The Amsterdam Talk podcast with your host ROD. Betting on yourself with Richard Blank
The Amsterdam Talk podcast is about keeping individuals aware of what is happening in the community, the world, the culture, etc. Amsterdam Talk is not your average podcast; we like to have those tough conversations. Our guests provide excellent insight and give authentic stories from a personal point of view to give the listener details about what they have learned from their experiences. Our motto is that we never know what someone is going through, and the podcast allows listeners to hear that they are not alone in this world.
Season 4 | Episode 21
In this episode of Amsterdam Talk, we talk with Richard Blank CEO of Telemarketing Company in Costa Rica. Betting on yourself is a powerful concept. It means having confidence in your own abilities and potential. It’s about setting goals, taking risks, and investing in your own growth and development, even when the path isn’t guaranteed.
Here are a few key aspects to consider:
Self-Belief: Trust that you have the skills and drive to achieve your goals. This belief can be a strong motivator and help you push through challenges.
Setting Goals: Define what you want to achieve and create a plan to reach those objectives. Having clear goals gives you direction and helps measure progress.
Continuous Learning: Invest in acquiring new skills and knowledge. The more you learn and adapt, the better equipped you’ll be to face new opportunities and challenges.
Resilience: Be prepared for setbacks and failures. Betting on yourself means you’ll face obstacles, but resilience helps you recover and keep moving forward.
Taking Risks: Sometimes, you need to step out of your comfort zone. Calculated risks can lead to significant rewards, and they’re often necessary for personal growth.
Self-Care: Take care of your mental and physical well-being. Betting on yourself also means ensuring you’re in a good place to pursue your goals effectively.
https://youtu.be/sI4l28jrn48?si=KVc7fF284XF94Hzp
https://youtu.be/YHLdcFHb5ao
https://youtu.be/RoXpY8rsFOY
https://youtu.be/GyPqEGYugs0
https://youtu.be/inEXSfyORws
College Life and Famous Roommates
they have to accept it. If they really want to let you live that sort of life, Rod, that you're looking to live. Okay. So you went down to Tucson, Arizona, and you... Let me make sure I got it right. So you got a communications, you got a communication and a Spanish degree from University of Arizona. So you did that. Oh yeah. That was a fun degree. I have an undergrad of communication as well. You know, that's a fun degree. Hey, just if anyone follows Wildcat basketball during those years, I was fortunate enough to be a roommate of the great Khalid Reeves. And also post-grad, I lived with Ben Davis when he was a rookie for the Suns. And so just some very good shout outs to some cool Wildcats that had lived with me. You still speak to them? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And... You know, it's interesting when you're seeing some of the greatest guards in the nation that's on ESPN highlights, and you're just sitting there playing, you know, Street Fighter with them and hanging out and cooking food and just chilling, watching Bruce Lee movies.
Life Decisions and Metaphors
responsibly in-state tuition was very inexpensive in Arizona during the nineties. And so I was not dropping a lot of dough to go to school and living in Tucson was very cheap. That was a lot of fun. Okay. And so I was being somewhat responsible and at least I was going to make myself marketable and The naysayers and the great believers are the ones that don't want you to throw up on a roller coaster. But unless you get on there and you do the loop-de-loops, you're never going to know how to live, especially if you wait and get in the first cart. That's even better. I'm willing to let two or three people pass me so I can sit in the front row. And that's drinking life. And when I look back at my young self and the sort of big boy decisions that I was making that I needed to carry the rest of my life, My intuition was speaking because I was too young to understand the experience and the value of it. I had no idea where this was going to go, but I could capture this light and this energy.
Maintaining Composure Amidst Chaos
But sometimes maturity goes with having conversations with people that you don't want to have. And the truth may hurt when you do discuss certain advertising or where the market is going or what's happening with the internet. And It's just how it's, it's relayed and how you listen and how you can once again, receive certain energy, which may be negative at times and try to readjust tones. That's what doctors do or attorneys can do. They're used to people screaming and cursing and spitting and kicking tires, but these individuals need to sew hearts, win cases and as pilots are land planes when people are screaming around them. And so you need to, you need to respect the individual that has the straight line amongst the chaos
Nostalgia and Technology: A Humorous Take
And the less that we do those sort of human interactions, the more alone we're going to feel. It's quite the shame because when you look at old movies from the 60s and 70s, no one's looking down. Unless they're reading a newspaper or book or something. Everyone's looking around and seeing what's happening in the scene. Comment on it. Participate in it. Get involved. Today... It's almost like the movie, The Breakfast Club. It would have never existed. They all would have been on their phones the whole time. And when I walk downstairs and I'm in the lunchroom, you'll have the tables of four or five people sitting together and each one of them is watching something differently. And as much as I tease about it and break their back and talk about what it was like in the 80s, and they're like, okay, okay, grandpa.
Nostalgia for the Social Past
And when I walk downstairs and I'm in the lunchroom, you'll have the tables of four or five people sitting together and each one of them is watching something differently. And as much as I tease about it and break their back and talk about what it was like in the 80s, and they're like, okay, okay, grandpa. whatever you're right. I'll just go play some pinball. I leave you alone. And it's almost, it's, it's sad because there was nothing better that you get that knock on the door, the doorbell ringing and you'd run there and it's your buddy that wants to go ride bikes or climb trees with you. And so those are the memories, my friend. And I'm trying to still instill that with the people today.
Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008.
Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain.
A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. In addition, entered into the 2023 Hall of Fame for Business along side other famous alumni. Paying it forward 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.
https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/
#AmsterdamTalkpodcast #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Gamification #CEO
Amsterdam Talk podcast, Richard Blank,Costa Rica's Call Center, Outsourcing, Telemarketing, BPO, Nearshore, Sales, Entrepreneur, B2B, Business,Podcast,Gamification,Leadership,Marketing, Radio, Guest, Money, education, trainer,
The Decline of Human Interaction
I see people that wait in line at the supermarket so they can have the interaction with the person compared to doing self-checkout. There's some people that like that experience and that's why they go to that store or they've known Betty for 15 years and it's part of their routine. And the less that we do those sort of human interactions, the more alone we're going to feel. It's quite the shame because when you look at old movies from the 60s and 70s, no one's looking down. Unless they're reading a newspaper or book or something. Everyone's looking around and seeing what's happening in the scene. Comment on it. Participate in it. Get involved. Today... It's almost like the movie, The Breakfast Club. It would have never existed. They all would have been on their phones the whole time.
The Journey to Starting a Call Center
So what made you start this, you know, your business up, your company? What made you start your company? I was 35 and I was getting old and I was trying, you know, when I left my friend's company, I did make phone call for my family real estate business in the United States and then the market fell out. And so I had a little bit saved. I had some knowledge and I had the desire. And one of my friends says, hey, Ricardo, why don't you just start a call center? And I said, oh, in Gaza, am I going to do this? How are you going to get to that level? And so, yeah. The first thing I was taught was to slow down, calm down. What can we do? What can we control? Well, I always believe in home court advantage. Let's be realistic. And so someone needed to have space that I could rent a section of, like an internet cafe. So there was a blended call center where I could rent a turnkey station for premium, but I could scale accordingly and they're responsible, the internet and the rent and everything. I can come and go like a plane seat
The Amsterdam Talk podcast with your host ROD. Betting on yourself with Richard Blank
The Amsterdam Talk podcast is about keeping individuals aware of what is happening in the community, the world, the culture, etc. Amsterdam Talk is not your average podcast; we like to have those tough conversations. Our guests provide excellent insight and give authentic stories from a personal point of view to give the listener details about what they have learned from their experiences. Our motto is that we never know what someone is going through, and the podcast allows listeners to hear that they are not alone in this world.
Season 4 | Episode 21
In this episode of Amsterdam Talk, we talk with Richard Blank CEO of Telemarketing Company in Costa Rica. Betting on yourself is a powerful concept. It means having confidence in your own abilities and potential. It’s about setting goals, taking risks, and investing in your own growth and development, even when the path isn’t guaranteed.
Here are a few key aspects to consider:
Self-Belief: Trust that you have the skills and drive to achieve your goals. This belief can be a strong motivator and help you push through challenges.
Setting Goals: Define what you want to achieve and create a plan to reach those objectives. Having clear goals gives you direction and helps measure progress.
Continuous Learning: Invest in acquiring new skills and knowledge. The more you learn and adapt, the better equipped you’ll be to face new opportunities and challenges.
Resilience: Be prepared for setbacks and failures. Betting on yourself means you’ll face obstacles, but resilience helps you recover and keep moving forward.
Taking Risks: Sometimes, you need to step out of your comfort zone. Calculated risks can lead to significant rewards, and they’re often necessary for personal growth.
Self-Care: Take care of your mental and physical well-being. Betting on yourself also means ensuring you’re in a good place to pursue your goals effectively.
https://youtu.be/sI4l28jrn48?si=KVc7fF284XF94Hzp
https://youtu.be/YHLdcFHb5ao
https://youtu.be/RoXpY8rsFOY
https://youtu.be/GyPqEGYugs0
https://youtu.be/inEXSfyORws
College Life and Famous Roommates
they have to accept it. If they really want to let you live that sort of life, Rod, that you're looking to live. Okay. So you went down to Tucson, Arizona, and you... Let me make sure I got it right. So you got a communications, you got a communication and a Spanish degree from University of Arizona. So you did that. Oh yeah. That was a fun degree. I have an undergrad of communication as well. You know, that's a fun degree. Hey, just if anyone follows Wildcat basketball during those years, I was fortunate enough to be a roommate of the great Khalid Reeves. And also post-grad, I lived with Ben Davis when he was a rookie for the Suns. And so just some very good shout outs to some cool Wildcats that had lived with me. You still speak to them? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And... You know, it's interesting when you're seeing some of the greatest guards in the nation that's on ESPN highlights, and you're just sitting there playing, you know, Street Fighter with them and hanging out and cooking food and just chilling, watching Bruce Lee movies.
Life Decisions and Metaphors
responsibly in-state tuition was very inexpensive in Arizona during the nineties. And so I was not dropping a lot of dough to go to school and living in Tucson was very cheap. That was a lot of fun. Okay. And so I was being somewhat responsible and at least I was going to make myself marketable and The naysayers and the great believers are the ones that don't want you to throw up on a roller coaster. But unless you get on there and you do the loop-de-loops, you're never going to know how to live, especially if you wait and get in the first cart. That's even better. I'm willing to let two or three people pass me so I can sit in the front row. And that's drinking life. And when I look back at my young self and the sort of big boy decisions that I was making that I needed to carry the rest of my life, My intuition was speaking because I was too young to understand the experience and the value of it. I had no idea where this was going to go, but I could capture this light and this energy.
Maintaining Composure Amidst Chaos
But sometimes maturity goes with having conversations with people that you don't want to have. And the truth may hurt when you do discuss certain advertising or where the market is going or what's happening with the internet. And It's just how it's, it's relayed and how you listen and how you can once again, receive certain energy, which may be negative at times and try to readjust tones. That's what doctors do or attorneys can do. They're used to people screaming and cursing and spitting and kicking tires, but these individuals need to sew hearts, win cases and as pilots are land planes when people are screaming around them. And so you need to, you need to respect the individual that has the straight line amongst the chaos
Nostalgia and Technology: A Humorous Take
And the less that we do those sort of human interactions, the more alone we're going to feel. It's quite the shame because when you look at old movies from the 60s and 70s, no one's looking down. Unless they're reading a newspaper or book or something. Everyone's looking around and seeing what's happening in the scene. Comment on it. Participate in it. Get involved. Today... It's almost like the movie, The Breakfast Club. It would have never existed. They all would have been on their phones the whole time. And when I walk downstairs and I'm in the lunchroom, you'll have the tables of four or five people sitting together and each one of them is watching something differently. And as much as I tease about it and break their back and talk about what it was like in the 80s, and they're like, okay, okay, grandpa.
Nostalgia for the Social Past
And when I walk downstairs and I'm in the lunchroom, you'll have the tables of four or five people sitting together and each one of them is watching something differently. And as much as I tease about it and break their back and talk about what it was like in the 80s, and they're like, okay, okay, grandpa. whatever you're right. I'll just go play some pinball. I leave you alone. And it's almost, it's, it's sad because there was nothing better that you get that knock on the door, the doorbell ringing and you'd run there and it's your buddy that wants to go ride bikes or climb trees with you. And so those are the memories, my friend. And I'm trying to still instill that with the people today.
Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008.
Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain.
A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. In addition, entered into the 2023 Hall of Fame for Business along side other famous alumni. Paying it forward 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.
https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/
#AmsterdamTalkpodcast #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Gamification #CEO
Amsterdam Talk podcast, Richard Blank,Costa Rica's Call Center, Outsourcing, Telemarketing, BPO, Nearshore, Sales, Entrepreneur, B2B, Business,Podcast,Gamification,Leadership,Marketing, Radio, Guest, Money, education, trainer,
The Decline of Human Interaction
I see people that wait in line at the supermarket so they can have the interaction with the person compared to doing self-checkout. There's some people that like that experience and that's why they go to that store or they've known Betty for 15 years and it's part of their routine. And the less that we do those sort of human interactions, the more alone we're going to feel. It's quite the shame because when you look at old movies from the 60s and 70s, no one's looking down. Unless they're reading a newspaper or book or something. Everyone's looking around and seeing what's happening in the scene. Comment on it. Participate in it. Get involved. Today... It's almost like the movie, The Breakfast Club. It would have never existed. They all would have been on their phones the whole time.
The Journey to Starting a Call Center
So what made you start this, you know, your business up, your company? What made you start your company? I was 35 and I was getting old and I was trying, you know, when I left my friend's company, I did make phone call for my family real estate business in the United States and then the market fell out. And so I had a little bit saved. I had some knowledge and I had the desire. And one of my friends says, hey, Ricardo, why don't you just start a call center? And I said, oh, in Gaza, am I going to do this? How are you going to get to that level? And so, yeah. The first thing I was taught was to slow down, calm down. What can we do? What can we control? Well, I always believe in home court advantage. Let's be realistic. And so someone needed to have space that I could rent a section of, like an internet cafe. So there was a blended call center where I could rent a turnkey station for premium, but I could scale accordingly and they're responsible, the internet and the rent and everything. I can come and go like a plane seat
The Amsterdam Talk podcast with your host ROD. Betting on yourself with Richard Blank
The Amsterdam Talk podcast is about keeping individuals aware of what is happening in the community, the world, the culture, etc. Amsterdam Talk is not your average podcast; we like to have those tough conversations. Our guests provide excellent insight and give authentic stories from a personal point of view to give the listener details about what they have learned from their experiences. Our motto is that we never know what someone is going through, and the podcast allows listeners to hear that they are not alone in this world.
Season 4 | Episode 21
In this episode of Amsterdam Talk, we talk with Richard Blank CEO of Telemarketing Company in Costa Rica. Betting on yourself is a powerful concept. It means having confidence in your own abilities and potential. It’s about setting goals, taking risks, and investing in your own growth and development, even when the path isn’t guaranteed.
Here are a few key aspects to consider:
Self-Belief: Trust that you have the skills and drive to achieve your goals. This belief can be a strong motivator and help you push through challenges.
Setting Goals: Define what you want to achieve and create a plan to reach those objectives. Having clear goals gives you direction and helps measure progress.
Continuous Learning: Invest in acquiring new skills and knowledge. The more you learn and adapt, the better equipped you’ll be to face new opportunities and challenges.
Resilience: Be prepared for setbacks and failures. Betting on yourself means you’ll face obstacles, but resilience helps you recover and keep moving forward.
Taking Risks: Sometimes, you need to step out of your comfort zone. Calculated risks can lead to significant rewards, and they’re often necessary for personal growth.
Self-Care: Take care of your mental and physical well-being. Betting on yourself also means ensuring you’re in a good place to pursue your goals effectively.
https://youtu.be/sI4l28jrn48?si=KVc7fF284XF94Hzp
https://youtu.be/YHLdcFHb5ao
https://youtu.be/RoXpY8rsFOY
https://youtu.be/GyPqEGYugs0
https://youtu.be/inEXSfyORws
College Life and Famous Roommates
they have to accept it. If they really want to let you live that sort of life, Rod, that you're looking to live. Okay. So you went down to Tucson, Arizona, and you... Let me make sure I got it right. So you got a communications, you got a communication and a Spanish degree from University of Arizona. So you did that. Oh yeah. That was a fun degree. I have an undergrad of communication as well. You know, that's a fun degree. Hey, just if anyone follows Wildcat basketball during those years, I was fortunate enough to be a roommate of the great Khalid Reeves. And also post-grad, I lived with Ben Davis when he was a rookie for the Suns. And so just some very good shout outs to some cool Wildcats that had lived with me. You still speak to them? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And... You know, it's interesting when you're seeing some of the greatest guards in the nation that's on ESPN highlights, and you're just sitting there playing, you know, Street Fighter with them and hanging out and cooking food and just chilling, watching Bruce Lee movies.
Life Decisions and Metaphors
responsibly in-state tuition was very inexpensive in Arizona during the nineties. And so I was not dropping a lot of dough to go to school and living in Tucson was very cheap. That was a lot of fun. Okay. And so I was being somewhat responsible and at least I was going to make myself marketable and The naysayers and the great believers are the ones that don't want you to throw up on a roller coaster. But unless you get on there and you do the loop-de-loops, you're never going to know how to live, especially if you wait and get in the first cart. That's even better. I'm willing to let two or three people pass me so I can sit in the front row. And that's drinking life. And when I look back at my young self and the sort of big boy decisions that I was making that I needed to carry the rest of my life, My intuition was speaking because I was too young to understand the experience and the value of it. I had no idea where this was going to go, but I could capture this light and this energy.
Maintaining Composure Amidst Chaos
But sometimes maturity goes with having conversations with people that you don't want to have. And the truth may hurt when you do discuss certain advertising or where the market is going or what's happening with the internet. And It's just how it's, it's relayed and how you listen and how you can once again, receive certain energy, which may be negative at times and try to readjust tones. That's what doctors do or attorneys can do. They're used to people screaming and cursing and spitting and kicking tires, but these individuals need to sew hearts, win cases and as pilots are land planes when people are screaming around them. And so you need to, you need to respect the individual that has the straight line amongst the chaos
Nostalgia and Technology: A Humorous Take
And the less that we do those sort of human interactions, the more alone we're going to feel. It's quite the shame because when you look at old movies from the 60s and 70s, no one's looking down. Unless they're reading a newspaper or book or something. Everyone's looking around and seeing what's happening in the scene. Comment on it. Participate in it. Get involved. Today... It's almost like the movie, The Breakfast Club. It would have never existed. They all would have been on their phones the whole time. And when I walk downstairs and I'm in the lunchroom, you'll have the tables of four or five people sitting together and each one of them is watching something differently. And as much as I tease about it and break their back and talk about what it was like in the 80s, and they're like, okay, okay, grandpa.
Nostalgia for the Social Past
And when I walk downstairs and I'm in the lunchroom, you'll have the tables of four or five people sitting together and each one of them is watching something differently. And as much as I tease about it and break their back and talk about what it was like in the 80s, and they're like, okay, okay, grandpa. whatever you're right. I'll just go play some pinball. I leave you alone. And it's almost, it's, it's sad because there was nothing better that you get that knock on the door, the doorbell ringing and you'd run there and it's your buddy that wants to go ride bikes or climb trees with you. And so those are the memories, my friend. And I'm trying to still instill that with the people today.
Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008.
Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain.
A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. In addition, entered into the 2023 Hall of Fame for Business along side other famous alumni. Paying it forward 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.
https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/
#AmsterdamTalkpodcast #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Gamification #CEO
Amsterdam Talk podcast, Richard Blank,Costa Rica's Call Center, Outsourcing, Telemarketing, BPO, Nearshore, Sales, Entrepreneur, B2B, Business,Podcast,Gamification,Leadership,Marketing, Radio, Guest, Money, education, trainer,
The Decline of Human Interaction
I see people that wait in line at the supermarket so they can have the interaction with the person compared to doing self-checkout. There's some people that like that experience and that's why they go to that store or they've known Betty for 15 years and it's part of their routine. And the less that we do those sort of human interactions, the more alone we're going to feel. It's quite the shame because when you look at old movies from the 60s and 70s, no one's looking down. Unless they're reading a newspaper or book or something. Everyone's looking around and seeing what's happening in the scene. Comment on it. Participate in it. Get involved. Today... It's almost like the movie, The Breakfast Club. It would have never existed. They all would have been on their phones the whole time.
The Journey to Starting a Call Center
So what made you start this, you know, your business up, your company? What made you start your company? I was 35 and I was getting old and I was trying, you know, when I left my friend's company, I did make phone call for my family real estate business in the United States and then the market fell out. And so I had a little bit saved. I had some knowledge and I had the desire. And one of my friends says, hey, Ricardo, why don't you just start a call center? And I said, oh, in Gaza, am I going to do this? How are you going to get to that level? And so, yeah. The first thing I was taught was to slow down, calm down. What can we do? What can we control? Well, I always believe in home court advantage. Let's be realistic. And so someone needed to have space that I could rent a section of, like an internet cafe. So there was a blended call center where I could rent a turnkey station for premium, but I could scale accordingly and they're responsible, the internet and the rent and everything. I can come and go like a plane seat
The Amsterdam Talk podcast with your host ROD. Betting on yourself with Richard Blank
The Amsterdam Talk podcast is about keeping individuals aware of what is happening in the community, the world, the culture, etc. Amsterdam Talk is not your average podcast; we like to have those tough conversations. Our guests provide excellent insight and give authentic stories from a personal point of view to give the listener details about what they have learned from their experiences. Our motto is that we never know what someone is going through, and the podcast allows listeners to hear that they are not alone in this world.
Season 4 | Episode 21
In this episode of Amsterdam Talk, we talk with Richard Blank CEO of Telemarketing Company in Costa Rica. Betting on yourself is a powerful concept. It means having confidence in your own abilities and potential. It’s about setting goals, taking risks, and investing in your own growth and development, even when the path isn’t guaranteed.
Here are a few key aspects to consider:
Self-Belief: Trust that you have the skills and drive to achieve your goals. This belief can be a strong motivator and help you push through challenges.
Setting Goals: Define what you want to achieve and create a plan to reach those objectives. Having clear goals gives you direction and helps measure progress.
Continuous Learning: Invest in acquiring new skills and knowledge. The more you learn and adapt, the better equipped you’ll be to face new opportunities and challenges.
Resilience: Be prepared for setbacks and failures. Betting on yourself means you’ll face obstacles, but resilience helps you recover and keep moving forward.
Taking Risks: Sometimes, you need to step out of your comfort zone. Calculated risks can lead to significant rewards, and they’re often necessary for personal growth.
Self-Care: Take care of your mental and physical well-being. Betting on yourself also means ensuring you’re in a good place to pursue your goals effectively.
https://youtu.be/sI4l28jrn48?si=KVc7fF284XF94Hzp
https://youtu.be/YHLdcFHb5ao
https://youtu.be/RoXpY8rsFOY
https://youtu.be/GyPqEGYugs0
https://youtu.be/inEXSfyORws
College Life and Famous Roommates
they have to accept it. If they really want to let you live that sort of life, Rod, that you're looking to live. Okay. So you went down to Tucson, Arizona, and you... Let me make sure I got it right. So you got a communications, you got a communication and a Spanish degree from University of Arizona. So you did that. Oh yeah. That was a fun degree. I have an undergrad of communication as well. You know, that's a fun degree. Hey, just if anyone follows Wildcat basketball during those years, I was fortunate enough to be a roommate of the great Khalid Reeves. And also post-grad, I lived with Ben Davis when he was a rookie for the Suns. And so just some very good shout outs to some cool Wildcats that had lived with me. You still speak to them? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And... You know, it's interesting when you're seeing some of the greatest guards in the nation that's on ESPN highlights, and you're just sitting there playing, you know, Street Fighter with them and hanging out and cooking food and just chilling, watching Bruce Lee movies.
Life Decisions and Metaphors
responsibly in-state tuition was very inexpensive in Arizona during the nineties. And so I was not dropping a lot of dough to go to school and living in Tucson was very cheap. That was a lot of fun. Okay. And so I was being somewhat responsible and at least I was going to make myself marketable and The naysayers and the great believers are the ones that don't want you to throw up on a roller coaster. But unless you get on there and you do the loop-de-loops, you're never going to know how to live, especially if you wait and get in the first cart. That's even better. I'm willing to let two or three people pass me so I can sit in the front row. And that's drinking life. And when I look back at my young self and the sort of big boy decisions that I was making that I needed to carry the rest of my life, My intuition was speaking because I was too young to understand the experience and the value of it. I had no idea where this was going to go, but I could capture this light and this energy.
Maintaining Composure Amidst Chaos
But sometimes maturity goes with having conversations with people that you don't want to have. And the truth may hurt when you do discuss certain advertising or where the market is going or what's happening with the internet. And It's just how it's, it's relayed and how you listen and how you can once again, receive certain energy, which may be negative at times and try to readjust tones. That's what doctors do or attorneys can do. They're used to people screaming and cursing and spitting and kicking tires, but these individuals need to sew hearts, win cases and as pilots are land planes when people are screaming around them. And so you need to, you need to respect the individual that has the straight line amongst the chaos
Nostalgia and Technology: A Humorous Take
And the less that we do those sort of human interactions, the more alone we're going to feel. It's quite the shame because when you look at old movies from the 60s and 70s, no one's looking down. Unless they're reading a newspaper or book or something. Everyone's looking around and seeing what's happening in the scene. Comment on it. Participate in it. Get involved. Today... It's almost like the movie, The Breakfast Club. It would have never existed. They all would have been on their phones the whole time. And when I walk downstairs and I'm in the lunchroom, you'll have the tables of four or five people sitting together and each one of them is watching something differently. And as much as I tease about it and break their back and talk about what it was like in the 80s, and they're like, okay, okay, grandpa.
Nostalgia for the Social Past
And when I walk downstairs and I'm in the lunchroom, you'll have the tables of four or five people sitting together and each one of them is watching something differently. And as much as I tease about it and break their back and talk about what it was like in the 80s, and they're like, okay, okay, grandpa. whatever you're right. I'll just go play some pinball. I leave you alone. And it's almost, it's, it's sad because there was nothing better that you get that knock on the door, the doorbell ringing and you'd run there and it's your buddy that wants to go ride bikes or climb trees with you. And so those are the memories, my friend. And I'm trying to still instill that with the people today.
Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008.
Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain.
A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. In addition, entered into the 2023 Hall of Fame for Business along side other famous alumni. Paying it forward 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.
https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/
#AmsterdamTalkpodcast #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Gamification #CEO
Amsterdam Talk podcast, Richard Blank,Costa Rica's Call Center, Outsourcing, Telemarketing, BPO, Nearshore, Sales, Entrepreneur, B2B, Business,Podcast,Gamification,Leadership,Marketing, Radio, Guest, Money, education, trainer,
The Decline of Human Interaction
I see people that wait in line at the supermarket so they can have the interaction with the person compared to doing self-checkout. There's some people that like that experience and that's why they go to that store or they've known Betty for 15 years and it's part of their routine. And the less that we do those sort of human interactions, the more alone we're going to feel. It's quite the shame because when you look at old movies from the 60s and 70s, no one's looking down. Unless they're reading a newspaper or book or something. Everyone's looking around and seeing what's happening in the scene. Comment on it. Participate in it. Get involved. Today... It's almost like the movie, The Breakfast Club. It would have never existed. They all would have been on their phones the whole time.
The Journey to Starting a Call Center
So what made you start this, you know, your business up, your company? What made you start your company? I was 35 and I was getting old and I was trying, you know, when I left my friend's company, I did make phone call for my family real estate business in the United States and then the market fell out. And so I had a little bit saved. I had some knowledge and I had the desire. And one of my friends says, hey, Ricardo, why don't you just start a call center? And I said, oh, in Gaza, am I going to do this? How are you going to get to that level? And so, yeah. The first thing I was taught was to slow down, calm down. What can we do? What can we control? Well, I always believe in home court advantage. Let's be realistic. And so someone needed to have space that I could rent a section of, like an internet cafe. So there was a blended call center where I could rent a turnkey station for premium, but I could scale accordingly and they're responsible, the internet and the rent and everything. I can come and go like a plane seat
The Amsterdam Talk podcast with your host ROD. Betting on yourself with Richard Blank
The Amsterdam Talk podcast is about keeping individuals aware of what is happening in the community, the world, the culture, etc. Amsterdam Talk is not your average podcast; we like to have those tough conversations. Our guests provide excellent insight and give authentic stories from a personal point of view to give the listener details about what they have learned from their experiences. Our motto is that we never know what someone is going through, and the podcast allows listeners to hear that they are not alone in this world.
Season 4 | Episode 21
In this episode of Amsterdam Talk, we talk with Richard Blank CEO of Telemarketing Company in Costa Rica. Betting on yourself is a powerful concept. It means having confidence in your own abilities and potential. It’s about setting goals, taking risks, and investing in your own growth and development, even when the path isn’t guaranteed.
Here are a few key aspects to consider:
Self-Belief: Trust that you have the skills and drive to achieve your goals. This belief can be a strong motivator and help you push through challenges.
Setting Goals: Define what you want to achieve and create a plan to reach those objectives. Having clear goals gives you direction and helps measure progress.
Continuous Learning: Invest in acquiring new skills and knowledge. The more you learn and adapt, the better equipped you’ll be to face new opportunities and challenges.
Resilience: Be prepared for setbacks and failures. Betting on yourself means you’ll face obstacles, but resilience helps you recover and keep moving forward.
Taking Risks: Sometimes, you need to step out of your comfort zone. Calculated risks can lead to significant rewards, and they’re often necessary for personal growth.
Self-Care: Take care of your mental and physical well-being. Betting on yourself also means ensuring you’re in a good place to pursue your goals effectively.
https://youtu.be/sI4l28jrn48?si=KVc7fF284XF94Hzp
https://youtu.be/YHLdcFHb5ao
https://youtu.be/RoXpY8rsFOY
https://youtu.be/GyPqEGYugs0
https://youtu.be/inEXSfyORws
College Life and Famous Roommates
they have to accept it. If they really want to let you live that sort of life, Rod, that you're looking to live. Okay. So you went down to Tucson, Arizona, and you... Let me make sure I got it right. So you got a communications, you got a communication and a Spanish degree from University of Arizona. So you did that. Oh yeah. That was a fun degree. I have an undergrad of communication as well. You know, that's a fun degree. Hey, just if anyone follows Wildcat basketball during those years, I was fortunate enough to be a roommate of the great Khalid Reeves. And also post-grad, I lived with Ben Davis when he was a rookie for the Suns. And so just some very good shout outs to some cool Wildcats that had lived with me. You still speak to them? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And... You know, it's interesting when you're seeing some of the greatest guards in the nation that's on ESPN highlights, and you're just sitting there playing, you know, Street Fighter with them and hanging out and cooking food and just chilling, watching Bruce Lee movies.
Life Decisions and Metaphors
responsibly in-state tuition was very inexpensive in Arizona during the nineties. And so I was not dropping a lot of dough to go to school and living in Tucson was very cheap. That was a lot of fun. Okay. And so I was being somewhat responsible and at least I was going to make myself marketable and The naysayers and the great believers are the ones that don't want you to throw up on a roller coaster. But unless you get on there and you do the loop-de-loops, you're never going to know how to live, especially if you wait and get in the first cart. That's even better. I'm willing to let two or three people pass me so I can sit in the front row. And that's drinking life. And when I look back at my young self and the sort of big boy decisions that I was making that I needed to carry the rest of my life, My intuition was speaking because I was too young to understand the experience and the value of it. I had no idea where this was going to go, but I could capture this light and this energy.
Maintaining Composure Amidst Chaos
But sometimes maturity goes with having conversations with people that you don't want to have. And the truth may hurt when you do discuss certain advertising or where the market is going or what's happening with the internet. And It's just how it's, it's relayed and how you listen and how you can once again, receive certain energy, which may be negative at times and try to readjust tones. That's what doctors do or attorneys can do. They're used to people screaming and cursing and spitting and kicking tires, but these individuals need to sew hearts, win cases and as pilots are land planes when people are screaming around them. And so you need to, you need to respect the individual that has the straight line amongst the chaos
Nostalgia and Technology: A Humorous Take
And the less that we do those sort of human interactions, the more alone we're going to feel. It's quite the shame because when you look at old movies from the 60s and 70s, no one's looking down. Unless they're reading a newspaper or book or something. Everyone's looking around and seeing what's happening in the scene. Comment on it. Participate in it. Get involved. Today... It's almost like the movie, The Breakfast Club. It would have never existed. They all would have been on their phones the whole time. And when I walk downstairs and I'm in the lunchroom, you'll have the tables of four or five people sitting together and each one of them is watching something differently. And as much as I tease about it and break their back and talk about what it was like in the 80s, and they're like, okay, okay, grandpa.
Nostalgia for the Social Past
And when I walk downstairs and I'm in the lunchroom, you'll have the tables of four or five people sitting together and each one of them is watching something differently. And as much as I tease about it and break their back and talk about what it was like in the 80s, and they're like, okay, okay, grandpa. whatever you're right. I'll just go play some pinball. I leave you alone. And it's almost, it's, it's sad because there was nothing better that you get that knock on the door, the doorbell ringing and you'd run there and it's your buddy that wants to go ride bikes or climb trees with you. And so those are the memories, my friend. And I'm trying to still instill that with the people today.
Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008.
Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain.
A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. In addition, entered into the 2023 Hall of Fame for Business along side other famous alumni. Paying it forward 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.
https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/
#AmsterdamTalkpodcast #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Gamification #CEO
Amsterdam Talk podcast, Richard Blank,Costa Rica's Call Center, Outsourcing, Telemarketing, BPO, Nearshore, Sales, Entrepreneur, B2B, Business,Podcast,Gamification,Leadership,Marketing, Radio, Guest, Money, education, trainer,
The Decline of Human Interaction
I see people that wait in line at the supermarket so they can have the interaction with the person compared to doing self-checkout. There's some people that like that experience and that's why they go to that store or they've known Betty for 15 years and it's part of their routine. And the less that we do those sort of human interactions, the more alone we're going to feel. It's quite the shame because when you look at old movies from the 60s and 70s, no one's looking down. Unless they're reading a newspaper or book or something. Everyone's looking around and seeing what's happening in the scene. Comment on it. Participate in it. Get involved. Today... It's almost like the movie, The Breakfast Club. It would have never existed. They all would have been on their phones the whole time.
The Journey to Starting a Call Center
So what made you start this, you know, your business up, your company? What made you start your company? I was 35 and I was getting old and I was trying, you know, when I left my friend's company, I did make phone call for my family real estate business in the United States and then the market fell out. And so I had a little bit saved. I had some knowledge and I had the desire. And one of my friends says, hey, Ricardo, why don't you just start a call center? And I said, oh, in Gaza, am I going to do this? How are you going to get to that level? And so, yeah. The first thing I was taught was to slow down, calm down. What can we do? What can we control? Well, I always believe in home court advantage. Let's be realistic. And so someone needed to have space that I could rent a section of, like an internet cafe. So there was a blended call center where I could rent a turnkey station for premium, but I could scale accordingly and they're responsible, the internet and the rent and everything. I can come and go like a plane seat
The Amsterdam Talk podcast with your host ROD. Betting on yourself with Richard Blank
The Amsterdam Talk podcast is about keeping individuals aware of what is happening in the community, the world, the culture, etc. Amsterdam Talk is not your average podcast; we like to have those tough conversations. Our guests provide excellent insight and give authentic stories from a personal point of view to give the listener details about what they have learned from their experiences. Our motto is that we never know what someone is going through, and the podcast allows listeners to hear that they are not alone in this world.
Season 4 | Episode 21
In this episode of Amsterdam Talk, we talk with Richard Blank CEO of Telemarketing Company in Costa Rica. Betting on yourself is a powerful concept. It means having confidence in your own abilities and potential. It’s about setting goals, taking risks, and investing in your own growth and development, even when the path isn’t guaranteed.
Here are a few key aspects to consider:
Self-Belief: Trust that you have the skills and drive to achieve your goals. This belief can be a strong motivator and help you push through challenges.
Setting Goals: Define what you want to achieve and create a plan to reach those objectives. Having clear goals gives you direction and helps measure progress.
Continuous Learning: Invest in acquiring new skills and knowledge. The more you learn and adapt, the better equipped you’ll be to face new opportunities and challenges.
Resilience: Be prepared for setbacks and failures. Betting on yourself means you’ll face obstacles, but resilience helps you recover and keep moving forward.
Taking Risks: Sometimes, you need to step out of your comfort zone. Calculated risks can lead to significant rewards, and they’re often necessary for personal growth.
Self-Care: Take care of your mental and physical well-being. Betting on yourself also means ensuring you’re in a good place to pursue your goals effectively.
https://youtu.be/sI4l28jrn48?si=KVc7fF284XF94Hzp
https://youtu.be/YHLdcFHb5ao
https://youtu.be/RoXpY8rsFOY
https://youtu.be/GyPqEGYugs0
https://youtu.be/inEXSfyORws
College Life and Famous Roommates
they have to accept it. If they really want to let you live that sort of life, Rod, that you're looking to live. Okay. So you went down to Tucson, Arizona, and you... Let me make sure I got it right. So you got a communications, you got a communication and a Spanish degree from University of Arizona. So you did that. Oh yeah. That was a fun degree. I have an undergrad of communication as well. You know, that's a fun degree. Hey, just if anyone follows Wildcat basketball during those years, I was fortunate enough to be a roommate of the great Khalid Reeves. And also post-grad, I lived with Ben Davis when he was a rookie for the Suns. And so just some very good shout outs to some cool Wildcats that had lived with me. You still speak to them? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And... You know, it's interesting when you're seeing some of the greatest guards in the nation that's on ESPN highlights, and you're just sitting there playing, you know, Street Fighter with them and hanging out and cooking food and just chilling, watching Bruce Lee movies.
Life Decisions and Metaphors
responsibly in-state tuition was very inexpensive in Arizona during the nineties. And so I was not dropping a lot of dough to go to school and living in Tucson was very cheap. That was a lot of fun. Okay. And so I was being somewhat responsible and at least I was going to make myself marketable and The naysayers and the great believers are the ones that don't want you to throw up on a roller coaster. But unless you get on there and you do the loop-de-loops, you're never going to know how to live, especially if you wait and get in the first cart. That's even better. I'm willing to let two or three people pass me so I can sit in the front row. And that's drinking life. And when I look back at my young self and the sort of big boy decisions that I was making that I needed to carry the rest of my life, My intuition was speaking because I was too young to understand the experience and the value of it. I had no idea where this was going to go, but I could capture this light and this energy.
Maintaining Composure Amidst Chaos
But sometimes maturity goes with having conversations with people that you don't want to have. And the truth may hurt when you do discuss certain advertising or where the market is going or what's happening with the internet. And It's just how it's, it's relayed and how you listen and how you can once again, receive certain energy, which may be negative at times and try to readjust tones. That's what doctors do or attorneys can do. They're used to people screaming and cursing and spitting and kicking tires, but these individuals need to sew hearts, win cases and as pilots are land planes when people are screaming around them. And so you need to, you need to respect the individual that has the straight line amongst the chaos
Nostalgia and Technology: A Humorous Take
And the less that we do those sort of human interactions, the more alone we're going to feel. It's quite the shame because when you look at old movies from the 60s and 70s, no one's looking down. Unless they're reading a newspaper or book or something. Everyone's looking around and seeing what's happening in the scene. Comment on it. Participate in it. Get involved. Today... It's almost like the movie, The Breakfast Club. It would have never existed. They all would have been on their phones the whole time. And when I walk downstairs and I'm in the lunchroom, you'll have the tables of four or five people sitting together and each one of them is watching something differently. And as much as I tease about it and break their back and talk about what it was like in the 80s, and they're like, okay, okay, grandpa.
Nostalgia for the Social Past
And when I walk downstairs and I'm in the lunchroom, you'll have the tables of four or five people sitting together and each one of them is watching something differently. And as much as I tease about it and break their back and talk about what it was like in the 80s, and they're like, okay, okay, grandpa. whatever you're right. I'll just go play some pinball. I leave you alone. And it's almost, it's, it's sad because there was nothing better that you get that knock on the door, the doorbell ringing and you'd run there and it's your buddy that wants to go ride bikes or climb trees with you. And so those are the memories, my friend. And I'm trying to still instill that with the people today.
Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008.
Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain.
A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. In addition, entered into the 2023 Hall of Fame for Business along side other famous alumni. Paying it forward 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.
https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/
#AmsterdamTalkpodcast #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Gamification #CEO
Amsterdam Talk podcast, Richard Blank,Costa Rica's Call Center, Outsourcing, Telemarketing, BPO, Nearshore, Sales, Entrepreneur, B2B, Business,Podcast,Gamification,Leadership,Marketing, Radio, Guest, Money, education, trainer,
The Decline of Human Interaction
I see people that wait in line at the supermarket so they can have the interaction with the person compared to doing self-checkout. There's some people that like that experience and that's why they go to that store or they've known Betty for 15 years and it's part of their routine. And the less that we do those sort of human interactions, the more alone we're going to feel. It's quite the shame because when you look at old movies from the 60s and 70s, no one's looking down. Unless they're reading a newspaper or book or something. Everyone's looking around and seeing what's happening in the scene. Comment on it. Participate in it. Get involved. Today... It's almost like the movie, The Breakfast Club. It would have never existed. They all would have been on their phones the whole time.
The Journey to Starting a Call Center
So what made you start this, you know, your business up, your company? What made you start your company? I was 35 and I was getting old and I was trying, you know, when I left my friend's company, I did make phone call for my family real estate business in the United States and then the market fell out. And so I had a little bit saved. I had some knowledge and I had the desire. And one of my friends says, hey, Ricardo, why don't you just start a call center? And I said, oh, in Gaza, am I going to do this? How are you going to get to that level? And so, yeah. The first thing I was taught was to slow down, calm down. What can we do? What can we control? Well, I always believe in home court advantage. Let's be realistic. And so someone needed to have space that I could rent a section of, like an internet cafe. So there was a blended call center where I could rent a turnkey station for premium, but I could scale accordingly and they're responsible, the internet and the rent and everything. I can come and go like a plane seat
The Amsterdam Talk podcast with your host ROD. Betting on yourself with Richard Blank
The Amsterdam Talk podcast is about keeping individuals aware of what is happening in the community, the world, the culture, etc. Amsterdam Talk is not your average podcast; we like to have those tough conversations. Our guests provide excellent insight and give authentic stories from a personal point of view to give the listener details about what they have learned from their experiences. Our motto is that we never know what someone is going through, and the podcast allows listeners to hear that they are not alone in this world.
Season 4 | Episode 21
In this episode of Amsterdam Talk, we talk with Richard Blank CEO of Telemarketing Company in Costa Rica. Betting on yourself is a powerful concept. It means having confidence in your own abilities and potential. It’s about setting goals, taking risks, and investing in your own growth and development, even when the path isn’t guaranteed.
Here are a few key aspects to consider:
Self-Belief: Trust that you have the skills and drive to achieve your goals. This belief can be a strong motivator and help you push through challenges.
Setting Goals: Define what you want to achieve and create a plan to reach those objectives. Having clear goals gives you direction and helps measure progress.
Continuous Learning: Invest in acquiring new skills and knowledge. The more you learn and adapt, the better equipped you’ll be to face new opportunities and challenges.
Resilience: Be prepared for setbacks and failures. Betting on yourself means you’ll face obstacles, but resilience helps you recover and keep moving forward.
Taking Risks: Sometimes, you need to step out of your comfort zone. Calculated risks can lead to significant rewards, and they’re often necessary for personal growth.
Self-Care: Take care of your mental and physical well-being. Betting on yourself also means ensuring you’re in a good place to pursue your goals effectively.
https://youtu.be/sI4l28jrn48?si=KVc7fF284XF94Hzp
https://youtu.be/YHLdcFHb5ao
https://youtu.be/RoXpY8rsFOY
https://youtu.be/GyPqEGYugs0
https://youtu.be/inEXSfyORws
College Life and Famous Roommates
they have to accept it. If they really want to let you live that sort of life, Rod, that you're looking to live. Okay. So you went down to Tucson, Arizona, and you... Let me make sure I got it right. So you got a communications, you got a communication and a Spanish degree from University of Arizona. So you did that. Oh yeah. That was a fun degree. I have an undergrad of communication as well. You know, that's a fun degree. Hey, just if anyone follows Wildcat basketball during those years, I was fortunate enough to be a roommate of the great Khalid Reeves. And also post-grad, I lived with Ben Davis when he was a rookie for the Suns. And so just some very good shout outs to some cool Wildcats that had lived with me. You still speak to them? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And... You know, it's interesting when you're seeing some of the greatest guards in the nation that's on ESPN highlights, and you're just sitting there playing, you know, Street Fighter with them and hanging out and cooking food and just chilling, watching Bruce Lee movies.
Life Decisions and Metaphors
responsibly in-state tuition was very inexpensive in Arizona during the nineties. And so I was not dropping a lot of dough to go to school and living in Tucson was very cheap. That was a lot of fun. Okay. And so I was being somewhat responsible and at least I was going to make myself marketable and The naysayers and the great believers are the ones that don't want you to throw up on a roller coaster. But unless you get on there and you do the loop-de-loops, you're never going to know how to live, especially if you wait and get in the first cart. That's even better. I'm willing to let two or three people pass me so I can sit in the front row. And that's drinking life. And when I look back at my young self and the sort of big boy decisions that I was making that I needed to carry the rest of my life, My intuition was speaking because I was too young to understand the experience and the value of it. I had no idea where this was going to go, but I could capture this light and this energy.
Maintaining Composure Amidst Chaos
But sometimes maturity goes with having conversations with people that you don't want to have. And the truth may hurt when you do discuss certain advertising or where the market is going or what's happening with the internet. And It's just how it's, it's relayed and how you listen and how you can once again, receive certain energy, which may be negative at times and try to readjust tones. That's what doctors do or attorneys can do. They're used to people screaming and cursing and spitting and kicking tires, but these individuals need to sew hearts, win cases and as pilots are land planes when people are screaming around them. And so you need to, you need to respect the individual that has the straight line amongst the chaos
Nostalgia and Technology: A Humorous Take
And the less that we do those sort of human interactions, the more alone we're going to feel. It's quite the shame because when you look at old movies from the 60s and 70s, no one's looking down. Unless they're reading a newspaper or book or something. Everyone's looking around and seeing what's happening in the scene. Comment on it. Participate in it. Get involved. Today... It's almost like the movie, The Breakfast Club. It would have never existed. They all would have been on their phones the whole time. And when I walk downstairs and I'm in the lunchroom, you'll have the tables of four or five people sitting together and each one of them is watching something differently. And as much as I tease about it and break their back and talk about what it was like in the 80s, and they're like, okay, okay, grandpa.
Nostalgia for the Social Past
And when I walk downstairs and I'm in the lunchroom, you'll have the tables of four or five people sitting together and each one of them is watching something differently. And as much as I tease about it and break their back and talk about what it was like in the 80s, and they're like, okay, okay, grandpa. whatever you're right. I'll just go play some pinball. I leave you alone. And it's almost, it's, it's sad because there was nothing better that you get that knock on the door, the doorbell ringing and you'd run there and it's your buddy that wants to go ride bikes or climb trees with you. And so those are the memories, my friend. And I'm trying to still instill that with the people today.
Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008.
Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain.
A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. In addition, entered into the 2023 Hall of Fame for Business along side other famous alumni. Paying it forward 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.
https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/
#AmsterdamTalkpodcast #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Gamification #CEO
Amsterdam Talk podcast, Richard Blank,Costa Rica's Call Center, Outsourcing, Telemarketing, BPO, Nearshore, Sales, Entrepreneur, B2B, Business,Podcast,Gamification,Leadership,Marketing, Radio, Guest, Money, education, trainer,
The Decline of Human Interaction
I see people that wait in line at the supermarket so they can have the interaction with the person compared to doing self-checkout. There's some people that like that experience and that's why they go to that store or they've known Betty for 15 years and it's part of their routine. And the less that we do those sort of human interactions, the more alone we're going to feel. It's quite the shame because when you look at old movies from the 60s and 70s, no one's looking down. Unless they're reading a newspaper or book or something. Everyone's looking around and seeing what's happening in the scene. Comment on it. Participate in it. Get involved. Today... It's almost like the movie, The Breakfast Club. It would have never existed. They all would have been on their phones the whole time.
The Journey to Starting a Call Center
So what made you start this, you know, your business up, your company? What made you start your company? I was 35 and I was getting old and I was trying, you know, when I left my friend's company, I did make phone call for my family real estate business in the United States and then the market fell out. And so I had a little bit saved. I had some knowledge and I had the desire. And one of my friends says, hey, Ricardo, why don't you just start a call center? And I said, oh, in Gaza, am I going to do this? How are you going to get to that level? And so, yeah. The first thing I was taught was to slow down, calm down. What can we do? What can we control? Well, I always believe in home court advantage. Let's be realistic. And so someone needed to have space that I could rent a section of, like an internet cafe. So there was a blended call center where I could rent a turnkey station for premium, but I could scale accordingly and they're responsible, the internet and the rent and everything. I can come and go like a plane seat
weTHRIVE Podcast. A Philadelphia entrepreneur living in Costa Rica has what it takes. Episode 45.
Every day, entrepreneurs around the world wonder if they have what it takes. What it takes to put food on the table, keep clothes on their back, keep a roof over their head, build a successful business, and even if they have what it takes to create and be a part of something bigger than themselves.
During each episode, Casey Clark, founder of C Clark Consulting, interviews other entrepreneurs to learn more about what it means to them to thrive, how they’re using their business in creating an impactful legacy, and what has tried to get in their way. These stories will resonate with your soul as they inspire you to manifest your vision!
Casey Clark interviews Richard Blank, CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center in episode 45 of the weTHRIVE podcast.
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
We Thrive 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, pinball machines, 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. Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008.
Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain. A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. Giving back to Abington Senior High School is very important to Mr. Blank. As such, he endows a scholarship each year for students that plan on majoring in a world language at the university level. Costa Rica’s Call Center (CCC) is a state of the art BPO telemarketing outsource company located in the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica. Our main focus has been, and will always be to personally train each and every Central America call center agent so that we may offer the highest quality of outbound and inbound telemarketing solutions and bilingual customer service to small and medium sized international companies, entrepreneurs as well as fortune 500 companies.
We encourage you to visit one of our call centers on your next personal vacation or business trip to Central America’s paradise, Costa Rica. While you are here, we would recommend taking an extra day of your trip to visit breathtaking virgin beaches, play golf next to the ocean, try your luck at deep sea fishing, explore tropical jungles, climb volcanos or just relax in natural hot springs. Come and see for yourself why call center outsourcing in Costa Rica is a perfect solution for your
Favorite Pinball Games and Arcade Adventures
Ooh, the one that I own or the one that I have played? The one that I own is a 1996 NBA Fast Break from Williams. It's a wonderful machine. I enjoy that the most. But when I was in Arizona, they have this amazing arcade that's in Mesa that's got like over 50 pinball machines. And I was able to play some stuff from the old 70s and the 80s and 90s.
Influential Book and Life Lessons
It's a wonderful question. There's so much out there. For me personally, I've dabbled in your self-helps and motivational books, but I'm more into biographies or certain sort of stories of a coming of age. My favorite book of all time was a gift that was given to me. It's from Harvey Allen. It's called Anthony Adverse. It was written in the 1930s. It's a very big, fat, long book. Anthony Adverse. And they made a movie about it as well from Harvey Allen. And so it was something that I never expected to read. But when I was in Spain, a very good friend of mine gave it to me. So when I was on the trains, I would pull out a few pages here and there. But it was it was really about a wonderful story about a dreamer that lived in since it's very long, a full life. I mean, you really go through the whole book. But it changed me a little bit. It was the discipline of reading a book that was so many pages, but also I resonate towards this main character that was finding himself and needed others where, Casey, success is built on a million thank yous, and I'd be very foolish to think I did this on my own. Show less
growing company and a powerhouse in the BPO industry.
Marriage and Video Game Battle Lines
I got Hook. I got a World Cup machine, Street Fighter 2, Jokers, Lethal Weapon 3, Mousing Around, Judge Dredd, State Shuttle. Listen, when you're married to somebody, you got to choose your battles wisely. My wife can have 99% of battles when the one thing I am going to die on that hill are my video games. And Casey, thank God I got enough room at my office that I can fit them all.
Positive Employee Management
That's just one of so many examples. And also another one I'm going to throw back into the game room. So instead of having a meeting, Casey, where I bring you in and make you feel bad, why don't we take a recess downstairs? Let's get on the Pac-Man machine. Let's play some pinball. Five minutes later, you've let off some steam. You've recharged some batteries. You're saying, thank you, jefe. Thank you. You don't need to thank me. Thank you for allowing me to get you off the floor for a minute away from everybody. So you could calm down and reset yourself. Yeah. That's all. And then let's go back up champ. Let's do what we gotta do.
Strategic Communication and Respect
And the second thing is I'm going to know your name, so I'll give you the dignity. And a lot of the agents will tell me, Richard, you're the first boss that ever knew my name. And I said, unfortunately, that's true. And I might be the last, but at least while you're with me, I will know your name. And also, and also since English is their second language and it's okay that they have a slight accent to me, Casey, it bears the mark of higher education. I really insist on the thesaurus because I want them to properly express themselves. And so there are certain words that can produce a negative trigger, a rabbit hole or an ego defense. And so by using strategic words like guiding, assist and lending a hand versus helping and instead of saying, excuse me, can you repeat that? It's more, Casey, for my clarification. These are some strategic, diplomatic, and very choice structured conversations where we can really prolong conversations, increase conversion ratios. And not only that, increase the fulfillment of the agent's job. Casey, this is a very strict Catholic country. And as much as I want to fulfill the need of the agent, it's really more for the client.
Thriving Through Positive Reinforcement
It's really not about me, my friend. It's really about the others. It's the positive reinforcement that I get. So I could think that I'm the greatest and I'm the one man party and show and I'm the king of the castle. But if nobody shows up for my birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, I have no friends. And so for me, being in business for 14 years, it's not about how smart I am. how clever I am. It's about the foundation of the people that come back here every day to work with me. And so thriving for me is when people say, good morning, jefe, or they become supervisors, or they've been with me for a year, five, 10 years, or I get a written letter from a client telling me how amazing my organization is. And so I feed off of the responses of others.
Transforming Negative Tone with Buffer Boomerang
I have a buffer boomerang technique where if somebody asks you a question, sometimes their tone could be negative. So what I would like to do is buffer your tone and make it positive. So I'd say, Casey, that's an excellent question. My name is Richard Blank. Reinforce it with the question, repeated what you said to show active listening, and then sent it back to you in a positive way. There's positive, there's buffer boomerangs throughout an entire phone call when someone asks you a question and makes a statement. So then let's say that your assistant's name is Susan. And I answer her question and she likes me and she's willing to transfer the call to you. Prior to that transfer to call Casey at your consulting group, I'm going to let them know that how amazing that they are when I speak with you. So I'm going to be giving a gift and moving with some momentum.
weTHRIVE Podcast. A Philadelphia entrepreneur living in Costa Rica has what it takes. Episode 45.
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
https://youtu.be/VRbCVWZKILw
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
https://youtu.be/O8O-r3Y3SF8
https://youtu.be/H0gnT5P4JK4
https://youtu.be/GAKngbhRvtE
https://youtu.be/kbqnHBQRUeE
weTHRIVE Podcast. A Philadelphia entrepreneur living in Costa Rica has what it takes. Episode 45.
Every day, entrepreneurs around the world wonder if they have what it takes. What it takes to put food on the table, keep clothes on their back, keep a roof over their head, build a successful business, and even if they have what it takes to create and be a part of something bigger than themselves.
During each episode, Casey Clark, founder of C Clark Consulting, interviews other entrepreneurs to learn more about what it means to them to thrive, how they’re using their business in creating an impactful legacy, and what has tried to get in their way. These stories will resonate with your soul as they inspire you to manifest your vision!
Casey Clark interviews Richard Blank, CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center in episode 45 of the weTHRIVE podcast.
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
We Thrive 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, pinball machines, 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. Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008.
Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain. A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. Giving back to Abington Senior High School is very important to Mr. Blank. As such, he endows a scholarship each year for students that plan on majoring in a world language at the university level. Costa Rica’s Call Center (CCC) is a state of the art BPO telemarketing outsource company located in the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica. Our main focus has been, and will always be to personally train each and every Central America call center agent so that we may offer the highest quality of outbound and inbound telemarketing solutions and bilingual customer service to small and medium sized international companies, entrepreneurs as well as fortune 500 companies.
We encourage you to visit one of our call centers on your next personal vacation or business trip to Central America’s paradise, Costa Rica. While you are here, we would recommend taking an extra day of your trip to visit breathtaking virgin beaches, play golf next to the ocean, try your luck at deep sea fishing, explore tropical jungles, climb volcanos or just relax in natural hot springs. Come and see for yourself why call center outsourcing in Costa Rica is a perfect solution for your
Favorite Pinball Games and Arcade Adventures
Ooh, the one that I own or the one that I have played? The one that I own is a 1996 NBA Fast Break from Williams. It's a wonderful machine. I enjoy that the most. But when I was in Arizona, they have this amazing arcade that's in Mesa that's got like over 50 pinball machines. And I was able to play some stuff from the old 70s and the 80s and 90s.
Influential Book and Life Lessons
It's a wonderful question. There's so much out there. For me personally, I've dabbled in your self-helps and motivational books, but I'm more into biographies or certain sort of stories of a coming of age. My favorite book of all time was a gift that was given to me. It's from Harvey Allen. It's called Anthony Adverse. It was written in the 1930s. It's a very big, fat, long book. Anthony Adverse. And they made a movie about it as well from Harvey Allen. And so it was something that I never expected to read. But when I was in Spain, a very good friend of mine gave it to me. So when I was on the trains, I would pull out a few pages here and there. But it was it was really about a wonderful story about a dreamer that lived in since it's very long, a full life. I mean, you really go through the whole book. But it changed me a little bit. It was the discipline of reading a book that was so many pages, but also I resonate towards this main character that was finding himself and needed others where, Casey, success is built on a million thank yous, and I'd be very foolish to think I did this on my own. Show less
growing company and a powerhouse in the BPO industry.
Marriage and Video Game Battle Lines
I got Hook. I got a World Cup machine, Street Fighter 2, Jokers, Lethal Weapon 3, Mousing Around, Judge Dredd, State Shuttle. Listen, when you're married to somebody, you got to choose your battles wisely. My wife can have 99% of battles when the one thing I am going to die on that hill are my video games. And Casey, thank God I got enough room at my office that I can fit them all.
Positive Employee Management
That's just one of so many examples. And also another one I'm going to throw back into the game room. So instead of having a meeting, Casey, where I bring you in and make you feel bad, why don't we take a recess downstairs? Let's get on the Pac-Man machine. Let's play some pinball. Five minutes later, you've let off some steam. You've recharged some batteries. You're saying, thank you, jefe. Thank you. You don't need to thank me. Thank you for allowing me to get you off the floor for a minute away from everybody. So you could calm down and reset yourself. Yeah. That's all. And then let's go back up champ. Let's do what we gotta do.
Strategic Communication and Respect
And the second thing is I'm going to know your name, so I'll give you the dignity. And a lot of the agents will tell me, Richard, you're the first boss that ever knew my name. And I said, unfortunately, that's true. And I might be the last, but at least while you're with me, I will know your name. And also, and also since English is their second language and it's okay that they have a slight accent to me, Casey, it bears the mark of higher education. I really insist on the thesaurus because I want them to properly express themselves. And so there are certain words that can produce a negative trigger, a rabbit hole or an ego defense. And so by using strategic words like guiding, assist and lending a hand versus helping and instead of saying, excuse me, can you repeat that? It's more, Casey, for my clarification. These are some strategic, diplomatic, and very choice structured conversations where we can really prolong conversations, increase conversion ratios. And not only that, increase the fulfillment of the agent's job. Casey, this is a very strict Catholic country. And as much as I want to fulfill the need of the agent, it's really more for the client.
Thriving Through Positive Reinforcement
It's really not about me, my friend. It's really about the others. It's the positive reinforcement that I get. So I could think that I'm the greatest and I'm the one man party and show and I'm the king of the castle. But if nobody shows up for my birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, I have no friends. And so for me, being in business for 14 years, it's not about how smart I am. how clever I am. It's about the foundation of the people that come back here every day to work with me. And so thriving for me is when people say, good morning, jefe, or they become supervisors, or they've been with me for a year, five, 10 years, or I get a written letter from a client telling me how amazing my organization is. And so I feed off of the responses of others.
Transforming Negative Tone with Buffer Boomerang
I have a buffer boomerang technique where if somebody asks you a question, sometimes their tone could be negative. So what I would like to do is buffer your tone and make it positive. So I'd say, Casey, that's an excellent question. My name is Richard Blank. Reinforce it with the question, repeated what you said to show active listening, and then sent it back to you in a positive way. There's positive, there's buffer boomerangs throughout an entire phone call when someone asks you a question and makes a statement. So then let's say that your assistant's name is Susan. And I answer her question and she likes me and she's willing to transfer the call to you. Prior to that transfer to call Casey at your consulting group, I'm going to let them know that how amazing that they are when I speak with you. So I'm going to be giving a gift and moving with some momentum.
weTHRIVE Podcast. A Philadelphia entrepreneur living in Costa Rica has what it takes. Episode 45.
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
https://youtu.be/VRbCVWZKILw
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
https://youtu.be/O8O-r3Y3SF8
https://youtu.be/H0gnT5P4JK4
https://youtu.be/GAKngbhRvtE
https://youtu.be/kbqnHBQRUeE
weTHRIVE Podcast. A Philadelphia entrepreneur living in Costa Rica has what it takes. Episode 45.
Every day, entrepreneurs around the world wonder if they have what it takes. What it takes to put food on the table, keep clothes on their back, keep a roof over their head, build a successful business, and even if they have what it takes to create and be a part of something bigger than themselves.
During each episode, Casey Clark, founder of C Clark Consulting, interviews other entrepreneurs to learn more about what it means to them to thrive, how they’re using their business in creating an impactful legacy, and what has tried to get in their way. These stories will resonate with your soul as they inspire you to manifest your vision!
Casey Clark interviews Richard Blank, CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center in episode 45 of the weTHRIVE podcast.
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
We Thrive 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, pinball machines, 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. Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008.
Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain. A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. Giving back to Abington Senior High School is very important to Mr. Blank. As such, he endows a scholarship each year for students that plan on majoring in a world language at the university level. Costa Rica’s Call Center (CCC) is a state of the art BPO telemarketing outsource company located in the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica. Our main focus has been, and will always be to personally train each and every Central America call center agent so that we may offer the highest quality of outbound and inbound telemarketing solutions and bilingual customer service to small and medium sized international companies, entrepreneurs as well as fortune 500 companies.
We encourage you to visit one of our call centers on your next personal vacation or business trip to Central America’s paradise, Costa Rica. While you are here, we would recommend taking an extra day of your trip to visit breathtaking virgin beaches, play golf next to the ocean, try your luck at deep sea fishing, explore tropical jungles, climb volcanos or just relax in natural hot springs. Come and see for yourself why call center outsourcing in Costa Rica is a perfect solution for your
Favorite Pinball Games and Arcade Adventures
Ooh, the one that I own or the one that I have played? The one that I own is a 1996 NBA Fast Break from Williams. It's a wonderful machine. I enjoy that the most. But when I was in Arizona, they have this amazing arcade that's in Mesa that's got like over 50 pinball machines. And I was able to play some stuff from the old 70s and the 80s and 90s.
Influential Book and Life Lessons
It's a wonderful question. There's so much out there. For me personally, I've dabbled in your self-helps and motivational books, but I'm more into biographies or certain sort of stories of a coming of age. My favorite book of all time was a gift that was given to me. It's from Harvey Allen. It's called Anthony Adverse. It was written in the 1930s. It's a very big, fat, long book. Anthony Adverse. And they made a movie about it as well from Harvey Allen. And so it was something that I never expected to read. But when I was in Spain, a very good friend of mine gave it to me. So when I was on the trains, I would pull out a few pages here and there. But it was it was really about a wonderful story about a dreamer that lived in since it's very long, a full life. I mean, you really go through the whole book. But it changed me a little bit. It was the discipline of reading a book that was so many pages, but also I resonate towards this main character that was finding himself and needed others where, Casey, success is built on a million thank yous, and I'd be very foolish to think I did this on my own. Show less
growing company and a powerhouse in the BPO industry.
Marriage and Video Game Battle Lines
I got Hook. I got a World Cup machine, Street Fighter 2, Jokers, Lethal Weapon 3, Mousing Around, Judge Dredd, State Shuttle. Listen, when you're married to somebody, you got to choose your battles wisely. My wife can have 99% of battles when the one thing I am going to die on that hill are my video games. And Casey, thank God I got enough room at my office that I can fit them all.
Positive Employee Management
That's just one of so many examples. And also another one I'm going to throw back into the game room. So instead of having a meeting, Casey, where I bring you in and make you feel bad, why don't we take a recess downstairs? Let's get on the Pac-Man machine. Let's play some pinball. Five minutes later, you've let off some steam. You've recharged some batteries. You're saying, thank you, jefe. Thank you. You don't need to thank me. Thank you for allowing me to get you off the floor for a minute away from everybody. So you could calm down and reset yourself. Yeah. That's all. And then let's go back up champ. Let's do what we gotta do.
Strategic Communication and Respect
And the second thing is I'm going to know your name, so I'll give you the dignity. And a lot of the agents will tell me, Richard, you're the first boss that ever knew my name. And I said, unfortunately, that's true. And I might be the last, but at least while you're with me, I will know your name. And also, and also since English is their second language and it's okay that they have a slight accent to me, Casey, it bears the mark of higher education. I really insist on the thesaurus because I want them to properly express themselves. And so there are certain words that can produce a negative trigger, a rabbit hole or an ego defense. And so by using strategic words like guiding, assist and lending a hand versus helping and instead of saying, excuse me, can you repeat that? It's more, Casey, for my clarification. These are some strategic, diplomatic, and very choice structured conversations where we can really prolong conversations, increase conversion ratios. And not only that, increase the fulfillment of the agent's job. Casey, this is a very strict Catholic country. And as much as I want to fulfill the need of the agent, it's really more for the client.
Thriving Through Positive Reinforcement
It's really not about me, my friend. It's really about the others. It's the positive reinforcement that I get. So I could think that I'm the greatest and I'm the one man party and show and I'm the king of the castle. But if nobody shows up for my birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, I have no friends. And so for me, being in business for 14 years, it's not about how smart I am. how clever I am. It's about the foundation of the people that come back here every day to work with me. And so thriving for me is when people say, good morning, jefe, or they become supervisors, or they've been with me for a year, five, 10 years, or I get a written letter from a client telling me how amazing my organization is. And so I feed off of the responses of others.
Transforming Negative Tone with Buffer Boomerang
I have a buffer boomerang technique where if somebody asks you a question, sometimes their tone could be negative. So what I would like to do is buffer your tone and make it positive. So I'd say, Casey, that's an excellent question. My name is Richard Blank. Reinforce it with the question, repeated what you said to show active listening, and then sent it back to you in a positive way. There's positive, there's buffer boomerangs throughout an entire phone call when someone asks you a question and makes a statement. So then let's say that your assistant's name is Susan. And I answer her question and she likes me and she's willing to transfer the call to you. Prior to that transfer to call Casey at your consulting group, I'm going to let them know that how amazing that they are when I speak with you. So I'm going to be giving a gift and moving with some momentum.
weTHRIVE Podcast. A Philadelphia entrepreneur living in Costa Rica has what it takes. Episode 45.
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
https://youtu.be/VRbCVWZKILw
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
https://youtu.be/O8O-r3Y3SF8
https://youtu.be/H0gnT5P4JK4
https://youtu.be/GAKngbhRvtE
https://youtu.be/kbqnHBQRUeE
weTHRIVE Podcast. A Philadelphia entrepreneur living in Costa Rica has what it takes. Episode 45.
Every day, entrepreneurs around the world wonder if they have what it takes. What it takes to put food on the table, keep clothes on their back, keep a roof over their head, build a successful business, and even if they have what it takes to create and be a part of something bigger than themselves.
During each episode, Casey Clark, founder of C Clark Consulting, interviews other entrepreneurs to learn more about what it means to them to thrive, how they’re using their business in creating an impactful legacy, and what has tried to get in their way. These stories will resonate with your soul as they inspire you to manifest your vision!
Casey Clark interviews Richard Blank, CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center in episode 45 of the weTHRIVE podcast.
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
We Thrive 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, pinball machines, 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. Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008.
Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain. A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. Giving back to Abington Senior High School is very important to Mr. Blank. As such, he endows a scholarship each year for students that plan on majoring in a world language at the university level. Costa Rica’s Call Center (CCC) is a state of the art BPO telemarketing outsource company located in the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica. Our main focus has been, and will always be to personally train each and every Central America call center agent so that we may offer the highest quality of outbound and inbound telemarketing solutions and bilingual customer service to small and medium sized international companies, entrepreneurs as well as fortune 500 companies.
We encourage you to visit one of our call centers on your next personal vacation or business trip to Central America’s paradise, Costa Rica. While you are here, we would recommend taking an extra day of your trip to visit breathtaking virgin beaches, play golf next to the ocean, try your luck at deep sea fishing, explore tropical jungles, climb volcanos or just relax in natural hot springs. Come and see for yourself why call center outsourcing in Costa Rica is a perfect solution for your
Favorite Pinball Games and Arcade Adventures
Ooh, the one that I own or the one that I have played? The one that I own is a 1996 NBA Fast Break from Williams. It's a wonderful machine. I enjoy that the most. But when I was in Arizona, they have this amazing arcade that's in Mesa that's got like over 50 pinball machines. And I was able to play some stuff from the old 70s and the 80s and 90s.
Influential Book and Life Lessons
It's a wonderful question. There's so much out there. For me personally, I've dabbled in your self-helps and motivational books, but I'm more into biographies or certain sort of stories of a coming of age. My favorite book of all time was a gift that was given to me. It's from Harvey Allen. It's called Anthony Adverse. It was written in the 1930s. It's a very big, fat, long book. Anthony Adverse. And they made a movie about it as well from Harvey Allen. And so it was something that I never expected to read. But when I was in Spain, a very good friend of mine gave it to me. So when I was on the trains, I would pull out a few pages here and there. But it was it was really about a wonderful story about a dreamer that lived in since it's very long, a full life. I mean, you really go through the whole book. But it changed me a little bit. It was the discipline of reading a book that was so many pages, but also I resonate towards this main character that was finding himself and needed others where, Casey, success is built on a million thank yous, and I'd be very foolish to think I did this on my own. Show less
growing company and a powerhouse in the BPO industry.
Marriage and Video Game Battle Lines
I got Hook. I got a World Cup machine, Street Fighter 2, Jokers, Lethal Weapon 3, Mousing Around, Judge Dredd, State Shuttle. Listen, when you're married to somebody, you got to choose your battles wisely. My wife can have 99% of battles when the one thing I am going to die on that hill are my video games. And Casey, thank God I got enough room at my office that I can fit them all.
Positive Employee Management
That's just one of so many examples. And also another one I'm going to throw back into the game room. So instead of having a meeting, Casey, where I bring you in and make you feel bad, why don't we take a recess downstairs? Let's get on the Pac-Man machine. Let's play some pinball. Five minutes later, you've let off some steam. You've recharged some batteries. You're saying, thank you, jefe. Thank you. You don't need to thank me. Thank you for allowing me to get you off the floor for a minute away from everybody. So you could calm down and reset yourself. Yeah. That's all. And then let's go back up champ. Let's do what we gotta do.
Strategic Communication and Respect
And the second thing is I'm going to know your name, so I'll give you the dignity. And a lot of the agents will tell me, Richard, you're the first boss that ever knew my name. And I said, unfortunately, that's true. And I might be the last, but at least while you're with me, I will know your name. And also, and also since English is their second language and it's okay that they have a slight accent to me, Casey, it bears the mark of higher education. I really insist on the thesaurus because I want them to properly express themselves. And so there are certain words that can produce a negative trigger, a rabbit hole or an ego defense. And so by using strategic words like guiding, assist and lending a hand versus helping and instead of saying, excuse me, can you repeat that? It's more, Casey, for my clarification. These are some strategic, diplomatic, and very choice structured conversations where we can really prolong conversations, increase conversion ratios. And not only that, increase the fulfillment of the agent's job. Casey, this is a very strict Catholic country. And as much as I want to fulfill the need of the agent, it's really more for the client.
Thriving Through Positive Reinforcement
It's really not about me, my friend. It's really about the others. It's the positive reinforcement that I get. So I could think that I'm the greatest and I'm the one man party and show and I'm the king of the castle. But if nobody shows up for my birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, I have no friends. And so for me, being in business for 14 years, it's not about how smart I am. how clever I am. It's about the foundation of the people that come back here every day to work with me. And so thriving for me is when people say, good morning, jefe, or they become supervisors, or they've been with me for a year, five, 10 years, or I get a written letter from a client telling me how amazing my organization is. And so I feed off of the responses of others.
Transforming Negative Tone with Buffer Boomerang
I have a buffer boomerang technique where if somebody asks you a question, sometimes their tone could be negative. So what I would like to do is buffer your tone and make it positive. So I'd say, Casey, that's an excellent question. My name is Richard Blank. Reinforce it with the question, repeated what you said to show active listening, and then sent it back to you in a positive way. There's positive, there's buffer boomerangs throughout an entire phone call when someone asks you a question and makes a statement. So then let's say that your assistant's name is Susan. And I answer her question and she likes me and she's willing to transfer the call to you. Prior to that transfer to call Casey at your consulting group, I'm going to let them know that how amazing that they are when I speak with you. So I'm going to be giving a gift and moving with some momentum.
weTHRIVE Podcast. A Philadelphia entrepreneur living in Costa Rica has what it takes. Episode 45.
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
https://youtu.be/VRbCVWZKILw
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
https://youtu.be/O8O-r3Y3SF8
https://youtu.be/H0gnT5P4JK4
https://youtu.be/GAKngbhRvtE
https://youtu.be/kbqnHBQRUeE
weTHRIVE Podcast. A Philadelphia entrepreneur living in Costa Rica has what it takes. Episode 45.
Every day, entrepreneurs around the world wonder if they have what it takes. What it takes to put food on the table, keep clothes on their back, keep a roof over their head, build a successful business, and even if they have what it takes to create and be a part of something bigger than themselves.
During each episode, Casey Clark, founder of C Clark Consulting, interviews other entrepreneurs to learn more about what it means to them to thrive, how they’re using their business in creating an impactful legacy, and what has tried to get in their way. These stories will resonate with your soul as they inspire you to manifest your vision!
Casey Clark interviews Richard Blank, CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center in episode 45 of the weTHRIVE podcast.
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
We Thrive 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, pinball machines, 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. Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008.
Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain. A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. Giving back to Abington Senior High School is very important to Mr. Blank. As such, he endows a scholarship each year for students that plan on majoring in a world language at the university level. Costa Rica’s Call Center (CCC) is a state of the art BPO telemarketing outsource company located in the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica. Our main focus has been, and will always be to personally train each and every Central America call center agent so that we may offer the highest quality of outbound and inbound telemarketing solutions and bilingual customer service to small and medium sized international companies, entrepreneurs as well as fortune 500 companies.
We encourage you to visit one of our call centers on your next personal vacation or business trip to Central America’s paradise, Costa Rica. While you are here, we would recommend taking an extra day of your trip to visit breathtaking virgin beaches, play golf next to the ocean, try your luck at deep sea fishing, explore tropical jungles, climb volcanos or just relax in natural hot springs. Come and see for yourself why call center outsourcing in Costa Rica is a perfect solution for your
Favorite Pinball Games and Arcade Adventures
Ooh, the one that I own or the one that I have played? The one that I own is a 1996 NBA Fast Break from Williams. It's a wonderful machine. I enjoy that the most. But when I was in Arizona, they have this amazing arcade that's in Mesa that's got like over 50 pinball machines. And I was able to play some stuff from the old 70s and the 80s and 90s.
Influential Book and Life Lessons
It's a wonderful question. There's so much out there. For me personally, I've dabbled in your self-helps and motivational books, but I'm more into biographies or certain sort of stories of a coming of age. My favorite book of all time was a gift that was given to me. It's from Harvey Allen. It's called Anthony Adverse. It was written in the 1930s. It's a very big, fat, long book. Anthony Adverse. And they made a movie about it as well from Harvey Allen. And so it was something that I never expected to read. But when I was in Spain, a very good friend of mine gave it to me. So when I was on the trains, I would pull out a few pages here and there. But it was it was really about a wonderful story about a dreamer that lived in since it's very long, a full life. I mean, you really go through the whole book. But it changed me a little bit. It was the discipline of reading a book that was so many pages, but also I resonate towards this main character that was finding himself and needed others where, Casey, success is built on a million thank yous, and I'd be very foolish to think I did this on my own. Show less
growing company and a powerhouse in the BPO industry.
Marriage and Video Game Battle Lines
I got Hook. I got a World Cup machine, Street Fighter 2, Jokers, Lethal Weapon 3, Mousing Around, Judge Dredd, State Shuttle. Listen, when you're married to somebody, you got to choose your battles wisely. My wife can have 99% of battles when the one thing I am going to die on that hill are my video games. And Casey, thank God I got enough room at my office that I can fit them all.
Positive Employee Management
That's just one of so many examples. And also another one I'm going to throw back into the game room. So instead of having a meeting, Casey, where I bring you in and make you feel bad, why don't we take a recess downstairs? Let's get on the Pac-Man machine. Let's play some pinball. Five minutes later, you've let off some steam. You've recharged some batteries. You're saying, thank you, jefe. Thank you. You don't need to thank me. Thank you for allowing me to get you off the floor for a minute away from everybody. So you could calm down and reset yourself. Yeah. That's all. And then let's go back up champ. Let's do what we gotta do.
Strategic Communication and Respect
And the second thing is I'm going to know your name, so I'll give you the dignity. And a lot of the agents will tell me, Richard, you're the first boss that ever knew my name. And I said, unfortunately, that's true. And I might be the last, but at least while you're with me, I will know your name. And also, and also since English is their second language and it's okay that they have a slight accent to me, Casey, it bears the mark of higher education. I really insist on the thesaurus because I want them to properly express themselves. And so there are certain words that can produce a negative trigger, a rabbit hole or an ego defense. And so by using strategic words like guiding, assist and lending a hand versus helping and instead of saying, excuse me, can you repeat that? It's more, Casey, for my clarification. These are some strategic, diplomatic, and very choice structured conversations where we can really prolong conversations, increase conversion ratios. And not only that, increase the fulfillment of the agent's job. Casey, this is a very strict Catholic country. And as much as I want to fulfill the need of the agent, it's really more for the client.
Thriving Through Positive Reinforcement
It's really not about me, my friend. It's really about the others. It's the positive reinforcement that I get. So I could think that I'm the greatest and I'm the one man party and show and I'm the king of the castle. But if nobody shows up for my birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, I have no friends. And so for me, being in business for 14 years, it's not about how smart I am. how clever I am. It's about the foundation of the people that come back here every day to work with me. And so thriving for me is when people say, good morning, jefe, or they become supervisors, or they've been with me for a year, five, 10 years, or I get a written letter from a client telling me how amazing my organization is. And so I feed off of the responses of others.
Transforming Negative Tone with Buffer Boomerang
I have a buffer boomerang technique where if somebody asks you a question, sometimes their tone could be negative. So what I would like to do is buffer your tone and make it positive. So I'd say, Casey, that's an excellent question. My name is Richard Blank. Reinforce it with the question, repeated what you said to show active listening, and then sent it back to you in a positive way. There's positive, there's buffer boomerangs throughout an entire phone call when someone asks you a question and makes a statement. So then let's say that your assistant's name is Susan. And I answer her question and she likes me and she's willing to transfer the call to you. Prior to that transfer to call Casey at your consulting group, I'm going to let them know that how amazing that they are when I speak with you. So I'm going to be giving a gift and moving with some momentum.
weTHRIVE Podcast. A Philadelphia entrepreneur living in Costa Rica has what it takes. Episode 45.
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
https://youtu.be/VRbCVWZKILw
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
https://youtu.be/O8O-r3Y3SF8
https://youtu.be/H0gnT5P4JK4
https://youtu.be/GAKngbhRvtE
https://youtu.be/kbqnHBQRUeE
weTHRIVE Podcast. A Philadelphia entrepreneur living in Costa Rica has what it takes. Episode 45.
Every day, entrepreneurs around the world wonder if they have what it takes. What it takes to put food on the table, keep clothes on their back, keep a roof over their head, build a successful business, and even if they have what it takes to create and be a part of something bigger than themselves.
During each episode, Casey Clark, founder of C Clark Consulting, interviews other entrepreneurs to learn more about what it means to them to thrive, how they’re using their business in creating an impactful legacy, and what has tried to get in their way. These stories will resonate with your soul as they inspire you to manifest your vision!
Casey Clark interviews Richard Blank, CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center in episode 45 of the weTHRIVE podcast.
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
We Thrive 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, pinball machines, 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. Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008.
Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain. A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. Giving back to Abington Senior High School is very important to Mr. Blank. As such, he endows a scholarship each year for students that plan on majoring in a world language at the university level. Costa Rica’s Call Center (CCC) is a state of the art BPO telemarketing outsource company located in the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica. Our main focus has been, and will always be to personally train each and every Central America call center agent so that we may offer the highest quality of outbound and inbound telemarketing solutions and bilingual customer service to small and medium sized international companies, entrepreneurs as well as fortune 500 companies.
We encourage you to visit one of our call centers on your next personal vacation or business trip to Central America’s paradise, Costa Rica. While you are here, we would recommend taking an extra day of your trip to visit breathtaking virgin beaches, play golf next to the ocean, try your luck at deep sea fishing, explore tropical jungles, climb volcanos or just relax in natural hot springs. Come and see for yourself why call center outsourcing in Costa Rica is a perfect solution for your
Favorite Pinball Games and Arcade Adventures
Ooh, the one that I own or the one that I have played? The one that I own is a 1996 NBA Fast Break from Williams. It's a wonderful machine. I enjoy that the most. But when I was in Arizona, they have this amazing arcade that's in Mesa that's got like over 50 pinball machines. And I was able to play some stuff from the old 70s and the 80s and 90s.
Influential Book and Life Lessons
It's a wonderful question. There's so much out there. For me personally, I've dabbled in your self-helps and motivational books, but I'm more into biographies or certain sort of stories of a coming of age. My favorite book of all time was a gift that was given to me. It's from Harvey Allen. It's called Anthony Adverse. It was written in the 1930s. It's a very big, fat, long book. Anthony Adverse. And they made a movie about it as well from Harvey Allen. And so it was something that I never expected to read. But when I was in Spain, a very good friend of mine gave it to me. So when I was on the trains, I would pull out a few pages here and there. But it was it was really about a wonderful story about a dreamer that lived in since it's very long, a full life. I mean, you really go through the whole book. But it changed me a little bit. It was the discipline of reading a book that was so many pages, but also I resonate towards this main character that was finding himself and needed others where, Casey, success is built on a million thank yous, and I'd be very foolish to think I did this on my own. Show less
growing company and a powerhouse in the BPO industry.
Marriage and Video Game Battle Lines
I got Hook. I got a World Cup machine, Street Fighter 2, Jokers, Lethal Weapon 3, Mousing Around, Judge Dredd, State Shuttle. Listen, when you're married to somebody, you got to choose your battles wisely. My wife can have 99% of battles when the one thing I am going to die on that hill are my video games. And Casey, thank God I got enough room at my office that I can fit them all.
Positive Employee Management
That's just one of so many examples. And also another one I'm going to throw back into the game room. So instead of having a meeting, Casey, where I bring you in and make you feel bad, why don't we take a recess downstairs? Let's get on the Pac-Man machine. Let's play some pinball. Five minutes later, you've let off some steam. You've recharged some batteries. You're saying, thank you, jefe. Thank you. You don't need to thank me. Thank you for allowing me to get you off the floor for a minute away from everybody. So you could calm down and reset yourself. Yeah. That's all. And then let's go back up champ. Let's do what we gotta do.
Strategic Communication and Respect
And the second thing is I'm going to know your name, so I'll give you the dignity. And a lot of the agents will tell me, Richard, you're the first boss that ever knew my name. And I said, unfortunately, that's true. And I might be the last, but at least while you're with me, I will know your name. And also, and also since English is their second language and it's okay that they have a slight accent to me, Casey, it bears the mark of higher education. I really insist on the thesaurus because I want them to properly express themselves. And so there are certain words that can produce a negative trigger, a rabbit hole or an ego defense. And so by using strategic words like guiding, assist and lending a hand versus helping and instead of saying, excuse me, can you repeat that? It's more, Casey, for my clarification. These are some strategic, diplomatic, and very choice structured conversations where we can really prolong conversations, increase conversion ratios. And not only that, increase the fulfillment of the agent's job. Casey, this is a very strict Catholic country. And as much as I want to fulfill the need of the agent, it's really more for the client.
Thriving Through Positive Reinforcement
It's really not about me, my friend. It's really about the others. It's the positive reinforcement that I get. So I could think that I'm the greatest and I'm the one man party and show and I'm the king of the castle. But if nobody shows up for my birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, I have no friends. And so for me, being in business for 14 years, it's not about how smart I am. how clever I am. It's about the foundation of the people that come back here every day to work with me. And so thriving for me is when people say, good morning, jefe, or they become supervisors, or they've been with me for a year, five, 10 years, or I get a written letter from a client telling me how amazing my organization is. And so I feed off of the responses of others.
Transforming Negative Tone with Buffer Boomerang
I have a buffer boomerang technique where if somebody asks you a question, sometimes their tone could be negative. So what I would like to do is buffer your tone and make it positive. So I'd say, Casey, that's an excellent question. My name is Richard Blank. Reinforce it with the question, repeated what you said to show active listening, and then sent it back to you in a positive way. There's positive, there's buffer boomerangs throughout an entire phone call when someone asks you a question and makes a statement. So then let's say that your assistant's name is Susan. And I answer her question and she likes me and she's willing to transfer the call to you. Prior to that transfer to call Casey at your consulting group, I'm going to let them know that how amazing that they are when I speak with you. So I'm going to be giving a gift and moving with some momentum.
weTHRIVE Podcast. A Philadelphia entrepreneur living in Costa Rica has what it takes. Episode 45.
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
https://youtu.be/VRbCVWZKILw
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
https://youtu.be/O8O-r3Y3SF8
https://youtu.be/H0gnT5P4JK4
https://youtu.be/GAKngbhRvtE
https://youtu.be/kbqnHBQRUeE
weTHRIVE Podcast. A Philadelphia entrepreneur living in Costa Rica has what it takes. Episode 45.
Every day, entrepreneurs around the world wonder if they have what it takes. What it takes to put food on the table, keep clothes on their back, keep a roof over their head, build a successful business, and even if they have what it takes to create and be a part of something bigger than themselves.
During each episode, Casey Clark, founder of C Clark Consulting, interviews other entrepreneurs to learn more about what it means to them to thrive, how they’re using their business in creating an impactful legacy, and what has tried to get in their way. These stories will resonate with your soul as they inspire you to manifest your vision!
Casey Clark interviews Richard Blank, CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center in episode 45 of the weTHRIVE podcast.
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
We Thrive 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, pinball machines, 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. Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008.
Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain. A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. Giving back to Abington Senior High School is very important to Mr. Blank. As such, he endows a scholarship each year for students that plan on majoring in a world language at the university level. Costa Rica’s Call Center (CCC) is a state of the art BPO telemarketing outsource company located in the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica. Our main focus has been, and will always be to personally train each and every Central America call center agent so that we may offer the highest quality of outbound and inbound telemarketing solutions and bilingual customer service to small and medium sized international companies, entrepreneurs as well as fortune 500 companies.
We encourage you to visit one of our call centers on your next personal vacation or business trip to Central America’s paradise, Costa Rica. While you are here, we would recommend taking an extra day of your trip to visit breathtaking virgin beaches, play golf next to the ocean, try your luck at deep sea fishing, explore tropical jungles, climb volcanos or just relax in natural hot springs. Come and see for yourself why call center outsourcing in Costa Rica is a perfect solution for your
Favorite Pinball Games and Arcade Adventures
Ooh, the one that I own or the one that I have played? The one that I own is a 1996 NBA Fast Break from Williams. It's a wonderful machine. I enjoy that the most. But when I was in Arizona, they have this amazing arcade that's in Mesa that's got like over 50 pinball machines. And I was able to play some stuff from the old 70s and the 80s and 90s.
Influential Book and Life Lessons
It's a wonderful question. There's so much out there. For me personally, I've dabbled in your self-helps and motivational books, but I'm more into biographies or certain sort of stories of a coming of age. My favorite book of all time was a gift that was given to me. It's from Harvey Allen. It's called Anthony Adverse. It was written in the 1930s. It's a very big, fat, long book. Anthony Adverse. And they made a movie about it as well from Harvey Allen. And so it was something that I never expected to read. But when I was in Spain, a very good friend of mine gave it to me. So when I was on the trains, I would pull out a few pages here and there. But it was it was really about a wonderful story about a dreamer that lived in since it's very long, a full life. I mean, you really go through the whole book. But it changed me a little bit. It was the discipline of reading a book that was so many pages, but also I resonate towards this main character that was finding himself and needed others where, Casey, success is built on a million thank yous, and I'd be very foolish to think I did this on my own. Show less
growing company and a powerhouse in the BPO industry.
Marriage and Video Game Battle Lines
I got Hook. I got a World Cup machine, Street Fighter 2, Jokers, Lethal Weapon 3, Mousing Around, Judge Dredd, State Shuttle. Listen, when you're married to somebody, you got to choose your battles wisely. My wife can have 99% of battles when the one thing I am going to die on that hill are my video games. And Casey, thank God I got enough room at my office that I can fit them all.
Positive Employee Management
That's just one of so many examples. And also another one I'm going to throw back into the game room. So instead of having a meeting, Casey, where I bring you in and make you feel bad, why don't we take a recess downstairs? Let's get on the Pac-Man machine. Let's play some pinball. Five minutes later, you've let off some steam. You've recharged some batteries. You're saying, thank you, jefe. Thank you. You don't need to thank me. Thank you for allowing me to get you off the floor for a minute away from everybody. So you could calm down and reset yourself. Yeah. That's all. And then let's go back up champ. Let's do what we gotta do.
Strategic Communication and Respect
And the second thing is I'm going to know your name, so I'll give you the dignity. And a lot of the agents will tell me, Richard, you're the first boss that ever knew my name. And I said, unfortunately, that's true. And I might be the last, but at least while you're with me, I will know your name. And also, and also since English is their second language and it's okay that they have a slight accent to me, Casey, it bears the mark of higher education. I really insist on the thesaurus because I want them to properly express themselves. And so there are certain words that can produce a negative trigger, a rabbit hole or an ego defense. And so by using strategic words like guiding, assist and lending a hand versus helping and instead of saying, excuse me, can you repeat that? It's more, Casey, for my clarification. These are some strategic, diplomatic, and very choice structured conversations where we can really prolong conversations, increase conversion ratios. And not only that, increase the fulfillment of the agent's job. Casey, this is a very strict Catholic country. And as much as I want to fulfill the need of the agent, it's really more for the client.
Thriving Through Positive Reinforcement
It's really not about me, my friend. It's really about the others. It's the positive reinforcement that I get. So I could think that I'm the greatest and I'm the one man party and show and I'm the king of the castle. But if nobody shows up for my birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, I have no friends. And so for me, being in business for 14 years, it's not about how smart I am. how clever I am. It's about the foundation of the people that come back here every day to work with me. And so thriving for me is when people say, good morning, jefe, or they become supervisors, or they've been with me for a year, five, 10 years, or I get a written letter from a client telling me how amazing my organization is. And so I feed off of the responses of others.
Transforming Negative Tone with Buffer Boomerang
I have a buffer boomerang technique where if somebody asks you a question, sometimes their tone could be negative. So what I would like to do is buffer your tone and make it positive. So I'd say, Casey, that's an excellent question. My name is Richard Blank. Reinforce it with the question, repeated what you said to show active listening, and then sent it back to you in a positive way. There's positive, there's buffer boomerangs throughout an entire phone call when someone asks you a question and makes a statement. So then let's say that your assistant's name is Susan. And I answer her question and she likes me and she's willing to transfer the call to you. Prior to that transfer to call Casey at your consulting group, I'm going to let them know that how amazing that they are when I speak with you. So I'm going to be giving a gift and moving with some momentum.
weTHRIVE Podcast. A Philadelphia entrepreneur living in Costa Rica has what it takes. Episode 45.
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
https://youtu.be/VRbCVWZKILw
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
https://youtu.be/O8O-r3Y3SF8
https://youtu.be/H0gnT5P4JK4
https://youtu.be/GAKngbhRvtE
https://youtu.be/kbqnHBQRUeE
weTHRIVE Podcast. A Philadelphia entrepreneur living in Costa Rica has what it takes. Episode 45.
Every day, entrepreneurs around the world wonder if they have what it takes. What it takes to put food on the table, keep clothes on their back, keep a roof over their head, build a successful business, and even if they have what it takes to create and be a part of something bigger than themselves.
During each episode, Casey Clark, founder of C Clark Consulting, interviews other entrepreneurs to learn more about what it means to them to thrive, how they’re using their business in creating an impactful legacy, and what has tried to get in their way. These stories will resonate with your soul as they inspire you to manifest your vision!
Casey Clark interviews Richard Blank, CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center in episode 45 of the weTHRIVE podcast.
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
We Thrive 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, pinball machines, 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. Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008.
Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain. A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. Giving back to Abington Senior High School is very important to Mr. Blank. As such, he endows a scholarship each year for students that plan on majoring in a world language at the university level. Costa Rica’s Call Center (CCC) is a state of the art BPO telemarketing outsource company located in the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica. Our main focus has been, and will always be to personally train each and every Central America call center agent so that we may offer the highest quality of outbound and inbound telemarketing solutions and bilingual customer service to small and medium sized international companies, entrepreneurs as well as fortune 500 companies.
We encourage you to visit one of our call centers on your next personal vacation or business trip to Central America’s paradise, Costa Rica. While you are here, we would recommend taking an extra day of your trip to visit breathtaking virgin beaches, play golf next to the ocean, try your luck at deep sea fishing, explore tropical jungles, climb volcanos or just relax in natural hot springs. Come and see for yourself why call center outsourcing in Costa Rica is a perfect solution for your
Favorite Pinball Games and Arcade Adventures
Ooh, the one that I own or the one that I have played? The one that I own is a 1996 NBA Fast Break from Williams. It's a wonderful machine. I enjoy that the most. But when I was in Arizona, they have this amazing arcade that's in Mesa that's got like over 50 pinball machines. And I was able to play some stuff from the old 70s and the 80s and 90s.
Influential Book and Life Lessons
It's a wonderful question. There's so much out there. For me personally, I've dabbled in your self-helps and motivational books, but I'm more into biographies or certain sort of stories of a coming of age. My favorite book of all time was a gift that was given to me. It's from Harvey Allen. It's called Anthony Adverse. It was written in the 1930s. It's a very big, fat, long book. Anthony Adverse. And they made a movie about it as well from Harvey Allen. And so it was something that I never expected to read. But when I was in Spain, a very good friend of mine gave it to me. So when I was on the trains, I would pull out a few pages here and there. But it was it was really about a wonderful story about a dreamer that lived in since it's very long, a full life. I mean, you really go through the whole book. But it changed me a little bit. It was the discipline of reading a book that was so many pages, but also I resonate towards this main character that was finding himself and needed others where, Casey, success is built on a million thank yous, and I'd be very foolish to think I did this on my own. Show less
growing company and a powerhouse in the BPO industry.
Marriage and Video Game Battle Lines
I got Hook. I got a World Cup machine, Street Fighter 2, Jokers, Lethal Weapon 3, Mousing Around, Judge Dredd, State Shuttle. Listen, when you're married to somebody, you got to choose your battles wisely. My wife can have 99% of battles when the one thing I am going to die on that hill are my video games. And Casey, thank God I got enough room at my office that I can fit them all.
Positive Employee Management
That's just one of so many examples. And also another one I'm going to throw back into the game room. So instead of having a meeting, Casey, where I bring you in and make you feel bad, why don't we take a recess downstairs? Let's get on the Pac-Man machine. Let's play some pinball. Five minutes later, you've let off some steam. You've recharged some batteries. You're saying, thank you, jefe. Thank you. You don't need to thank me. Thank you for allowing me to get you off the floor for a minute away from everybody. So you could calm down and reset yourself. Yeah. That's all. And then let's go back up champ. Let's do what we gotta do.
Strategic Communication and Respect
And the second thing is I'm going to know your name, so I'll give you the dignity. And a lot of the agents will tell me, Richard, you're the first boss that ever knew my name. And I said, unfortunately, that's true. And I might be the last, but at least while you're with me, I will know your name. And also, and also since English is their second language and it's okay that they have a slight accent to me, Casey, it bears the mark of higher education. I really insist on the thesaurus because I want them to properly express themselves. And so there are certain words that can produce a negative trigger, a rabbit hole or an ego defense. And so by using strategic words like guiding, assist and lending a hand versus helping and instead of saying, excuse me, can you repeat that? It's more, Casey, for my clarification. These are some strategic, diplomatic, and very choice structured conversations where we can really prolong conversations, increase conversion ratios. And not only that, increase the fulfillment of the agent's job. Casey, this is a very strict Catholic country. And as much as I want to fulfill the need of the agent, it's really more for the client.
Thriving Through Positive Reinforcement
It's really not about me, my friend. It's really about the others. It's the positive reinforcement that I get. So I could think that I'm the greatest and I'm the one man party and show and I'm the king of the castle. But if nobody shows up for my birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, I have no friends. And so for me, being in business for 14 years, it's not about how smart I am. how clever I am. It's about the foundation of the people that come back here every day to work with me. And so thriving for me is when people say, good morning, jefe, or they become supervisors, or they've been with me for a year, five, 10 years, or I get a written letter from a client telling me how amazing my organization is. And so I feed off of the responses of others.
Transforming Negative Tone with Buffer Boomerang
I have a buffer boomerang technique where if somebody asks you a question, sometimes their tone could be negative. So what I would like to do is buffer your tone and make it positive. So I'd say, Casey, that's an excellent question. My name is Richard Blank. Reinforce it with the question, repeated what you said to show active listening, and then sent it back to you in a positive way. There's positive, there's buffer boomerangs throughout an entire phone call when someone asks you a question and makes a statement. So then let's say that your assistant's name is Susan. And I answer her question and she likes me and she's willing to transfer the call to you. Prior to that transfer to call Casey at your consulting group, I'm going to let them know that how amazing that they are when I speak with you. So I'm going to be giving a gift and moving with some momentum.
weTHRIVE Podcast. A Philadelphia entrepreneur living in Costa Rica has what it takes. Episode 45.
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
https://youtu.be/VRbCVWZKILw
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
https://youtu.be/O8O-r3Y3SF8
https://youtu.be/H0gnT5P4JK4
https://youtu.be/GAKngbhRvtE
https://youtu.be/kbqnHBQRUeE
weTHRIVE Podcast. A Philadelphia entrepreneur living in Costa Rica has what it takes. Episode 45.
Every day, entrepreneurs around the world wonder if they have what it takes. What it takes to put food on the table, keep clothes on their back, keep a roof over their head, build a successful business, and even if they have what it takes to create and be a part of something bigger than themselves.
During each episode, Casey Clark, founder of C Clark Consulting, interviews other entrepreneurs to learn more about what it means to them to thrive, how they’re using their business in creating an impactful legacy, and what has tried to get in their way. These stories will resonate with your soul as they inspire you to manifest your vision!
Casey Clark interviews Richard Blank, CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center in episode 45 of the weTHRIVE podcast.
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
We Thrive 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, pinball machines, 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. Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008.
Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain. A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. Giving back to Abington Senior High School is very important to Mr. Blank. As such, he endows a scholarship each year for students that plan on majoring in a world language at the university level. Costa Rica’s Call Center (CCC) is a state of the art BPO telemarketing outsource company located in the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica. Our main focus has been, and will always be to personally train each and every Central America call center agent so that we may offer the highest quality of outbound and inbound telemarketing solutions and bilingual customer service to small and medium sized international companies, entrepreneurs as well as fortune 500 companies.
We encourage you to visit one of our call centers on your next personal vacation or business trip to Central America’s paradise, Costa Rica. While you are here, we would recommend taking an extra day of your trip to visit breathtaking virgin beaches, play golf next to the ocean, try your luck at deep sea fishing, explore tropical jungles, climb volcanos or just relax in natural hot springs. Come and see for yourself why call center outsourcing in Costa Rica is a perfect solution for your
Favorite Pinball Games and Arcade Adventures
Ooh, the one that I own or the one that I have played? The one that I own is a 1996 NBA Fast Break from Williams. It's a wonderful machine. I enjoy that the most. But when I was in Arizona, they have this amazing arcade that's in Mesa that's got like over 50 pinball machines. And I was able to play some stuff from the old 70s and the 80s and 90s.
Influential Book and Life Lessons
It's a wonderful question. There's so much out there. For me personally, I've dabbled in your self-helps and motivational books, but I'm more into biographies or certain sort of stories of a coming of age. My favorite book of all time was a gift that was given to me. It's from Harvey Allen. It's called Anthony Adverse. It was written in the 1930s. It's a very big, fat, long book. Anthony Adverse. And they made a movie about it as well from Harvey Allen. And so it was something that I never expected to read. But when I was in Spain, a very good friend of mine gave it to me. So when I was on the trains, I would pull out a few pages here and there. But it was it was really about a wonderful story about a dreamer that lived in since it's very long, a full life. I mean, you really go through the whole book. But it changed me a little bit. It was the discipline of reading a book that was so many pages, but also I resonate towards this main character that was finding himself and needed others where, Casey, success is built on a million thank yous, and I'd be very foolish to think I did this on my own. Show less
growing company and a powerhouse in the BPO industry.
Marriage and Video Game Battle Lines
I got Hook. I got a World Cup machine, Street Fighter 2, Jokers, Lethal Weapon 3, Mousing Around, Judge Dredd, State Shuttle. Listen, when you're married to somebody, you got to choose your battles wisely. My wife can have 99% of battles when the one thing I am going to die on that hill are my video games. And Casey, thank God I got enough room at my office that I can fit them all.
Positive Employee Management
That's just one of so many examples. And also another one I'm going to throw back into the game room. So instead of having a meeting, Casey, where I bring you in and make you feel bad, why don't we take a recess downstairs? Let's get on the Pac-Man machine. Let's play some pinball. Five minutes later, you've let off some steam. You've recharged some batteries. You're saying, thank you, jefe. Thank you. You don't need to thank me. Thank you for allowing me to get you off the floor for a minute away from everybody. So you could calm down and reset yourself. Yeah. That's all. And then let's go back up champ. Let's do what we gotta do.
Strategic Communication and Respect
And the second thing is I'm going to know your name, so I'll give you the dignity. And a lot of the agents will tell me, Richard, you're the first boss that ever knew my name. And I said, unfortunately, that's true. And I might be the last, but at least while you're with me, I will know your name. And also, and also since English is their second language and it's okay that they have a slight accent to me, Casey, it bears the mark of higher education. I really insist on the thesaurus because I want them to properly express themselves. And so there are certain words that can produce a negative trigger, a rabbit hole or an ego defense. And so by using strategic words like guiding, assist and lending a hand versus helping and instead of saying, excuse me, can you repeat that? It's more, Casey, for my clarification. These are some strategic, diplomatic, and very choice structured conversations where we can really prolong conversations, increase conversion ratios. And not only that, increase the fulfillment of the agent's job. Casey, this is a very strict Catholic country. And as much as I want to fulfill the need of the agent, it's really more for the client.
Thriving Through Positive Reinforcement
It's really not about me, my friend. It's really about the others. It's the positive reinforcement that I get. So I could think that I'm the greatest and I'm the one man party and show and I'm the king of the castle. But if nobody shows up for my birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, I have no friends. And so for me, being in business for 14 years, it's not about how smart I am. how clever I am. It's about the foundation of the people that come back here every day to work with me. And so thriving for me is when people say, good morning, jefe, or they become supervisors, or they've been with me for a year, five, 10 years, or I get a written letter from a client telling me how amazing my organization is. And so I feed off of the responses of others.
Transforming Negative Tone with Buffer Boomerang
I have a buffer boomerang technique where if somebody asks you a question, sometimes their tone could be negative. So what I would like to do is buffer your tone and make it positive. So I'd say, Casey, that's an excellent question. My name is Richard Blank. Reinforce it with the question, repeated what you said to show active listening, and then sent it back to you in a positive way. There's positive, there's buffer boomerangs throughout an entire phone call when someone asks you a question and makes a statement. So then let's say that your assistant's name is Susan. And I answer her question and she likes me and she's willing to transfer the call to you. Prior to that transfer to call Casey at your consulting group, I'm going to let them know that how amazing that they are when I speak with you. So I'm going to be giving a gift and moving with some momentum.
weTHRIVE Podcast. A Philadelphia entrepreneur living in Costa Rica has what it takes. Episode 45.
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
https://youtu.be/VRbCVWZKILw
https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91A
https://youtu.be/O8O-r3Y3SF8
https://youtu.be/H0gnT5P4JK4
https://youtu.be/GAKngbhRvtE
https://youtu.be/kbqnHBQRUeE
Garry Gary Beers INXS bassist performance video. "Shine Like The Sun" rock song by Igni Ferroque.
A podcast interview combined with the strong curiosity of a proud member of my favorite band INXS brought me to ggbbasses.com. After carefully navigating the site, one section offered to “HIRE GARRY!” on a track. Naturally, I was very interested in all of the additional options associated with the bass session. As luck would have it, my company produced a song, "Shine like the sun" performed by the Costa Rican guitarist Igni Ferroque. Filling out a form to contact Garry Gary Beers was an unbelievable surreal request that was cool in and of itself.
https://youtu.be/ieGjN5H4xPQ
To my astonishment, Mr. Beers personally followed up with an email the next day. Along with the courtesy of proper introductions, we mutually confirmed my intention to purchase the full bass session package. Caught in the moment, I insisted on a good faith deposit for his time and close the deal. Mr. Beers had naturally shaped the pace of doing business in a relaxed way. "By all means send me the tracks. I’ll have a good listen and let you know my thoughts on moving forward. That work for you?" It did work as a potential new client and placed me in a good frame of mind from the start.
Fortunately, Mr. Beers had informed me of the positive news about the song making the cut. "Hey Richard, the music is great! Looking forward to having a play on it". He offered many secure payment options along with the value placed on all four elements. The expenditure was more than justified and deemed a gift when considering his talents and achievements. Mr. Beers never pressed for any money nor attempted a hard sell. He is a nice man that loves music, period.
In a trustworthy spirit, Mr. Beers offered me the convenience of sending a comfortable amount of money to start the project. The value of the arrangement was so good that I immediately choose to commit 100%. We sent a full deposit, sat back and prepared to enjoy the ride. As the secure funds entered the GGB business account, Mr. Beers had already taken the liberty to record the bass tracks and was at the ready to send the audio files. He added a sincere compliment as well, "Music is excellent by the way- really reminds me of Rainbow- one of my fav bands."
Mr. Beers walked me through the easy process of combining his work with the initial recording for the finished product. The steps were simple, “2 tracks of bass version 1 – DI and Amp.2 tracks of bass version 2 – DI and Amp- Both of these takes have a click at the top to verify it syncing to your track. They are recorded to the tracks you sent with the click intro so they should sync perfectly." Mr. Beers added an additional spark, “I’m also sending synth tracks to accompany the bass tracks- Intro only. I have included a mix track and the individual synth tracks." The music had a studio quality sound and GGB grooves. It rocked along with the enjoyment of plug and play. A video of Mr. Beers playing on the track was coming up next and the apex of my unique musical journey.
Like clockwork, Mr. Beers enthusiastically contacted me about the video and the confident reaction to his bass session. "Glad to hear it" He wrote. "I enjoyed playing the tracks… Let me know which bass track versions 1 or 2 you used with the intro and the track so I can send a matching performance video.” Handing over Mr. Beers all creative control was logical and showed a true respect for his craft. The consideration by Mr. Beers to collaborate on a decision was unforeseen and very appealing. How do you choose one groove when both versions are slick? I decided to mix and match the funk from the tracks provided. Mr. Beers had agreed and gave the feeling of excitement by his response, "That would have been my choice. The Intro bass with the fuzz and Wah is a trip!"
The performance videos sent by Mr. Beers had simple instructions: "Hey Richard, here's 2 videos- the Intro -take 2 with fuzz and Wah - and the song - take 1 with pick. The intro track has a click count in so it should be easy to sync." He added, "The main track video has the guitar intro so you can sync to that. Hope this works for you." The final production was amazing and combined perfectly. In addition, Mr. Beers mentioned the project on his personal Facebook Page, “Last night I finished bass tracks for an amazing Costa Rican heavy rock artist- really great stuff and a lot of fun for me to play on.”
Everyone noticed that Mr. Beers showed an authentic enjoyment as he adjusted his amp and started jamming in an Aussie themed studio. Apart from the brilliant music created, a heartfelt chest tap happened as he finished the song and the video ended. The final act of my personal experience working with Garry Gary Beers was a strong transfer of positive electromagnetic energy that was widely felt and well received. Thank you Mr. Beers for the luxury.
I highly recommend Mr. Garry Gary Beers. The working relationship was easy and stress free. My firsthand knowledge involved the attention to detail, clarity to avoid miscommunication and the generosity of his sincere efforts. Experiencing a comfortable first time business deal was a pleasure. The financial investment in working with Mr. Beers was worth the extemporaneous chance to meet a multi-platinum bass guitarist. Most importantly, the bonus of sharing his music and imagination with fans.
In conclusion, I am a very satisfied customer of Mr. Garry Gary Beers and admire his ingenuity on this special project.
Richard Blank
CEO
Costa Rica's Call Center
Loyal INXS Fan
"Shine like the Sun" by Igni Ferroque is a powerful anthem that celebrates perseverance, determination, and the pursuit of one's dreams. It encourages listeners to embrace challenges head-on and to strive for success, no matter the obstacles they may face. The opening lines of the song immediately set the tone, questioning the listener's willingness to leave their comfort
The famous Latino guitarist, IGNI FERROQUE teams up with CCC to produce a classic MTV retro video.The band is promoting their 44th anniversary album and national tour sponsored by Costa Rica's Call Center. The hot single has become the official 15 year anniversary theme song for CCC. Pura Vida.
IGNI FERROQUE. Banda de rock original costarricense fundada en 1978.
Shine like the sun lyrics:
Have you every thought of leaving home?
How far would you go to find you space?
Are you willing to start all alone?
Without letting your mind scatter...Out of place
Working hard everyday dawn to dawn
Hitting the phone to reach the goal
Fitting in your spot in paradise
Never take your eye off the prize
YOU BETTER SHINE LIKE THE SUN
YOU BETTER DO THINGS RIGHT
IT'S A GAME OF WIN OR GO BACK HOME
BUT YOU'RE A WINNER, YOU TAKE IT ALL
No matter how strong you feel you are
No time for breaks until you're all done
With all your goals there is always stress
And everybody needs to rest
And yet there is no dream that comes alone
Once you feel great, you feel at home
You find the beauty of a smiling face
You find the love, you find the GRACE
YOU BETTER SHINE LIKE THE SUN
YOU BETTER DO THINGS RIGHT
IT'S A GAME OF WIN OR GO BACK HOME
BUT YOU'RE A WINNER, YOU TAKE IT ALL
Producer: Greibyn Krriyo
Executive Producer: Richard Blank
Production Assistant: Rolando Araya
Igni Ferroque
Roberto Ferroque Ruiz
Eduardo Doryan Jara
Harold Webb
Guest Musician: Garry Gary Beers - INXS Bassist
Models:
Dayana Solis
Silvia Rojas
Rebeca Meneses
Shirley Rodmon
Fabiola Castillo
Julissa Meneses
Yoselyn Fonseca
Maria Jose Castro
Free Spirit Hippie: Eddie Fridovich
Call Center BOSS: Richard Blank
Special Appearance: Grace Borbon
Grips:
Edder Nuñez
Fabian Sequeira
Post Production video and audio mix: Harold Webb
Post Production video mix assistant: Edder Nuñez
Video Record: Jersan Jimenez
Edition / Post Production: Michael Arce Mora
Sunset Productions CR 2023
Filmed at Costa Rica's Call Center
1993 Gottleib Street Fighter II Pinball Machine
1994 Bally World Cup Pinball Machine
1992 Data East Hook Pinball Machine
1995 Midway Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Arcade Machine
1993 Sega In the Hunt Arcade Machine
1979 Atari Asteroids Arcade Machine
1996 Namco Alpine Racer 2 Arcade Machine
1996 Midway Killer Instinct 2 Arcade Machine
1958 Seeburg 220 Jukebox
1964 Wurlitzer 2810 Jukebox
1961 Seeburg AY160 Jukebox
1995 Dynamo Air Hockey Table
1992 Volkswagen Cabriolet
Igni Ferroque is a Costa Rican rock group that was born at the end of 1978. Igni Ferroque, which from Latin means iron and fire, performed its first concert in the Colegio La Salle auditorium on September 15, 1978.Roberto "Ferroque" Ruiz all the weight of the direction of the group and it was then that all the musical work and the creative genius of Roberto Ruiz rose that this legendary Costa Rican band has not left to this day and marked the beginning of a process of musical growth and development of relevance inside and outside of Costa Rica.
Throughout its long history, full of ups and downs, the group visited Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Ecuador between 1986 and 1992, bringing to all those forums the Original Rock that has always characterized them. Based on the anti-arms and pro-environmental theme, its lyrics are clear: "If rock is a means of mass communication, the message must be clear and positive," Roberto Ruiz told Rodrigo Farías Bárcenas, a Mexican journalist, in an extensive interview given to Diario Uno más Uno in 1986; that phrase defines the idiosyncrasy of Igni Ferroque.
His hits include "Si Quieres Paz" (1990), "Dance in the Swamp of the Dead" (Inspired by a passage from the Lord of the Rings, 1986), "San Lucas" (1982), "Silences" (1980) , "Homeland" (1980) and "La radio" (1979). Their music has been described as jazz-rock with influences from heavy, blues, reggae, and classical, quite progressive for Costa Rican standards. Currently, the group is sounding "better than ever" as confirmed by the excellent musician Calilo Pardo, director of the Academy of Modern Music. They have shared the stage with groups such as El Tri, Alux Nahual, Botellita de Jerez, Kenny y los Eléctricos, Depeche Mode. They also shared in the biggest party in the history of Rock in Costa Rica during "Human Rights Now" in 1987 alongside Bruce Springteen, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Yossu Nandour and Tracy Chapman.
https://youtu.be/ieGjN5H4xPQ
INXS, Garry Gary Beers, Igni Ferroque, Shine like the sun, Richard Blank,Costa Rica's Call Center, Outsourcing, Telemarketing Call Centre, BPO, Nearshore Contact Center, Sales, Entrepreneur, B2B, Business, Podcast, Gamification,rock n roll, music
Garry Gary Beers INXS bassist performance video. "Shine Like The Sun" rock song by Igni Ferroque.
A podcast interview combined with the strong curiosity of a proud member of my favorite band INXS brought me to ggbbasses.com. After carefully navigating the site, one section offered to “HIRE GARRY!” on a track. Naturally, I was very interested in all of the additional options associated with the bass session. As luck would have it, my company produced a song, "Shine like the sun" performed by the Costa Rican guitarist Igni Ferroque. Filling out a form to contact Garry Gary Beers was an unbelievable surreal request that was cool in and of itself.
https://youtu.be/ieGjN5H4xPQ
To my astonishment, Mr. Beers personally followed up with an email the next day. Along with the courtesy of proper introductions, we mutually confirmed my intention to purchase the full bass session package. Caught in the moment, I insisted on a good faith deposit for his time and close the deal. Mr. Beers had naturally shaped the pace of doing business in a relaxed way. "By all means send me the tracks. I’ll have a good listen and let you know my thoughts on moving forward. That work for you?" It did work as a potential new client and placed me in a good frame of mind from the start.
Fortunately, Mr. Beers had informed me of the positive news about the song making the cut. "Hey Richard, the music is great! Looking forward to having a play on it". He offered many secure payment options along with the value placed on all four elements. The expenditure was more than justified and deemed a gift when considering his talents and achievements. Mr. Beers never pressed for any money nor attempted a hard sell. He is a nice man that loves music, period.
In a trustworthy spirit, Mr. Beers offered me the convenience of sending a comfortable amount of money to start the project. The value of the arrangement was so good that I immediately choose to commit 100%. We sent a full deposit, sat back and prepared to enjoy the ride. As the secure funds entered the GGB business account, Mr. Beers had already taken the liberty to record the bass tracks and was at the ready to send the audio files. He added a sincere compliment as well, "Music is excellent by the way- really reminds me of Rainbow- one of my fav bands."
Mr. Beers walked me through the easy process of combining his work with the initial recording for the finished product. The steps were simple, “2 tracks of bass version 1 – DI and Amp.2 tracks of bass version 2 – DI and Amp- Both of these takes have a click at the top to verify it syncing to your track. They are recorded to the tracks you sent with the click intro so they should sync perfectly." Mr. Beers added an additional spark, “I’m also sending synth tracks to accompany the bass tracks- Intro only. I have included a mix track and the individual synth tracks." The music had a studio quality sound and GGB grooves. It rocked along with the enjoyment of plug and play. A video of Mr. Beers playing on the track was coming up next and the apex of my unique musical journey.
Like clockwork, Mr. Beers enthusiastically contacted me about the video and the confident reaction to his bass session. "Glad to hear it" He wrote. "I enjoyed playing the tracks… Let me know which bass track versions 1 or 2 you used with the intro and the track so I can send a matching performance video.” Handing over Mr. Beers all creative control was logical and showed a true respect for his craft. The consideration by Mr. Beers to collaborate on a decision was unforeseen and very appealing. How do you choose one groove when both versions are slick? I decided to mix and match the funk from the tracks provided. Mr. Beers had agreed and gave the feeling of excitement by his response, "That would have been my choice. The Intro bass with the fuzz and Wah is a trip!"
The performance videos sent by Mr. Beers had simple instructions: "Hey Richard, here's 2 videos- the Intro -take 2 with fuzz and Wah - and the song - take 1 with pick. The intro track has a click count in so it should be easy to sync." He added, "The main track video has the guitar intro so you can sync to that. Hope this works for you." The final production was amazing and combined perfectly. In addition, Mr. Beers mentioned the project on his personal Facebook Page, “Last night I finished bass tracks for an amazing Costa Rican heavy rock artist- really great stuff and a lot of fun for me to play on.”
Everyone noticed that Mr. Beers showed an authentic enjoyment as he adjusted his amp and started jamming in an Aussie themed studio. Apart from the brilliant music created, a heartfelt chest tap happened as he finished the song and the video ended. The final act of my personal experience working with Garry Gary Beers was a strong transfer of positive electromagnetic energy that was widely felt and well received. Thank you Mr. Beers for the luxury.
I highly recommend Mr. Garry Gary Beers. The working relationship was easy and stress free. My firsthand knowledge involved the attention to detail, clarity to avoid miscommunication and the generosity of his sincere efforts. Experiencing a comfortable first time business deal was a pleasure. The financial investment in working with Mr. Beers was worth the extemporaneous chance to meet a multi-platinum bass guitarist. Most importantly, the bonus of sharing his music and imagination with fans.
In conclusion, I am a very satisfied customer of Mr. Garry Gary Beers and admire his ingenuity on this special project.
Richard Blank
CEO
Costa Rica's Call Center
Loyal INXS Fan
"Shine like the Sun" by Igni Ferroque is a powerful anthem that celebrates perseverance, determination, and the pursuit of one's dreams. It encourages listeners to embrace challenges head-on and to strive for success, no matter the obstacles they may face. The opening lines of the song immediately set the tone, questioning the listener's willingness to leave their comfort
The famous Latino guitarist, IGNI FERROQUE teams up with CCC to produce a classic MTV retro video.The band is promoting their 44th anniversary album and national tour sponsored by Costa Rica's Call Center. The hot single has become the official 15 year anniversary theme song for CCC. Pura Vida.
IGNI FERROQUE. Banda de rock original costarricense fundada en 1978.
Shine like the sun lyrics:
Have you every thought of leaving home?
How far would you go to find you space?
Are you willing to start all alone?
Without letting your mind scatter...Out of place
Working hard everyday dawn to dawn
Hitting the phone to reach the goal
Fitting in your spot in paradise
Never take your eye off the prize
YOU BETTER SHINE LIKE THE SUN
YOU BETTER DO THINGS RIGHT
IT'S A GAME OF WIN OR GO BACK HOME
BUT YOU'RE A WINNER, YOU TAKE IT ALL
No matter how strong you feel you are
No time for breaks until you're all done
With all your goals there is always stress
And everybody needs to rest
And yet there is no dream that comes alone
Once you feel great, you feel at home
You find the beauty of a smiling face
You find the love, you find the GRACE
YOU BETTER SHINE LIKE THE SUN
YOU BETTER DO THINGS RIGHT
IT'S A GAME OF WIN OR GO BACK HOME
BUT YOU'RE A WINNER, YOU TAKE IT ALL
Producer: Greibyn Krriyo
Executive Producer: Richard Blank
Production Assistant: Rolando Araya
Igni Ferroque
Roberto Ferroque Ruiz
Eduardo Doryan Jara
Harold Webb
Guest Musician: Garry Gary Beers - INXS Bassist
Models:
Dayana Solis
Silvia Rojas
Rebeca Meneses
Shirley Rodmon
Fabiola Castillo
Julissa Meneses
Yoselyn Fonseca
Maria Jose Castro
Free Spirit Hippie: Eddie Fridovich
Call Center BOSS: Richard Blank
Special Appearance: Grace Borbon
Grips:
Edder Nuñez
Fabian Sequeira
Post Production video and audio mix: Harold Webb
Post Production video mix assistant: Edder Nuñez
Video Record: Jersan Jimenez
Edition / Post Production: Michael Arce Mora
Sunset Productions CR 2023
Filmed at Costa Rica's Call Center
1993 Gottleib Street Fighter II Pinball Machine
1994 Bally World Cup Pinball Machine
1992 Data East Hook Pinball Machine
1995 Midway Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Arcade Machine
1993 Sega In the Hunt Arcade Machine
1979 Atari Asteroids Arcade Machine
1996 Namco Alpine Racer 2 Arcade Machine
1996 Midway Killer Instinct 2 Arcade Machine
1958 Seeburg 220 Jukebox
1964 Wurlitzer 2810 Jukebox
1961 Seeburg AY160 Jukebox
1995 Dynamo Air Hockey Table
1992 Volkswagen Cabriolet
Igni Ferroque is a Costa Rican rock group that was born at the end of 1978. Igni Ferroque, which from Latin means iron and fire, performed its first concert in the Colegio La Salle auditorium on September 15, 1978.Roberto "Ferroque" Ruiz all the weight of the direction of the group and it was then that all the musical work and the creative genius of Roberto Ruiz rose that this legendary Costa Rican band has not left to this day and marked the beginning of a process of musical growth and development of relevance inside and outside of Costa Rica.
Throughout its long history, full of ups and downs, the group visited Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Ecuador between 1986 and 1992, bringing to all those forums the Original Rock that has always characterized them. Based on the anti-arms and pro-environmental theme, its lyrics are clear: "If rock is a means of mass communication, the message must be clear and positive," Roberto Ruiz told Rodrigo Farías Bárcenas, a Mexican journalist, in an extensive interview given to Diario Uno más Uno in 1986; that phrase defines the idiosyncrasy of Igni Ferroque.
His hits include "Si Quieres Paz" (1990), "Dance in the Swamp of the Dead" (Inspired by a passage from the Lord of the Rings, 1986), "San Lucas" (1982), "Silences" (1980) , "Homeland" (1980) and "La radio" (1979). Their music has been described as jazz-rock with influences from heavy, blues, reggae, and classical, quite progressive for Costa Rican standards. Currently, the group is sounding "better than ever" as confirmed by the excellent musician Calilo Pardo, director of the Academy of Modern Music. They have shared the stage with groups such as El Tri, Alux Nahual, Botellita de Jerez, Kenny y los Eléctricos, Depeche Mode. They also shared in the biggest party in the history of Rock in Costa Rica during "Human Rights Now" in 1987 alongside Bruce Springteen, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Yossu Nandour and Tracy Chapman.
https://youtu.be/ieGjN5H4xPQ
INXS, Garry Gary Beers, Igni Ferroque, Shine like the sun, Richard Blank,Costa Rica's Call Center, Outsourcing, Telemarketing Call Centre, BPO, Nearshore Contact Center, Sales, Entrepreneur, B2B, Business, Podcast, Gamification,rock n roll, music
The Science of CX podcast. Key Takeaways Into More Productive Customer Engagements with Richard Blank
The Science of CX is a groundbreaking new weekly podcast developed to
address the millions of businesses that need to learn techniques to compete better
in today’s business landscape, by using CX as the cornerstone of a new strategy.
Join Steve Pappas in the lab as he puts his 25+ years to the test to make your
business (soar, grow and accelerate).
Getting to know Richard the man. How did he end up with such a large collection of restored pinball machines and jukeboxes?key ingredients to ensure an effective micro-expression conversationHow agents can positively handle and grow from negative calls and feedback from customersRunning a small business? Well tune in and find out what tips Richard has to help you leverage your everyday conversations into a goldmineTime and numbers. Find out whether or not it's productive to measure your employee’s efforts based on the number of hours or sales made Richard shares with us his unique and world-class system of training and mentoring new agents An exercise you can easily pick up in helping you become a better micro expression reader
https://youtu.be/RJnuK2lPYFc?si=yrsPGin8LM1sXy5F
https://youtu.be/AOPI8wCqX-0
Key Takeaways
Learn how to turn new customers into the most loyal customers and be on the
mind of everyone in town. Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned expert, you will
learn something useful in each and every episode.
CXpert - interviews with CX Leaders and Influencers that have made it their
business to treat customers like a million. Steve, will use his years of CX-Centric
business knowledge to bring out cool ideas for every business owner to
learn new techniques and also avoid some
Steve has built a career transforming, growing, expanding and turning around businesses. He has created successful companies by delivering remarkable customer experiences. Steve makes sure each employee has the actionable knowledge necessary to make better decisions, build great culture and serve customers in a way that increases loyalty, referrals, sales and satisfaction.In his recent role with Panviva, the knowledge cloud company, Steve expanded the Australian software company successfully into the US to a market powerhouse position. Steve also advises many companies annually on their CX strategies. Industry associations, publications, and Fortune 500 companies invite him to speak and write about CX best practices in healthcare, finance, utilities, insurance, and telecommunications.A successful entrepreneur in his own right, Steve has built and sold six companies. He has spent many years cultivating his approach to CX and each company has held to the mantra of “the customer is at the center of the universe.
In fact, his first CX initiative was a college Honors project where Steve redesigned the student registration system to ease the process of registering for classes and enhance the student registration experience. He then went on to running an Technology Division with over 12,000 employee customers, while working for one of the largest global government contractors. All the while addressing internal customer expectations and increase customer satisfaction and productivity.Next, he perfected the concepts of personalization with marketing automation tools to better target and deliver one-on-one communication with customer messaging. Now, Steve is focused on helping business leaders build great strategies to deliver the ultimate in customer experiences and drive their business to new heights.When he is not driving CX strategy or launching companies, Steve plays the guitar and mentors startup business. He lives in New Hampshire with his wife and sons.
you're listening to the science of C. X. A podcast that hopes to inspire business owners and leaders to learn new techniques and turn prospects into customers, enter customers into raving fans. My name is Steve Pappas. I'm known for my relentless pursuit of all thing’s customer across my career. And in my six startups, I've had to learn how to make decisions in business that customers really respond to. Let's spend some time together and help your business soar grow and accelerate. Well, welcome everybody to another episode of the science of C. X. I'm Steve Pappas, your host and as always, we look everywhere to find the experts that can help you in your business journey as well as your customer experience initiatives within your organization.
Today is No exception. Today we're going to be talking about some remarkably interesting areas. We're going to cover a lot of material. Please take notes if you want or you can come back and listen to it multiple times because that makes it seem like we have more listeners. Hey, yeah, do that. Instead listen to this episode 3, 4 or five times. That'll do it. Anyway, we're going to be talking about advanced telemarketing strategies. We're going to be talking about conflict management, interpersonal skills, customer support, rhetoric, Gamification, employee motivation and phonetic micro expression reading.
Have I piqued your interest yet? Well, we have a gentleman on today. His name is Richard blank, and he comes to us from Costa Rica, and he is the head of a great business process, outsourcing contact center, but he's also an expert in so many different areas that we want to talk about. So why don't we bring him in from the virtual green room? You know, there's no real green room of course by now, but let's pretend he's coming in from the green room and we'll welcome him to the show.
Richard, thanks for joining us today on the show. See, that's an amazing introduction. I'm so happy to be here, really enjoy your work and cannot wait to share amazing ideas with your audience today. That's great. Well, I'm going to give folks a little bit about your bio just so they understand where we're going to start from and maybe some interesting things about you too. So, Richard's journey in the car Contact 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 Costa Rica 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. I think he learned a few things along the way. Richard blank has the largest collection of restored American pinball machines and antique rock ola jukeboxes in central America making Gamification a strong part of Costa Rica Contact center. Culture. Richard blank is the chief executive officer for Costa Rica’s Call center since 2008. Richard also holds a bachelor's 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 Honor Society induction ceremony.
Giving back to the high school is especially important to Richard as such. He endows a scholarship each year for students that plan on majoring in a world language at the university level. So, I've got to start Richard with the first part here that just jumped right at me as the largest collection of restored American pinball machines and jukeboxes. Now if anybody knows me, they know that I love pinball aside from playing guitar for the last for years. I love pinball, I don't quite go into the Galaga and those things that my wife loves but I love playing pinball.
So, tell us what you have got, I'd love to know what kind of pinball machines you have Steve, I'm so glad that you started with dessert first and naturally our favorite class in school was recessed. So absolutely. I grew up in the seventies and eighties and the arcades were just some of the most amazing places to make friends and compete. It was so new and the artwork on the cabinets and the marquees, it really was an experience and always wanted that game room like Ricky Schroder and silver spoons.
I was jealous. So, I wanted one and down here since I own a call center and I have the space, I go treasure hunting and one man's trash is another man's treasure and they just really do not know what they have in their bodegas. And so, I will find a machine and bring it back here. And with specialist I restore them now regarding my pinball machines. The oldest one that I have is a 1976 Bally's freedom. And one of the newer ones would be like, let's say a last action hero where a doctor who I have an M. B. A fast break in a mouse.
And around I got Williams, space shuttle 1987 I got a judge Dredd Street fighter, two lethal weapon, three jokers, World cup hook and Jurassic Park. So, it turned out into a hobby became an obsession. And when you're a married man, you decide which hills to die on which swords to fall upon. And my wife and I have this agreement where pretty much everything is in her favor. But the one thing she knows that makes me happy of restoring these old classic jukeboxes and pinball machines because what an error and the craftsmanship and the fact that they've been preserved for decades shows that people really cared about these machines.
Now you and I was awfully expensive growing up. So, it seemed like a luxury. But the fact that we can afford it. It really is something that I take full advantage of when I have the moments with just not my agents but myself. There's always a pinball marathon going on down here. Well, it's great that you have the employee engagement to do that. But I'll tell you, we had bought one, we had a terminator pinball machine at one point that had the gun for the pinball release, but it took so much to get it into the basement of the home that we were living in when we sold the house.
We negotiated to sell the pinball machine, so I didn't have to get it out of there. It was so heavy to move, and I wasn't about to, but I have been in the market for another one right now. The prices are through the roof on all those two. I was looking for an Adam’s family or another terminator, but the Adams family was the one that kind of thrilled me and as well as jukeboxes, it's funny, we have a lot of similar interests in collection.
I don't have any jukeboxes. I wanted to cut my teeth on the first one and I have a buddy in the UK that restores German jukeboxes and he's one of the largest in the world that restores those early seventies and eighties jukeboxes that were built in Germany. I think it was like N C D M or something like that and that's an interesting market. But let's get on to some of the other areas that we're going to talk about. I gave folks at the beginning of the episode, a lot of terminology that we're going to be talking about today.
And one of the things that I really wanted to discuss, this idea of phonetic micro expressions, I don't know if our audience knows what that really is or maybe some do and of course they'll yell at me in the comments etcetera. But can we talk about these things because let's jump into some of these areas that we're going to get across and are these all used the things we're going to talk about? They all used in the contact center, and can you train people in all these areas?
They're used in my call center and just depends on the sort of profiled agent that you have there. Let me take it back a bit. Everybody studies micro expression reading. There was a tv show called Lie to Me that specialized in where you can judge people's postures, their eyes, their face, their hands. I mean there's books and seminars about it now when you're on the phone, three of your senses are removed, your taste, touch and smell. And the scientists claim that when you do have one that is removed, your others expand.
So, I expect you to do much more active listening and then people can also argue that you can't see people on the phone, but I beg to differ because there is image streaming, you have metaphysics when you read a book, it's better than the movie because of imagination. You can use more descriptions and more adjectives but let's just concentrate on the sound of speech. The average attention span is about 30 seconds to two minutes, conversations have introductions, bodies and conclusions. So, if you have a controlled environment, you can have a consistent variable and then you can see inconsistencies.
So now we have a base of how we're going to study speech and 32nd segments. Okay your tone is what represents your emotion, and it should be confident and empathetic because that should be consistent on your end. People will talk about a mirror imaging technique Steve, and I agree with that. But you also need to know how you're speaking for your adjustments. So, your mirror imaging isn't about you sitting across from someone and crossing your arms and tapping a finger. No, you don't have that over the phone.
So, eliminate any sort of mirror imaging face to face. I study the rate and the pitch. These are things that can be done in any language. I do not study semantics. The word choice. I'm studying the tone of your voice which is mine is consistent. I could care less what your tone is. That could be a flag or a mask, but you study someone's rate of speech and how loud they speak their pitch and every 30 seconds to two minutes. Think about the X. Y. Chart that you had in pre-algebra, you can see how fast or how loud they're going.
You consistently market every 30 seconds to two minutes. I would back it up with an answering speed because that is something that you cannot control. It's more subconscious, you can manipulate your tone rate and pitch. But the professional interrogators and police officers’ usual throw the question in the fourth or fifth time to really judge the answering speed. So, if you can do that xy chart with a horizontal line behind it and kind of gauge from 0 to 10 where you're going, you will see areas of spikes or dips and in my opinion that's the time to ask a tie down or pin down question or clarification question.
And these are certain times in which you're able to assist the conversation of moving forward for better clarification and it's not really giving away your power on that. You're really doing more of the Wuwei the less struggle the rudder of the ship. And so, this phonetic micro expression reading can be done just mind you this in your 1st 30 seconds. I don't know you and one is the loneliest number in your second minute. We could have a match off one and a one fast and high, low and slow by five at least.
You might have an odd man out in regard to your quadrants because after you've gone all four quadrants you have to repeat a quadrant, but most of the time people are in quadrant, on the top and the fast and so by your 10th 30 seconds to two minutes. Think about it like this, it's about 4. 5 to 5 minutes on something like that. And by your 11th you should know how somebody is speaking that's 5. 5 minutes in on a 10-minute conversation. And by then you will know how to close the deal.
And so, once you see it you can't unsee it. After three weeks it becomes habit and once you start paying attention to it it becomes very lucid and clearer. You are not lying and I'm not manipulating but these people are obviously giving away certain tell signs on how they speak on first time or even long term conversations and if you do catch somebody being facetious or not as clear, maybe ask them to repeat it using other senses or using another example to see if they're consistent. And so, I think it's an excellent way not to be offensive because passive aggressively you could once again use a me-too technique with somebody.
Let's just say you can't hear them. It's a bad connection on a cellphone or a dog is barking in the background. I try to fall on that small sword instead of placing blame on them, it's for my clarification Steve, did you say 123 or ABC because the worst thing you could ever do Is have somebody so upset and go down rabbit holes because now you need to restart your phonetic micro expression, reading the Tarot Card Reader said you could read two different reads in 10 minutes depending if it's sunny or raining, same person, same hour, but it could be a different read.
So, the greatest thing you could do is to ride that weight and keep it at that apex if you can. It's like when people said lucid dreaming, you really don't want to readjust your body to be able to keep that consistent breathing and body posture. With someone that you're speaking with, you try to keep them as consistent as possible. There's a little wiggle room there but don't go extreme and if you can handle something like that, fall on these swords, get clarification.
I think your audience would have some extremely effective conversations with people on the first time. This is a remarkably interesting area because we do have an awful lot of folks that either work in contact centers or are managing contact centers or even outsource to contact centers. And the training of agents tends to be remarkably similar in most organizations but they're not thinking about how they can better control they’re usually using the approach where gee I'm sorry you're having that problem. So, they're falling on the sword most of the time.
But if you think about the calls, right? If you think about the types of calls that come in, I mean they're not picking up the phone because they're just calling to say thank you or their colleagues to say gee what an excellent product this is. They're usually picking up the phone or they're making a contact with them because there's an issue, there's some type of an issue either they don't understand, they don't know how to fill out, they don't know how to do something or there's a more negative issue.
So, if you think about the incoming approach that happens, a lot of it tends to be negative. And unfortunately, the contact center agents these days are feeling increasingly of society's negativity coming out of the pandemic. You know, because people who are very understanding more, more understanding during the pandemic, but they’re taking it out on front line people. So, I don't know how you guys have seen things. But from the folks that I've spoken to in the last few months, it seems like most of the calls are key issues and they have to diffuse right away.
So can they use the phonetic micro expression method that you talk about to kind of even the playing field and get them to calm down so that they can explain what their issue is better rather than they're ready to blow up at any moment type of thing. Sure. And I'm glad that you brought that up, that's a subject that I can easily address and apply the phonetic micro expression read because mind you my friend you could start the call yelling and cursing and at the end thanking them.
So naturally your phonetic micro expression reading might be adjusted with raid and Fitch. But I would never say that I'm sorry unless you specifically spilled the drink or broke the window because then you might get offended because this individual speaking with you is so nice, they didn't do it but they're apologizing for someone else's broken window. So, my suggestion from my agents immediately is to thank you Steve for sharing that with me. I understand your position didn't mean that I agree with it, but I understand your position and allow me a moment to make it work and fix it for you.
And so now the audience, your client coming in, guns a blazing isn't really putting all that anger at the individual because that individual did not make that problem. They're taking the shrapnel; you say the incoming. That's a wonderful way to use it incoming Obama grenade. But I like to defuse. There's a technique that I use called the buffer boomerang technique. And so, if somebody comes at me with a negative tone, I will like sponge and buffer that negative tone. I will name drop you and say Steve.
That's an excellent question, repeat back your question what it was to show active listening. So, there's a connected key lock there and then boomerang it back as a plus three. So, I could potentially my friend readjust the tone and the pace of the call to then put it back into that phonetic micro expression reading that you need to really nail it. But I believe that people are frustrated and mind you this there's a lot more omnichannel non voiced support. So, prior to that phone call they might have filled out a couple forms, send a couple of emails that only elevates the stress.
So, when they're calling, they're almost letting off steam. And if you allow them to speak, you'd be surprised how it goes from attend to it to both in pitching the rate they cry it out and then everyone calms down. You've taken copious notes. Now, Steve, you mentioned A B. C. And D. What about the Richard? Thank you, Steve. And e there's nothing wrong with raking and reviewing and meeting minutes. It's I can't just solve it with you with a magic potion. These things, someone is coming to you emotional, they don't know you you might need to repeat your name multiple times in third person because now they're embarrassed.
Three men it's in to ask your name Steve. So, you could say okay at the end of this call, Richard, you're going to say Steve. You really helped me out in this section you know, oh thank you Steve. Great. I got them I anchored. And so, these are certain soft skills to just be polite, show your manners, Take that certain control of a conversation, more of a shepherd with its sheep. They zigzag but they still go back in the barn. So, I don't need so many jagged edges.
There are no straight lines in nature and and I love empathy with somebody because when I use your name, I will usually use it in a transitional sentence or confirmation. And then during the conversation I will use personal pronouns as you know the yours and ours just to make sure that I'm keeping your conversation going in your attention and then landing in the bomb when I dropped the name drop and you should take these calls every 30 seconds to two minutes because as you say, they could change. But this gives you an excellent chance, my friend, if you really want to look at it logically that if somebody is calling in, you have a chance to retain the client, you have the chance to up sell them.
If that's what you're doing, you could get a referral out of it. But look at it like this, let's say we drop the ball. Worst case scenario, this individual will take the time to do an exit interview and tell us areas in which we could have improved or what our competition had done to earn their business and as long as you're willing to keep an open mind and I don't like the word constructive criticism. I mean you fumbled the ball; you should have known what you were doing.
Then just call the balls and the strikes and let you know that you made this error and learn from it and don't do it again. And these are the sort of things call by call person by person instead of doing 100 calls a day Steve. Why don't you have your agents take 95? They're taking extra couple three minutes on the phone to let Mr. jones relax a little bit. That is the secret to the successor old school style. This is interesting because as you're explaining some of these tips and techniques, it occurs that it doesn't just apply in the contact center world.
I mean this could be if you're a brick-and-mortar store, it could be your pizza place. There could be people calling because hey, you got the wrong toppings on my pizza. The delivery was wrong or there could be all kinds of things, but it applies to all areas of business and people running small businesses could learn from these same techniques. Don't you agree? This could save a thanksgiving dinner. A marriage. These are just diplomatic soft skills of attentive listening and prioritizing, but I couldn't agree with you more and I never even shared with you.
My favorite technique. It's the positive escalation when I call a place and people always give the gatekeeper a bad rap. But these are the individuals that the CEO and the owners love the most and they're the first impression and the strongest warrior of the tribe. They're the first one there, representing them in the best light. And so, for me, I'd like to understand their protocol. I like to properly introduce myself and say the name of their company and ask how their company is doing sometimes better than they do just to at least give them a taste of how I speak instead of just immediately asking to speak to you Steve.
And then if this individual decides to transfer me the first thing, I'm going to let them know prior to the transfers that they did an excellent job. And I will be mentioning that verbally to the owner of the company and at the conclusion of the call with the owner of the company, I will also mention that in writing. So, if I happen to call your company back, the Richard Circle's complete because this individual remembers me, and I've heard dozens and dozens of times. I thank you and saying I've been here for a decade and you're the first person that wrote about me to Mr. jones.
And these are individuals that will tell you anniversaries and promotions or no Steve’s direct extensions. 1 25 calms on Thursdays at two. Thank you, Catherine. I appreciate it and I love them to death. Those are the greatest insiders. It's a plethora of information and the moment that you start bullying your way in there or pretending they're waiting for your call or your insistent. That's why they're there to hang up on you. But there's a certain way to be not clever, but you have 30 seconds to make a first impression.
Half of that is your speech her speech and give a couple of seconds of silence. So, you really got about 12 seconds to speak. That's not a lot. My suggestion is to say things that they're most familiar with which is the name of their company and their own name and then you got to do your own name as well because you can't be anonymous. The whole call that's shady. You can use a little bit of that in the beginning by just doing a name spike in a proper introduction and if you get the past to pitch, you have the momentum and then you do once again that sort of escalation.
It It seems to work for me because it separates you from hundreds if not thousands of people that are prospecting that business interesting back to the contact center for a second. You talked about have your agents take 95 calls instead of 100 but most of the contact centers that I've dealt with over the past 20 plus years. They're driven by their average handle time. They're driven by the numbers to some degree. They're even told when they're going to the bathroom. How do you resolve that to a contact center manager that is just driving everything by the numbers.
So, you're an intake coordinator for a law firm for lawsuits against firings or disabilities and somebody calls in and they happen to become emotional for a minute. What are you going to do Steve look at the clock and say Mrs. jones. Please hurry up. I only have two more minutes to talk to you. You know what would happen? It wouldn't be for the client or for me, the agent might resign on something like that. So as much as we want to stick to certain metrics, you're talking about an artist of speech.
Somebody that is in the moment that's in the now that wants to assist this individual the best way that they can and by limiting their ability to build that sort of rapport or to allow someone to get it out. Which could be the key to closing the deal or to Upsell for something or to get that referral. I don't do things like that. Now we're not doing extreme where someone's doing 50 calls a day instead of 100. But you can see there's an average but that's what it's called an average and if you say you just want to look at conversion ratios.
Look at that too. But everyone once again is an artist and they have their own special sauce and some people are graded intros, other bodies, other conclusions. But my goodness gracious is somebody is in the moment and they're connecting with someone and they're standing up instead of sitting down and you could tell they have the glaze where they're not staring at anyone. They're just thinking of the client, and everyone can see them doing this. You don't think that that energy spreads on the floor. You don't think that that's important as well.
That sort of synergy. So, these rigid centers that judge you on your bathroom breaks and your handling time you're going to break the agent. I mean you can do that and grind it out, but you might have an attrition rate. But if I give somebody the ability to expand on a call and to be themselves my friends. So, they're not just plastic and going through the motions then I can create an ace, I can create a leader. I can create someone that will come to me at the conclusion of the call and say you know, Mrs. jones started crying.
I go she alright, She goes, yeah, it took a couple more minutes but I connected her through to the counselor and I gave additional notes because we had to speak about her husband just passing away and the fact that she has to move and other things that would have never been qualifying the call because you're supposed to be asking her just certain questions but know this individual added additional things and then they say, thank you for listening. You're the different company than the ones before that. Just put me through the assembly line and you know that it's the mom and pop.
It's the bed and breakfast. You'd rather go to the small hardware store sometimes because you know the man, I'll drive an extra couple of miles from my favorite restaurant Steve. That's the sort of the science that you're talking about. It's amazingly simple. It's how you feel and how you were treated. What about the price? What about the price? Sometimes it's worth the money. It's not always about saving a dollar. It's about supporting your business or if I'm having a day with some blues, you come over to me and just let me know you're happy that I'm there and you sit with me for a second.
So, as we get older, my friend, those are the sort of relationships that we see at businesses and you, and I understand that the grind and we also understand when your favorite client walks through the door. So, I like to pay that forward the best that I can. Absolutely. So, I went down that path and I think your answer and your philosophy is brilliant. Unfortunately. I mean it's the way I believe too that the contact center folks in an organization should be revered because they are your front line.
They hold things together. They are the impetus for the referral the up sell the further sell the expansion all those things. Yet still in today's world, C E O s don't always think that way. They look at a contact center as a cost center rather than the proper way of looking at it as it's an expansion center. It's a focus group. It's the lifeblood of the company because those folks have the most contact with our customers post sale, they become the hub of the post-sale journey and unfortunately maybe it'll take another generation before enough sea level folks understand that.
So that brings me more to the conversation of culture. How do we develop a culture in our contact centers especially and I know this can spill out into the rest of the business, but how can we develop a culture that rewards and reveres the contact center agents as being the customer success vehicle, the people that help our customers become more successful using our products and our services. You must look at it Two ways. If you yourself are not centered in balance, it would be exceedingly difficult to expand and to think of others.
I can't hit the ball and drag johnny as much as my agents here have become bilingual, which shows structure and dedication over years outside the classroom. I expect them to do the same thing if they're thinking about being a telemarketer as a profession besides the eight hours that they put in here, they should be doing dedicated practice outside of the center, reading in English watching certain movies or speeches so they can take certain parts of rhetoric that inspired them. That they saw transitional sentences or effective. You could do case studies in history and find out certain speeches that moved people.
And then secondly, I mentioned the word synergy. These individuals were a very social environment. If you and I are working out at the gym Steve, we're going to be pumping each other up to put up three or four more on the bar and put more plates up. So, I expect the audience, the agents to feed off their energy and to share ideas and to pick someone up when they're feeling down. As I mentioned, I created a Gamification culture. So, I have a place where people can let off steam, recharge batteries hang out with me and meet people from other departments.
So that assists me in one way. But also, since once again English is their second language. The fact that they are getting a return on investment. I see that these agents are much more focused for intense periods of time because of the translation. So, it's less area for distraction. But here's the best part my man regarding my culture when I first came down here 27 years old, I didn't start sea level of my friends call center. I taught English decided to stay and then worked at the center and so I was with the proletariat for four years, I went through so many departments.
I saw the good and the bad and what it did for me was it enabled me to see areas to enhance it for the agent and for the client to give them their dignity, so they don't feel like robots are expendable. And when I had the opportunity to start this business, they couldn't fool me because I was on the phone, I've done this before and I hate to say it, I'm not bragging but I am the sin save my dojo in this industry where people burn out and they look down upon it, I thrived really excelled.
But I saw the art in it. Look at it like this, you're very selective of the campaigns that come in here, we're in a strict catholic country. They must go home and tell their parents what they do. If I brought in something gray area or shady, no one would take it. So I'd have no friends of my chuck e cheese birthday party and so you have to do an account to not only where the client feels okay offering it, but the Asian would feel comfortable making the calls because if it's a forced fit, if it's out of place and out of character, they're not going to last long, they're not going to sound natural and we're not giving anything real specific here.
But as I say, I must ensure that what I'm bringing into this call center something where I'm able to fulfill the needs. Now I can add scripts and suggestions, but initially it must be something that just does not compromise any sort of ethics interesting. Well, let's cover a little bit more because I'm fascinated by not only the culture, but the organization that you've built to help organizations that want to outsource their contact center. So, we could talk a little bit about your training, you're coaching your mentoring methods and then what does the knowledge base look like for your agents to always do a better job?
Because quite frankly, I mean you're going to do as good or better a job than the company you're representing because you're going to keep the account and you're going to keep them happy and keep them over the course of a lifetime. So how do you train differently? How do you coach and mentor folks and keep them so that you don't have the attrition level that a lot of places have today. That's a wonderful question real fast in regards to attrition, I have more of a natural attrition than a forced attrition because companies such as amazon hp intel and oracle and Sykes are here, so I'll lose somebody for a scheduling conflict for the university of boyfriend or girlfriend works there closer to their home, very rarely, if not never someone will say that I insulted them, yelled at them, gave them the walk of shame.
It's just maybe an ex-employee with some sour grapes. I treat everybody with dignity, and I look for ways to delegate and promote them, but initially it's really the psychology prior to any sort of skill set. So, fear is a morbid anticipation of things that haven't happened yet. The fact that they learned a second language is 10 times harder than any campaign. I'll put them on. I also believe in the right bus, right seat philosophy. And so, when they come into the call center besides starting their day playing pinball to make friends and relax a little bit.
We really do focus on quality assurance so we can grade their calls for certain metrics. But I try to do certain breakthroughs like when they're filling out their resumes with me and putting in all their credentials, I'll ask them to turn the page over Steve and give me a couple of paragraphs of a coming of age moment, let me know when you beat up a bully or save the kitten from a tree. And so, I could use this when they're having a rainy Wednesday to remind them of when they were a champion.
These are things they always have in them. It's just a matter of getting it out and keeping it consistent and so let's just say in the first day of class, it's especially important not just to lecture them when they just nodded you and walk out the door. You need to have checkpoints; you need to have interaction. You can go over a certain segment and then just maybe have somebody stand up in front of class and read the next paragraph. Why? Because you're triple gunning. They're reading out loud their public speaking, they're doing it in front of the boss.
Imagine those sorts of butterflies you would have, but if you could triple or quadruple your training daily where then you go upstairs, you record yourself reading the script, where you're practicing it. You're not just reading it, you're speaking into a recording device, then you're listening to it and then you're doing a self-analysis for self-adjustments over the things we spoke about. You'll know when you're pausing is off or when you're too loud or too best. Are you stuttered or mispronounced a word and I'm allowing you Steve to write it out phonetically, at least learn how to spell it.
But the vowels are sometimes tricky for Latinos, so it's okay to be able to switch things around so it's pronounced a certain way, and these are the sort of adjustments, minor adjustments that we make for somebody to feel more comfortable initially. So, they don't pick up unhealthy habits and kind of like bedside manner. I can't stress enough; the name drops and the act of listening and the confirmations because people feel much more comfortable when they're being listened to, and you are taking your meeting minutes and if we need to repeat something in the military alphabet.
A it shows that you're extremely involved and engaged in the conversation. A lot of the times people served in the military, so they think that's cool and you're not just making up words and going along. These people know that you are actively trying to spell their name, their email address correctly. And so, I've seen the tens of thousands of phone calls. That that's the most effective way of not to offend somebody when you can't hear them well or they have an exotic name or if it's something where you just say, yeah, okay, but the next thing, you know, your email bounces back.
It would have been better off to confirm if it's L for lima, you know, and just to make sure that you got it. And as I say, these are the sort of things like in school, you come to class, you do your homework and you do your quizzes, you can still not do so well on the final exam, but you're going to pass the class, you will be preparing yourself and marinating and softening up the call in the relationship in order to convert it. And sometimes my friends, it happens a second or third time don't expect a cold call close.
I tell my clients to put their checkbook away. A lot of the times, I just want to answer their questions and show credentials and reintroduce them to other people on the floor that they can meet and make a better decision. So don't feel rushed. People will see that, and they will be apprehensive to move forward with you. So let it happen at a natural pace. So, you said something about you QC. All the calls and I think I remember you were talking about your Hall of Fame, you know, the best and the worst calls.
I mean is that used as a training method for everyone to understand both the good and the bad types of calls. Absolutely. Remember you were mentioning earlier about people calling in the first round of calls coming where people are upset if they can ride that wave and they see the bark is, there's no bite. It's just barking and that we calmed mars jones down. We listened to Mrs. jones, we separated piles, we were able to move forward. The call didn't take that long because we didn't have to repeat things because we were confirming things.
We eliminated rabbit holes. We did the mirror imaging. We did the phonetics; we did the drops. It's beautiful. Now you have this toolbox. It's not a to Z. There are steps that can be skipped or moved back to how about we look at it like this? I loved romantic tragedy. So, I consider that a hang up call is a romantic death. Where am I going with this? Let's just say you're just hardcore carpet bombing, making outbound calls and no matter what you say, you're calling a place that she says, don't call again or not interested or we're good.
Thanks, and hang up. I always look at it like this. If you can do a company named spike and do a name, drop of the individual before they hang up on you. I think that's a beautiful death. I think at least poor lome knows you got something out of that call. But then they wouldn't be surprised that you could anchor yourself by just getting them out of that trance by saying their name in that 1st 30 seconds. I've had Times where we bought another minute, bought another three minutes and just by default, nothing on our own.
We couldn't move forward. I'll give you an example. People can call me, and we could be on the phone and 99% were ready to sign the contract. But then they ask if we do Chinese, I don't have Chinese agents, I don't do graveyard shift and I can't match offshore prices India and the Philippines. So just by that alone, I'm not able to move forward, but 99% fit. So how do I feel about that? A little disappointed. But then again, I was able to go 15 rounds lost on the decision, but I was still able to make my points listen to their points build rapport, have some labs introduce, fantasize good call.
So, another couple of questions, what type of companies or what type of industries do you guys mostly handle calls for inbound or apa? Well, I'll let you know five. We don't do, we don't do sports books, casino stocks, pharmacies or sweepstakes. I have nothing against it. Just don't want to do it. But I'm looking for small to medium sized companies in the United States, Canada Central America and Europe that would need individuals to make outbound lead generation, appointment setting or inbound customer support. And it's amazingly simple.
Our agents are college educated; they're dedicated. I don't have a blended or mixed center. They only work for your campaign, and they have some amazing skill sets here. Costa Rica really packs a punch regarding business process outsourcing. I have mentioned some of the big boys, but there are tons of call centers here and since we're the only democratic society in central America, they don't have a standing army. So, there's a 95% literacy rate Steve so as much as people might see telemarketing call centers as transitional sort of jobs or something in the United States, as you say, has a certain rap here.
It pays more than most vocation. So, I'm having some extremely educated bilingual people with degrees walking in this door and working with me. So, it's amazing the sort of people that you meet here. Very eclectic, all diverse types. That's great. So, if a company called and says, okay, we want to get started, what is that initial onboarding looks like time wise especially and system wise and how quickly can you be up and running to take their calls? Great. Well let's just say I accept the vertical and I'm comfortable with that.
There's a pre-launch checklist that my floor manager and chief technical officer sent to that company. It's exceedingly difficult for me to start moving forward without stations being set up connections, made scripts for bottles, reporting and contact because once the ads go out and people come in, it's really a seller's market. I got to be able to explain it to their candidates a, the campaign that they're doing the incentives that they have and the metrics that they're expecting. It just can't be fantasy time. It needs to be something that's concrete.
And so, once we bring the people in, it really all depends on the training time. I've had people go as low as a half a day just to teacher CRM and do a little bit of role play for fun and others do longer training sessions, even up to a month. That concerns me because we do follow all Costa Rican labor laws and there are certain call centers that are known for like for an example, sykes has the MetLife account and supposedly people will be there for an entire month training and then on their first day of coming back to work, they just don't show up.
And by Costa Rican labor law, they need to get paid for that month they go on a certain list as being a jumper and it's not fair, but that's the name of the game. So, the longer the training, the more I'm concerned because people sometimes can take advantage of that and just use that as a placeholder until they can find another job. So, if we have certain awfully specific checkpoints to ensure that this agent really has done their due diligence, really engage really up to speed.
That's a good risk compared to just doing five days’ worth of classroom, talking about merchant process outsourcing and stuff like that. It needs to be awfully specific, and I have to ensure that this client that I'm speaking with does have a track record. If it's a brand-new pilot project, then we need to invest in the process and there shouldn't be any surprises and I must let them know what to expect when building a campaign, there may be attrition. We may need to readjust the script, call certain area codes, or do certain things.
But I guess the most important thing about it is being forthright, when it comes to onboarding people, I can easily have somebody in five business days, depending if you need 10 people give me up to 10 business days, you know, and maybe we can hire people piecemeal, we can catch them when certain campaigns and other centers and as I mentioned, it's very competitive out there. The more that you put out the start date, the more that you're going to lose people because they need a job between those times and now since Covid came, it really adjusted to the work from home.
So there is an advantage of the brick and mortar because of internet redundancy, my generator and on site I. T. Support but Steve, I was exceptionally fortunate during Covid to be able to adjust my business model virtually because if I owned a brick and mortar only like a bike shop or a pizza parlor, I'm in big trouble as much as I lost a lot of the essence of the center and the camaraderie? I was able to survive. But you know, the labor pools changed. I must ensure if there is training, they should be on site to know the company culture and at least meet us before going home.
It's one of those things my friend where I really did see a huge shift that when I first started this back in 2000, that's great. Well, in the last few minutes that we've got, you know, I'd ask you whether we could give our listeners an exercise. We talked about the two-paragraph coming of age. Can you explain an exercise that folks can do as homework after they listen to this episode. And that might be interesting for them to learn more about the content that we gave them here today and then when we come back maybe you can give folks a way of getting in touch with you guys if that's something that they're looking for.
Thanks Steve, I appreciate it. Let people do the Triple watch. They should watch something without sound, they should watch something without sight. And if you want to study the visual body language, that's great. Just watch something without sound. You can assume what they're doing and then if you want to study the phonetics, to choose a channel that you don't understand the language. Like for me it would have to be Chinese or German or something like that. Italian French and Portuguese are too like Spanish for me.
But if I watch the Chinese channel, it's extremely easy for me to do that phonetic micro expression reading because I don't understand any semantic. So even I'm taking out the tone, I'm just studying their rate in their pit. Do not get study it that way while you're on the phone, once again these are things that you can do. You just draw your xy chart the horizontal line and every 30 seconds to two minutes point to how Mr. Jones's speaking just for practice, but it is about practice. It's about dedicated practice.
Record yourself, listen to yourself. I don't like how I sound. That's what everybody says. But guess what you that's what you got. So, you need to adjust it and as you and I have a mirror and our beards look great because we do look great. You could do the same thing with your voice as well. Record it, master it adjusted. And if you do that, you'll see that you'll get more positive reinforcement from people. There will be more I guess inclined to ask you for advice because you were sympathetic about it and the way you spoke about it and finally if you are in a certain situation where there's emotion and its tense, you should choose to speak last.
And if it's not something where you need to immediately give an answer then you should sleep on it so you can decompress and come back the next day a little more levelheaded and prioritize and that's an excellent way to grow and to crack some codes and to get to various levels. You don't always need to prove your point at that moment. There are other ways to do it. So, you don't overreact overextend and say something you regret. So, it's not like you're being weak. No, you're being considerate of it and you're being tactful about it.
If you're in the moment and its face to face with somebody if you must, even though it looks funny, you should close your eyes when speaking. So, there's less distraction and you're not energy being sucked from you. They might say why you close your eyes. I'm allowed. There's no rules to this. It's not tag you're asking me something emotional, so allow me my focus and my balance and if somebody is being aggressive with you, I think you should look in between their eyes, it looks like you're looking in their eyes.
So it's not like you're looking away or allowing them to suck the energy out of you, like Medusa, but it is a certain technique sir where instead of losing your direction and your energy and your breathing, you can regroup yourself and these are the sort of conflict management skills that have assisted me and having more productive conversations when they could have really gotten out of hand. That's great. I mean this has been filled, filled with great techniques, tips and insight as well. Thank you for being so generous with your expertise.
This has really been a wonderful episode, Richard. How can people get in touch with you if they're thinking about outsourcing if they're thinking about needing a contact center because I think by the end of this, they understand what you bring to the table. So how can they get in touch with you? I really appreciate having me on the show today with you, your audience and allowing me to share this information. The first thing they should do, my friend is by a first-class plane ticket. Come down here to Costa Rica so you can enjoy some eco-tourism, go to some beaches and waterfalls but your audience can give me a call at triple 82716750.
Or send me an email. CEO Costa Rica’s call center dot com. And finally have an exceptionally large Facebook fan page about 98,000 local Costa Rican Ticos. And they can't wait to meet you, Steve. You're going to have tens of thousands of new fans in central America. I can't wait. Well, Richard, thanks again for joining us today. I really love the thing that you said earlier and I'm going to add something to it. So, each agent is a voice artist, and this is a message to all the C E. O. S out there that have contact centers and folks that have agents working for them that each agent is a voice artist and I think you should let them create a great interaction.
So let them create, let them build those great interactions. So that's it for our episode of the Science of C. X. I'm Steve Pappas, your host. We've had Richard blank on today from Costa Rica call center and I want to thank you all for joining us. If you like the content that we bring to you, please feel free to drop us a review wherever you get your podcasts and until we meet again, please stay safe. Stay healthy and do take care everyone. Bye bye. You've been listening to the science of C. X. My name is Steve Pappas.
I really hope you've enjoyed this episode and if you have the highest compliment that you can give us is to subscribe rate and review the science of C. X. Thanks. And we'll see you in the next episode. Finding one place to see all customer experience related tools of technology has been difficult until now. We just built it. Get ready for a science of C. X. Original customer experience technology has been helping to drive businesses by giving them insights into better methods to engage and delight their customers for some time now.
But if you're looking for C. X. Tech you must search everywhere to understand the whole landscape. C. X stash is your simple why stop directory of all the Great Sea X related technology you need. It breaks down all C. X by collections like analytics, crm, journey mapping, voice of the customer, you ex customer support and more. It's free to create an account and use no advertising. Cluttering up your experience just one place to find all the great C. X. Tech. Sign up today at www.
Richard’s vision quest journey is filled with twists and turns. When he was 27 years old, he relocated to Costa Rica to train employees for one of the larger call centers in San Jose. With a mix of motivational public speaking style backed by tactful and appropriate rhetoric, Richard shared his knowledge and trained over 10 000 bilingual telemarketers. Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008.
Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain. A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. In addition, inducted into the 2023 Hall of Fame for Business. Giving back to Abington Senior High School is very important to Mr. Blank. As such, he endows a scholarship each year for students that plan on majoring in a world language at the university level.
https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/
#RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Leadgeneration #Appointmentsetting #SacrificetoSuccess #Scienceofcx
Science of CX, The Forgotten Art Project, Richard Blank,Costa Rica's Call Center, Outsourcing, Telemarketing, BPO, Nearshore, Sales, Entrepreneur, B2B, Business,Podcast,Gamification,Leadership,Marketing, Radio, Guest, Money, education, trainer,
https://youtu.be/RJnuK2lPYFc?si=yrsPGin8LM1sXy5F
https://youtu.be/AOPI8wCqX-0
Push further into Silver’s globe-trotting journey, and then discuss Stellar Blade destroying any interest anyone had and recently releases of game dumps and source codes. New streams are every week at 1 PM Pacific time, link can be found on my profile.
Copied from Sega Retro: Super Street Fighter II X for Matching Service is a fighting game released for the Dreamcast exclusively in Japan in 2000. It is an enhanced port of Super Street Fighter II X, but was compatible with Capcom's Matching Service.
Ola eu gostaria que voce se inscreva no canal MUNDO DA ANIMAÇÃO e seja menbro do nosso canal. ESTE É UM VÍDEO DE PÚBLICO GERAL FEITO E APROPRIADO PARA TODOS OS PÚBLICOS
Ola eu gostaria que voce se inscreva no canal MUNDO DA ANIMAÇÃO e seja menbro do nosso canal. ESTE É UM VÍDEO DE PÚBLICO GERAL FEITO E APROPRIADO PARA TODOS OS PÚBLICOS
Copied from MobyGames: Galaga is a vertical arcade shooter from Namco. You control a space fighter at the bottom of the screen, scrolling left and right in order to avoid oncoming bombs and kamikaze attacks--and to fire your own missiles to fight back!
Original song and video submitted to The Association of Composers and Musical Authors of Costa Rica (ACAM) for the 2024 awards.
The famous Latino guitarist, IGNI FERROQUE teams up with CCC to produce a classic MTV retro video.The band is promoting their 44th anniversary album and national tour sponsored by Costa Rica's Call Center. The hot single has become the official 15 year anniversary theme song for CCC. Pura Vida.
IGNI FERROQUE. Banda de rock original costarricense fundada en 1978.
Shine like the sun lyrics:
Have you every thought of leaving home?
How far would you go to find you space?
Are you willing to start all alone?
Without letting your mind scatter...Out of place
Working hard everyday dawn to dawn
Hitting the phone to reach the goal
Fitting in your spot in paradise
Never take your eye off the prize
YOU BETTER SHINE LIKE THE SUN
YOU BETTER DO THINGS RIGHT
IT'S A GAME OF WIN OR GO BACK HOME
BUT YOU'RE A WINNER, YOU TAKE IT ALL
No matter how strong you feel you are
No time for breaks until you're all done
With all your goals there is always stress
And everybody needs to rest
And yet there is no dream that comes alone
Once you feel great, you feel at home
You find the beauty of a smiling face
You find the love, you find the GRACE
YOU BETTER SHINE LIKE THE SUN
YOU BETTER DO THINGS RIGHT
IT'S A GAME OF WIN OR GO BACK HOME
BUT YOU'RE A WINNER, YOU TAKE IT ALL
Producer: Greibyn Krriyo
Executive Producer: Richard Blank
Production Assistant: Rolando Araya
Igni Ferroque
Roberto Ferroque Ruiz
Eduardo Doryan Jara
Models:
Dayana Solis
Silvia Rojas
Rebeca Meneses
Shirley Rodmon
Fabiola Castillo
Julissa Meneses
Yoselyn Fonseca
Maria Jose Castro
Free Spirit Hippie: Eddie Fridovich
Grips:
Edder Nuñez
Fabian Sequeira
Special Guest Appearance: Grace Borbon
Video Record: Jersan Jimenez
Edition / Post Production: Michael Arce Mora
Sunset Productions CR 2023
1993 Gottleib Street Fighter II Pinball Machine
1994 Bally World Cup Pinball Machine
1992 Data East Hook Pinball Machine
1995 Midway Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Arcade Machine
1993 Sega In the Hunt Arcade Machine
1979 Atari Asteroids Arcade Machine
1996 Namco Alpine Racer 2 Arcade Machine
1996 Midway Killer Instinct 2 Arcade Machine
1958 Seeburg 220 Jukebox
1964 Wurlitzer 2810 Jukebox
1961 Seeburg AY160 Jukebox
1995 Dynamo Air Hockey Table
ACAM
The Association of Composers and Musical Authors of Costa Rica, committed to the cultural development of the country and in compliance with its objectives derived from the constitutive statutory statements, has decided to hold the COSTAR RICAN MUSIC AWARDS, hereinafter the Awards ACAM.
The ACAM Awards will always try to recognize the musical talent of the country, through the evaluation of the productions made during the review period, having to review everything that happened around this field, such as musical, audiovisual, incidental, advertising and other new ones, to select by means of a highly qualified jury, installed sufficiently in advance, the various events that have occurred that serve to stimulate future creation, provoke the interest of young people in composition, all thanks to the promotion and defense of Law Author who assists them.
The award is for all those persons, natural or legal, who are selected by the qualifying jury and whose productions or musical works have been published or communicated to the public between the dates that will be duly announced according to the event. The evaluation period corresponds to the dates on which the industry releases its musical products to the national market.We are the Association of Composers and Musical Authors of Costa Rica, a Collective Management Entity, created by musical authors and composers with the objective of collecting and distributing copyrights.
Once the composer and/or author has understood the basic responsibilities and the minimum duties, both of the association towards him and of him towards the association, this agreement is signed. Through this ACAM is empowered to protect and administer on behalf of the author, exclusively and fully, all the rights mentioned in the first and second clauses, in accordance with the provisions of its Statutes and Regulations.
We are pleased to know your interest in protecting your musical works with ACAM, the association of musical authors and composers of Costa Rica is dedicated to the protection and care of Copyright. By declaring your work in ACAM you are obtaining worldwide protection for your creation.
Once your works are endorsed by this committee, the Board of Directors will approve your admission as a new associate and your works will be protected worldwide.
We are at your disposal to help you with the affiliation process and we hope that you will soon be part of our association.
A copyright management society must collect the amounts generated by the works of its associates and, therefore, must distribute them.
This Regulation will be governed by elementary principles inherent to the distribution of copyright worldwide, namely, the principle of equal treatment for all authors, the principle of equity, the principle of complete distribution and the autonomy of distribution.
For a better understanding of this Regulation, a series of definitions of the concepts of perception and apportionment that make up the technical language of Collective Management of Copyright have been added.
Richard Blank#Costa Rica's Call Center# Outsourcing# Telemarketing# BPO# Nearshore# Sales# Entrepreneur# B2B# Business# Podcast# Gamification# CEO# igniferroque# rocknroll# shinelikethesun# costaricarock# music
https://youtu.be/wnQX8TEagis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nublj-mEkZ4&pp=ygUbc2hpbmUgbGlrZSB0aGUgc3VuIGZlcnJvd3Vl
September 21st, 2018. Hard Rock Cafe, Costa Rica.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ3XowAhuD8&pp=ygUbc2hpbmUgbGlrZSB0aGUgc3VuIGZlcnJvd3Vl
IGNI FERROQUE live in concert. The LONDON ROOM. September 23rd 2022 SHINE LIKE THE SUN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHC04SVgwXQ&pp=ygUbc2hpbmUgbGlrZSB0aGUgc3VuIGZlcnJvd3Vl
IGNI FERROQUE LIVE. El Club de Bella Escazu! October 15th 2022. Shine Like The Sun closed the set.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM-KfL8_vpc&pp=ygUgc2hpbmUgbGlrZSB0aGUgc3VuIGlnbmkgZmVycm9xdWU%3D
SHINE LIKE THE SUN. LIVE JANUARY 8th 2022
Tomas und Jörg freuten sich auf den #streetfighter6 Release am 2. Juni 2023! Mittlerweile haben beide sich ordentlich warmgespielt und massig Hadokens ausgeteilt!
The HOGOKIDS Star Space Warship Building Set is the perfect way to bring your space fantasies to life. With 817 pieces, you can build a detailed and realistic spaceship that will take you on an adventure through the stars. This set includes everything you need to construct a space fighter, shuttle model, and airplane collection for adults. You will have hours of fun constructing your own unique spacecraft with this building block set, making it a great gift for any science fiction fan or aspiring astronaut. Thanks for watching, don't forget to give this video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it, and make sure to subscribe to our channel for more videos. Please use link for more details.
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Elementgames:
https://elementgames.co.uk/?d=11057
Video Game Console:
lightinthebox.tv2h87.net/y2R1EW
Remote Control Vehicle:
lightinthebox.tv2h87.net/k00R1x
The new game build, V.0.4, is ready! It includes the first version of aerial attacks (neutral air, forward air, and back air) and a charge attack! The UI of stocks and damage is now working!
Download here: https://www.subscribestar.com/posts/873174
Akiba Culture Twitter: https://twitter.com/AkibaCulture_ch
Here is the first game build of the anime platform fighter game that I am working on.
What's in this build: A placeholder rigged 2D character with several cloth layers can currently walk left, right, jump (SPACE), respawn, and you can close the game by pressing the X button.
More Information about the Project: https://www.subscribestar.com/posts/659127
Download here: https://www.subscribestar.com/posts/863242
Copied from MobyGames: Virtua Fighter 3tb is a port of Virtua Fighter 3 to the Dreamcast. The Virtua Fighter series is your classic beat-em-up, with a bunch of characters all trying to kick, punch, throw and body slam the bejesus out of each other.
Copied from MobyGames: In this very scaled down version of the Street Fighter II game, you can choose from a group of warriors including Ryu, Ken, Guile, Blanka, M. Bison, Chun Li, Zangief, Balrog and Sagat, each with a unique style and special moves.
Famous Turkish businessman İbrahim Murat Gündüz presented his award to Georgian UFC and MMA fighter Liana Jojua with his own hands. https://www.muratgunduzofficial.com/
Copied from MobyGames: Tech Romancer is a 3D arena fighter with a difference: the player selects one of the several available giant robots (mechs). These range from the absurd to the "typical" anime styled mecha to a more westernized idea of a mech.
