B2B Growth Blueprint Podcast . Modern Revenue Strategies presents AI Con...

B2B Growth Blueprint Podcast . Modern Revenue Strategies presents Mastering Sales with Richard Blank The Future of Sales: AI, Soft Skills, and Human Connection Sales is no longer just about scripts and automation—it’s about human connection, strategic communication, and effectively leveraging AI. Richard Blank, CEO of Costa Rica’s Call Center, shares how blending soft skills, gamification, and AI can enhance customer engagement and improve sales outcomes. In the latest episode of the B2B Growth Blueprint Podcast, host Mark Osborne speaks with Richard about the power of emotional intelligence in sales, how AI can complement human conversations, and why creating an engaging work culture leads to success. Key Takeaways: The Power of Soft Skills in Sales: Richard highlights the importance of using intentional language and positive reinforcement. Simple word choices—such as saying “assist” instead of “help”—can shift customer perceptions and build trust. AI’s Role in Sales & Customer Engagement: AI is a valuable tool for handling data collection and initial inquiries, but Richard emphasizes that human empathy is irreplaceable. AI should enhance conversations, while sales professionals should focus on meaningful interactions. Gamification in the Workplace: Richard incorporates arcade games and pinball machines into his call center, fostering a fun, motivating environment that boosts morale and productivity. Breaking the Sales Script: Instead of following rigid scripts, Richard trains his agents to personalize their approach—mirroring the company name when answering calls to establish immediate rapport and reduce customer resistance. Supporting Creativity & Local Arts: Beyond business, Richard is passionate about the arts, producing music videos, and collaborating with musicians, including INXS bassist Garry Gary Beers, to support creative projects. Quotes: “If you don’t land the intro, the body and conclusion don’t even exist.” “AI can fly the plane, but humans need to take off and land it.” “Gamification fosters creativity and connection—it’s more than just business.” Conclusion: Sales success isn’t just about automation—blending AI with human connection, emotional intelligence, and workplace culture. Richard Blank’s approach demonstrates that prioritizing engagement, authenticity, and strategic communication leads to stronger customer relationships and better business results. Marketing Solutions for SaaS, Tech, & B2B Services Firms to Double Pipeline Quality & Revenues in 90 Days. Attract the right Prospects, Accelerate deals through Decision-Making, & Activate Clients for Renewals and Referrals. Proven 5-Step Framework Our B2B Growth Systems will Set You Free Free from worrying about where your revenues will come from Free from struggling to know what campaigns and initiatives should be prioritized Free to focus on serving your customers and building world-class products and solutions WITHOUT Wasting Money on More Ads that Don’t Work Chasing “Growth Hacks” like Crazy Drowning in Low Quality Leads "Are Your Leads KILLING Your Business?" #1 Best Selling Book Outlines Proven 5 Step B2B Growth Framework Adapt to surprising changes in the Modern, Post-Covid Landscape Proven Strategies for how B2B Buyers Find and Buy Today Attract the Right Prospects with Differentiated Positioning Accelerate Deal Pipeline with Scalable Systems & Powerful Content Activate Renewals, Upsells, and Referrals with Proven Processes Immediate Download plus BONUS calculators, templates and hours of training videos for FREE. Evaluate our approach for yourself to see if it makes sense for your business Mark Osborne Despite your innovations, if you can’t efficiently and effectively connect your solution with your target market, you’ll never succeed. Working with Leaders at Early-Stage B2B SaaS/SwaS and Professional Services firms for the last 20 years, we know the importance of system-based solutions for growth; using data and technology for Revenue Systems that Attract the right customers, Accelerate opportunities through the Pipeline, and Activate clients for renewals, upsells, and referrals. Hiring a Full-Time Marketing Executive with the experience you need to scale your company past initial “Product X Market Fit” is tough. The salary cost, the internal politics, the equity sharing, etc. etc. etc. can be overwhelming for early stage companies. We built Modern Revenue Strategies to bridge this phase of growth from ~$2M – $20M Annual Recurring Revenue, while delivering world-class solutions for marketing leadership that builds your company, and catapults you to the next level of success. B2B Growth Systems set you Free from chasing growth hacks, or dependency on agencies, advertising spend, or gurus. Now you and your team can focus on building the best solutions for your market and servicing your customers; not going crazy trying to run your marketing programs. Most companies struggle with… Confusion over your Ideal Customer and Buying Committee Personas Weak Positioning that sounds just like all your competitors Wasting money on Ads without understanding the Customer Journey Imagine instead… Marketing that stands out, attracting the right customers to you Systems that reliably accelerate your revenue and team success Activating your data and technology on autopilot for predictable results For one established B2B Services business, we delivered a $30M increase in bookings through implementing these systems, creating a successful exit for founders. CEOs and Sales Leaders at Early Stage SaaS, Tech, and B2B Services firms - you can have a growing business without driving yourself crazy. Agencies, Consultants, and Marketing “Gurus” are focused on the wrong things. They’re bogged down in tactics and are giving you whiplash chasing a different growth hack every month. They have you jumping from one idea to the next, burning money along the way, but never realizing results. Your competitors are winning the market with scalable systems and processes that focus on proven marketing strategy. Modern Revenue Strategies delivers predictable growth, often doubling revenue and pipeline in as little as 3 months without wasting money on more ads, chasing growth hacks, or drowning in low quality leads. Most clients see a 10X Return on Investment. Our B2B Growth Systems will set you free. Free from the fear that you won’t make money; Free from struggling to know what campaigns and initiatives should be prioritized; Free to focus on serving your customers and building world-class products and solutions. #1 Best Selling B2B Marketing Book on Amazon lays out our Proven 5-Step Growth Framework: * Attract the right Prospects with Differentiated Positioning * Accelerate Deal Pipeline with Scalable Systems and Powerful Content * Activate Renewals, Upsells, and Referrals with proven processes Get the 1st Chapter for Free to see if our approach makes sense for your business. Hiring a Full-Time Marketing Executive with the experience you need to scale your company past initial 'Product X Market Fit' is tough. The salary cost, the internal politics, the equity sharing, etc. etc. etc. can be overwhelming for early-stage companies. We built Modern Revenue Strategies to bridge this phase of growth (from $1M - $20M ARR) while delivering Best-in-Class solutions for marketing leadership that builds your company and catapults you to the next stage of success. https://youtu.be/itGqGnvx2XU Richard Blank hired bassist Garry Gary Beers of INXS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieGjN5H4xPQ Mark Osborne, B2B Growth Blueprint Podcast, Richard Blank,Costa Rica's Call Center, Outsourcing, Telemarketing Call Centre, BPO, Nearshore Contact Center, Sales, Entrepreneur, B2B, Business, Podcast, Gamification,Leadership, Marketing, CX, Guest, Money, B2C education, BPO trainer,call centre, contact centre, contact center Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain. A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. In addition, inducted into the 2023 Hall of Fame for Business. Giving back to Abington Senior High School is very important to Mr. Blank. As such, he endows a scholarship each year for students that plan on majoring in a world language at the university level. Costa Rica’s Call Center (CCC) is a state of the art BPO telemarketing outsource company located in the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica. Our main focus has been, and will always be to personally train each and every Central America call center agent so that we may offer the highest quality of outbound and inbound telemarketing solutions and bilingual customer service to small and medium sized international companies, entrepreneurs as well as fortune 500 companies. We encourage you to visit one of our call centers on your next personal vacation or business trip to Central America’s paradise, Costa Rica. While you are here, we would recommend taking an extra day of your trip to visit breathtaking virgin beaches, play golf next to the ocean, try your luck at deep sea fishing, explore tropical jungles, climb volcanos or just relax in natural hot springs. Come and see for yourself why call center outsourcing in Costa Rica is a perfect solution for your growing company and a powerhouse in the BPO industry. https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/ #MarkOsborne #B2BGrowthBlueprintPodcast #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Gamification #CEO #trend #trending #listennow #subscribe #podcastclip #podcastvideo #videopodcasting #podcastguest The Power of Soft Skills in Sales Calls That's an excellent question. We do have the luxury of technology, so we record all of our calls and have a dedicated department to check the quality assurance and their key performance indicators. That's what I'm paying you to do. I want the soft skills. Because anybody can carpet bomb a list. Right. Any supervisor can give you a script and all the rebuttals on what to say. I'll tell you what, if you don't land the intro, the body and conclusion don't even exist. You might get 30 seconds if you're lucky. It's like a mouse. But if you're good, you can buy time and get checkpoints. For a 10-minute conversation, my friend, is 20, 30-second conversations, if you look at it that way. Easier to carry, less weight. Much more control, easier adjustments. But let's get to at least some simple strategies because we don't have all day to give all of my secrets out. The first thing I was mentioning were soft skills. Creating a Playful Workplace and Its Impact on Relationships The worst is, is a sterile environment. Bad coffee, uncomfortable furniture, bad magazines, bad air. It's terrible. I knew growing up that I believe in nurture. And I always got excited for bay windows and vaulted ceilings and things where as a kid you think you could do in a trampoline inside or throw footballs. Right. You made your best friends during recess. Why? You let off steam, recharged batteries. You got a chance to talk to people and hang out with people. And I've seen, especially today, that a lot of people, four could be at a table, but each one of them is on a phone or someone is isolated in the corner or they're having cigarettes outside. Right. And so I had the room. Arcades are going out of business. I'm a Generation Xer. And things that were unattainable as a child and were very expensive, I'm buying for pennies on the dollar and fixing things. Currently have 13 machines. Yeah, I'm a collector of classic pinball machines. And so I got a bunch at home. I got a few here and it gives them a chance to meet people from other departments, hang out with me. And when you see somebody laughing and giggling, you see a different side of them. And that's when people can bond even more and make friends. And so it worked for me because the worst thing you could do is just have a place where people feel like a slave. Emotional Connections and Authenticity in Business people are kind of emotional animals. Yeah. And the emotion of the sort of decision maker is as important as the logic of your pitch. And in fact, most of the time people make decisions based on emotion and they justify why they made that decision by cherry picking out some logical arguments. So it's so interesting that you use sort of that emotional connection that you can make with people around things like that to sort of really bring your business forward. You have to be careful because if it's inauthentic, you're going to get caught. Yeah. Stop calling someone champ. Unless you really know the numbers of why they're number one. So as long as you can back up that compliment, or if you talk about someone's company, but you did some due diligence, like use me for an example. The AI Frustration Breaking Point and the Need for Human Help I don't like putting things over the phone. I don't think it's the voice recognition is good enough. They don't give you enough options. And then they hang up on you after you fail three times to say, I need to speak to someone. That's right. That you could lose a client. So you should, as I mentioned, 20 and 20, that's the breaking point of the frustration of either the program you want me to fill out. It's not working good enough. A sense of urgency because my tire is flat. Right. Or, I'm about to either join your company, leave your company or what to do because it's intense. Money's exchanged, time's happening. So you got to get that stage of someone to jump in real quick and just say, is everything doing okay with the robot? Everything's fine, but I got a question about this thing. It came two days late. Not a problem. Credit on the... Those are the credit on the account. Oh, your email says it's a three. It's an eight. It's an eight. Great. Just wanted to make sure. I tried it five times. That's why I'm here. Maybe you should have a default. Keep pressing the same button. Supervisor should be popping in just to see if you're okay. Yeah. Because you're not okay.