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Big Performance Podcast hosted by Alex Elish. Gamifying the Workplace with CEO Richard Blank. Big conversations with bold thinkers—where curiosity meets connection. On the Big Performance Podcast, Alex hosts unscripted, thought-provoking conversations with fascinating guests, exploring ideas that challenge, inspire, and entertain. For Curious Wanderers, Critical Thinkers, and Seekers of Meaning drawn to spirituality, philosophy, and knowledge. Featuring Authentic Storytellers, Big Thinkers, and Bold Explorers unafraid to tackle life’s biggest questions. Subscribe and join a community that values exploration, growth, and meaningful dialogue. Today, we speak with Richard Blank, a remarkable entrepreneur who transformed his dream into a thriving reality. Richard's journey from renting desks to running a 300-seat call center in Costa Rica is nothing short of inspirational. Guest Introduction: Richard Blank is the CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center, a powerhouse in the telemarketing industry. His unique approach, combining old-school values with innovative strategies, has not only helped him grow his business but also fostered a strong, resilient company culture. Richard's story is a testament to the power of relationships and perseverance. Key Takeaways: 1. Journey of an Entrepreneur: Richard's transition from a communications background to a call center mogul. 2. Building a Company Culture: How Richard's focus on relationships and trust helped him navigate challenges, including the pandemic. 3. Surviving crisis: Strategies Richard employed to maintain business continuity and employee morale during the pandemic. 4. Gamification in the Workplace: The importance of creating a fun, engaging environment for employees. 5. Communication Strategies: Tips and techniques for effective telemarketing and client interaction. 6. The Role of Empathy in Business: Why human interaction will always have an edge over AI in customer service. 7. Richard's Passion for Pinball: How vintage arcade games play a role in his business and personal life. Creative Marketing Like Music Hits I tell you what, that's why certain restaurants have large menus and 32 flavors of ice cream. It's my one taste of the color red might turn off somebody, but they prefer mint or yellow. And so fortunately for me, I've opened it enough where let's just say I do a podcast with somebody and I'm going to market that individual. My marketing team will take, I don't know, maybe 10 to 15 images. Combine the two. And just, you know, it's almost like an album from back in the day. I'll do four or five really guaranteed commercial hits that, as you say, are colorful. People are going to like, yeah, of course, throw a puppy in there or something. Then I go, guys, come on. Show me really something crazy. Let me just see if you can... produce something wicked or completely unexpected. Following a Passionate Journey You started from a communications background. You are bilingual and you decided to move to Costa Rica and start from the ground up. How did you decide to go for this journey? How did you start looking for that gold with the pen? How do you not when the road is there and open in front of you? When I was a young lad, I decided that Spanish was my favorite thing in the world. Fortunately, my parents would take me on vacations, sometimes to Mexico. I would come back with some vocabulary, and I had an interest, a base of it. Whenever I'd meet someone from the Latin community, they would give such reinforcement. It just wasn't a parlor trick or something cute. They realized that I really was into it. Then I understood something, my friend. When someone does above and beyond, there's dedicated practice. So besides what I had to do in school to get my grades, I loved watching movies and reading books. And my favorite was just having coffee and hanging out and speaking Spanish. And so anybody that has that sort of commitment and passion, you can't put that spark, you know? Improving communication through strategic vocabulary Any professional would know how much money is invested in somebody. To get them to that stage in business, unless they're throwing F-bombs and just giving the company away. I don't know if I, I don't think I would buy that blush. You're not firing somebody because a random customer's calling up because they got 13 extra dollars charged on the bill for a month. But that's not here nor there. I have some techniques for you, my friend, when you're thinking of this stuff. I like to adjust my vocabulary to make it more strategic and diplomatic. So I wouldn't say, excuse me on the phone. I would replace that for my clarification. Is it A, B, C, or 1, 2, 3? For my clarification. And then there's also tie-downs you could say. Sounds good, right? Makes sense, right? Because if you just keep talking, I don't know if it does sound good or makes sense. You need underwater scuba diving checkpoints. And then finally, my biggest question, My biggest gripe, it's like a gnat or a fly that bothers you. Whenever somebody uses the word help, I understand the intention behind it, but it can provoke a sort of emotion. And so I suggest using assist, guide, and lend a hand. I just know that it's like a longbow. You'll get better distance out of that compared to using help. We're accustomed to it, but it's a very uncomfortable metal chair in a waiting room with bad magazines. It just doesn't work. And so I like to, as I mentioned before, use these soft skills with people. I like to guide. I like to assist and especially, and I give it double points because you're utilizing image streaming by saying lend a hand. https://youtu.be/NjYHz2TbKv4 https://youtu.be/ZQq683zhx_U https://youtu.be/JyNWO9jrLcA https://youtu.be/LB6A-IeXN28 Chapters: 0:00 - Guest Introduction: Richard Blank 1:47 - Richard's Entrepreneurial Journey 3:10 - From Renting Desks to a 300-Seat Call Center 9:00 - Surviving and Thriving During COVID-19 12:36 - Working in Telemarketing 16:25 - Gamification and Employee Engagement 25:27 - Communication Techniques and Empathy 36:17 - Addressing Customer Complaints 45:42 - The Influence of Vintage Arcade Games 50:55 - Richard's Unique Marketing Style 58:19 - Richard's Collaboration with INXS Bassist 1:00:00 - Closing Remarks Podcast Alex Elish With a decade of experience in startups, I’ve mastered digital chaos. I live for the challenge in your mess of a digital strategy! My expertise - people called me SEO, PPC, CRMs, PMS, and automation guy. Marketing funnel or building a website, I’m your go-to guy for creating impactful solutions. If we vibe the right way - I'm your trusty friend and partner. We don't vibe - no money will get you my team efforts, blood and tears. Richard’s journey in the call center space is filled with twists and turns. When he was 27 years old, he relocated to Costa Rica to train employees for one of the larger call centers in San Jose. With a mix of motivational public speaking style backed by tactful and appropriate rhetoric, Richard shared his knowledge and trained over 10 000 bilingual telemarketers. Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008. Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain. A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. In addition, inducted into the 2023 Hall of Fame for Business. Giving back to Abington Senior High School is very important to Mr. Blank. As such, he endows a scholarship each year for students that plan on majoring in a world language at the university level. Costa Rica’s Call Center (CCC) is a state of the art BPO telemarketing outsource company located in the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica. Our main focus has been, and will always be to personally train each and every Central America call center agent so that we may offer the highest quality of outbound and inbound telemarketing solutions and bilingual customer service to small and medium sized international companies, entrepreneurs as well as fortune 500 companies. We encourage you to visit one of our call centers on your next personal vacation or business trip to Central America’s paradise, Costa Rica. While you are here, we would recommend taking an extra day of your trip to visit breathtaking virgin beaches, play golf next to the ocean, try your luck at deep sea fishing, explore tropical jungles, climb volcanos or just relax in natural hot springs. Come and see for yourself why call center outsourcing in Costa Rica is a perfect solution for your growing company and a powerhouse in the BPO industry. https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/ Alex Elish, Big Performance Podcast, Richard Blank,Costa Rica's Call Center, Outsourcing, Telemarketing Call Centre, BPO, Nearshore Contact Center, Sales, Entrepreneur, B2B, Business, Podcast, Gamification,Leadership, Marketing, CX, Guest, Money, B2C education, BPO trainer,call centre, contact centre, contact center #AlexElish #BigPerformancePodcast #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Gamification #CEO Utilizing the military alphabet for enhanced communication And another thing, Alex, use the military alphabet so emails don't bounce back. A lot of people have served. And it gives you consistency. So you're not just thinking on the fly. And these are the sort of things where you might close one additional deal a month because an email didn't bounce back just because of that. And so I think that the military likes it. People will relate to it. And in my professional opinion, it's been able to end calls in a great way where you almost get an encore song or two where it should have been ending. But now you're talking the military and Memorial Day weekend and Veterans Day. And you show your pride and respect. Introduction to a Successful Entrepreneur All righty thank you for for joining me it's a pleasure to talk to you i feel like i know you for the viewers that just joined i want to introduce to you richard blank behind this magical smile there is one phenomenally strong entrepreneur. You have grown your business from renting desks to a 300-seat call center in Costa Rica. That's right. Your business is taking care of hundreds of employees and you build a strong company culture that lets you carry on through COVID and you're going strong in the face of AI apocalypse with your... on the ground business with the people that you hold dear, the people who work for you. The Art of Leadership and Communication It's not so stiff. There is a balance. And if you're going to come here and spend more time with me than you do with your own family, why don't we have a little bit of dessert as well and make it fun? And it's not enjoyable to be a boss where people are afraid of you and you scream and yell and make people stress. There is that responsibility. They have a job to do. Yeah. But we can almost do it by doing the apex, by being the leader and the one that can fly the highest and the furthest and the fastest. Thankfully, this is my wheelhouse. So at any time I can jump on this call and I can not only resolve the issue, would share a lesson to the agent that was looking for that guidance. So in essence, I just don't write checks. This is something that, as you say, you quit after a little bit but got the skills. I sold my soul. I decided to be in this industry for 24 years because I saw the art of the speech. I didn't want it to be ruined and muddied by the bad reputations that stocks and sweet steaks and other call centers do that take advantage of people there. You know, Alex, there's a ton of people out there that earn a wonderful living by retaining a client for a company, setting appointments, making business, getting a referral, possibly if a client is upset and giving you an exit interview or feedback that you're responsible, take the suggestions and implement. And so as long as you're engaged and proactive, that individual's priceless for a corporation. Mastering the art of communication with strategic name-dropping You're not lying. You're not angling or forcing a sale. All I'm doing is repeating a name drop. I'm introducing myself. I'm expecting you to ask me two or three clarification questions where I just use a buffer boomerang. I'll name drop you to adjust the tone, let you know it's a great question. Repeat the question, Alex, so you don't have to repeat it, right? And then I'll send it back to you in a positive way to just keep readjusting that negative, positive tone and shutting doors and checkpoints so we don't have to repeat rabbit holes and get you upset.

Big Performance Podcast hosted by Alex Elish. Gamifying the Workplace with CEO Richard Blank. Big conversations with bold thinkers—where curiosity meets connection. On the Big Performance Podcast, Alex hosts unscripted, thought-provoking conversations with fascinating guests, exploring ideas that challenge, inspire, and entertain. For Curious Wanderers, Critical Thinkers, and Seekers of Meaning drawn to spirituality, philosophy, and knowledge. Featuring Authentic Storytellers, Big Thinkers, and Bold Explorers unafraid to tackle life’s biggest questions. Subscribe and join a community that values exploration, growth, and meaningful dialogue. Today, we speak with Richard Blank, a remarkable entrepreneur who transformed his dream into a thriving reality. Richard's journey from renting desks to running a 300-seat call center in Costa Rica is nothing short of inspirational. Guest Introduction: Richard Blank is the CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center, a powerhouse in the telemarketing industry. His unique approach, combining old-school values with innovative strategies, has not only helped him grow his business but also fostered a strong, resilient company culture. Richard's story is a testament to the power of relationships and perseverance. Key Takeaways: 1. Journey of an Entrepreneur: Richard's transition from a communications background to a call center mogul. 2. Building a Company Culture: How Richard's focus on relationships and trust helped him navigate challenges, including the pandemic. 3. Surviving crisis: Strategies Richard employed to maintain business continuity and employee morale during the pandemic. 4. Gamification in the Workplace: The importance of creating a fun, engaging environment for employees. 5. Communication Strategies: Tips and techniques for effective telemarketing and client interaction. 6. The Role of Empathy in Business: Why human interaction will always have an edge over AI in customer service. 7. Richard's Passion for Pinball: How vintage arcade games play a role in his business and personal life. Creative Marketing Like Music Hits I tell you what, that's why certain restaurants have large menus and 32 flavors of ice cream. It's my one taste of the color red might turn off somebody, but they prefer mint or yellow. And so fortunately for me, I've opened it enough where let's just say I do a podcast with somebody and I'm going to market that individual. My marketing team will take, I don't know, maybe 10 to 15 images. Combine the two. And just, you know, it's almost like an album from back in the day. I'll do four or five really guaranteed commercial hits that, as you say, are colorful. People are going to like, yeah, of course, throw a puppy in there or something. Then I go, guys, come on. Show me really something crazy. Let me just see if you can... produce something wicked or completely unexpected. Following a Passionate Journey You started from a communications background. You are bilingual and you decided to move to Costa Rica and start from the ground up. How did you decide to go for this journey? How did you start looking for that gold with the pen? How do you not when the road is there and open in front of you? When I was a young lad, I decided that Spanish was my favorite thing in the world. Fortunately, my parents would take me on vacations, sometimes to Mexico. I would come back with some vocabulary, and I had an interest, a base of it. Whenever I'd meet someone from the Latin community, they would give such reinforcement. It just wasn't a parlor trick or something cute. They realized that I really was into it. Then I understood something, my friend. When someone does above and beyond, there's dedicated practice. So besides what I had to do in school to get my grades, I loved watching movies and reading books. And my favorite was just having coffee and hanging out and speaking Spanish. And so anybody that has that sort of commitment and passion, you can't put that spark, you know? Improving communication through strategic vocabulary Any professional would know how much money is invested in somebody. To get them to that stage in business, unless they're throwing F-bombs and just giving the company away. I don't know if I, I don't think I would buy that blush. You're not firing somebody because a random customer's calling up because they got 13 extra dollars charged on the bill for a month. But that's not here nor there. I have some techniques for you, my friend, when you're thinking of this stuff. I like to adjust my vocabulary to make it more strategic and diplomatic. So I wouldn't say, excuse me on the phone. I would replace that for my clarification. Is it A, B, C, or 1, 2, 3? For my clarification. And then there's also tie-downs you could say. Sounds good, right? Makes sense, right? Because if you just keep talking, I don't know if it does sound good or makes sense. You need underwater scuba diving checkpoints. And then finally, my biggest question, My biggest gripe, it's like a gnat or a fly that bothers you. Whenever somebody uses the word help, I understand the intention behind it, but it can provoke a sort of emotion. And so I suggest using assist, guide, and lend a hand. I just know that it's like a longbow. You'll get better distance out of that compared to using help. We're accustomed to it, but it's a very uncomfortable metal chair in a waiting room with bad magazines. It just doesn't work. And so I like to, as I mentioned before, use these soft skills with people. I like to guide. I like to assist and especially, and I give it double points because you're utilizing image streaming by saying lend a hand. https://youtu.be/NjYHz2TbKv4 https://youtu.be/ZQq683zhx_U https://youtu.be/JyNWO9jrLcA https://youtu.be/LB6A-IeXN28 Chapters: 0:00 - Guest Introduction: Richard Blank 1:47 - Richard's Entrepreneurial Journey 3:10 - From Renting Desks to a 300-Seat Call Center 9:00 - Surviving and Thriving During COVID-19 12:36 - Working in Telemarketing 16:25 - Gamification and Employee Engagement 25:27 - Communication Techniques and Empathy 36:17 - Addressing Customer Complaints 45:42 - The Influence of Vintage Arcade Games 50:55 - Richard's Unique Marketing Style 58:19 - Richard's Collaboration with INXS Bassist 1:00:00 - Closing Remarks Podcast Alex Elish With a decade of experience in startups, I’ve mastered digital chaos. I live for the challenge in your mess of a digital strategy! My expertise - people called me SEO, PPC, CRMs, PMS, and automation guy. Marketing funnel or building a website, I’m your go-to guy for creating impactful solutions. If we vibe the right way - I'm your trusty friend and partner. We don't vibe - no money will get you my team efforts, blood and tears. Richard’s journey in the call center space is filled with twists and turns. When he was 27 years old, he relocated to Costa Rica to train employees for one of the larger call centers in San Jose. With a mix of motivational public speaking style backed by tactful and appropriate rhetoric, Richard shared his knowledge and trained over 10 000 bilingual telemarketers. Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008. Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain. A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. In addition, inducted into the 2023 Hall of Fame for Business. Giving back to Abington Senior High School is very important to Mr. Blank. As such, he endows a scholarship each year for students that plan on majoring in a world language at the university level. Costa Rica’s Call Center (CCC) is a state of the art BPO telemarketing outsource company located in the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica. Our main focus has been, and will always be to personally train each and every Central America call center agent so that we may offer the highest quality of outbound and inbound telemarketing solutions and bilingual customer service to small and medium sized international companies, entrepreneurs as well as fortune 500 companies. We encourage you to visit one of our call centers on your next personal vacation or business trip to Central America’s paradise, Costa Rica. While you are here, we would recommend taking an extra day of your trip to visit breathtaking virgin beaches, play golf next to the ocean, try your luck at deep sea fishing, explore tropical jungles, climb volcanos or just relax in natural hot springs. Come and see for yourself why call center outsourcing in Costa Rica is a perfect solution for your growing company and a powerhouse in the BPO industry. https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/ Alex Elish, Big Performance Podcast, Richard Blank,Costa Rica's Call Center, Outsourcing, Telemarketing Call Centre, BPO, Nearshore Contact Center, Sales, Entrepreneur, B2B, Business, Podcast, Gamification,Leadership, Marketing, CX, Guest, Money, B2C education, BPO trainer,call centre, contact centre, contact center #AlexElish #BigPerformancePodcast #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Gamification #CEO Utilizing the military alphabet for enhanced communication And another thing, Alex, use the military alphabet so emails don't bounce back. A lot of people have served. And it gives you consistency. So you're not just thinking on the fly. And these are the sort of things where you might close one additional deal a month because an email didn't bounce back just because of that. And so I think that the military likes it. People will relate to it. And in my professional opinion, it's been able to end calls in a great way where you almost get an encore song or two where it should have been ending. But now you're talking the military and Memorial Day weekend and Veterans Day. And you show your pride and respect. Introduction to a Successful Entrepreneur All righty thank you for for joining me it's a pleasure to talk to you i feel like i know you for the viewers that just joined i want to introduce to you richard blank behind this magical smile there is one phenomenally strong entrepreneur. You have grown your business from renting desks to a 300-seat call center in Costa Rica. That's right. Your business is taking care of hundreds of employees and you build a strong company culture that lets you carry on through COVID and you're going strong in the face of AI apocalypse with your... on the ground business with the people that you hold dear, the people who work for you. The Art of Leadership and Communication It's not so stiff. There is a balance. And if you're going to come here and spend more time with me than you do with your own family, why don't we have a little bit of dessert as well and make it fun? And it's not enjoyable to be a boss where people are afraid of you and you scream and yell and make people stress. There is that responsibility. They have a job to do. Yeah. But we can almost do it by doing the apex, by being the leader and the one that can fly the highest and the furthest and the fastest. Thankfully, this is my wheelhouse. So at any time I can jump on this call and I can not only resolve the issue, would share a lesson to the agent that was looking for that guidance. So in essence, I just don't write checks. This is something that, as you say, you quit after a little bit but got the skills. I sold my soul. I decided to be in this industry for 24 years because I saw the art of the speech. I didn't want it to be ruined and muddied by the bad reputations that stocks and sweet steaks and other call centers do that take advantage of people there. You know, Alex, there's a ton of people out there that earn a wonderful living by retaining a client for a company, setting appointments, making business, getting a referral, possibly if a client is upset and giving you an exit interview or feedback that you're responsible, take the suggestions and implement. And so as long as you're engaged and proactive, that individual's priceless for a corporation. Mastering the art of communication with strategic name-dropping You're not lying. You're not angling or forcing a sale. All I'm doing is repeating a name drop. I'm introducing myself. I'm expecting you to ask me two or three clarification questions where I just use a buffer boomerang. I'll name drop you to adjust the tone, let you know it's a great question. Repeat the question, Alex, so you don't have to repeat it, right? And then I'll send it back to you in a positive way to just keep readjusting that negative, positive tone and shutting doors and checkpoints so we don't have to repeat rabbit holes and get you upset.

Big Performance Podcast hosted by Alex Elish. Gamifying the Workplace with CEO Richard Blank. Big conversations with bold thinkers—where curiosity meets connection. On the Big Performance Podcast, Alex hosts unscripted, thought-provoking conversations with fascinating guests, exploring ideas that challenge, inspire, and entertain. For Curious Wanderers, Critical Thinkers, and Seekers of Meaning drawn to spirituality, philosophy, and knowledge. Featuring Authentic Storytellers, Big Thinkers, and Bold Explorers unafraid to tackle life’s biggest questions. Subscribe and join a community that values exploration, growth, and meaningful dialogue. Today, we speak with Richard Blank, a remarkable entrepreneur who transformed his dream into a thriving reality. Richard's journey from renting desks to running a 300-seat call center in Costa Rica is nothing short of inspirational. Guest Introduction: Richard Blank is the CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center, a powerhouse in the telemarketing industry. His unique approach, combining old-school values with innovative strategies, has not only helped him grow his business but also fostered a strong, resilient company culture. Richard's story is a testament to the power of relationships and perseverance. Key Takeaways: 1. Journey of an Entrepreneur: Richard's transition from a communications background to a call center mogul. 2. Building a Company Culture: How Richard's focus on relationships and trust helped him navigate challenges, including the pandemic. 3. Surviving crisis: Strategies Richard employed to maintain business continuity and employee morale during the pandemic. 4. Gamification in the Workplace: The importance of creating a fun, engaging environment for employees. 5. Communication Strategies: Tips and techniques for effective telemarketing and client interaction. 6. The Role of Empathy in Business: Why human interaction will always have an edge over AI in customer service. 7. Richard's Passion for Pinball: How vintage arcade games play a role in his business and personal life. Creative Marketing Like Music Hits I tell you what, that's why certain restaurants have large menus and 32 flavors of ice cream. It's my one taste of the color red might turn off somebody, but they prefer mint or yellow. And so fortunately for me, I've opened it enough where let's just say I do a podcast with somebody and I'm going to market that individual. My marketing team will take, I don't know, maybe 10 to 15 images. Combine the two. And just, you know, it's almost like an album from back in the day. I'll do four or five really guaranteed commercial hits that, as you say, are colorful. People are going to like, yeah, of course, throw a puppy in there or something. Then I go, guys, come on. Show me really something crazy. Let me just see if you can... produce something wicked or completely unexpected. Following a Passionate Journey You started from a communications background. You are bilingual and you decided to move to Costa Rica and start from the ground up. How did you decide to go for this journey? How did you start looking for that gold with the pen? How do you not when the road is there and open in front of you? When I was a young lad, I decided that Spanish was my favorite thing in the world. Fortunately, my parents would take me on vacations, sometimes to Mexico. I would come back with some vocabulary, and I had an interest, a base of it. Whenever I'd meet someone from the Latin community, they would give such reinforcement. It just wasn't a parlor trick or something cute. They realized that I really was into it. Then I understood something, my friend. When someone does above and beyond, there's dedicated practice. So besides what I had to do in school to get my grades, I loved watching movies and reading books. And my favorite was just having coffee and hanging out and speaking Spanish. And so anybody that has that sort of commitment and passion, you can't put that spark, you know? Improving communication through strategic vocabulary Any professional would know how much money is invested in somebody. To get them to that stage in business, unless they're throwing F-bombs and just giving the company away. I don't know if I, I don't think I would buy that blush. You're not firing somebody because a random customer's calling up because they got 13 extra dollars charged on the bill for a month. But that's not here nor there. I have some techniques for you, my friend, when you're thinking of this stuff. I like to adjust my vocabulary to make it more strategic and diplomatic. So I wouldn't say, excuse me on the phone. I would replace that for my clarification. Is it A, B, C, or 1, 2, 3? For my clarification. And then there's also tie-downs you could say. Sounds good, right? Makes sense, right? Because if you just keep talking, I don't know if it does sound good or makes sense. You need underwater scuba diving checkpoints. And then finally, my biggest question, My biggest gripe, it's like a gnat or a fly that bothers you. Whenever somebody uses the word help, I understand the intention behind it, but it can provoke a sort of emotion. And so I suggest using assist, guide, and lend a hand. I just know that it's like a longbow. You'll get better distance out of that compared to using help. We're accustomed to it, but it's a very uncomfortable metal chair in a waiting room with bad magazines. It just doesn't work. And so I like to, as I mentioned before, use these soft skills with people. I like to guide. I like to assist and especially, and I give it double points because you're utilizing image streaming by saying lend a hand. https://youtu.be/NjYHz2TbKv4 https://youtu.be/ZQq683zhx_U https://youtu.be/JyNWO9jrLcA https://youtu.be/LB6A-IeXN28 Chapters: 0:00 - Guest Introduction: Richard Blank 1:47 - Richard's Entrepreneurial Journey 3:10 - From Renting Desks to a 300-Seat Call Center 9:00 - Surviving and Thriving During COVID-19 12:36 - Working in Telemarketing 16:25 - Gamification and Employee Engagement 25:27 - Communication Techniques and Empathy 36:17 - Addressing Customer Complaints 45:42 - The Influence of Vintage Arcade Games 50:55 - Richard's Unique Marketing Style 58:19 - Richard's Collaboration with INXS Bassist 1:00:00 - Closing Remarks Podcast Alex Elish With a decade of experience in startups, I’ve mastered digital chaos. I live for the challenge in your mess of a digital strategy! My expertise - people called me SEO, PPC, CRMs, PMS, and automation guy. Marketing funnel or building a website, I’m your go-to guy for creating impactful solutions. If we vibe the right way - I'm your trusty friend and partner. We don't vibe - no money will get you my team efforts, blood and tears. Richard’s journey in the call center space is filled with twists and turns. When he was 27 years old, he relocated to Costa Rica to train employees for one of the larger call centers in San Jose. With a mix of motivational public speaking style backed by tactful and appropriate rhetoric, Richard shared his knowledge and trained over 10 000 bilingual telemarketers. Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008. Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain. A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. In addition, inducted into the 2023 Hall of Fame for Business. Giving back to Abington Senior High School is very important to Mr. Blank. As such, he endows a scholarship each year for students that plan on majoring in a world language at the university level. Costa Rica’s Call Center (CCC) is a state of the art BPO telemarketing outsource company located in the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica. Our main focus has been, and will always be to personally train each and every Central America call center agent so that we may offer the highest quality of outbound and inbound telemarketing solutions and bilingual customer service to small and medium sized international companies, entrepreneurs as well as fortune 500 companies. We encourage you to visit one of our call centers on your next personal vacation or business trip to Central America’s paradise, Costa Rica. While you are here, we would recommend taking an extra day of your trip to visit breathtaking virgin beaches, play golf next to the ocean, try your luck at deep sea fishing, explore tropical jungles, climb volcanos or just relax in natural hot springs. Come and see for yourself why call center outsourcing in Costa Rica is a perfect solution for your growing company and a powerhouse in the BPO industry. https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/ Alex Elish, Big Performance Podcast, Richard Blank,Costa Rica's Call Center, Outsourcing, Telemarketing Call Centre, BPO, Nearshore Contact Center, Sales, Entrepreneur, B2B, Business, Podcast, Gamification,Leadership, Marketing, CX, Guest, Money, B2C education, BPO trainer,call centre, contact centre, contact center #AlexElish #BigPerformancePodcast #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Gamification #CEO Utilizing the military alphabet for enhanced communication And another thing, Alex, use the military alphabet so emails don't bounce back. A lot of people have served. And it gives you consistency. So you're not just thinking on the fly. And these are the sort of things where you might close one additional deal a month because an email didn't bounce back just because of that. And so I think that the military likes it. People will relate to it. And in my professional opinion, it's been able to end calls in a great way where you almost get an encore song or two where it should have been ending. But now you're talking the military and Memorial Day weekend and Veterans Day. And you show your pride and respect. Introduction to a Successful Entrepreneur All righty thank you for for joining me it's a pleasure to talk to you i feel like i know you for the viewers that just joined i want to introduce to you richard blank behind this magical smile there is one phenomenally strong entrepreneur. You have grown your business from renting desks to a 300-seat call center in Costa Rica. That's right. Your business is taking care of hundreds of employees and you build a strong company culture that lets you carry on through COVID and you're going strong in the face of AI apocalypse with your... on the ground business with the people that you hold dear, the people who work for you. The Art of Leadership and Communication It's not so stiff. There is a balance. And if you're going to come here and spend more time with me than you do with your own family, why don't we have a little bit of dessert as well and make it fun? And it's not enjoyable to be a boss where people are afraid of you and you scream and yell and make people stress. There is that responsibility. They have a job to do. Yeah. But we can almost do it by doing the apex, by being the leader and the one that can fly the highest and the furthest and the fastest. Thankfully, this is my wheelhouse. So at any time I can jump on this call and I can not only resolve the issue, would share a lesson to the agent that was looking for that guidance. So in essence, I just don't write checks. This is something that, as you say, you quit after a little bit but got the skills. I sold my soul. I decided to be in this industry for 24 years because I saw the art of the speech. I didn't want it to be ruined and muddied by the bad reputations that stocks and sweet steaks and other call centers do that take advantage of people there. You know, Alex, there's a ton of people out there that earn a wonderful living by retaining a client for a company, setting appointments, making business, getting a referral, possibly if a client is upset and giving you an exit interview or feedback that you're responsible, take the suggestions and implement. And so as long as you're engaged and proactive, that individual's priceless for a corporation. Mastering the art of communication with strategic name-dropping You're not lying. You're not angling or forcing a sale. All I'm doing is repeating a name drop. I'm introducing myself. I'm expecting you to ask me two or three clarification questions where I just use a buffer boomerang. I'll name drop you to adjust the tone, let you know it's a great question. Repeat the question, Alex, so you don't have to repeat it, right? And then I'll send it back to you in a positive way to just keep readjusting that negative, positive tone and shutting doors and checkpoints so we don't have to repeat rabbit holes and get you upset.

Big Performance Podcast hosted by Alex Elish. Gamifying the Workplace with CEO Richard Blank. Big conversations with bold thinkers—where curiosity meets connection. On the Big Performance Podcast, Alex hosts unscripted, thought-provoking conversations with fascinating guests, exploring ideas that challenge, inspire, and entertain. For Curious Wanderers, Critical Thinkers, and Seekers of Meaning drawn to spirituality, philosophy, and knowledge. Featuring Authentic Storytellers, Big Thinkers, and Bold Explorers unafraid to tackle life’s biggest questions. Subscribe and join a community that values exploration, growth, and meaningful dialogue. Today, we speak with Richard Blank, a remarkable entrepreneur who transformed his dream into a thriving reality. Richard's journey from renting desks to running a 300-seat call center in Costa Rica is nothing short of inspirational. Guest Introduction: Richard Blank is the CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center, a powerhouse in the telemarketing industry. His unique approach, combining old-school values with innovative strategies, has not only helped him grow his business but also fostered a strong, resilient company culture. Richard's story is a testament to the power of relationships and perseverance. Key Takeaways: 1. Journey of an Entrepreneur: Richard's transition from a communications background to a call center mogul. 2. Building a Company Culture: How Richard's focus on relationships and trust helped him navigate challenges, including the pandemic. 3. Surviving crisis: Strategies Richard employed to maintain business continuity and employee morale during the pandemic. 4. Gamification in the Workplace: The importance of creating a fun, engaging environment for employees. 5. Communication Strategies: Tips and techniques for effective telemarketing and client interaction. 6. The Role of Empathy in Business: Why human interaction will always have an edge over AI in customer service. 7. Richard's Passion for Pinball: How vintage arcade games play a role in his business and personal life. Creative Marketing Like Music Hits I tell you what, that's why certain restaurants have large menus and 32 flavors of ice cream. It's my one taste of the color red might turn off somebody, but they prefer mint or yellow. And so fortunately for me, I've opened it enough where let's just say I do a podcast with somebody and I'm going to market that individual. My marketing team will take, I don't know, maybe 10 to 15 images. Combine the two. And just, you know, it's almost like an album from back in the day. I'll do four or five really guaranteed commercial hits that, as you say, are colorful. People are going to like, yeah, of course, throw a puppy in there or something. Then I go, guys, come on. Show me really something crazy. Let me just see if you can... produce something wicked or completely unexpected. Following a Passionate Journey You started from a communications background. You are bilingual and you decided to move to Costa Rica and start from the ground up. How did you decide to go for this journey? How did you start looking for that gold with the pen? How do you not when the road is there and open in front of you? When I was a young lad, I decided that Spanish was my favorite thing in the world. Fortunately, my parents would take me on vacations, sometimes to Mexico. I would come back with some vocabulary, and I had an interest, a base of it. Whenever I'd meet someone from the Latin community, they would give such reinforcement. It just wasn't a parlor trick or something cute. They realized that I really was into it. Then I understood something, my friend. When someone does above and beyond, there's dedicated practice. So besides what I had to do in school to get my grades, I loved watching movies and reading books. And my favorite was just having coffee and hanging out and speaking Spanish. And so anybody that has that sort of commitment and passion, you can't put that spark, you know? Improving communication through strategic vocabulary Any professional would know how much money is invested in somebody. To get them to that stage in business, unless they're throwing F-bombs and just giving the company away. I don't know if I, I don't think I would buy that blush. You're not firing somebody because a random customer's calling up because they got 13 extra dollars charged on the bill for a month. But that's not here nor there. I have some techniques for you, my friend, when you're thinking of this stuff. I like to adjust my vocabulary to make it more strategic and diplomatic. So I wouldn't say, excuse me on the phone. I would replace that for my clarification. Is it A, B, C, or 1, 2, 3? For my clarification. And then there's also tie-downs you could say. Sounds good, right? Makes sense, right? Because if you just keep talking, I don't know if it does sound good or makes sense. You need underwater scuba diving checkpoints. And then finally, my biggest question, My biggest gripe, it's like a gnat or a fly that bothers you. Whenever somebody uses the word help, I understand the intention behind it, but it can provoke a sort of emotion. And so I suggest using assist, guide, and lend a hand. I just know that it's like a longbow. You'll get better distance out of that compared to using help. We're accustomed to it, but it's a very uncomfortable metal chair in a waiting room with bad magazines. It just doesn't work. And so I like to, as I mentioned before, use these soft skills with people. I like to guide. I like to assist and especially, and I give it double points because you're utilizing image streaming by saying lend a hand. https://youtu.be/NjYHz2TbKv4 https://youtu.be/ZQq683zhx_U https://youtu.be/JyNWO9jrLcA https://youtu.be/LB6A-IeXN28 Chapters: 0:00 - Guest Introduction: Richard Blank 1:47 - Richard's Entrepreneurial Journey 3:10 - From Renting Desks to a 300-Seat Call Center 9:00 - Surviving and Thriving During COVID-19 12:36 - Working in Telemarketing 16:25 - Gamification and Employee Engagement 25:27 - Communication Techniques and Empathy 36:17 - Addressing Customer Complaints 45:42 - The Influence of Vintage Arcade Games 50:55 - Richard's Unique Marketing Style 58:19 - Richard's Collaboration with INXS Bassist 1:00:00 - Closing Remarks Podcast Alex Elish With a decade of experience in startups, I’ve mastered digital chaos. I live for the challenge in your mess of a digital strategy! My expertise - people called me SEO, PPC, CRMs, PMS, and automation guy. Marketing funnel or building a website, I’m your go-to guy for creating impactful solutions. If we vibe the right way - I'm your trusty friend and partner. We don't vibe - no money will get you my team efforts, blood and tears. Richard’s journey in the call center space is filled with twists and turns. When he was 27 years old, he relocated to Costa Rica to train employees for one of the larger call centers in San Jose. With a mix of motivational public speaking style backed by tactful and appropriate rhetoric, Richard shared his knowledge and trained over 10 000 bilingual telemarketers. Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008. Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain. A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. In addition, inducted into the 2023 Hall of Fame for Business. Giving back to Abington Senior High School is very important to Mr. Blank. As such, he endows a scholarship each year for students that plan on majoring in a world language at the university level. Costa Rica’s Call Center (CCC) is a state of the art BPO telemarketing outsource company located in the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica. Our main focus has been, and will always be to personally train each and every Central America call center agent so that we may offer the highest quality of outbound and inbound telemarketing solutions and bilingual customer service to small and medium sized international companies, entrepreneurs as well as fortune 500 companies. We encourage you to visit one of our call centers on your next personal vacation or business trip to Central America’s paradise, Costa Rica. While you are here, we would recommend taking an extra day of your trip to visit breathtaking virgin beaches, play golf next to the ocean, try your luck at deep sea fishing, explore tropical jungles, climb volcanos or just relax in natural hot springs. Come and see for yourself why call center outsourcing in Costa Rica is a perfect solution for your growing company and a powerhouse in the BPO industry. https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/ Alex Elish, Big Performance Podcast, Richard Blank,Costa Rica's Call Center, Outsourcing, Telemarketing Call Centre, BPO, Nearshore Contact Center, Sales, Entrepreneur, B2B, Business, Podcast, Gamification,Leadership, Marketing, CX, Guest, Money, B2C education, BPO trainer,call centre, contact centre, contact center #AlexElish #BigPerformancePodcast #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Gamification #CEO Utilizing the military alphabet for enhanced communication And another thing, Alex, use the military alphabet so emails don't bounce back. A lot of people have served. And it gives you consistency. So you're not just thinking on the fly. And these are the sort of things where you might close one additional deal a month because an email didn't bounce back just because of that. And so I think that the military likes it. People will relate to it. And in my professional opinion, it's been able to end calls in a great way where you almost get an encore song or two where it should have been ending. But now you're talking the military and Memorial Day weekend and Veterans Day. And you show your pride and respect. Introduction to a Successful Entrepreneur All righty thank you for for joining me it's a pleasure to talk to you i feel like i know you for the viewers that just joined i want to introduce to you richard blank behind this magical smile there is one phenomenally strong entrepreneur. You have grown your business from renting desks to a 300-seat call center in Costa Rica. That's right. Your business is taking care of hundreds of employees and you build a strong company culture that lets you carry on through COVID and you're going strong in the face of AI apocalypse with your... on the ground business with the people that you hold dear, the people who work for you. The Art of Leadership and Communication It's not so stiff. There is a balance. And if you're going to come here and spend more time with me than you do with your own family, why don't we have a little bit of dessert as well and make it fun? And it's not enjoyable to be a boss where people are afraid of you and you scream and yell and make people stress. There is that responsibility. They have a job to do. Yeah. But we can almost do it by doing the apex, by being the leader and the one that can fly the highest and the furthest and the fastest. Thankfully, this is my wheelhouse. So at any time I can jump on this call and I can not only resolve the issue, would share a lesson to the agent that was looking for that guidance. So in essence, I just don't write checks. This is something that, as you say, you quit after a little bit but got the skills. I sold my soul. I decided to be in this industry for 24 years because I saw the art of the speech. I didn't want it to be ruined and muddied by the bad reputations that stocks and sweet steaks and other call centers do that take advantage of people there. You know, Alex, there's a ton of people out there that earn a wonderful living by retaining a client for a company, setting appointments, making business, getting a referral, possibly if a client is upset and giving you an exit interview or feedback that you're responsible, take the suggestions and implement. And so as long as you're engaged and proactive, that individual's priceless for a corporation. Mastering the art of communication with strategic name-dropping You're not lying. You're not angling or forcing a sale. All I'm doing is repeating a name drop. I'm introducing myself. I'm expecting you to ask me two or three clarification questions where I just use a buffer boomerang. I'll name drop you to adjust the tone, let you know it's a great question. Repeat the question, Alex, so you don't have to repeat it, right? And then I'll send it back to you in a positive way to just keep readjusting that negative, positive tone and shutting doors and checkpoints so we don't have to repeat rabbit holes and get you upset.