consultant

Those words hide reality

Were they hunters or order takers?

Did they receive inbound leads?

Was marketing building pipeline?

Was compensation padded with base?

Two identical titles can represent completely different capabilities.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:

1099 success is behavioral, not credential based.

The real predictors are:

Do they take action without permission?
Do they follow up?
Can they tolerate rejection?
Do they create momentum independently?

You cannot detect it through formatting and keywords.

You detect motion.

Who books quickly.

Who shows up prepared.

Who asks intelligent questions.

Who completes onboarding fast.

Who takes first action immediately.

Behavior reveals seriousness.

Now here’s the nuance.

We are not anti-resume.

Don’t confuse sorting with selection.

Resumes are for routing. Not decisions.

We use them to:

Identify experience clusters.
Match likely role fit.
Scan for alignment signals.


For example:

Lead generators
We scan for outbound volume, SDR, call center, quotas.

Sales agents
We look for commission-heavy roles, revenue ownership, outside sales, transferable industries like payroll, insurance, solar, lending.

Recruiters
We scan for sourcing, team building, pipeline, retention.

Regional leaders: We look for coaching, scaling teams, performance management

Affiliates
We scan for partnerships, channel sales, networks, trusted advisor.

Stage one finds probable fit.
Stage two reveals actual fit.

Traditional recruiting looks like this:

Resume → Interview → Hire → Hope.

Our model:
Resume → Route → Observe Behavior → Qualify Through Action.

Employees are selected by history.

Independent contractors are revealed by behavior.

Once recruiters truly understand that distinction, output changes dramatically.

And scale gets a lot easier.

The legend inspires us, the underdog moves us, but the disruptor changes us.

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Andrew DeGood

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