Scale Tales From the Ground Up. The Business Infrastructure show Podcast Episode #213 Richard Blank Curing back office blues. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. The Business Infrastructure show provides solutions and real life stories to owners and operators of fast growing small businesses seeking practical tips for dealing with growth spurts. A few years after graduating from university, he accepted an offer to conduct training at a call center in Costa Rica. At 27 years old he decided to call Costa Rica home. That was over 20 years ago. And he never looked back. In this episode, Richard takes us on his journey as he leverages his advanced Spanish-speaking skills, business prowess, and emotional intelligence to build and scale Costa Rica s Call Center from a one-seat to a 300-seat operation. While his friends pursued careers in fields like law, medicine, and technology, Richard Blank went in a completely different direction language. In fact, his love of language and communications led him to study abroad for one semester in Spain. That experience changed the trajectory of his life. Discover how Richard used a cash-only approach to invest in the business infrastructure required to lay a foundation for sustainable growth, his tips for reducing attrition, and why he urges entrepreneurs to act their wage. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. Following a Path Less Traveled Richard, surely there's more to your story than this. Let's try that again. That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Growth Through Cultural Exposure Backpacking around Europe opened a whole new world for Richard. He learned the valuable lessons of evaluating and focusing on what really matters in life, as well as not taking certain things, experiences or people for granted. And what I figured out then was that the things that we hold so dear in the United States really didn't make a difference overseas. We're really just looking at your essence. So it just opened my mind. that there are other places in the world where I could learn and be accepted. And I guess my main thing, and I'm very proud of this, is that when you're 21 years old in Europe, all you want to do is party and have a good time, which I did. But if a party began at eight o'clock, what I made sure to do before that time was to see as many museums and buildings and as much artwork and architecture as I could. So at least I could put in my time to grow and see these incredible historical artifacts that made our cultures, our Western civilization. And so that was the year that I read more books and didn't watch television and really mastered Spanish. And so that was probably the year that I grew the most. Introduction: Overcoming Challenges and Fears Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It s a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it s not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I m your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you re about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard's Pinball Collection and Its Role in Company Culture And you know what? It was true. As I looked at Richard, he was dressed impeccably. Not sure if you noticed it, but he mentioned playing pinball. Here's another interesting fun fact about Richard. He owns the largest collection of American pinball machines in Costa Rica. For him, providing a place where his team can have fun on the job is equally as important as them providing quality service. After all, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Scaling a Business Without Loans: Richard's Journey And over the course of six years, I saved enough money to be able to purchase a three floor building that can house 300 agents. And so I did this without any sort of loans or partners or mortgages. because I don't like paying interest. The year is 2008. Richard lands his first client and eventually grows and scales Costa Rica's call center from one seat to 150 on up to 300 seats. I'm sure you're wondering how he achieved this kind of scale in just six years without seeking outside investments. Don't go anywhere because after the break, Richard will share the details of how he did it and how he sustains it. You started your business because you believed you could make a difference. But now you have more demand than you can keep up with, and if you don't get your operations in order soon, you could lose everything you've worked so hard to build. The chaos is causing angry customers, bad reviews, failed audits, and more. Starting Small: Richard's Strategy of Buying Used We're back, and before the break, we learned about the humble beginnings of Costa Rica's call center and how Richard Blank, as founder and CEO, scaled his operations without outside investments. But how? Well, one thing he did in the beginning was buying used. That is, he strategically purchased either brand new or gently used furniture and computers from other call centers that were going out of business. Here's Richard. The Path to Success: Humility and Dedication I think the greatest thing you can do in the beginning is to be very humble, appreciative. And if you, it's like the game of life. You need to start out in the tent and then you end up in the, in the mansion, but you go through your certain stages. And as long as you can keep pace where you act your wage and and you do it accordingly, you're going to be exceptionally successful. And most people love to hear about the story. They could care less about where I am today. They really want to know about the struggle. And I guess, Alicia, my last parting bit of advice is dedicated practice. And so if anybody really wants to master their craft, they have to put in the time off the camera when your friends aren't around, when you're by yourself. And so if you can invest that sort of time in yourself, you'll be more than prepared when the time comes to shine. The Special Sauce of Pinball in the Workplace These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Destroying Call Center Stereotypes and Appreciating the Craft But I'd like to maybe destroy some of those stereotypes and misconceptions. A lot of people make a living doing customer support and making outbound and receiving calls for companies. It just so happens that a call center has a certain infrastructure in regards to IT support and the sort of equipment we have and the levels of supervision. Notice Richard said infrastructure. He's really talking about business infrastructure, the linking of an organization's people, processes, and tools, which includes the equipment he's referring to for sustainable and profitable growth. And so what I saw walking in here was an environment where English second language agents were conversing on the calls, were converting calls and getting positive escalations, getting amazing feedback. Today, since everything is now omnichannel non-voice support, where all we're doing is chatting and texting, I still saw the art of speech. I thought it was beautiful. Dreams, Languages, and Family Heritage: Choosing a Unique Path That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Setting the Stage: Confronting Fears to Start a Global Business Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It's a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it's not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I'm your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you're about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard Blank is the founder and CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center. His journey to the successful entrepreneur he is today spans across three continents and is filled with introspection and sprinkled with lots of common sense along the way. Stay tuned as he takes us along for an interesting ride. This is episode 213, From the Ground Up, How Richard Blank Built Costa Rica's Call Center. Trusting Intuition: Taking the Leap to Start a Life and Business Abroad And if you can get past your parents' guilt, you can live anywhere in the world. And so when that one in a million opportunity crossed my path, I decided to take it. Turns out it was a year after working with those importers of Corona that Richard's one in a million opportunity surfaced in Costa Rica. I literally had to make a decision to stay in the United States and continue working or to go down there for a couple of months. And I guess it was more of my intuition because there's a lot of naysayers out there, Alicia, and we've lost you. And they're the Negative Nancys and Debbie Downers. And these are usually the people that love you so much and they're trying to protect you. But their N-O means they don't K-N-O-W enough about my vision quest, my spiritual journey. And so my intuition said, Richie, go for it. I know that this is the right thing. You're not just dipping a toe. You've been studying Spanish your whole life. And I believe that you could do well. And if it didn't work out, I could have always come home after a couple months. But I also believe in positive reinforcement. And the fact that I did learn a second language, I was open-minded and embraced this new culture and traditions here. it really gave me this reinforcement to stay here. And I fell in love with the girl of my dreams and we got married and we started a life together here and started a business together here. So as much as it's different from my family's expectations in the United States and what all of my friends did, once again, I was being very true to myself, that 18 year old that decided to take that huge risk on myself. And not to be able to compare notes to my friends that were doing different things. But the one thing I do know is that my circle did support me. https://youtu.be/qw09sFl1DZU https://youtu.be/Gpq-w_WWdn8 https://youtu.be/Cf1PDpZu67M https://youtu.be/It9x2zUkxC8 https://youtu.be/TYSM3A8Wlx0 https://youtu.be/DG1TJ9JcS0k https://youtu.be/Kg_qKh-mqxU https://youtu.be/rBmgKSYfl7A https://youtu.be/yYqbU9t9wm8 https://youtu.be/7MS_otvgGT4 https://youtu.be/nHvXMgWDlBA Richard Blank hired bassist Garry Gary Beers of INXS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieGjN5H4xPQ Alicia Butler Pierre, Scale Tales, 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 Alicia Butler Pierre is the Founder & CEO of Equilibria, Inc. Her career in operations began over 20 years ago while working as an engineer in various chemical plants and oil refineries. She invented the Kasennu framework for business infrastructure and authored, Behind the Fa ade: How to Structure Company Operations for Sustainable Success. It is the world s first published book on business infrastructure for small businesses. Alicia hosts the weekly Business Infrastructure podcast with a global audience across 60 countries. Equilibria, Inc. is an operations management firm specializing in business infrastructure for fast-growing organizations. Our mission is to provide access to tips, resources, and proven frameworks that revolutionize the way small businesses operate. We do that through original podcast episodes, blog posts, videos, presentations, workshops, and coaching sessions. The Business Infrastructure Podcast has accepted Richard Blank's invitation to join the audience for a solid discussion regarding starting a company from scratch in Costa Rica as an expat. Topics discussed with Richard advanced telemarketing strategy, conflict management, interpersonal soft skills, customer support, rhetoric, gamification, employee motivation, phonetic micro expression reading. 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. 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. #AliciaButlerPierre #ScaleTales #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Leadgeneration #Appointmentsetting #businessinfrastructureshow https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/
Scale Tales From the Ground Up. The Business Infrastructure show Podcast Episode #213 Richard Blank Curing back office blues. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. The Business Infrastructure show provides solutions and real life stories to owners and operators of fast growing small businesses seeking practical tips for dealing with growth spurts. A few years after graduating from university, he accepted an offer to conduct training at a call center in Costa Rica. At 27 years old he decided to call Costa Rica home. That was over 20 years ago. And he never looked back. In this episode, Richard takes us on his journey as he leverages his advanced Spanish-speaking skills, business prowess, and emotional intelligence to build and scale Costa Rica s Call Center from a one-seat to a 300-seat operation. While his friends pursued careers in fields like law, medicine, and technology, Richard Blank went in a completely different direction language. In fact, his love of language and communications led him to study abroad for one semester in Spain. That experience changed the trajectory of his life. Discover how Richard used a cash-only approach to invest in the business infrastructure required to lay a foundation for sustainable growth, his tips for reducing attrition, and why he urges entrepreneurs to act their wage. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. Following a Path Less Traveled Richard, surely there's more to your story than this. Let's try that again. That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Growth Through Cultural Exposure Backpacking around Europe opened a whole new world for Richard. He learned the valuable lessons of evaluating and focusing on what really matters in life, as well as not taking certain things, experiences or people for granted. And what I figured out then was that the things that we hold so dear in the United States really didn't make a difference overseas. We're really just looking at your essence. So it just opened my mind. that there are other places in the world where I could learn and be accepted. And I guess my main thing, and I'm very proud of this, is that when you're 21 years old in Europe, all you want to do is party and have a good time, which I did. But if a party began at eight o'clock, what I made sure to do before that time was to see as many museums and buildings and as much artwork and architecture as I could. So at least I could put in my time to grow and see these incredible historical artifacts that made our cultures, our Western civilization. And so that was the year that I read more books and didn't watch television and really mastered Spanish. And so that was probably the year that I grew the most. Introduction: Overcoming Challenges and Fears Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It s a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it s not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I m your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you re about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard's Pinball Collection and Its Role in Company Culture And you know what? It was true. As I looked at Richard, he was dressed impeccably. Not sure if you noticed it, but he mentioned playing pinball. Here's another interesting fun fact about Richard. He owns the largest collection of American pinball machines in Costa Rica. For him, providing a place where his team can have fun on the job is equally as important as them providing quality service. After all, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Scaling a Business Without Loans: Richard's Journey And over the course of six years, I saved enough money to be able to purchase a three floor building that can house 300 agents. And so I did this without any sort of loans or partners or mortgages. because I don't like paying interest. The year is 2008. Richard lands his first client and eventually grows and scales Costa Rica's call center from one seat to 150 on up to 300 seats. I'm sure you're wondering how he achieved this kind of scale in just six years without seeking outside investments. Don't go anywhere because after the break, Richard will share the details of how he did it and how he sustains it. You started your business because you believed you could make a difference. But now you have more demand than you can keep up with, and if you don't get your operations in order soon, you could lose everything you've worked so hard to build. The chaos is causing angry customers, bad reviews, failed audits, and more. Starting Small: Richard's Strategy of Buying Used We're back, and before the break, we learned about the humble beginnings of Costa Rica's call center and how Richard Blank, as founder and CEO, scaled his operations without outside investments. But how? Well, one thing he did in the beginning was buying used. That is, he strategically purchased either brand new or gently used furniture and computers from other call centers that were going out of business. Here's Richard. The Path to Success: Humility and Dedication I think the greatest thing you can do in the beginning is to be very humble, appreciative. And if you, it's like the game of life. You need to start out in the tent and then you end up in the, in the mansion, but you go through your certain stages. And as long as you can keep pace where you act your wage and and you do it accordingly, you're going to be exceptionally successful. And most people love to hear about the story. They could care less about where I am today. They really want to know about the struggle. And I guess, Alicia, my last parting bit of advice is dedicated practice. And so if anybody really wants to master their craft, they have to put in the time off the camera when your friends aren't around, when you're by yourself. And so if you can invest that sort of time in yourself, you'll be more than prepared when the time comes to shine. The Special Sauce of Pinball in the Workplace These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Destroying Call Center Stereotypes and Appreciating the Craft But I'd like to maybe destroy some of those stereotypes and misconceptions. A lot of people make a living doing customer support and making outbound and receiving calls for companies. It just so happens that a call center has a certain infrastructure in regards to IT support and the sort of equipment we have and the levels of supervision. Notice Richard said infrastructure. He's really talking about business infrastructure, the linking of an organization's people, processes, and tools, which includes the equipment he's referring to for sustainable and profitable growth. And so what I saw walking in here was an environment where English second language agents were conversing on the calls, were converting calls and getting positive escalations, getting amazing feedback. Today, since everything is now omnichannel non-voice support, where all we're doing is chatting and texting, I still saw the art of speech. I thought it was beautiful. Dreams, Languages, and Family Heritage: Choosing a Unique Path That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Setting the Stage: Confronting Fears to Start a Global Business Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It's a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it's not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I'm your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you're about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard Blank is the founder and CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center. His journey to the successful entrepreneur he is today spans across three continents and is filled with introspection and sprinkled with lots of common sense along the way. Stay tuned as he takes us along for an interesting ride. This is episode 213, From the Ground Up, How Richard Blank Built Costa Rica's Call Center. Trusting Intuition: Taking the Leap to Start a Life and Business Abroad And if you can get past your parents' guilt, you can live anywhere in the world. And so when that one in a million opportunity crossed my path, I decided to take it. Turns out it was a year after working with those importers of Corona that Richard's one in a million opportunity surfaced in Costa Rica. I literally had to make a decision to stay in the United States and continue working or to go down there for a couple of months. And I guess it was more of my intuition because there's a lot of naysayers out there, Alicia, and we've lost you. And they're the Negative Nancys and Debbie Downers. And these are usually the people that love you so much and they're trying to protect you. But their N-O means they don't K-N-O-W enough about my vision quest, my spiritual journey. And so my intuition said, Richie, go for it. I know that this is the right thing. You're not just dipping a toe. You've been studying Spanish your whole life. And I believe that you could do well. And if it didn't work out, I could have always come home after a couple months. But I also believe in positive reinforcement. And the fact that I did learn a second language, I was open-minded and embraced this new culture and traditions here. it really gave me this reinforcement to stay here. And I fell in love with the girl of my dreams and we got married and we started a life together here and started a business together here. So as much as it's different from my family's expectations in the United States and what all of my friends did, once again, I was being very true to myself, that 18 year old that decided to take that huge risk on myself. And not to be able to compare notes to my friends that were doing different things. But the one thing I do know is that my circle did support me. https://youtu.be/qw09sFl1DZU https://youtu.be/Gpq-w_WWdn8 https://youtu.be/Cf1PDpZu67M https://youtu.be/It9x2zUkxC8 https://youtu.be/TYSM3A8Wlx0 https://youtu.be/DG1TJ9JcS0k https://youtu.be/Kg_qKh-mqxU https://youtu.be/rBmgKSYfl7A https://youtu.be/yYqbU9t9wm8 https://youtu.be/7MS_otvgGT4 https://youtu.be/nHvXMgWDlBA Richard Blank hired bassist Garry Gary Beers of INXS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieGjN5H4xPQ Alicia Butler Pierre, Scale Tales, 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 Alicia Butler Pierre is the Founder & CEO of Equilibria, Inc. Her career in operations began over 20 years ago while working as an engineer in various chemical plants and oil refineries. She invented the Kasennu framework for business infrastructure and authored, Behind the Fa ade: How to Structure Company Operations for Sustainable Success. It is the world s first published book on business infrastructure for small businesses. Alicia hosts the weekly Business Infrastructure podcast with a global audience across 60 countries. Equilibria, Inc. is an operations management firm specializing in business infrastructure for fast-growing organizations. Our mission is to provide access to tips, resources, and proven frameworks that revolutionize the way small businesses operate. We do that through original podcast episodes, blog posts, videos, presentations, workshops, and coaching sessions. The Business Infrastructure Podcast has accepted Richard Blank's invitation to join the audience for a solid discussion regarding starting a company from scratch in Costa Rica as an expat. Topics discussed with Richard advanced telemarketing strategy, conflict management, interpersonal soft skills, customer support, rhetoric, gamification, employee motivation, phonetic micro expression reading. 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. 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. #AliciaButlerPierre #ScaleTales #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Leadgeneration #Appointmentsetting #businessinfrastructureshow https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/
Scale Tales From the Ground Up. The Business Infrastructure show Podcast Episode #213 Richard Blank Curing back office blues. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. The Business Infrastructure show provides solutions and real life stories to owners and operators of fast growing small businesses seeking practical tips for dealing with growth spurts. A few years after graduating from university, he accepted an offer to conduct training at a call center in Costa Rica. At 27 years old he decided to call Costa Rica home. That was over 20 years ago. And he never looked back. In this episode, Richard takes us on his journey as he leverages his advanced Spanish-speaking skills, business prowess, and emotional intelligence to build and scale Costa Rica s Call Center from a one-seat to a 300-seat operation. While his friends pursued careers in fields like law, medicine, and technology, Richard Blank went in a completely different direction language. In fact, his love of language and communications led him to study abroad for one semester in Spain. That experience changed the trajectory of his life. Discover how Richard used a cash-only approach to invest in the business infrastructure required to lay a foundation for sustainable growth, his tips for reducing attrition, and why he urges entrepreneurs to act their wage. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. Following a Path Less Traveled Richard, surely there's more to your story than this. Let's try that again. That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Growth Through Cultural Exposure Backpacking around Europe opened a whole new world for Richard. He learned the valuable lessons of evaluating and focusing on what really matters in life, as well as not taking certain things, experiences or people for granted. And what I figured out then was that the things that we hold so dear in the United States really didn't make a difference overseas. We're really just looking at your essence. So it just opened my mind. that there are other places in the world where I could learn and be accepted. And I guess my main thing, and I'm very proud of this, is that when you're 21 years old in Europe, all you want to do is party and have a good time, which I did. But if a party began at eight o'clock, what I made sure to do before that time was to see as many museums and buildings and as much artwork and architecture as I could. So at least I could put in my time to grow and see these incredible historical artifacts that made our cultures, our Western civilization. And so that was the year that I read more books and didn't watch television and really mastered Spanish. And so that was probably the year that I grew the most. Introduction: Overcoming Challenges and Fears Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It s a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it s not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I m your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you re about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard's Pinball Collection and Its Role in Company Culture And you know what? It was true. As I looked at Richard, he was dressed impeccably. Not sure if you noticed it, but he mentioned playing pinball. Here's another interesting fun fact about Richard. He owns the largest collection of American pinball machines in Costa Rica. For him, providing a place where his team can have fun on the job is equally as important as them providing quality service. After all, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Scaling a Business Without Loans: Richard's Journey And over the course of six years, I saved enough money to be able to purchase a three floor building that can house 300 agents. And so I did this without any sort of loans or partners or mortgages. because I don't like paying interest. The year is 2008. Richard lands his first client and eventually grows and scales Costa Rica's call center from one seat to 150 on up to 300 seats. I'm sure you're wondering how he achieved this kind of scale in just six years without seeking outside investments. Don't go anywhere because after the break, Richard will share the details of how he did it and how he sustains it. You started your business because you believed you could make a difference. But now you have more demand than you can keep up with, and if you don't get your operations in order soon, you could lose everything you've worked so hard to build. The chaos is causing angry customers, bad reviews, failed audits, and more. Starting Small: Richard's Strategy of Buying Used We're back, and before the break, we learned about the humble beginnings of Costa Rica's call center and how Richard Blank, as founder and CEO, scaled his operations without outside investments. But how? Well, one thing he did in the beginning was buying used. That is, he strategically purchased either brand new or gently used furniture and computers from other call centers that were going out of business. Here's Richard. The Path to Success: Humility and Dedication I think the greatest thing you can do in the beginning is to be very humble, appreciative. And if you, it's like the game of life. You need to start out in the tent and then you end up in the, in the mansion, but you go through your certain stages. And as long as you can keep pace where you act your wage and and you do it accordingly, you're going to be exceptionally successful. And most people love to hear about the story. They could care less about where I am today. They really want to know about the struggle. And I guess, Alicia, my last parting bit of advice is dedicated practice. And so if anybody really wants to master their craft, they have to put in the time off the camera when your friends aren't around, when you're by yourself. And so if you can invest that sort of time in yourself, you'll be more than prepared when the time comes to shine. The Special Sauce of Pinball in the Workplace These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Destroying Call Center Stereotypes and Appreciating the Craft But I'd like to maybe destroy some of those stereotypes and misconceptions. A lot of people make a living doing customer support and making outbound and receiving calls for companies. It just so happens that a call center has a certain infrastructure in regards to IT support and the sort of equipment we have and the levels of supervision. Notice Richard said infrastructure. He's really talking about business infrastructure, the linking of an organization's people, processes, and tools, which includes the equipment he's referring to for sustainable and profitable growth. And so what I saw walking in here was an environment where English second language agents were conversing on the calls, were converting calls and getting positive escalations, getting amazing feedback. Today, since everything is now omnichannel non-voice support, where all we're doing is chatting and texting, I still saw the art of speech. I thought it was beautiful. Dreams, Languages, and Family Heritage: Choosing a Unique Path That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Setting the Stage: Confronting Fears to Start a Global Business Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It's a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it's not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I'm your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you're about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard Blank is the founder and CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center. His journey to the successful entrepreneur he is today spans across three continents and is filled with introspection and sprinkled with lots of common sense along the way. Stay tuned as he takes us along for an interesting ride. This is episode 213, From the Ground Up, How Richard Blank Built Costa Rica's Call Center. Trusting Intuition: Taking the Leap to Start a Life and Business Abroad And if you can get past your parents' guilt, you can live anywhere in the world. And so when that one in a million opportunity crossed my path, I decided to take it. Turns out it was a year after working with those importers of Corona that Richard's one in a million opportunity surfaced in Costa Rica. I literally had to make a decision to stay in the United States and continue working or to go down there for a couple of months. And I guess it was more of my intuition because there's a lot of naysayers out there, Alicia, and we've lost you. And they're the Negative Nancys and Debbie Downers. And these are usually the people that love you so much and they're trying to protect you. But their N-O means they don't K-N-O-W enough about my vision quest, my spiritual journey. And so my intuition said, Richie, go for it. I know that this is the right thing. You're not just dipping a toe. You've been studying Spanish your whole life. And I believe that you could do well. And if it didn't work out, I could have always come home after a couple months. But I also believe in positive reinforcement. And the fact that I did learn a second language, I was open-minded and embraced this new culture and traditions here. it really gave me this reinforcement to stay here. And I fell in love with the girl of my dreams and we got married and we started a life together here and started a business together here. So as much as it's different from my family's expectations in the United States and what all of my friends did, once again, I was being very true to myself, that 18 year old that decided to take that huge risk on myself. And not to be able to compare notes to my friends that were doing different things. But the one thing I do know is that my circle did support me. https://youtu.be/qw09sFl1DZU https://youtu.be/Gpq-w_WWdn8 https://youtu.be/Cf1PDpZu67M https://youtu.be/It9x2zUkxC8 https://youtu.be/TYSM3A8Wlx0 https://youtu.be/DG1TJ9JcS0k https://youtu.be/Kg_qKh-mqxU https://youtu.be/rBmgKSYfl7A https://youtu.be/yYqbU9t9wm8 https://youtu.be/7MS_otvgGT4 https://youtu.be/nHvXMgWDlBA Richard Blank hired bassist Garry Gary Beers of INXS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieGjN5H4xPQ Alicia Butler Pierre, Scale Tales, 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 Alicia Butler Pierre is the Founder & CEO of Equilibria, Inc. Her career in operations began over 20 years ago while working as an engineer in various chemical plants and oil refineries. She invented the Kasennu framework for business infrastructure and authored, Behind the Fa ade: How to Structure Company Operations for Sustainable Success. It is the world s first published book on business infrastructure for small businesses. Alicia hosts the weekly Business Infrastructure podcast with a global audience across 60 countries. Equilibria, Inc. is an operations management firm specializing in business infrastructure for fast-growing organizations. Our mission is to provide access to tips, resources, and proven frameworks that revolutionize the way small businesses operate. We do that through original podcast episodes, blog posts, videos, presentations, workshops, and coaching sessions. The Business Infrastructure Podcast has accepted Richard Blank's invitation to join the audience for a solid discussion regarding starting a company from scratch in Costa Rica as an expat. Topics discussed with Richard advanced telemarketing strategy, conflict management, interpersonal soft skills, customer support, rhetoric, gamification, employee motivation, phonetic micro expression reading. 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. 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. #AliciaButlerPierre #ScaleTales #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Leadgeneration #Appointmentsetting #businessinfrastructureshow https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/
Scale Tales From the Ground Up. The Business Infrastructure show Podcast Episode #213 Richard Blank Curing back office blues. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. The Business Infrastructure show provides solutions and real life stories to owners and operators of fast growing small businesses seeking practical tips for dealing with growth spurts. A few years after graduating from university, he accepted an offer to conduct training at a call center in Costa Rica. At 27 years old he decided to call Costa Rica home. That was over 20 years ago. And he never looked back. In this episode, Richard takes us on his journey as he leverages his advanced Spanish-speaking skills, business prowess, and emotional intelligence to build and scale Costa Rica s Call Center from a one-seat to a 300-seat operation. While his friends pursued careers in fields like law, medicine, and technology, Richard Blank went in a completely different direction language. In fact, his love of language and communications led him to study abroad for one semester in Spain. That experience changed the trajectory of his life. Discover how Richard used a cash-only approach to invest in the business infrastructure required to lay a foundation for sustainable growth, his tips for reducing attrition, and why he urges entrepreneurs to act their wage. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. Following a Path Less Traveled Richard, surely there's more to your story than this. Let's try that again. That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Growth Through Cultural Exposure Backpacking around Europe opened a whole new world for Richard. He learned the valuable lessons of evaluating and focusing on what really matters in life, as well as not taking certain things, experiences or people for granted. And what I figured out then was that the things that we hold so dear in the United States really didn't make a difference overseas. We're really just looking at your essence. So it just opened my mind. that there are other places in the world where I could learn and be accepted. And I guess my main thing, and I'm very proud of this, is that when you're 21 years old in Europe, all you want to do is party and have a good time, which I did. But if a party began at eight o'clock, what I made sure to do before that time was to see as many museums and buildings and as much artwork and architecture as I could. So at least I could put in my time to grow and see these incredible historical artifacts that made our cultures, our Western civilization. And so that was the year that I read more books and didn't watch television and really mastered Spanish. And so that was probably the year that I grew the most. Introduction: Overcoming Challenges and Fears Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It s a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it s not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I m your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you re about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard's Pinball Collection and Its Role in Company Culture And you know what? It was true. As I looked at Richard, he was dressed impeccably. Not sure if you noticed it, but he mentioned playing pinball. Here's another interesting fun fact about Richard. He owns the largest collection of American pinball machines in Costa Rica. For him, providing a place where his team can have fun on the job is equally as important as them providing quality service. After all, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Scaling a Business Without Loans: Richard's Journey And over the course of six years, I saved enough money to be able to purchase a three floor building that can house 300 agents. And so I did this without any sort of loans or partners or mortgages. because I don't like paying interest. The year is 2008. Richard lands his first client and eventually grows and scales Costa Rica's call center from one seat to 150 on up to 300 seats. I'm sure you're wondering how he achieved this kind of scale in just six years without seeking outside investments. Don't go anywhere because after the break, Richard will share the details of how he did it and how he sustains it. You started your business because you believed you could make a difference. But now you have more demand than you can keep up with, and if you don't get your operations in order soon, you could lose everything you've worked so hard to build. The chaos is causing angry customers, bad reviews, failed audits, and more. Starting Small: Richard's Strategy of Buying Used We're back, and before the break, we learned about the humble beginnings of Costa Rica's call center and how Richard Blank, as founder and CEO, scaled his operations without outside investments. But how? Well, one thing he did in the beginning was buying used. That is, he strategically purchased either brand new or gently used furniture and computers from other call centers that were going out of business. Here's Richard. The Path to Success: Humility and Dedication I think the greatest thing you can do in the beginning is to be very humble, appreciative. And if you, it's like the game of life. You need to start out in the tent and then you end up in the, in the mansion, but you go through your certain stages. And as long as you can keep pace where you act your wage and and you do it accordingly, you're going to be exceptionally successful. And most people love to hear about the story. They could care less about where I am today. They really want to know about the struggle. And I guess, Alicia, my last parting bit of advice is dedicated practice. And so if anybody really wants to master their craft, they have to put in the time off the camera when your friends aren't around, when you're by yourself. And so if you can invest that sort of time in yourself, you'll be more than prepared when the time comes to shine. The Special Sauce of Pinball in the Workplace These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Destroying Call Center Stereotypes and Appreciating the Craft But I'd like to maybe destroy some of those stereotypes and misconceptions. A lot of people make a living doing customer support and making outbound and receiving calls for companies. It just so happens that a call center has a certain infrastructure in regards to IT support and the sort of equipment we have and the levels of supervision. Notice Richard said infrastructure. He's really talking about business infrastructure, the linking of an organization's people, processes, and tools, which includes the equipment he's referring to for sustainable and profitable growth. And so what I saw walking in here was an environment where English second language agents were conversing on the calls, were converting calls and getting positive escalations, getting amazing feedback. Today, since everything is now omnichannel non-voice support, where all we're doing is chatting and texting, I still saw the art of speech. I thought it was beautiful. Dreams, Languages, and Family Heritage: Choosing a Unique Path That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Setting the Stage: Confronting Fears to Start a Global Business Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It's a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it's not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I'm your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you're about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard Blank is the founder and CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center. His journey to the successful entrepreneur he is today spans across three continents and is filled with introspection and sprinkled with lots of common sense along the way. Stay tuned as he takes us along for an interesting ride. This is episode 213, From the Ground Up, How Richard Blank Built Costa Rica's Call Center. Trusting Intuition: Taking the Leap to Start a Life and Business Abroad And if you can get past your parents' guilt, you can live anywhere in the world. And so when that one in a million opportunity crossed my path, I decided to take it. Turns out it was a year after working with those importers of Corona that Richard's one in a million opportunity surfaced in Costa Rica. I literally had to make a decision to stay in the United States and continue working or to go down there for a couple of months. And I guess it was more of my intuition because there's a lot of naysayers out there, Alicia, and we've lost you. And they're the Negative Nancys and Debbie Downers. And these are usually the people that love you so much and they're trying to protect you. But their N-O means they don't K-N-O-W enough about my vision quest, my spiritual journey. And so my intuition said, Richie, go for it. I know that this is the right thing. You're not just dipping a toe. You've been studying Spanish your whole life. And I believe that you could do well. And if it didn't work out, I could have always come home after a couple months. But I also believe in positive reinforcement. And the fact that I did learn a second language, I was open-minded and embraced this new culture and traditions here. it really gave me this reinforcement to stay here. And I fell in love with the girl of my dreams and we got married and we started a life together here and started a business together here. So as much as it's different from my family's expectations in the United States and what all of my friends did, once again, I was being very true to myself, that 18 year old that decided to take that huge risk on myself. And not to be able to compare notes to my friends that were doing different things. But the one thing I do know is that my circle did support me. https://youtu.be/qw09sFl1DZU https://youtu.be/Gpq-w_WWdn8 https://youtu.be/Cf1PDpZu67M https://youtu.be/It9x2zUkxC8 https://youtu.be/TYSM3A8Wlx0 https://youtu.be/DG1TJ9JcS0k https://youtu.be/Kg_qKh-mqxU https://youtu.be/rBmgKSYfl7A https://youtu.be/yYqbU9t9wm8 https://youtu.be/7MS_otvgGT4 https://youtu.be/nHvXMgWDlBA Richard Blank hired bassist Garry Gary Beers of INXS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieGjN5H4xPQ Alicia Butler Pierre, Scale Tales, 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 Alicia Butler Pierre is the Founder & CEO of Equilibria, Inc. Her career in operations began over 20 years ago while working as an engineer in various chemical plants and oil refineries. She invented the Kasennu framework for business infrastructure and authored, Behind the Fa ade: How to Structure Company Operations for Sustainable Success. It is the world s first published book on business infrastructure for small businesses. Alicia hosts the weekly Business Infrastructure podcast with a global audience across 60 countries. Equilibria, Inc. is an operations management firm specializing in business infrastructure for fast-growing organizations. Our mission is to provide access to tips, resources, and proven frameworks that revolutionize the way small businesses operate. We do that through original podcast episodes, blog posts, videos, presentations, workshops, and coaching sessions. The Business Infrastructure Podcast has accepted Richard Blank's invitation to join the audience for a solid discussion regarding starting a company from scratch in Costa Rica as an expat. Topics discussed with Richard advanced telemarketing strategy, conflict management, interpersonal soft skills, customer support, rhetoric, gamification, employee motivation, phonetic micro expression reading. 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. 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. #AliciaButlerPierre #ScaleTales #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Leadgeneration #Appointmentsetting #businessinfrastructureshow https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/
Scale Tales From the Ground Up. The Business Infrastructure show Podcast Episode #213 Richard Blank Curing back office blues. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. The Business Infrastructure show provides solutions and real life stories to owners and operators of fast growing small businesses seeking practical tips for dealing with growth spurts. A few years after graduating from university, he accepted an offer to conduct training at a call center in Costa Rica. At 27 years old he decided to call Costa Rica home. That was over 20 years ago. And he never looked back. In this episode, Richard takes us on his journey as he leverages his advanced Spanish-speaking skills, business prowess, and emotional intelligence to build and scale Costa Rica s Call Center from a one-seat to a 300-seat operation. While his friends pursued careers in fields like law, medicine, and technology, Richard Blank went in a completely different direction language. In fact, his love of language and communications led him to study abroad for one semester in Spain. That experience changed the trajectory of his life. Discover how Richard used a cash-only approach to invest in the business infrastructure required to lay a foundation for sustainable growth, his tips for reducing attrition, and why he urges entrepreneurs to act their wage. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. Following a Path Less Traveled Richard, surely there's more to your story than this. Let's try that again. That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Growth Through Cultural Exposure Backpacking around Europe opened a whole new world for Richard. He learned the valuable lessons of evaluating and focusing on what really matters in life, as well as not taking certain things, experiences or people for granted. And what I figured out then was that the things that we hold so dear in the United States really didn't make a difference overseas. We're really just looking at your essence. So it just opened my mind. that there are other places in the world where I could learn and be accepted. And I guess my main thing, and I'm very proud of this, is that when you're 21 years old in Europe, all you want to do is party and have a good time, which I did. But if a party began at eight o'clock, what I made sure to do before that time was to see as many museums and buildings and as much artwork and architecture as I could. So at least I could put in my time to grow and see these incredible historical artifacts that made our cultures, our Western civilization. And so that was the year that I read more books and didn't watch television and really mastered Spanish. And so that was probably the year that I grew the most. Introduction: Overcoming Challenges and Fears Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It s a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it s not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I m your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you re about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard's Pinball Collection and Its Role in Company Culture And you know what? It was true. As I looked at Richard, he was dressed impeccably. Not sure if you noticed it, but he mentioned playing pinball. Here's another interesting fun fact about Richard. He owns the largest collection of American pinball machines in Costa Rica. For him, providing a place where his team can have fun on the job is equally as important as them providing quality service. After all, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Scaling a Business Without Loans: Richard's Journey And over the course of six years, I saved enough money to be able to purchase a three floor building that can house 300 agents. And so I did this without any sort of loans or partners or mortgages. because I don't like paying interest. The year is 2008. Richard lands his first client and eventually grows and scales Costa Rica's call center from one seat to 150 on up to 300 seats. I'm sure you're wondering how he achieved this kind of scale in just six years without seeking outside investments. Don't go anywhere because after the break, Richard will share the details of how he did it and how he sustains it. You started your business because you believed you could make a difference. But now you have more demand than you can keep up with, and if you don't get your operations in order soon, you could lose everything you've worked so hard to build. The chaos is causing angry customers, bad reviews, failed audits, and more. Starting Small: Richard's Strategy of Buying Used We're back, and before the break, we learned about the humble beginnings of Costa Rica's call center and how Richard Blank, as founder and CEO, scaled his operations without outside investments. But how? Well, one thing he did in the beginning was buying used. That is, he strategically purchased either brand new or gently used furniture and computers from other call centers that were going out of business. Here's Richard. The Path to Success: Humility and Dedication I think the greatest thing you can do in the beginning is to be very humble, appreciative. And if you, it's like the game of life. You need to start out in the tent and then you end up in the, in the mansion, but you go through your certain stages. And as long as you can keep pace where you act your wage and and you do it accordingly, you're going to be exceptionally successful. And most people love to hear about the story. They could care less about where I am today. They really want to know about the struggle. And I guess, Alicia, my last parting bit of advice is dedicated practice. And so if anybody really wants to master their craft, they have to put in the time off the camera when your friends aren't around, when you're by yourself. And so if you can invest that sort of time in yourself, you'll be more than prepared when the time comes to shine. The Special Sauce of Pinball in the Workplace These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Destroying Call Center Stereotypes and Appreciating the Craft But I'd like to maybe destroy some of those stereotypes and misconceptions. A lot of people make a living doing customer support and making outbound and receiving calls for companies. It just so happens that a call center has a certain infrastructure in regards to IT support and the sort of equipment we have and the levels of supervision. Notice Richard said infrastructure. He's really talking about business infrastructure, the linking of an organization's people, processes, and tools, which includes the equipment he's referring to for sustainable and profitable growth. And so what I saw walking in here was an environment where English second language agents were conversing on the calls, were converting calls and getting positive escalations, getting amazing feedback. Today, since everything is now omnichannel non-voice support, where all we're doing is chatting and texting, I still saw the art of speech. I thought it was beautiful. Dreams, Languages, and Family Heritage: Choosing a Unique Path That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Setting the Stage: Confronting Fears to Start a Global Business Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It's a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it's not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I'm your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you're about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard Blank is the founder and CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center. His journey to the successful entrepreneur he is today spans across three continents and is filled with introspection and sprinkled with lots of common sense along the way. Stay tuned as he takes us along for an interesting ride. This is episode 213, From the Ground Up, How Richard Blank Built Costa Rica's Call Center. Trusting Intuition: Taking the Leap to Start a Life and Business Abroad And if you can get past your parents' guilt, you can live anywhere in the world. And so when that one in a million opportunity crossed my path, I decided to take it. Turns out it was a year after working with those importers of Corona that Richard's one in a million opportunity surfaced in Costa Rica. I literally had to make a decision to stay in the United States and continue working or to go down there for a couple of months. And I guess it was more of my intuition because there's a lot of naysayers out there, Alicia, and we've lost you. And they're the Negative Nancys and Debbie Downers. And these are usually the people that love you so much and they're trying to protect you. But their N-O means they don't K-N-O-W enough about my vision quest, my spiritual journey. And so my intuition said, Richie, go for it. I know that this is the right thing. You're not just dipping a toe. You've been studying Spanish your whole life. And I believe that you could do well. And if it didn't work out, I could have always come home after a couple months. But I also believe in positive reinforcement. And the fact that I did learn a second language, I was open-minded and embraced this new culture and traditions here. it really gave me this reinforcement to stay here. And I fell in love with the girl of my dreams and we got married and we started a life together here and started a business together here. So as much as it's different from my family's expectations in the United States and what all of my friends did, once again, I was being very true to myself, that 18 year old that decided to take that huge risk on myself. And not to be able to compare notes to my friends that were doing different things. But the one thing I do know is that my circle did support me. https://youtu.be/qw09sFl1DZU https://youtu.be/Gpq-w_WWdn8 https://youtu.be/Cf1PDpZu67M https://youtu.be/It9x2zUkxC8 https://youtu.be/TYSM3A8Wlx0 https://youtu.be/DG1TJ9JcS0k https://youtu.be/Kg_qKh-mqxU https://youtu.be/rBmgKSYfl7A https://youtu.be/yYqbU9t9wm8 https://youtu.be/7MS_otvgGT4 https://youtu.be/nHvXMgWDlBA Richard Blank hired bassist Garry Gary Beers of INXS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieGjN5H4xPQ Alicia Butler Pierre, Scale Tales, 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 Alicia Butler Pierre is the Founder & CEO of Equilibria, Inc. Her career in operations began over 20 years ago while working as an engineer in various chemical plants and oil refineries. She invented the Kasennu framework for business infrastructure and authored, Behind the Fa ade: How to Structure Company Operations for Sustainable Success. It is the world s first published book on business infrastructure for small businesses. Alicia hosts the weekly Business Infrastructure podcast with a global audience across 60 countries. Equilibria, Inc. is an operations management firm specializing in business infrastructure for fast-growing organizations. Our mission is to provide access to tips, resources, and proven frameworks that revolutionize the way small businesses operate. We do that through original podcast episodes, blog posts, videos, presentations, workshops, and coaching sessions. The Business Infrastructure Podcast has accepted Richard Blank's invitation to join the audience for a solid discussion regarding starting a company from scratch in Costa Rica as an expat. Topics discussed with Richard advanced telemarketing strategy, conflict management, interpersonal soft skills, customer support, rhetoric, gamification, employee motivation, phonetic micro expression reading. 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. 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. #AliciaButlerPierre #ScaleTales #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Leadgeneration #Appointmentsetting #businessinfrastructureshow https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/
Scale Tales From the Ground Up. The Business Infrastructure show Podcast Episode #213 Richard Blank Curing back office blues. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. The Business Infrastructure show provides solutions and real life stories to owners and operators of fast growing small businesses seeking practical tips for dealing with growth spurts. A few years after graduating from university, he accepted an offer to conduct training at a call center in Costa Rica. At 27 years old he decided to call Costa Rica home. That was over 20 years ago. And he never looked back. In this episode, Richard takes us on his journey as he leverages his advanced Spanish-speaking skills, business prowess, and emotional intelligence to build and scale Costa Rica s Call Center from a one-seat to a 300-seat operation. While his friends pursued careers in fields like law, medicine, and technology, Richard Blank went in a completely different direction language. In fact, his love of language and communications led him to study abroad for one semester in Spain. That experience changed the trajectory of his life. Discover how Richard used a cash-only approach to invest in the business infrastructure required to lay a foundation for sustainable growth, his tips for reducing attrition, and why he urges entrepreneurs to act their wage. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. Following a Path Less Traveled Richard, surely there's more to your story than this. Let's try that again. That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Growth Through Cultural Exposure Backpacking around Europe opened a whole new world for Richard. He learned the valuable lessons of evaluating and focusing on what really matters in life, as well as not taking certain things, experiences or people for granted. And what I figured out then was that the things that we hold so dear in the United States really didn't make a difference overseas. We're really just looking at your essence. So it just opened my mind. that there are other places in the world where I could learn and be accepted. And I guess my main thing, and I'm very proud of this, is that when you're 21 years old in Europe, all you want to do is party and have a good time, which I did. But if a party began at eight o'clock, what I made sure to do before that time was to see as many museums and buildings and as much artwork and architecture as I could. So at least I could put in my time to grow and see these incredible historical artifacts that made our cultures, our Western civilization. And so that was the year that I read more books and didn't watch television and really mastered Spanish. And so that was probably the year that I grew the most. Introduction: Overcoming Challenges and Fears Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It s a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it s not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I m your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you re about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard's Pinball Collection and Its Role in Company Culture And you know what? It was true. As I looked at Richard, he was dressed impeccably. Not sure if you noticed it, but he mentioned playing pinball. Here's another interesting fun fact about Richard. He owns the largest collection of American pinball machines in Costa Rica. For him, providing a place where his team can have fun on the job is equally as important as them providing quality service. After all, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Scaling a Business Without Loans: Richard's Journey And over the course of six years, I saved enough money to be able to purchase a three floor building that can house 300 agents. And so I did this without any sort of loans or partners or mortgages. because I don't like paying interest. The year is 2008. Richard lands his first client and eventually grows and scales Costa Rica's call center from one seat to 150 on up to 300 seats. I'm sure you're wondering how he achieved this kind of scale in just six years without seeking outside investments. Don't go anywhere because after the break, Richard will share the details of how he did it and how he sustains it. You started your business because you believed you could make a difference. But now you have more demand than you can keep up with, and if you don't get your operations in order soon, you could lose everything you've worked so hard to build. The chaos is causing angry customers, bad reviews, failed audits, and more. Starting Small: Richard's Strategy of Buying Used We're back, and before the break, we learned about the humble beginnings of Costa Rica's call center and how Richard Blank, as founder and CEO, scaled his operations without outside investments. But how? Well, one thing he did in the beginning was buying used. That is, he strategically purchased either brand new or gently used furniture and computers from other call centers that were going out of business. Here's Richard. The Path to Success: Humility and Dedication I think the greatest thing you can do in the beginning is to be very humble, appreciative. And if you, it's like the game of life. You need to start out in the tent and then you end up in the, in the mansion, but you go through your certain stages. And as long as you can keep pace where you act your wage and and you do it accordingly, you're going to be exceptionally successful. And most people love to hear about the story. They could care less about where I am today. They really want to know about the struggle. And I guess, Alicia, my last parting bit of advice is dedicated practice. And so if anybody really wants to master their craft, they have to put in the time off the camera when your friends aren't around, when you're by yourself. And so if you can invest that sort of time in yourself, you'll be more than prepared when the time comes to shine. The Special Sauce of Pinball in the Workplace These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Destroying Call Center Stereotypes and Appreciating the Craft But I'd like to maybe destroy some of those stereotypes and misconceptions. A lot of people make a living doing customer support and making outbound and receiving calls for companies. It just so happens that a call center has a certain infrastructure in regards to IT support and the sort of equipment we have and the levels of supervision. Notice Richard said infrastructure. He's really talking about business infrastructure, the linking of an organization's people, processes, and tools, which includes the equipment he's referring to for sustainable and profitable growth. And so what I saw walking in here was an environment where English second language agents were conversing on the calls, were converting calls and getting positive escalations, getting amazing feedback. Today, since everything is now omnichannel non-voice support, where all we're doing is chatting and texting, I still saw the art of speech. I thought it was beautiful. Dreams, Languages, and Family Heritage: Choosing a Unique Path That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Setting the Stage: Confronting Fears to Start a Global Business Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It's a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it's not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I'm your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you're about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard Blank is the founder and CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center. His journey to the successful entrepreneur he is today spans across three continents and is filled with introspection and sprinkled with lots of common sense along the way. Stay tuned as he takes us along for an interesting ride. This is episode 213, From the Ground Up, How Richard Blank Built Costa Rica's Call Center. Trusting Intuition: Taking the Leap to Start a Life and Business Abroad And if you can get past your parents' guilt, you can live anywhere in the world. And so when that one in a million opportunity crossed my path, I decided to take it. Turns out it was a year after working with those importers of Corona that Richard's one in a million opportunity surfaced in Costa Rica. I literally had to make a decision to stay in the United States and continue working or to go down there for a couple of months. And I guess it was more of my intuition because there's a lot of naysayers out there, Alicia, and we've lost you. And they're the Negative Nancys and Debbie Downers. And these are usually the people that love you so much and they're trying to protect you. But their N-O means they don't K-N-O-W enough about my vision quest, my spiritual journey. And so my intuition said, Richie, go for it. I know that this is the right thing. You're not just dipping a toe. You've been studying Spanish your whole life. And I believe that you could do well. And if it didn't work out, I could have always come home after a couple months. But I also believe in positive reinforcement. And the fact that I did learn a second language, I was open-minded and embraced this new culture and traditions here. it really gave me this reinforcement to stay here. And I fell in love with the girl of my dreams and we got married and we started a life together here and started a business together here. So as much as it's different from my family's expectations in the United States and what all of my friends did, once again, I was being very true to myself, that 18 year old that decided to take that huge risk on myself. And not to be able to compare notes to my friends that were doing different things. But the one thing I do know is that my circle did support me. https://youtu.be/qw09sFl1DZU https://youtu.be/Gpq-w_WWdn8 https://youtu.be/Cf1PDpZu67M https://youtu.be/It9x2zUkxC8 https://youtu.be/TYSM3A8Wlx0 https://youtu.be/DG1TJ9JcS0k https://youtu.be/Kg_qKh-mqxU https://youtu.be/rBmgKSYfl7A https://youtu.be/yYqbU9t9wm8 https://youtu.be/7MS_otvgGT4 https://youtu.be/nHvXMgWDlBA Richard Blank hired bassist Garry Gary Beers of INXS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieGjN5H4xPQ Alicia Butler Pierre, Scale Tales, 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 Alicia Butler Pierre is the Founder & CEO of Equilibria, Inc. Her career in operations began over 20 years ago while working as an engineer in various chemical plants and oil refineries. She invented the Kasennu framework for business infrastructure and authored, Behind the Fa ade: How to Structure Company Operations for Sustainable Success. It is the world s first published book on business infrastructure for small businesses. Alicia hosts the weekly Business Infrastructure podcast with a global audience across 60 countries. Equilibria, Inc. is an operations management firm specializing in business infrastructure for fast-growing organizations. Our mission is to provide access to tips, resources, and proven frameworks that revolutionize the way small businesses operate. We do that through original podcast episodes, blog posts, videos, presentations, workshops, and coaching sessions. The Business Infrastructure Podcast has accepted Richard Blank's invitation to join the audience for a solid discussion regarding starting a company from scratch in Costa Rica as an expat. Topics discussed with Richard advanced telemarketing strategy, conflict management, interpersonal soft skills, customer support, rhetoric, gamification, employee motivation, phonetic micro expression reading. 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. 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. #AliciaButlerPierre #ScaleTales #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Leadgeneration #Appointmentsetting #businessinfrastructureshow https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/
Scale Tales From the Ground Up. The Business Infrastructure show Podcast Episode #213 Richard Blank Curing back office blues. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. The Business Infrastructure show provides solutions and real life stories to owners and operators of fast growing small businesses seeking practical tips for dealing with growth spurts. A few years after graduating from university, he accepted an offer to conduct training at a call center in Costa Rica. At 27 years old he decided to call Costa Rica home. That was over 20 years ago. And he never looked back. In this episode, Richard takes us on his journey as he leverages his advanced Spanish-speaking skills, business prowess, and emotional intelligence to build and scale Costa Rica s Call Center from a one-seat to a 300-seat operation. While his friends pursued careers in fields like law, medicine, and technology, Richard Blank went in a completely different direction language. In fact, his love of language and communications led him to study abroad for one semester in Spain. That experience changed the trajectory of his life. Discover how Richard used a cash-only approach to invest in the business infrastructure required to lay a foundation for sustainable growth, his tips for reducing attrition, and why he urges entrepreneurs to act their wage. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. Following a Path Less Traveled Richard, surely there's more to your story than this. Let's try that again. That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Growth Through Cultural Exposure Backpacking around Europe opened a whole new world for Richard. He learned the valuable lessons of evaluating and focusing on what really matters in life, as well as not taking certain things, experiences or people for granted. And what I figured out then was that the things that we hold so dear in the United States really didn't make a difference overseas. We're really just looking at your essence. So it just opened my mind. that there are other places in the world where I could learn and be accepted. And I guess my main thing, and I'm very proud of this, is that when you're 21 years old in Europe, all you want to do is party and have a good time, which I did. But if a party began at eight o'clock, what I made sure to do before that time was to see as many museums and buildings and as much artwork and architecture as I could. So at least I could put in my time to grow and see these incredible historical artifacts that made our cultures, our Western civilization. And so that was the year that I read more books and didn't watch television and really mastered Spanish. And so that was probably the year that I grew the most. Introduction: Overcoming Challenges and Fears Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It s a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it s not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I m your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you re about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard's Pinball Collection and Its Role in Company Culture And you know what? It was true. As I looked at Richard, he was dressed impeccably. Not sure if you noticed it, but he mentioned playing pinball. Here's another interesting fun fact about Richard. He owns the largest collection of American pinball machines in Costa Rica. For him, providing a place where his team can have fun on the job is equally as important as them providing quality service. After all, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Scaling a Business Without Loans: Richard's Journey And over the course of six years, I saved enough money to be able to purchase a three floor building that can house 300 agents. And so I did this without any sort of loans or partners or mortgages. because I don't like paying interest. The year is 2008. Richard lands his first client and eventually grows and scales Costa Rica's call center from one seat to 150 on up to 300 seats. I'm sure you're wondering how he achieved this kind of scale in just six years without seeking outside investments. Don't go anywhere because after the break, Richard will share the details of how he did it and how he sustains it. You started your business because you believed you could make a difference. But now you have more demand than you can keep up with, and if you don't get your operations in order soon, you could lose everything you've worked so hard to build. The chaos is causing angry customers, bad reviews, failed audits, and more. Starting Small: Richard's Strategy of Buying Used We're back, and before the break, we learned about the humble beginnings of Costa Rica's call center and how Richard Blank, as founder and CEO, scaled his operations without outside investments. But how? Well, one thing he did in the beginning was buying used. That is, he strategically purchased either brand new or gently used furniture and computers from other call centers that were going out of business. Here's Richard. The Path to Success: Humility and Dedication I think the greatest thing you can do in the beginning is to be very humble, appreciative. And if you, it's like the game of life. You need to start out in the tent and then you end up in the, in the mansion, but you go through your certain stages. And as long as you can keep pace where you act your wage and and you do it accordingly, you're going to be exceptionally successful. And most people love to hear about the story. They could care less about where I am today. They really want to know about the struggle. And I guess, Alicia, my last parting bit of advice is dedicated practice. And so if anybody really wants to master their craft, they have to put in the time off the camera when your friends aren't around, when you're by yourself. And so if you can invest that sort of time in yourself, you'll be more than prepared when the time comes to shine. The Special Sauce of Pinball in the Workplace These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Destroying Call Center Stereotypes and Appreciating the Craft But I'd like to maybe destroy some of those stereotypes and misconceptions. A lot of people make a living doing customer support and making outbound and receiving calls for companies. It just so happens that a call center has a certain infrastructure in regards to IT support and the sort of equipment we have and the levels of supervision. Notice Richard said infrastructure. He's really talking about business infrastructure, the linking of an organization's people, processes, and tools, which includes the equipment he's referring to for sustainable and profitable growth. And so what I saw walking in here was an environment where English second language agents were conversing on the calls, were converting calls and getting positive escalations, getting amazing feedback. Today, since everything is now omnichannel non-voice support, where all we're doing is chatting and texting, I still saw the art of speech. I thought it was beautiful. Dreams, Languages, and Family Heritage: Choosing a Unique Path That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Setting the Stage: Confronting Fears to Start a Global Business Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It's a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it's not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I'm your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you're about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard Blank is the founder and CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center. His journey to the successful entrepreneur he is today spans across three continents and is filled with introspection and sprinkled with lots of common sense along the way. Stay tuned as he takes us along for an interesting ride. This is episode 213, From the Ground Up, How Richard Blank Built Costa Rica's Call Center. Trusting Intuition: Taking the Leap to Start a Life and Business Abroad And if you can get past your parents' guilt, you can live anywhere in the world. And so when that one in a million opportunity crossed my path, I decided to take it. Turns out it was a year after working with those importers of Corona that Richard's one in a million opportunity surfaced in Costa Rica. I literally had to make a decision to stay in the United States and continue working or to go down there for a couple of months. And I guess it was more of my intuition because there's a lot of naysayers out there, Alicia, and we've lost you. And they're the Negative Nancys and Debbie Downers. And these are usually the people that love you so much and they're trying to protect you. But their N-O means they don't K-N-O-W enough about my vision quest, my spiritual journey. And so my intuition said, Richie, go for it. I know that this is the right thing. You're not just dipping a toe. You've been studying Spanish your whole life. And I believe that you could do well. And if it didn't work out, I could have always come home after a couple months. But I also believe in positive reinforcement. And the fact that I did learn a second language, I was open-minded and embraced this new culture and traditions here. it really gave me this reinforcement to stay here. And I fell in love with the girl of my dreams and we got married and we started a life together here and started a business together here. So as much as it's different from my family's expectations in the United States and what all of my friends did, once again, I was being very true to myself, that 18 year old that decided to take that huge risk on myself. And not to be able to compare notes to my friends that were doing different things. But the one thing I do know is that my circle did support me. https://youtu.be/qw09sFl1DZU https://youtu.be/Gpq-w_WWdn8 https://youtu.be/Cf1PDpZu67M https://youtu.be/It9x2zUkxC8 https://youtu.be/TYSM3A8Wlx0 https://youtu.be/DG1TJ9JcS0k https://youtu.be/Kg_qKh-mqxU https://youtu.be/rBmgKSYfl7A https://youtu.be/yYqbU9t9wm8 https://youtu.be/7MS_otvgGT4 https://youtu.be/nHvXMgWDlBA Richard Blank hired bassist Garry Gary Beers of INXS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieGjN5H4xPQ Alicia Butler Pierre, Scale Tales, 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 Alicia Butler Pierre is the Founder & CEO of Equilibria, Inc. Her career in operations began over 20 years ago while working as an engineer in various chemical plants and oil refineries. She invented the Kasennu framework for business infrastructure and authored, Behind the Fa ade: How to Structure Company Operations for Sustainable Success. It is the world s first published book on business infrastructure for small businesses. Alicia hosts the weekly Business Infrastructure podcast with a global audience across 60 countries. Equilibria, Inc. is an operations management firm specializing in business infrastructure for fast-growing organizations. Our mission is to provide access to tips, resources, and proven frameworks that revolutionize the way small businesses operate. We do that through original podcast episodes, blog posts, videos, presentations, workshops, and coaching sessions. The Business Infrastructure Podcast has accepted Richard Blank's invitation to join the audience for a solid discussion regarding starting a company from scratch in Costa Rica as an expat. Topics discussed with Richard advanced telemarketing strategy, conflict management, interpersonal soft skills, customer support, rhetoric, gamification, employee motivation, phonetic micro expression reading. 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. 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. #AliciaButlerPierre #ScaleTales #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Leadgeneration #Appointmentsetting #businessinfrastructureshow https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/
Scale Tales From the Ground Up. The Business Infrastructure show Podcast Episode #213 Richard Blank Curing back office blues. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. The Business Infrastructure show provides solutions and real life stories to owners and operators of fast growing small businesses seeking practical tips for dealing with growth spurts. A few years after graduating from university, he accepted an offer to conduct training at a call center in Costa Rica. At 27 years old he decided to call Costa Rica home. That was over 20 years ago. And he never looked back. In this episode, Richard takes us on his journey as he leverages his advanced Spanish-speaking skills, business prowess, and emotional intelligence to build and scale Costa Rica s Call Center from a one-seat to a 300-seat operation. While his friends pursued careers in fields like law, medicine, and technology, Richard Blank went in a completely different direction language. In fact, his love of language and communications led him to study abroad for one semester in Spain. That experience changed the trajectory of his life. Discover how Richard used a cash-only approach to invest in the business infrastructure required to lay a foundation for sustainable growth, his tips for reducing attrition, and why he urges entrepreneurs to act their wage. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. Following a Path Less Traveled Richard, surely there's more to your story than this. Let's try that again. That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Growth Through Cultural Exposure Backpacking around Europe opened a whole new world for Richard. He learned the valuable lessons of evaluating and focusing on what really matters in life, as well as not taking certain things, experiences or people for granted. And what I figured out then was that the things that we hold so dear in the United States really didn't make a difference overseas. We're really just looking at your essence. So it just opened my mind. that there are other places in the world where I could learn and be accepted. And I guess my main thing, and I'm very proud of this, is that when you're 21 years old in Europe, all you want to do is party and have a good time, which I did. But if a party began at eight o'clock, what I made sure to do before that time was to see as many museums and buildings and as much artwork and architecture as I could. So at least I could put in my time to grow and see these incredible historical artifacts that made our cultures, our Western civilization. And so that was the year that I read more books and didn't watch television and really mastered Spanish. And so that was probably the year that I grew the most. Introduction: Overcoming Challenges and Fears Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It s a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it s not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I m your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you re about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard's Pinball Collection and Its Role in Company Culture And you know what? It was true. As I looked at Richard, he was dressed impeccably. Not sure if you noticed it, but he mentioned playing pinball. Here's another interesting fun fact about Richard. He owns the largest collection of American pinball machines in Costa Rica. For him, providing a place where his team can have fun on the job is equally as important as them providing quality service. After all, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Scaling a Business Without Loans: Richard's Journey And over the course of six years, I saved enough money to be able to purchase a three floor building that can house 300 agents. And so I did this without any sort of loans or partners or mortgages. because I don't like paying interest. The year is 2008. Richard lands his first client and eventually grows and scales Costa Rica's call center from one seat to 150 on up to 300 seats. I'm sure you're wondering how he achieved this kind of scale in just six years without seeking outside investments. Don't go anywhere because after the break, Richard will share the details of how he did it and how he sustains it. You started your business because you believed you could make a difference. But now you have more demand than you can keep up with, and if you don't get your operations in order soon, you could lose everything you've worked so hard to build. The chaos is causing angry customers, bad reviews, failed audits, and more. Starting Small: Richard's Strategy of Buying Used We're back, and before the break, we learned about the humble beginnings of Costa Rica's call center and how Richard Blank, as founder and CEO, scaled his operations without outside investments. But how? Well, one thing he did in the beginning was buying used. That is, he strategically purchased either brand new or gently used furniture and computers from other call centers that were going out of business. Here's Richard. The Path to Success: Humility and Dedication I think the greatest thing you can do in the beginning is to be very humble, appreciative. And if you, it's like the game of life. You need to start out in the tent and then you end up in the, in the mansion, but you go through your certain stages. And as long as you can keep pace where you act your wage and and you do it accordingly, you're going to be exceptionally successful. And most people love to hear about the story. They could care less about where I am today. They really want to know about the struggle. And I guess, Alicia, my last parting bit of advice is dedicated practice. And so if anybody really wants to master their craft, they have to put in the time off the camera when your friends aren't around, when you're by yourself. And so if you can invest that sort of time in yourself, you'll be more than prepared when the time comes to shine. The Special Sauce of Pinball in the Workplace These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Destroying Call Center Stereotypes and Appreciating the Craft But I'd like to maybe destroy some of those stereotypes and misconceptions. A lot of people make a living doing customer support and making outbound and receiving calls for companies. It just so happens that a call center has a certain infrastructure in regards to IT support and the sort of equipment we have and the levels of supervision. Notice Richard said infrastructure. He's really talking about business infrastructure, the linking of an organization's people, processes, and tools, which includes the equipment he's referring to for sustainable and profitable growth. And so what I saw walking in here was an environment where English second language agents were conversing on the calls, were converting calls and getting positive escalations, getting amazing feedback. Today, since everything is now omnichannel non-voice support, where all we're doing is chatting and texting, I still saw the art of speech. I thought it was beautiful. Dreams, Languages, and Family Heritage: Choosing a Unique Path That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Setting the Stage: Confronting Fears to Start a Global Business Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It's a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it's not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I'm your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you're about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard Blank is the founder and CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center. His journey to the successful entrepreneur he is today spans across three continents and is filled with introspection and sprinkled with lots of common sense along the way. Stay tuned as he takes us along for an interesting ride. This is episode 213, From the Ground Up, How Richard Blank Built Costa Rica's Call Center. Trusting Intuition: Taking the Leap to Start a Life and Business Abroad And if you can get past your parents' guilt, you can live anywhere in the world. And so when that one in a million opportunity crossed my path, I decided to take it. Turns out it was a year after working with those importers of Corona that Richard's one in a million opportunity surfaced in Costa Rica. I literally had to make a decision to stay in the United States and continue working or to go down there for a couple of months. And I guess it was more of my intuition because there's a lot of naysayers out there, Alicia, and we've lost you. And they're the Negative Nancys and Debbie Downers. And these are usually the people that love you so much and they're trying to protect you. But their N-O means they don't K-N-O-W enough about my vision quest, my spiritual journey. And so my intuition said, Richie, go for it. I know that this is the right thing. You're not just dipping a toe. You've been studying Spanish your whole life. And I believe that you could do well. And if it didn't work out, I could have always come home after a couple months. But I also believe in positive reinforcement. And the fact that I did learn a second language, I was open-minded and embraced this new culture and traditions here. it really gave me this reinforcement to stay here. And I fell in love with the girl of my dreams and we got married and we started a life together here and started a business together here. So as much as it's different from my family's expectations in the United States and what all of my friends did, once again, I was being very true to myself, that 18 year old that decided to take that huge risk on myself. And not to be able to compare notes to my friends that were doing different things. But the one thing I do know is that my circle did support me. https://youtu.be/qw09sFl1DZU https://youtu.be/Gpq-w_WWdn8 https://youtu.be/Cf1PDpZu67M https://youtu.be/It9x2zUkxC8 https://youtu.be/TYSM3A8Wlx0 https://youtu.be/DG1TJ9JcS0k https://youtu.be/Kg_qKh-mqxU https://youtu.be/rBmgKSYfl7A https://youtu.be/yYqbU9t9wm8 https://youtu.be/7MS_otvgGT4 https://youtu.be/nHvXMgWDlBA Richard Blank hired bassist Garry Gary Beers of INXS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieGjN5H4xPQ Alicia Butler Pierre, Scale Tales, 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 Alicia Butler Pierre is the Founder & CEO of Equilibria, Inc. Her career in operations began over 20 years ago while working as an engineer in various chemical plants and oil refineries. She invented the Kasennu framework for business infrastructure and authored, Behind the Fa ade: How to Structure Company Operations for Sustainable Success. It is the world s first published book on business infrastructure for small businesses. Alicia hosts the weekly Business Infrastructure podcast with a global audience across 60 countries. Equilibria, Inc. is an operations management firm specializing in business infrastructure for fast-growing organizations. Our mission is to provide access to tips, resources, and proven frameworks that revolutionize the way small businesses operate. We do that through original podcast episodes, blog posts, videos, presentations, workshops, and coaching sessions. The Business Infrastructure Podcast has accepted Richard Blank's invitation to join the audience for a solid discussion regarding starting a company from scratch in Costa Rica as an expat. Topics discussed with Richard advanced telemarketing strategy, conflict management, interpersonal soft skills, customer support, rhetoric, gamification, employee motivation, phonetic micro expression reading. 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. 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. #AliciaButlerPierre #ScaleTales #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Leadgeneration #Appointmentsetting #businessinfrastructureshow https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/
Scale Tales From the Ground Up. The Business Infrastructure show Podcast Episode #213 Richard Blank Curing back office blues. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. The Business Infrastructure show provides solutions and real life stories to owners and operators of fast growing small businesses seeking practical tips for dealing with growth spurts. A few years after graduating from university, he accepted an offer to conduct training at a call center in Costa Rica. At 27 years old he decided to call Costa Rica home. That was over 20 years ago. And he never looked back. In this episode, Richard takes us on his journey as he leverages his advanced Spanish-speaking skills, business prowess, and emotional intelligence to build and scale Costa Rica s Call Center from a one-seat to a 300-seat operation. While his friends pursued careers in fields like law, medicine, and technology, Richard Blank went in a completely different direction language. In fact, his love of language and communications led him to study abroad for one semester in Spain. That experience changed the trajectory of his life. Discover how Richard used a cash-only approach to invest in the business infrastructure required to lay a foundation for sustainable growth, his tips for reducing attrition, and why he urges entrepreneurs to act their wage. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. Following a Path Less Traveled Richard, surely there's more to your story than this. Let's try that again. That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Growth Through Cultural Exposure Backpacking around Europe opened a whole new world for Richard. He learned the valuable lessons of evaluating and focusing on what really matters in life, as well as not taking certain things, experiences or people for granted. And what I figured out then was that the things that we hold so dear in the United States really didn't make a difference overseas. We're really just looking at your essence. So it just opened my mind. that there are other places in the world where I could learn and be accepted. And I guess my main thing, and I'm very proud of this, is that when you're 21 years old in Europe, all you want to do is party and have a good time, which I did. But if a party began at eight o'clock, what I made sure to do before that time was to see as many museums and buildings and as much artwork and architecture as I could. So at least I could put in my time to grow and see these incredible historical artifacts that made our cultures, our Western civilization. And so that was the year that I read more books and didn't watch television and really mastered Spanish. And so that was probably the year that I grew the most. Introduction: Overcoming Challenges and Fears Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It s a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it s not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I m your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you re about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard's Pinball Collection and Its Role in Company Culture And you know what? It was true. As I looked at Richard, he was dressed impeccably. Not sure if you noticed it, but he mentioned playing pinball. Here's another interesting fun fact about Richard. He owns the largest collection of American pinball machines in Costa Rica. For him, providing a place where his team can have fun on the job is equally as important as them providing quality service. After all, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Scaling a Business Without Loans: Richard's Journey And over the course of six years, I saved enough money to be able to purchase a three floor building that can house 300 agents. And so I did this without any sort of loans or partners or mortgages. because I don't like paying interest. The year is 2008. Richard lands his first client and eventually grows and scales Costa Rica's call center from one seat to 150 on up to 300 seats. I'm sure you're wondering how he achieved this kind of scale in just six years without seeking outside investments. Don't go anywhere because after the break, Richard will share the details of how he did it and how he sustains it. You started your business because you believed you could make a difference. But now you have more demand than you can keep up with, and if you don't get your operations in order soon, you could lose everything you've worked so hard to build. The chaos is causing angry customers, bad reviews, failed audits, and more. Starting Small: Richard's Strategy of Buying Used We're back, and before the break, we learned about the humble beginnings of Costa Rica's call center and how Richard Blank, as founder and CEO, scaled his operations without outside investments. But how? Well, one thing he did in the beginning was buying used. That is, he strategically purchased either brand new or gently used furniture and computers from other call centers that were going out of business. Here's Richard. The Path to Success: Humility and Dedication I think the greatest thing you can do in the beginning is to be very humble, appreciative. And if you, it's like the game of life. You need to start out in the tent and then you end up in the, in the mansion, but you go through your certain stages. And as long as you can keep pace where you act your wage and and you do it accordingly, you're going to be exceptionally successful. And most people love to hear about the story. They could care less about where I am today. They really want to know about the struggle. And I guess, Alicia, my last parting bit of advice is dedicated practice. And so if anybody really wants to master their craft, they have to put in the time off the camera when your friends aren't around, when you're by yourself. And so if you can invest that sort of time in yourself, you'll be more than prepared when the time comes to shine. The Special Sauce of Pinball in the Workplace These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Destroying Call Center Stereotypes and Appreciating the Craft But I'd like to maybe destroy some of those stereotypes and misconceptions. A lot of people make a living doing customer support and making outbound and receiving calls for companies. It just so happens that a call center has a certain infrastructure in regards to IT support and the sort of equipment we have and the levels of supervision. Notice Richard said infrastructure. He's really talking about business infrastructure, the linking of an organization's people, processes, and tools, which includes the equipment he's referring to for sustainable and profitable growth. And so what I saw walking in here was an environment where English second language agents were conversing on the calls, were converting calls and getting positive escalations, getting amazing feedback. Today, since everything is now omnichannel non-voice support, where all we're doing is chatting and texting, I still saw the art of speech. I thought it was beautiful. Dreams, Languages, and Family Heritage: Choosing a Unique Path That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Setting the Stage: Confronting Fears to Start a Global Business Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It's a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it's not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I'm your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you're about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard Blank is the founder and CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center. His journey to the successful entrepreneur he is today spans across three continents and is filled with introspection and sprinkled with lots of common sense along the way. Stay tuned as he takes us along for an interesting ride. This is episode 213, From the Ground Up, How Richard Blank Built Costa Rica's Call Center. Trusting Intuition: Taking the Leap to Start a Life and Business Abroad And if you can get past your parents' guilt, you can live anywhere in the world. And so when that one in a million opportunity crossed my path, I decided to take it. Turns out it was a year after working with those importers of Corona that Richard's one in a million opportunity surfaced in Costa Rica. I literally had to make a decision to stay in the United States and continue working or to go down there for a couple of months. And I guess it was more of my intuition because there's a lot of naysayers out there, Alicia, and we've lost you. And they're the Negative Nancys and Debbie Downers. And these are usually the people that love you so much and they're trying to protect you. But their N-O means they don't K-N-O-W enough about my vision quest, my spiritual journey. And so my intuition said, Richie, go for it. I know that this is the right thing. You're not just dipping a toe. You've been studying Spanish your whole life. And I believe that you could do well. And if it didn't work out, I could have always come home after a couple months. But I also believe in positive reinforcement. And the fact that I did learn a second language, I was open-minded and embraced this new culture and traditions here. it really gave me this reinforcement to stay here. And I fell in love with the girl of my dreams and we got married and we started a life together here and started a business together here. So as much as it's different from my family's expectations in the United States and what all of my friends did, once again, I was being very true to myself, that 18 year old that decided to take that huge risk on myself. And not to be able to compare notes to my friends that were doing different things. But the one thing I do know is that my circle did support me. https://youtu.be/qw09sFl1DZU https://youtu.be/Gpq-w_WWdn8 https://youtu.be/Cf1PDpZu67M https://youtu.be/It9x2zUkxC8 https://youtu.be/TYSM3A8Wlx0 https://youtu.be/DG1TJ9JcS0k https://youtu.be/Kg_qKh-mqxU https://youtu.be/rBmgKSYfl7A https://youtu.be/yYqbU9t9wm8 https://youtu.be/7MS_otvgGT4 https://youtu.be/nHvXMgWDlBA Richard Blank hired bassist Garry Gary Beers of INXS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieGjN5H4xPQ Alicia Butler Pierre, Scale Tales, 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 Alicia Butler Pierre is the Founder & CEO of Equilibria, Inc. Her career in operations began over 20 years ago while working as an engineer in various chemical plants and oil refineries. She invented the Kasennu framework for business infrastructure and authored, Behind the Fa ade: How to Structure Company Operations for Sustainable Success. It is the world s first published book on business infrastructure for small businesses. Alicia hosts the weekly Business Infrastructure podcast with a global audience across 60 countries. Equilibria, Inc. is an operations management firm specializing in business infrastructure for fast-growing organizations. Our mission is to provide access to tips, resources, and proven frameworks that revolutionize the way small businesses operate. We do that through original podcast episodes, blog posts, videos, presentations, workshops, and coaching sessions. The Business Infrastructure Podcast has accepted Richard Blank's invitation to join the audience for a solid discussion regarding starting a company from scratch in Costa Rica as an expat. Topics discussed with Richard advanced telemarketing strategy, conflict management, interpersonal soft skills, customer support, rhetoric, gamification, employee motivation, phonetic micro expression reading. 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. 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. #AliciaButlerPierre #ScaleTales #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Leadgeneration #Appointmentsetting #businessinfrastructureshow https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/
Scale Tales From the Ground Up. The Business Infrastructure show Podcast Episode #213 Richard Blank Curing back office blues. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. The Business Infrastructure show provides solutions and real life stories to owners and operators of fast growing small businesses seeking practical tips for dealing with growth spurts. A few years after graduating from university, he accepted an offer to conduct training at a call center in Costa Rica. At 27 years old he decided to call Costa Rica home. That was over 20 years ago. And he never looked back. In this episode, Richard takes us on his journey as he leverages his advanced Spanish-speaking skills, business prowess, and emotional intelligence to build and scale Costa Rica s Call Center from a one-seat to a 300-seat operation. While his friends pursued careers in fields like law, medicine, and technology, Richard Blank went in a completely different direction language. In fact, his love of language and communications led him to study abroad for one semester in Spain. That experience changed the trajectory of his life. Discover how Richard used a cash-only approach to invest in the business infrastructure required to lay a foundation for sustainable growth, his tips for reducing attrition, and why he urges entrepreneurs to act their wage. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. Following a Path Less Traveled Richard, surely there's more to your story than this. Let's try that again. That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Growth Through Cultural Exposure Backpacking around Europe opened a whole new world for Richard. He learned the valuable lessons of evaluating and focusing on what really matters in life, as well as not taking certain things, experiences or people for granted. And what I figured out then was that the things that we hold so dear in the United States really didn't make a difference overseas. We're really just looking at your essence. So it just opened my mind. that there are other places in the world where I could learn and be accepted. And I guess my main thing, and I'm very proud of this, is that when you're 21 years old in Europe, all you want to do is party and have a good time, which I did. But if a party began at eight o'clock, what I made sure to do before that time was to see as many museums and buildings and as much artwork and architecture as I could. So at least I could put in my time to grow and see these incredible historical artifacts that made our cultures, our Western civilization. And so that was the year that I read more books and didn't watch television and really mastered Spanish. And so that was probably the year that I grew the most. Introduction: Overcoming Challenges and Fears Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It s a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it s not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I m your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you re about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard's Pinball Collection and Its Role in Company Culture And you know what? It was true. As I looked at Richard, he was dressed impeccably. Not sure if you noticed it, but he mentioned playing pinball. Here's another interesting fun fact about Richard. He owns the largest collection of American pinball machines in Costa Rica. For him, providing a place where his team can have fun on the job is equally as important as them providing quality service. After all, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Scaling a Business Without Loans: Richard's Journey And over the course of six years, I saved enough money to be able to purchase a three floor building that can house 300 agents. And so I did this without any sort of loans or partners or mortgages. because I don't like paying interest. The year is 2008. Richard lands his first client and eventually grows and scales Costa Rica's call center from one seat to 150 on up to 300 seats. I'm sure you're wondering how he achieved this kind of scale in just six years without seeking outside investments. Don't go anywhere because after the break, Richard will share the details of how he did it and how he sustains it. You started your business because you believed you could make a difference. But now you have more demand than you can keep up with, and if you don't get your operations in order soon, you could lose everything you've worked so hard to build. The chaos is causing angry customers, bad reviews, failed audits, and more. Starting Small: Richard's Strategy of Buying Used We're back, and before the break, we learned about the humble beginnings of Costa Rica's call center and how Richard Blank, as founder and CEO, scaled his operations without outside investments. But how? Well, one thing he did in the beginning was buying used. That is, he strategically purchased either brand new or gently used furniture and computers from other call centers that were going out of business. Here's Richard. The Path to Success: Humility and Dedication I think the greatest thing you can do in the beginning is to be very humble, appreciative. And if you, it's like the game of life. You need to start out in the tent and then you end up in the, in the mansion, but you go through your certain stages. And as long as you can keep pace where you act your wage and and you do it accordingly, you're going to be exceptionally successful. And most people love to hear about the story. They could care less about where I am today. They really want to know about the struggle. And I guess, Alicia, my last parting bit of advice is dedicated practice. And so if anybody really wants to master their craft, they have to put in the time off the camera when your friends aren't around, when you're by yourself. And so if you can invest that sort of time in yourself, you'll be more than prepared when the time comes to shine. The Special Sauce of Pinball in the Workplace These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Destroying Call Center Stereotypes and Appreciating the Craft But I'd like to maybe destroy some of those stereotypes and misconceptions. A lot of people make a living doing customer support and making outbound and receiving calls for companies. It just so happens that a call center has a certain infrastructure in regards to IT support and the sort of equipment we have and the levels of supervision. Notice Richard said infrastructure. He's really talking about business infrastructure, the linking of an organization's people, processes, and tools, which includes the equipment he's referring to for sustainable and profitable growth. And so what I saw walking in here was an environment where English second language agents were conversing on the calls, were converting calls and getting positive escalations, getting amazing feedback. Today, since everything is now omnichannel non-voice support, where all we're doing is chatting and texting, I still saw the art of speech. I thought it was beautiful. Dreams, Languages, and Family Heritage: Choosing a Unique Path That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Setting the Stage: Confronting Fears to Start a Global Business Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It's a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it's not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I'm your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you're about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard Blank is the founder and CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center. His journey to the successful entrepreneur he is today spans across three continents and is filled with introspection and sprinkled with lots of common sense along the way. Stay tuned as he takes us along for an interesting ride. This is episode 213, From the Ground Up, How Richard Blank Built Costa Rica's Call Center. Trusting Intuition: Taking the Leap to Start a Life and Business Abroad And if you can get past your parents' guilt, you can live anywhere in the world. And so when that one in a million opportunity crossed my path, I decided to take it. Turns out it was a year after working with those importers of Corona that Richard's one in a million opportunity surfaced in Costa Rica. I literally had to make a decision to stay in the United States and continue working or to go down there for a couple of months. And I guess it was more of my intuition because there's a lot of naysayers out there, Alicia, and we've lost you. And they're the Negative Nancys and Debbie Downers. And these are usually the people that love you so much and they're trying to protect you. But their N-O means they don't K-N-O-W enough about my vision quest, my spiritual journey. And so my intuition said, Richie, go for it. I know that this is the right thing. You're not just dipping a toe. You've been studying Spanish your whole life. And I believe that you could do well. And if it didn't work out, I could have always come home after a couple months. But I also believe in positive reinforcement. And the fact that I did learn a second language, I was open-minded and embraced this new culture and traditions here. it really gave me this reinforcement to stay here. And I fell in love with the girl of my dreams and we got married and we started a life together here and started a business together here. So as much as it's different from my family's expectations in the United States and what all of my friends did, once again, I was being very true to myself, that 18 year old that decided to take that huge risk on myself. And not to be able to compare notes to my friends that were doing different things. But the one thing I do know is that my circle did support me. https://youtu.be/qw09sFl1DZU https://youtu.be/Gpq-w_WWdn8 https://youtu.be/Cf1PDpZu67M https://youtu.be/It9x2zUkxC8 https://youtu.be/TYSM3A8Wlx0 https://youtu.be/DG1TJ9JcS0k https://youtu.be/Kg_qKh-mqxU https://youtu.be/rBmgKSYfl7A https://youtu.be/yYqbU9t9wm8 https://youtu.be/7MS_otvgGT4 https://youtu.be/nHvXMgWDlBA Richard Blank hired bassist Garry Gary Beers of INXS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieGjN5H4xPQ Alicia Butler Pierre, Scale Tales, 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 Alicia Butler Pierre is the Founder & CEO of Equilibria, Inc. Her career in operations began over 20 years ago while working as an engineer in various chemical plants and oil refineries. She invented the Kasennu framework for business infrastructure and authored, Behind the Fa ade: How to Structure Company Operations for Sustainable Success. It is the world s first published book on business infrastructure for small businesses. Alicia hosts the weekly Business Infrastructure podcast with a global audience across 60 countries. Equilibria, Inc. is an operations management firm specializing in business infrastructure for fast-growing organizations. Our mission is to provide access to tips, resources, and proven frameworks that revolutionize the way small businesses operate. We do that through original podcast episodes, blog posts, videos, presentations, workshops, and coaching sessions. The Business Infrastructure Podcast has accepted Richard Blank's invitation to join the audience for a solid discussion regarding starting a company from scratch in Costa Rica as an expat. Topics discussed with Richard advanced telemarketing strategy, conflict management, interpersonal soft skills, customer support, rhetoric, gamification, employee motivation, phonetic micro expression reading. 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. 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. #AliciaButlerPierre #ScaleTales #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Leadgeneration #Appointmentsetting #businessinfrastructureshow https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/
Scale Tales From the Ground Up. The Business Infrastructure show Podcast Episode #213 Richard Blank Curing back office blues. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. The Business Infrastructure show provides solutions and real life stories to owners and operators of fast growing small businesses seeking practical tips for dealing with growth spurts. A few years after graduating from university, he accepted an offer to conduct training at a call center in Costa Rica. At 27 years old he decided to call Costa Rica home. That was over 20 years ago. And he never looked back. In this episode, Richard takes us on his journey as he leverages his advanced Spanish-speaking skills, business prowess, and emotional intelligence to build and scale Costa Rica s Call Center from a one-seat to a 300-seat operation. While his friends pursued careers in fields like law, medicine, and technology, Richard Blank went in a completely different direction language. In fact, his love of language and communications led him to study abroad for one semester in Spain. That experience changed the trajectory of his life. Discover how Richard used a cash-only approach to invest in the business infrastructure required to lay a foundation for sustainable growth, his tips for reducing attrition, and why he urges entrepreneurs to act their wage. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. Following a Path Less Traveled Richard, surely there's more to your story than this. Let's try that again. That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Growth Through Cultural Exposure Backpacking around Europe opened a whole new world for Richard. He learned the valuable lessons of evaluating and focusing on what really matters in life, as well as not taking certain things, experiences or people for granted. And what I figured out then was that the things that we hold so dear in the United States really didn't make a difference overseas. We're really just looking at your essence. So it just opened my mind. that there are other places in the world where I could learn and be accepted. And I guess my main thing, and I'm very proud of this, is that when you're 21 years old in Europe, all you want to do is party and have a good time, which I did. But if a party began at eight o'clock, what I made sure to do before that time was to see as many museums and buildings and as much artwork and architecture as I could. So at least I could put in my time to grow and see these incredible historical artifacts that made our cultures, our Western civilization. And so that was the year that I read more books and didn't watch television and really mastered Spanish. And so that was probably the year that I grew the most. Introduction: Overcoming Challenges and Fears Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It s a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it s not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I m your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you re about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard's Pinball Collection and Its Role in Company Culture And you know what? It was true. As I looked at Richard, he was dressed impeccably. Not sure if you noticed it, but he mentioned playing pinball. Here's another interesting fun fact about Richard. He owns the largest collection of American pinball machines in Costa Rica. For him, providing a place where his team can have fun on the job is equally as important as them providing quality service. After all, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Scaling a Business Without Loans: Richard's Journey And over the course of six years, I saved enough money to be able to purchase a three floor building that can house 300 agents. And so I did this without any sort of loans or partners or mortgages. because I don't like paying interest. The year is 2008. Richard lands his first client and eventually grows and scales Costa Rica's call center from one seat to 150 on up to 300 seats. I'm sure you're wondering how he achieved this kind of scale in just six years without seeking outside investments. Don't go anywhere because after the break, Richard will share the details of how he did it and how he sustains it. You started your business because you believed you could make a difference. But now you have more demand than you can keep up with, and if you don't get your operations in order soon, you could lose everything you've worked so hard to build. The chaos is causing angry customers, bad reviews, failed audits, and more. Starting Small: Richard's Strategy of Buying Used We're back, and before the break, we learned about the humble beginnings of Costa Rica's call center and how Richard Blank, as founder and CEO, scaled his operations without outside investments. But how? Well, one thing he did in the beginning was buying used. That is, he strategically purchased either brand new or gently used furniture and computers from other call centers that were going out of business. Here's Richard. The Path to Success: Humility and Dedication I think the greatest thing you can do in the beginning is to be very humble, appreciative. And if you, it's like the game of life. You need to start out in the tent and then you end up in the, in the mansion, but you go through your certain stages. And as long as you can keep pace where you act your wage and and you do it accordingly, you're going to be exceptionally successful. And most people love to hear about the story. They could care less about where I am today. They really want to know about the struggle. And I guess, Alicia, my last parting bit of advice is dedicated practice. And so if anybody really wants to master their craft, they have to put in the time off the camera when your friends aren't around, when you're by yourself. And so if you can invest that sort of time in yourself, you'll be more than prepared when the time comes to shine. The Special Sauce of Pinball in the Workplace These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Destroying Call Center Stereotypes and Appreciating the Craft But I'd like to maybe destroy some of those stereotypes and misconceptions. A lot of people make a living doing customer support and making outbound and receiving calls for companies. It just so happens that a call center has a certain infrastructure in regards to IT support and the sort of equipment we have and the levels of supervision. Notice Richard said infrastructure. He's really talking about business infrastructure, the linking of an organization's people, processes, and tools, which includes the equipment he's referring to for sustainable and profitable growth. And so what I saw walking in here was an environment where English second language agents were conversing on the calls, were converting calls and getting positive escalations, getting amazing feedback. Today, since everything is now omnichannel non-voice support, where all we're doing is chatting and texting, I still saw the art of speech. I thought it was beautiful. Dreams, Languages, and Family Heritage: Choosing a Unique Path That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Setting the Stage: Confronting Fears to Start a Global Business Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It's a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it's not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I'm your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you're about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard Blank is the founder and CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center. His journey to the successful entrepreneur he is today spans across three continents and is filled with introspection and sprinkled with lots of common sense along the way. Stay tuned as he takes us along for an interesting ride. This is episode 213, From the Ground Up, How Richard Blank Built Costa Rica's Call Center. Trusting Intuition: Taking the Leap to Start a Life and Business Abroad And if you can get past your parents' guilt, you can live anywhere in the world. And so when that one in a million opportunity crossed my path, I decided to take it. Turns out it was a year after working with those importers of Corona that Richard's one in a million opportunity surfaced in Costa Rica. I literally had to make a decision to stay in the United States and continue working or to go down there for a couple of months. And I guess it was more of my intuition because there's a lot of naysayers out there, Alicia, and we've lost you. And they're the Negative Nancys and Debbie Downers. And these are usually the people that love you so much and they're trying to protect you. But their N-O means they don't K-N-O-W enough about my vision quest, my spiritual journey. And so my intuition said, Richie, go for it. I know that this is the right thing. You're not just dipping a toe. You've been studying Spanish your whole life. And I believe that you could do well. And if it didn't work out, I could have always come home after a couple months. But I also believe in positive reinforcement. And the fact that I did learn a second language, I was open-minded and embraced this new culture and traditions here. it really gave me this reinforcement to stay here. And I fell in love with the girl of my dreams and we got married and we started a life together here and started a business together here. So as much as it's different from my family's expectations in the United States and what all of my friends did, once again, I was being very true to myself, that 18 year old that decided to take that huge risk on myself. And not to be able to compare notes to my friends that were doing different things. But the one thing I do know is that my circle did support me. https://youtu.be/qw09sFl1DZU https://youtu.be/Gpq-w_WWdn8 https://youtu.be/Cf1PDpZu67M https://youtu.be/It9x2zUkxC8 https://youtu.be/TYSM3A8Wlx0 https://youtu.be/DG1TJ9JcS0k https://youtu.be/Kg_qKh-mqxU https://youtu.be/rBmgKSYfl7A https://youtu.be/yYqbU9t9wm8 https://youtu.be/7MS_otvgGT4 https://youtu.be/nHvXMgWDlBA Richard Blank hired bassist Garry Gary Beers of INXS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieGjN5H4xPQ Alicia Butler Pierre, Scale Tales, 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 Alicia Butler Pierre is the Founder & CEO of Equilibria, Inc. Her career in operations began over 20 years ago while working as an engineer in various chemical plants and oil refineries. She invented the Kasennu framework for business infrastructure and authored, Behind the Fa ade: How to Structure Company Operations for Sustainable Success. It is the world s first published book on business infrastructure for small businesses. Alicia hosts the weekly Business Infrastructure podcast with a global audience across 60 countries. Equilibria, Inc. is an operations management firm specializing in business infrastructure for fast-growing organizations. Our mission is to provide access to tips, resources, and proven frameworks that revolutionize the way small businesses operate. We do that through original podcast episodes, blog posts, videos, presentations, workshops, and coaching sessions. The Business Infrastructure Podcast has accepted Richard Blank's invitation to join the audience for a solid discussion regarding starting a company from scratch in Costa Rica as an expat. Topics discussed with Richard advanced telemarketing strategy, conflict management, interpersonal soft skills, customer support, rhetoric, gamification, employee motivation, phonetic micro expression reading. 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. 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. #AliciaButlerPierre #ScaleTales #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Leadgeneration #Appointmentsetting #businessinfrastructureshow https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/
Yes, I have permission to use this music as backing a track. From Samuel Ramos, "Hello Alison! Yes! You can use my video!"
If you want Alectinib 150 mg capsules in Cebu City, you came to the right place. LetsMeds has made it easy and affordable for patients to find and access life-saving cancer medications. Many patients are looking for Alectinib 150 mg price, and comparing the price of Alectinib in Cebu City to the Alectinib price in Metro Manila, or even Alectinib price Malaysia. With LetsMeds, you can expect effctive medicine, dependable service, and better pricing. Order Now: https://www.letsmeds.com/alectinib-capsules-price-cebucity What type of cancer is Alectinib used for? Alectinib tablet commonly used for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).This targeted therapy is used for patients who are ALK-positive, offering hope for better treatment outcomes. What is the price of Alectinib 150mg? Alectinib price Philippines could differ, especially between two major cities that have different shipping costs, such as Cebu City and Metro Manila. This is why many prefer to order online and not have to worry about the shipping cost. LetsMeds now allows you to conveniently buy Alectinib tablets online and complete the ordering, ready to be shipped to your doorstep, wherever you are in the Philippines. Where Can You Get Alectinib Delivered? We deliver across major cities in the Philippines, including Cebu, Davao, Quezon City, and Makati but also to international locations. LetsMeds serves countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, South Korea, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and many more.. Our team is here to help with every step—from checking availability to ensuring safe delivery. For more info or to place your order, contact LetsMeds via WhatsApp/Viber at +91-7428091874 or Email us at letsmeds@gmail.com or visit www.letsmeds.com. You’re never alone in your treatment—LetsMeds is with you. #Alectinibpricephilippines #Alectinib150mgprice #Alectinibpricecebucity #Alectinibpricemalaysia #Alectinibtabletpriceinmetromanila #Alectinib600mgprice #Alectinib150mg
Trong Chương Trình "GIAI ĐIỆU TÌNH YÊU" ngày 23/8/2002. Sáng tác: Nguyễn Hoài Anh, Biểu diễn: Ưng Hoàng Phúc. #vpopretro #unghoangphuc #tharangnhuthe #giaidieutinhyeu
当時、全実績解除まで遊びました。 タイムアタックのどこか1コースでめっちゃ苦労した思い出がある。 とりあえずキャリアモードで全レース制覇を目指す。 コメント見てますがゲーム中は返信しにくくて・・。 返信はここに書いときます。 ・（フォルツァ２）この市街地苦手や ＞市街地コースは直感で走りにくい気がしますね。 ・（フォルツァ２）デイトナかな ＞詳しくないので分かんないですが有名なコースならデイトナで使われてるかもしれないですね。 ・（フォルツァ２）コークスクリューいいね ＞分かんないです、コースの事なのか体当たりの事か他の事か・・。 ・（フォルツァ２）グラフィックがなつかしいですね。 ＞2007年発売なので18年も前になるのか。なつかしいはずですね。 とはいえフォルツァ３以降のレースゲームは遊んでないです。 ・（フォルツァ２）プリウスアタック ＞どうしても前に出たかったものでつい。 ・（ブルードラゴン）箱○のキラータイトルやん ＞本体の売り上げに大分貢献しましたね、私もその1人ですが問題はソフト同梱の本体が・・ ・（ブルードラゴン）このゲーム面白かった？ ＞久しぶりに遊ぶと記憶してたよりは楽しかったです。初プレイが小学高学年か中学くらいだともっと楽しかったかも。 ・（ブルードラゴン）壁際に沿ってちまちま調べて移動するゲーム ＞確かに。 ・（ブルードラゴン）ああこれ積んでたな面白いんこれ？ ＞普通な面白さですね。クソゲーではないです。***ゲーではありますが。 ・（ブルードラゴン）200本くらい積んでるだよなあそしてまだ増えていってるという めっちゃ積んでますね。自分が積んでるのはエブリパ、テトリスGMA、キャサリンくらいかな。 ライブ録画はアップロード時間の関係で並びがズレてる場合があります。 【フォルツァ２】について 今では当たり前かもしれないが、この頃から本格的にオンラインでの対戦が一般化してきたように思う。 そしてレースゲーガチ勢との圧倒的実力差を痛感させられた。 ステアリングコントローラーも持っていたが普通のコントローラーでも アクセル、ブレーキのR2,L2ボタンがトリガー式になってたので強弱の微妙な調整をしやすかった。 レイヤーを貼って自分の好きなペイントできるのも画期的だったかな。 痛車つくってオンラインで走れる。 車の速さだけでなくデザインで勝負的な一面もあった。 次回候補： 行方不明：LAノワール、シャドーラン ・過去の配信タイトル名（個人的お気に入り度/お勧め度） プレイ総タイトル数：35本 【PS2】4 ・歸らずの森（5/4） ・絶対絶命都市（5/4） ・バイオハザード（5/5） ・バイオハザード２（5/5） 【XBOX】1 ・ヘイロー（3/3） 【XBOX360】30 ・ヴァンパイアレイン（3/3）惜しい ・XBOX LIVE ARCADE オムニバスディスク（4/4）ちょっとした時間に遊べる４作品収録。３６０の当時の紹介動画も懐かしい。 ・エルダースクロールズ４：オブリビオン（5/5） ・エルダースクロールズ５：スカイリム（5/5） ・ギアーズ オ ブウォー（5/5）only on xbox360、遊びつくした。 ・ギアーズ オブ ウォー２（5/4）only on xbox360、遊びつくした。規制がなければな。 ・ギアーズ オブ ウォー３（5/5）遊びつくした。 ・キングダムアンダーファイヤー：サークルオブドゥーム（3/3）当時としては綺麗なグラフィック。惜しい。 ・グランド・セフト・オート IV（4/4）チェックポイントがもう少しこまめにあれば・・ ゲームのマネをリアルでするヤツが出ないことを祈る。 ・コンデムド サイコクライム（4/4）名作ホラー、ホラー好きには遊んで欲しい。 ・ジャストコーズ（4/4）お手軽に超人プレイを楽しめる。 ・セイクリッド２（4/4）ハクスラ好きなら ・デススマイルズ２X（4/4）STGガチ勢じゃなくても楽しめる、キャラがカワイイ。 ・テストドライブ アンリミテッド（5/3） ・デッドアイランド（4/4） ・デッドライジング（5/5）only on xbox360、ゾンビゲーの名作。 ・トゥーヒューマン（5/3）only on xbox360、遊びつくした。 ・トゥーワールド２（3/3）意欲作なのは十分感じられれるが、なぜかそんなには面白くない。 ・ドラゴンエイジ：オリジンズ（5/3）サクッと遊びたい人にはお勧めしにくい。 ・トラスティベル（3/3）魅力的なキャラ、美しい世界感、電波シナリオでなければ・・。 ・バイオショック（5/4）only on xbox360、世界観が好き。 ・フェイブル２（4/4）only on xbox360、記憶より楽しかった、発売がフォールアウト３の2週間後じゃなければもっと遊んでたな。犬。 ・フォールアウト３（5/5） ・ブルードラゴン(4/4)only on xbox360、シナリオ：坂口博信、キャラクターデザイン：鳥山明、音楽：植松伸夫 ・ヘイロー３ ODST（4/4）only on xbox360 ・ボーダーランズ（4/4） ・マスエフェクト（4/4）only on xbox360、TPS風RPG、名作。 ・ミラーズエッジ（3/3）パルクール好きにお勧め。 ・メトロ2033（4/4）only on xbox360、世界観と装備品のデザインが好き。 ・レッド シーズ プロファイル（5/4）遊びつくした。
アダルトビデオのモザイクってどうやってかけてるんでしょう？ 今回も前回に引き続き、 Premiereを使って、より実践的なモザイクのかけかたについて、説明いたします。 実際に女優さんに協力いただいて、 最も難しいといわれるフェラチオシーンにフォーカスして実践的なモザイクのかけ方について 詳しくレクチャーしていきます。 マスクのかけかた、マスクの変形の仕方、マスクのON・OFFについて、マスクのフェードイン、フェードアウトの仕方など、前回学んだことをすべて応用して、本格的なモザイクかけに挑戦です。 アダルトビデオのモザイク処理でお困りの方がいらっしゃいましたら、ぜひ、ご参考ください。 【前回】 https://video.fc2.com/content/20200912BbxEMxh2/ ■公式HP https://www.irina-entame.com/ ■公式Twitter https://twitter.com/shirohame8585 ■note http://note.mu/shirohame8585
アダルトビデオのモザイクってどうやってかけてるんでしょう？ 今回はPremiereを使って、より実践的なモザイクのかけかたについて、説明いたします。 マスクのかけかた、マスクの変形の仕方、マスクのON・OFFについて、マスクのフェードイン、フェードアウトの仕方などについてレクチャーいたします。 アダルトビデオのモザイク処理でお困りの方がいらっしゃいましたら、ぜひ、ご参考ください。 【前回】 https://video.fc2.com/content/20200912BbxEMxh2/ ■公式HP https://www.irina-entame.com/ ■公式Twitter https://twitter.com/shirohame8585 ■note http://note.mu/shirohame8585
