TrulyYourVA with Janis podcast guest Richard Blank Costa Rica's Call Center full interview.

Good afternoon everyone. I am so excited to be here today. My name is Janice, and I am the host of Truly Your VA with Janice. For those of you don't know, VA of course stands for Virtual Assistant, and I am also a podcast manager. Go figure today. I am so excited to have on my podcast. Mr. Richard Blank, welcome to the truly year BA with Janice. Janice, I'm so happy to be here with you today and to share ideas with you and your amazing audience. Well, wonderful. Thank you so much. So I have so many questions to ask you, and before we hopped on, you know, I did make reference to your boxes. And before we get into the, the business discussion, I understand that, uh, you have the largest collect. Of American pinball machines in, um, I'm gonna pronounce this, rock out, juke boxes in Central America. Is that, is that so? I love the fact that we start with dessert first. Absolutely. . I am an avid collector of retro pinball machines, juke boxes. Arcade machine. So I've created a gamification culture so the agents can meet people from other departments, let off steam and hang out with their hefy in the game room, old school style. Oh my God. I absolutely love that. So that leads me to the next question. Of course. Um, you have a business that is, I think so, is underrated in my opinion, because, Why don't you start us off before I just go any further on what led you to be where you are today? You're in Costa Rica, correct? That is correct. In Central America. Been here for the last 22 years. Wow, and your business is Costa Rica's Call center. We're a bilingual dedicated. Nearshore call center that deals with appointment setting, lead generation, and inbound support. And so our agents here are brilliant college educated. They're coming to the table once again with structure and discipline by speaking a second language. Mm-hmm. . And by creating a certain sort of work culture where they're synergy and I look to promote people and we invest in them. Our attrition is very low and our production is extremely high. Wow. So, You, you were, you've been in Costa Rica for 22 years. What led you to start this type of business? There's really no blueprint for it, and so when I was in high school in Northeast Philadelphia, I doubled down on my favorite class, which was Spanish. So when I graduated Abington in 91. , I went to the University of Arizona, was a Spanish communication major. Mm-hmm. , because at 18, what are you gonna choose unless you have a predestined career and you follow certain opinions where people raise you compared to you raising yourself. Mm-hmm. , I had to understand that I needed to be marketable. And versatile. And if there was a way that I could separate myself from friends, by being able to translate and to speak, I might be able to have a different career path. And so at 27 I was given a one and a million opportunity. It was only supposed to be for two months, and I came down to my friend's call center to train and teach English, and I just fell in love with it so much. I decided to put my stuff in storage in the United States and. You know, throw my hat in the ring and try a life here. And when you learn a business from the inside and out and you're with the people, the proletariat, you can really understand ways to enhance the experience. And so in my mid thirties, I decided to throw my hat in the ring and start my own company. That is just so amazing to me. Now internal. Interpersonal communications conflict, Like in reference to like management strategy? Yes. Must of, especially with training, how many people that you've trained, of course those skills must have been like second nature to you. Well, I believe in manners and you and I have spoken off the air multiple times. I believe that we were raised in, in. Fashion's from our grandparents and parents. So I'm coming to the table with agents in a very strict Catholic country. So it's very family oriented, even multi-generational family. So people do live with others that influence them. And secondly, I believe in empathy and dignity. As long as I don't treat somebody like a robot or a number, I properly prepare them and support them. Why shouldn't I get that sort of positive reinforcement where people would wanna continue to walk with? And to grow with me. And also there are things that do happen outside the office that may affect their work performance here. So as long as we take people's personal situations into consideration, I think there's a better chance to find sort of resolutions. And also solidifying even a better relationship cuz we were able to get through certain challenges together. Right. And so I really take it from a case by case old school basis when I'm dealing with the people that work with me. Wow, that is amazing. So you. You, you were, you've been in Costa Rica for 22 years. What led you to start this type of business? There's really no blueprint for it, and so when I was in high school in Northeast Philadelphia, I doubled down on my favorite class, which was Spanish. So when I graduated Abington in 91. . I went to the University of Arizona and was a Spanish communication major. Mm-hmm. , because at 18, what are you gonna choose unless you have a predestined career and you follow certain opinions where people raise you compared to you raising yourself. Mm-hmm. , I had to understand that I needed to be marketable. And versatile. And if there is a way that I could separate myself from friends, by being able to translate and to speak, I might be able to have a different career path. And so at 27 I was given a one and a million opportunity. It was only supposed to be for two months, and I came down to my friend's call center to train and teach English, and I just fell in love with it so much. I decided to put my stuff in storage in the United States and. You know, throw my hat in the ring and try a life here. And when you learn a business from the inside and out and you're with the people, the proletariat, you can really understand ways to enhance the experience. And so in my mid thirties, I decided to throw my hat in the ring and start my own company. That is just so amazing to me now, internal interpersonal communications. Internal interpersonal communications conflict? Like in reference to like management strategy? Yes. Must of, especially with training, how many people that you've trained, of course those skills must have been like second nature to you. Well, I believe in manners and you and I have spoken off the air multiple times. I believe that we were raised in, in similar fashions from our grandparents and parents, so, I'm coming to the table with agents in a very strict Catholic country, so it's very family oriented, even multi-generational family, so people do live with others that influence them. And secondly, I believe in empathy and dignity. As long as I don't treat somebody like a robot or a number, I properly prepare them and support them. Why shouldn't I get that sort of positive reinforcement where people would wanna continue to walk with? To grow with me. And also there are things that do happen outside the office that may affect their work performance here. So as long as we take people's personal situations into consideration. I think there's a better chance to find sort of resolutions and also solidifying even a better relationship cuz we were able to get through certain challenges together. Right. And so I really take it from a case by case old school basis when I'm dealing with the people that work with me. Wow, that is amazing. So you. And so I really take it from a case by case old school basis when I'm dealing with the people that work with me. Wow, that is amazing. So you, you've, like you said, you've been there for 22 years. You, you decided, you know, to build your own company. What was that moment? Because I think so many people out there today, for instance, who, um, you know, were in the era where we work virtually. I'm a virtual assistant, but for somebody who wants to start their own brick and mortar business, can you share some of. Challenges, but also the excitement that came along with. Absolutely. I was still on my vision quest when I came to Costa Rica looking for my walkabout and to shed some skin, and I will be forthright with you. It did take into my mid thirties for impulse control maturity and have enough capital to start a business. Mm-hmm. and a lot of people may overextend themselves by taking out loans or mortgages or just trying to, uh, create a certain image of bells and whistles where, you know, they're not acting their wage, they're just giving an impression. And so for me, I, I wanted to do it slow and. And as grandma said, if you can't pay for it in cash, you just don't do it. And so when I started my call center, I was working out of my home, but I was also renting an individual turnkey station from a blended center. So I didn't have privacy. I was just on an open floor plan and just renting seats per month and paying the taxes and making a margin. And after a couple years, I saved enough capital and really knew the business to then rent. And purchase enough to build out 150 stations in a server room, and then after about six years, I had enough to be able to build a 300 seat station that I currently own and I'm at right now. So as much as I want to give the glamour to it and the fast track, a lot of the time a business is building on foundation and doubling down on yourself and saving money so you can weather certain storms and just be very conservative. And I like it that way. In fact, I'm very selective of the campaigns that come in here because A, it's my reputation. And B, it's also seller's market. If the agent doesn't wanna do it, I. Fill seeds. So it's an extremely delicate balance, and the fact that I am hands. I like to walk the rows and break bread with the agents and to listen to them and coach them. I, I think I gain a couple gold medals there because a lot of, I might be able to even break some stereotypes and misconceptions of what a business owner, a telemarketer, or even what a call center is. It's not like what you see in the movies. Wolf of Wall Street's amazing. Glen Gary, Glen Ross, and Boiler Room, but not every call center sells stock. And that might not be the appropriate profile for truly your VA or for individuals that work with you, Jan. So these are the sort of things that we take into consideration when offering, um, our services to potential clients. And I understand what it's like to be able to start a company and, and that's exciting, I would think from the client's perspective that hires you, that you, as you mentioned, you know, you started building that foundation and, you know, it was a lot of hard work and, you know, saving and all of that. So it's not like you. Took something over you took it under your wing wing to learn the business inside out. And that's why through all of that hard work, you have been that successful. Clients love that mom and pop. Custom made Richard from Philadelphia making it happen. Long shot sort of attitude. They, they like that sort of grit. But then again, a lot of people that contact me are looking for our infrastructure. They might be working out of a smaller office or might not have a predictive dialer or server room or an IT support. Mm-hmm. or you know, a QA department or even myself. That's excellent. With script writing, rebuttals and role play. So it's okay if someone's doing a pilot campaign or even a plug and play. As long as the metrics are there and there's realistic expectations, I'm really open minded for everything. But I guess really what the selling point is because you can compare apples. You and I really have passion for what we do, and it's very sincere, and I think when people hear this, it's, it's not sailing. What we're really doing is it's not even convincing. All we're doing is just sharing how we love what we do and the fidelity behind it, and as long as I'm able to convey my story and my structure, I'm pretty much able to convert most of the calls that come in. That is so true because I think I may have shared with you on one of our calls, You know, I, as you know, I run three podcasts, this mm-hmm. this being one of them. And I, and I manage all three of them. And some people may think that crazy, but the bottom line is I have grown my VA business organically because I've wa of what I do, I love what I do, I have a passion for it. And that goes a long way. Like I am not. I would say I am not an expert. However, I am an expert in what I know. I think you and I are givers. I think we like to share information first prior to any sort of contract. It's, it's not like trying a free piece of sesame chicken. You're actually giving a half a pie , and if someone wants, they can buy the second half of the pie. But, uh, I like doing things like that. It really gives the clients a chance to get to know us, to read a lot about us. And so instead of repeating the same hours worth of descriptions, they. Through their own convenience, find out certain areas of questions they'd like to ask me. So it really saves you and I a ton of time by sharing these thoughts with people prior to any sort of phone call or contact, right? Because it to me, you know, we know obviously do, do, do at a click of a button. You know, stuff travels around the world and that really is wonderful. However, if you have that, really that genuine personal connection, That makes it that connection so much better. Like who wouldn't want to, for instance, contact you to find out more about what you do and how you operate? I mean, that's fantastic, right? And who wouldn't want to hire me to be their va? Because I think when you take on a client, for instance, you are a representative of that. Sure. I take that very seriously. I, I'm, when a client hires me, I am a representative. Even though I'm working remotely, I am a representative of that person. And that's something that I handle with kit gloves, as I'm sure that you do. Now I have a really, uh, another question and. Not sure what this is. I'm very intrigued. K. Another question, and I'm not sure what this is, I'm very intrigued by it, and I have to tell you about four or five times I went to go on Google just to search this term, but I'm like, I, I wanted to save that suspense for this question. Yes. Tell me more about the famous buffering boomerang technique. The buffer boomerang technique? Mm-hmm. , I like it. It's really more of conflict management because somebody may ask you a question with a very negative tone. In fact, I'll show you the image. There's my famous buffer boomerang technique, so somebody might ask you a question with a negative tone. What I like to do is buffer the negative tone. I like to do a name. Bring it around by saying, that's an excellent question. Repeating the question to show active listening and then sending it back as a plus two. So for an example, let's say I'm prospecting your company. I'm calling truly your va, and somebody says, What is your name? I go, Ah. Janice, I'm so glad that you asked that question. Once again, my name is Richard Blank, and so you can almost reset the tone on something like that. People will be asking you questions and so I think instead of just answering it as a, you know, a toe to toe's office answering a question cuz you're in trouble. Sometimes you need to buffer the tone, smooth that out a bit, show the active listening and send it back. And so a lot of the times people will also be doing desert pitching or they'll just be going through a list of the services that they have. I, I think people need to pause every now and again for rest and for drink. In a desert, you need an oasis. And there's also times for positive and negative reinforcement. And when you find a certain area that you like, you take it from a horizontal to a vertical. And then you start stacking open-ended questions. These like your virtual assistants, they need to show empathy on the phone and a lot of active listening. I believe that using names are very important. You should do that during tie down or pin down or clarification questions, and then amongst the conversation, using the pronouns of your and are to keep their attention in every 32nd. Two minute intervals. And so buffer Boomerang is really just one of many techniques just to show active listening, so you're not just reacting, you're almost in mode of acting because of listening and adjusting your conversation accordingly. So the most frustrating thing is repeating. And so as long as that you once again, understand where that person is coming from, it could lower temperatures, bring back a speed and give you a little bit more control on a call. I love that because Richard, I think there is such a difference from hearing to listening. So you take an active engagement, for instance, obviously we're on Zoom, we're streaming live through, uh, through my Facebook page and people can hear it, but are they listening? Most of the time though. Yes, I, I, I agree. I agree. Objections right there. There's a lot of distractions and I think in, in our, like I said, in the digital world today, you know, there's, for instance, news notifications. I've had to turn off all my news notifications as much as possible because it's distracting. Because when I'm working for a client, as I'm sure you are, because I think we have the same, uh, work ethic, I have to tune, I turn, tune all that stuff out because that is a distraction and it's only human nature to, you know, look down. Oh, you know, there's some other news alert. Turn off the distractions. Cause I think that's a lot of outside clutter. We don't need clutter when we're focusing on the task at hand. We may not have the luxury of that sort of controlled environment in our offices Right now, there's no distractions. But if you and I were somewhere having lunch and there's a lot of noise, we still might need to find that focus. So that's why I mentioned 30 seconds to two minutes. And I also believe, once again, when you are, um, engaged with the individual by having checkpoints either repeating what you say, confirming what you say, thumbing up what you say, moving on on what you say, because it would be foolish of me to be three or four points down or thinking of that. We haven't even confirmed the one that we are on right now. Mm-hmm. . So people need to slow down a bit. And I think what's very important for me as well, and it can almost set the pace as a positive escalation, if there are individuals that assist you prior to being transferred or just anybody along the way, they should be mentioned verbally and in writing. So let's just say hypothetically I'm calling a company back. This individual answering the phone will thank me for that compliment. Give me more company information, company culture, and would love to transfer the call. So it's almost like the philosophy of wwe, Janice. Well, we're just trying to reduce any sort of resistance. Go with the current. Mm-hmm. , let the wind be in your sales. And so when you're trying to force a fit, you're trying to shove in your point, you're stepping on someone's toes, you're interrupting. We're not dancing well. And I think there's a very good place. Where through deductive reasoning, letting the person talk and then choosing. What is the area of focus and possibly getting back to what you need to later in the conversa? Your conversation may be prolonged, but it's also a quality call, and I'm not saying we're repeating anything. What we're possibly doing, Janis is expanding on certain topics where I couldn't get it before. I love meeting minute. Because when someone concludes a conversation, if they can send an email back on all the points that they talked about, a, they're accountable for it. It's dated, so someone can't say they forgot about it. And it's an excellent point that where you pick up, where you left off, you start going through the, the checkpoint and delegating. Who has a responsibility, if these are just first time relationships, we need to create certain boundaries and parameters and protocols because your way of working may be different from mine. And so as long as there's no surprises prior, and we can adjust that accordingly, it should flow exceptionally well. Right. So the next question that I wanna ask you, May be different from mine. And so as long as there's no surprises prior, and we can adjust that accordingly, it should flow exceptionally well. Right. So the next question that I wanna ask you, obviously you know a lot about your business of course, but what sort of systems? For instance, like I love Trello. Trello is my go-to organization thing. Devices or what type of applications do you use within your own business and why do you love them? Like why do you use them because you like them or because of their pro productivity or. Most of the time we're logging into the client CRM and their phone system. But let, let me go back to something that's original pen and paper. I, my reliable system is if the lights go out and the internet goes down, my supervisors . I need to make sure that I have the right individuals that are with me, support me. They're not yes men. I don't need to Smithers. To say yes to everything I say. I want someone that could be a devil's advocate or make suggestions. And so besides plugging and playing into my client's systems, what I have once again are individuals that rose the ranks, know my culture, earn their stripes, and are some of the best supervisors and directors in this country. And so these are the ones that are molding the newer agents and supporting the other agents to continue to perform. Cause once again, your systems in place could be helpful, but if the agent is not competent, is not reliable, is not dedicated, your system's just gonna collect dust. And so once again, it's really about the individual that will be managing these systems that I have. But I always learn things that are seamless. I like stuff that will reduce any sort of wrap up time. If somebody has dropdowns while we're on the phone or can do an easy transfer or there's information that can be, um, Shown to me prior to a call or during a call. That's helpful. A lot of my clients are creating lists, so we are sent to do some due diligence and research, which can slow us down, but then again, could also give us advantages if we find certain things on a LinkedIn or a company website. So really, I, I kind of take it on a, on a vertical basis, but to me, if somebody is doing something manual, Compared to a predictive dialer, you can't expect me to do four times the amount of work. What can, I can have almost a hundred percent contact ratio on a predictive dialer, 1000 leads. So these are the sort of things, Janice, I almost have to, I have to explain from an educated point of view, the advantages and possibly disadvantages of the suggestions that they are making. And it's nothing personal, but you can't expect me to do a certain amount of. When there's a certain amount of talk time and a wrap up time and you're using things manually. And so, um, once again, we have a lot of resources to offer, but most of the time the clients are buried at the ready. Wow, that is amazing. I have so enjoyed this conversation. How can people, um, our, my viewers and listeners, So, um, once again, we have a lot of resources to offer, but most of the time the clients are buried at the ready. Wow, that is amazing. I have so enjoyed this conversation. How can people, um, our, my viewers and listeners in yours as well, how can they get a hold of you? They can buy a plane ticket and come visit me during the summer so they can have a good time in Costa Rica. They can also gimme a call at Triple eight two seven one six seven five zero. Shoot me an email at CEO costa rica's call center.com. But here's the best part. I got a huge Facebook fan page and I got about 98,000 local Costa Ric and Ticos that cannot wait to meet you. And you're gonna get a ton of new fans. And if your audience is interested in seeing the pulse, Of what the Central America BPO industry is like. You'll see Costa Rica, where north of Panama, south of Nicaragua, the only democratic society in Central America. There's no standing army. So we have a 95% literacy rate, the most neutral accent in Latin America, and the best infrastructure, and plus our ecotourism is the greatest. From volcanoes to hot springs and zip lining monkeys. Iguana, as you name it. It could be a wonderful work and fun trip. You could. Well, I, the, and thank you for that, um, for that information. I, I love hearing about different cultures and you know, what the, uh, area has to offer. That sounds absolutely beautiful. I do have a question about that. Can, is that a candy machine in back? Back of your, Oh yes. This is a 1961 Roco Regis, and this is my private stash that's in my office. The Candy's on the floor, but no, this is the good one. Is there any chocolate in that machine? Absolutely. There is. All you can eat . Oh boy. And that's why I don't have that in my office. But in any event, I wanna thank you so much, Richard, for taking the time to be here today. And this has been an amazing conversation. I hope that you will definitely consider, um, coming back on the podcast. And thank you so much. I did have the most amazing time as well. Thank you so much, Janis. You're so welcome. You know, folks, online businesses are o can be difficult, but. Why not make it easy? Why not make it easy for yourself? And if you have any questions, don't you know, like Richard said, please feel free to reach out to him. And of course, if you need a va, truly your va, My name is Janice, the host of Truly Your BA with Janice. And it has been my pleasure to be here today. Thank you so much everyone. Come back soon. Bye everyone. TrulyYourVA with Janis podcast has accepted Richard Blank's invitation to join the audience for a solid discussion regarding moving abroad and starting a company from scratch in Costa Rica. Janis Melillo discusses with Richard advanced telemarketing strategy, conflict management, interpersonal soft skills, customer support, rhetoric, gamification, employee motivation and phonetic micro expression reading. In a now all consuming digital world, Virtual Assistant's are in such high demand. From choosing which social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Clubhouse and many others; knowing how to hire a VA is just as important as to which social media outlet you should use. Did you know that hiring a VA will actually save you money? Janis Melillo is a Virtual Assistant, Business Coach, Ghostwriter, Author, Publisher, Speaker, Podcast Co-Host. 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 growing company and a powerhouse in the BPO industry. In a now all consuming digital world, Virtual Assistant's are in such high demand. From choosing which social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Clubhouse and many others; knowing how to hire a VA is just as important as to which social media outlet you should use. Did you know that hiring a VA will actually save you money? Janis tackles the obstacles as well as simple solutions on these topics and so much more! Welcome to TrulyYourVA with Janis! Virtual Assistant, Business Coach, Ghostwriter, Author, Publisher, Speaker, Podcast Co-Host https://youtu.be/kJus0bLJBCI https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyv7cqXIykc https://rumble.com/v1als7a-this-is-not-your-usual-call-center-ceo-richard-blanks-approach-to-business-.html https://www.bitchute.com/video/fhZZj4h2ALw7/ https://anchor.fm/janis-melillo/episodes/This-Is-Not-Your-Usual-Call-Center---CEO-Richard-Blanks-Approach-to-Business---06-30-22-e1klioj https://www.trulyyourvawithjanis.com/this-is-not-your-usual-call-center-ceo-richard-blanks-approach-to-business-063022/ https://fb.watch/gSeXAmSk5J/