Creative Marketing Like Music Hits.

Big Performance Podcast hosted by Alex Elish. Gamifying the Workplace with CEO Richard Blank. Big conversations with bold thinkers—where curiosity meets connection. On the Big Performance Podcast, Alex hosts unscripted, thought-provoking conversations with fascinating guests, exploring ideas that challenge, inspire, and entertain. For Curious Wanderers, Critical Thinkers, and Seekers of Meaning drawn to spirituality, philosophy, and knowledge. Featuring Authentic Storytellers, Big Thinkers, and Bold Explorers unafraid to tackle life’s biggest questions. Subscribe and join a community that values exploration, growth, and meaningful dialogue. Today, we speak with Richard Blank, a remarkable entrepreneur who transformed his dream into a thriving reality. Richard's journey from renting desks to running a 300-seat call center in Costa Rica is nothing short of inspirational. Guest Introduction: Richard Blank is the CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center, a powerhouse in the telemarketing industry. His unique approach, combining old-school values with innovative strategies, has not only helped him grow his business but also fostered a strong, resilient company culture. Richard's story is a testament to the power of relationships and perseverance. Key Takeaways: 1. Journey of an Entrepreneur: Richard's transition from a communications background to a call center mogul. 2. Building a Company Culture: How Richard's focus on relationships and trust helped him navigate challenges, including the pandemic. 3. Surviving crisis: Strategies Richard employed to maintain business continuity and employee morale during the pandemic. 4. Gamification in the Workplace: The importance of creating a fun, engaging environment for employees. 5. Communication Strategies: Tips and techniques for effective telemarketing and client interaction. 6. The Role of Empathy in Business: Why human interaction will always have an edge over AI in customer service. 7. Richard's Passion for Pinball: How vintage arcade games play a role in his business and personal life. Creative Marketing Like Music Hits I tell you what, that's why certain restaurants have large menus and 32 flavors of ice cream. It's my one taste of the color red might turn off somebody, but they prefer mint or yellow. And so fortunately for me, I've opened it enough where let's just say I do a podcast with somebody and I'm going to market that individual. My marketing team will take, I don't know, maybe 10 to 15 images. Combine the two. And just, you know, it's almost like an album from back in the day. I'll do four or five really guaranteed commercial hits that, as you say, are colorful. People are going to like, yeah, of course, throw a puppy in there or something. Then I go, guys, come on. Show me really something crazy. Let me just see if you can... produce something wicked or completely unexpected. https://youtu.be/NjYHz2TbKv4 https://youtu.be/ZQq683zhx_U Chapters: 0:00 - Guest Introduction: Richard Blank 1:47 - Richard's Entrepreneurial Journey 3:10 - From Renting Desks to a 300-Seat Call Center 9:00 - Surviving and Thriving During COVID-19 12:36 - Working in Telemarketing 16:25 - Gamification and Employee Engagement 25:27 - Communication Techniques and Empathy 36:17 - Addressing Customer Complaints 45:42 - The Influence of Vintage Arcade Games 50:55 - Richard's Unique Marketing Style 58:19 - Richard's Collaboration with INXS Bassist 1:00:00 - Closing Remarks Podcast Alex Elish With a decade of experience in startups, I’ve mastered digital chaos. I live for the challenge in your mess of a digital strategy! My expertise - people called me SEO, PPC, CRMs, PMS, and automation guy. Marketing funnel or building a website, I’m your go-to guy for creating impactful solutions. If we vibe the right way - I'm your trusty friend and partner. We don't vibe - no money will get you my team efforts, blood and tears. Richard’s journey in the call center space is filled with twists and turns. When he was 27 years old, he relocated to Costa Rica to train employees for one of the larger call centers in San Jose. With a mix of motivational public speaking style backed by tactful and appropriate rhetoric, Richard shared his knowledge and trained over 10 000 bilingual telemarketers. Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008. Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain. A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. In addition, inducted into the 2023 Hall of Fame for Business. Giving back to Abington Senior High School is very important to Mr. Blank. As such, he endows a scholarship each year for students that plan on majoring in a world language at the university level. Costa Rica’s Call Center (CCC) is a state of the art BPO telemarketing outsource company located in the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica. Our main focus has been, and will always be to personally train each and every Central America call center agent so that we may offer the highest quality of outbound and inbound telemarketing solutions and bilingual customer service to small and medium sized international companies, entrepreneurs as well as fortune 500 companies. We encourage you to visit one of our call centers on your next personal vacation or business trip to Central America’s paradise, Costa Rica. While you are here, we would recommend taking an extra day of your trip to visit breathtaking virgin beaches, play golf next to the ocean, try your luck at deep sea fishing, explore tropical jungles, climb volcanos or just relax in natural hot springs. Come and see for yourself why call center outsourcing in Costa Rica is a perfect solution for your growing company and a powerhouse in the BPO industry. https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/

#AlexElish #BigPerformancePodcast #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Gamification #CEO Utilizing the military alphabet for enhanced communication And another thing, Alex, use the military alphabet so emails don't bounce back. A lot of people have served. And it gives you consistency. So you're not just thinking on the fly. And these are the sort of things where you might close one additional deal a month because an email didn't bounce back just because of that. And so I think that the military likes it. People will relate to it. And in my professional opinion, it's been able to end calls in a great way where you almost get an encore song or two where it should have been ending. But now you're talking the military and Memorial Day weekend and Veterans Day. And you show your pride and respect. Introduction to a Successful Entrepreneur All righty thank you for for joining me it's a pleasure to talk to you i feel like i know you for the viewers that just joined i want to introduce to you richard blank behind this magical smile there is one phenomenally strong entrepreneur. You have grown your business from renting desks to a 300-seat call center in Costa Rica. That's right. Your business is taking care of hundreds of employees and you build a strong company culture that lets you carry on through COVID and you're going strong in the face of AI apocalypse with your... on the ground business with the people that you hold dear, the people who work for you. The Art of Leadership and Communication It's not so stiff. There is a balance. And if you're going to come here and spend more time with me than you do with your own family, why don't we have a little bit of dessert as well and make it fun? And it's not enjoyable to be a boss where people are afraid of you and you scream and yell and make people stress. There is that responsibility. They have a job to do. Yeah. But we can almost do it by doing the apex, by being the leader and the one that can fly the highest and the furthest and the fastest. Thankfully, this is my wheelhouse. So at any time I can jump on this call and I can not only resolve the issue, would share a lesson to the agent that was looking for that guidance. So in essence, I just don't write checks. This is something that, as you say, you quit after a little bit but got the skills. I sold my soul. I decided to be in this industry for 24 years because I saw the art of the speech. I didn't want it to be ruined and muddied by the bad reputations that stocks and sweet steaks and other call centers do that take advantage of people there. You know, Alex, there's a ton of people out there that earn a wonderful living by retaining a client for a company, setting appointments, making business, getting a referral, possibly if a client is upset and giving you an exit interview or feedback that you're responsible, take the suggestions and implement. And so as long as you're engaged and proactive, that individual's priceless for a corporation. Mastering the art of communication with strategic name-dropping You're not lying. You're not angling or forcing a sale. All I'm doing is repeating a name drop. I'm introducing myself. I'm expecting you to ask me two or three clarification questions where I just use a buffer boomerang. I'll name drop you to adjust the tone, let you know it's a great question. Repeat the question, Alex, so you don't have to repeat it, right? And then I'll send it back to you in a positive way to just keep readjusting that negative, positive tone and shutting doors and checkpoints so we don't have to repeat rabbit holes and get you upset. Following a Passionate Journey You started from a communications background. You are bilingual and you decided to move to Costa Rica and start from the ground up. How did you decide to go for this journey? How did you start looking for that gold with the pen? How do you not when the road is there and open in front of you? When I was a young lad, I decided that Spanish was my favorite thing in the world. Fortunately, my parents would take me on vacations, sometimes to Mexico. I would come back with some vocabulary, and I had an interest, a base of it. Whenever I'd meet someone from the Latin community, they would give such reinforcement. It just wasn't a parlor trick or something cute. They realized that I really was into it. Then I understood something, my friend. When someone does above and beyond, there's dedicated practice. So besides what I had to do in school to get my grades, I loved watching movies and reading books. And my favorite was just having coffee and hanging out and speaking Spanish. And so anybody that has that sort of commitment and passion, you can't put that spark, you know? Improving communication through strategic vocabulary Any professional would know how much money is invested in somebody. To get them to that stage in business, unless they're throwing F-bombs and just giving the company away. I don't know if I, I don't think I would buy that blush. You're not firing somebody because a random customer's calling up because they got 13 extra dollars charged on the bill for a month. But that's not here nor there. I have some techniques for you, my friend, when you're thinking of this stuff. I like to adjust my vocabulary to make it more strategic and diplomatic. So I wouldn't say, excuse me on the phone. I would replace that for my clarification. Is it A, B, C, or 1, 2, 3? For my clarification. And then there's also tie-downs you could say. Sounds good, right? Makes sense, right? Because if you just keep talking, I don't know if it does sound good or makes sense. You need underwater scuba diving checkpoints. And then finally, my biggest question, My biggest gripe, it's like a gnat or a fly that bothers you. Whenever somebody uses the word help, I understand the intention behind it, but it can provoke a sort of emotion. And so I suggest using assist, guide, and lend a hand. I just know that it's like a longbow. You'll get better distance out of that compared to using help. We're accustomed to it, but it's a very uncomfortable metal chair in a waiting room with bad magazines. It just doesn't work. And so I like to, as I mentioned before, use these soft skills with people. I like to guide. I like to assist and especially, and I give it double points because you're utilizing image streaming by saying lend a hand.

Big Performance Podcast hosted by Alex Elish. Gamifying the Workplace wi...

Big Performance Podcast hosted by Alex Elish. Gamifying the Workplace with CEO Richard Blank. Big conversations with bold thinkers—where curiosity meets connection. On the Big Performance Podcast, Alex hosts unscripted, thought-provoking conversations with fascinating guests, exploring ideas that challenge, inspire, and entertain. For Curious Wanderers, Critical Thinkers, and Seekers of Meaning drawn to spirituality, philosophy, and knowledge. Featuring Authentic Storytellers, Big Thinkers, and Bold Explorers unafraid to tackle life’s biggest questions. Subscribe and join a community that values exploration, growth, and meaningful dialogue. Today, we speak with Richard Blank, a remarkable entrepreneur who transformed his dream into a thriving reality. Richard's journey from renting desks to running a 300-seat call center in Costa Rica is nothing short of inspirational. Guest Introduction: Richard Blank is the CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center, a powerhouse in the telemarketing industry. His unique approach, combining old-school values with innovative strategies, has not only helped him grow his business but also fostered a strong, resilient company culture. Richard's story is a testament to the power of relationships and perseverance. Key Takeaways: 1. Journey of an Entrepreneur: Richard's transition from a communications background to a call center mogul. 2. Building a Company Culture: How Richard's focus on relationships and trust helped him navigate challenges, including the pandemic. 3. Surviving crisis: Strategies Richard employed to maintain business continuity and employee morale during the pandemic. 4. Gamification in the Workplace: The importance of creating a fun, engaging environment for employees. 5. Communication Strategies: Tips and techniques for effective telemarketing and client interaction. 6. The Role of Empathy in Business: Why human interaction will always have an edge over AI in customer service. 7. Richard's Passion for Pinball: How vintage arcade games play a role in his business and personal life. https://youtu.be/NjYHz2TbKv4 Chapters: 0:00 - Guest Introduction: Richard Blank 1:47 - Richard's Entrepreneurial Journey 3:10 - From Renting Desks to a 300-Seat Call Center 9:00 - Surviving and Thriving During COVID-19 12:36 - Working in Telemarketing 16:25 - Gamification and Employee Engagement 25:27 - Communication Techniques and Empathy 36:17 - Addressing Customer Complaints 45:42 - The Influence of Vintage Arcade Games 50:55 - Richard's Unique Marketing Style 58:19 - Richard's Collaboration with INXS Bassist 1:00:00 - Closing Remarks Podcast Alex Elish With a decade of experience in startups, I’ve mastered digital chaos. I live for the challenge in your mess of a digital strategy! My expertise - people called me SEO, PPC, CRMs, PMS, and automation guy. Marketing funnel or building a website, I’m your go-to guy for creating impactful solutions. If we vibe the right way - I'm your trusty friend and partner. We don't vibe - no money will get you my team efforts, blood and tears. Richard’s journey in the call center space is filled with twists and turns. When he was 27 years old, he relocated to Costa Rica to train employees for one of the larger call centers in San Jose. With a mix of motivational public speaking style backed by tactful and appropriate rhetoric, Richard shared his knowledge and trained over 10 000 bilingual telemarketers. Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008. Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain. A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. In addition, inducted into the 2023 Hall of Fame for Business. Giving back to Abington Senior High School is very important to Mr. Blank. As such, he endows a scholarship each year for students that plan on majoring in a world language at the university level. Costa Rica’s Call Center (CCC) is a state of the art BPO telemarketing outsource company located in the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica. Our main focus has been, and will always be to personally train each and every Central America call center agent so that we may offer the highest quality of outbound and inbound telemarketing solutions and bilingual customer service to small and medium sized international companies, entrepreneurs as well as fortune 500 companies.

We encourage you to visit one of our call centers on your next personal vacation or business trip to Central America’s paradise, Costa Rica. While you are here, we would recommend taking an extra day of your trip to visit breathtaking virgin beaches, play golf next to the ocean, try your luck at deep sea fishing, explore tropical jungles, climb volcanos or just relax in natural hot springs. Come and see for yourself why call center outsourcing in Costa Rica is a perfect solution for your growing company and a powerhouse in the BPO industry. https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/ Alex Elish, Big Performance Podcast, Richard Blank,Costa Rica's Call Center, Outsourcing, Telemarketing Call Centre, BPO, Nearshore Contact Center, Sales, Entrepreneur, B2B, Business, Podcast, Gamification,Leadership, Marketing, CX, Guest, Money, B2C education, BPO trainer, #AlexElish #BigPerformancePodcast #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Gamification #CEO Creative Marketing Like Music Hits I tell you what, that's why certain restaurants have large menus and 32 flavors of ice cream. It's my one taste of the color red might turn off somebody, but they prefer mint or yellow. And so fortunately for me, I've opened it enough where let's just say I do a podcast with somebody and I'm going to market that individual. My marketing team will take, I don't know, maybe 10 to 15 images. Combine the two. And just, you know, it's almost like an album from back in the day. I'll do four or five really guaranteed commercial hits that, as you say, are colorful. People are going to like, yeah, of course, throw a puppy in there or something. Then I go, guys, come on. Show me really something crazy. Let me just see if you can... produce something wicked or completely unexpected. Utilizing the military alphabet for enhanced communication And another thing, Alex, use the military alphabet so emails don't bounce back. A lot of people have served. And it gives you consistency. So you're not just thinking on the fly. And these are the sort of things where you might close one additional deal a month because an email didn't bounce back just because of that. And so I think that the military likes it. People will relate to it. And in my professional opinion, it's been able to end calls in a great way where you almost get an encore song or two where it should have been ending. But now you're talking the military and Memorial Day weekend and Veterans Day. And you show your pride and respect. Introduction to a Successful Entrepreneur All righty thank you for for joining me it's a pleasure to talk to you i feel like i know you for the viewers that just joined i want to introduce to you richard blank behind this magical smile there is one phenomenally strong entrepreneur. You have grown your business from renting desks to a 300-seat call center in Costa Rica. That's right. Your business is taking care of hundreds of employees and you build a strong company culture that lets you carry on through COVID and you're going strong in the face of AI apocalypse with your... on the ground business with the people that you hold dear, the people who work for you. The Art of Leadership and Communication It's not so stiff. There is a balance. And if you're going to come here and spend more time with me than you do with your own family, why don't we have a little bit of dessert as well and make it fun? And it's not enjoyable to be a boss where people are afraid of you and you scream and yell and make people stress. There is that responsibility. They have a job to do. Yeah. But we can almost do it by doing the apex, by being the leader and the one that can fly the highest and the furthest and the fastest. Thankfully, this is my wheelhouse. So at any time I can jump on this call and I can not only resolve the issue, would share a lesson to the agent that was looking for that guidance. So in essence, I just don't write checks. This is something that, as you say, you quit after a little bit but got the skills. I sold my soul. I decided to be in this industry for 24 years because I saw the art of the speech. I didn't want it to be ruined and muddied by the bad reputations that stocks and sweet steaks and other call centers do that take advantage of people there. You know, Alex, there's a ton of people out there that earn a wonderful living by retaining a client for a company, setting appointments, making business, getting a referral, possibly if a client is upset and giving you an exit interview or feedback that you're responsible, take the suggestions and implement. And so as long as you're engaged and proactive, that individual's priceless for a corporation. Mastering the art of communication with strategic name-dropping You're not lying. You're not angling or forcing a sale. All I'm doing is repeating a name drop. I'm introducing myself. I'm expecting you to ask me two or three clarification questions where I just use a buffer boomerang. I'll name drop you to adjust the tone, let you know it's a great question. Repeat the question, Alex, so you don't have to repeat it, right? And then I'll send it back to you in a positive way to just keep readjusting that negative, positive tone and shutting doors and checkpoints so we don't have to repeat rabbit holes and get you upset. Following a Passionate Journey You started from a communications background. You are bilingual and you decided to move to Costa Rica and start from the ground up. How did you decide to go for this journey? How did you start looking for that gold with the pen? How do you not when the road is there and open in front of you? When I was a young lad, I decided that Spanish was my favorite thing in the world. Fortunately, my parents would take me on vacations, sometimes to Mexico. I would come back with some vocabulary, and I had an interest, a base of it. Whenever I'd meet someone from the Latin community, they would give such reinforcement. It just wasn't a parlor trick or something cute. They realized that I really was into it. Then I understood something, my friend. When someone does above and beyond, there's dedicated practice. So besides what I had to do in school to get my grades, I loved watching movies and reading books. And my favorite was just having coffee and hanging out and speaking Spanish. And so anybody that has that sort of commitment and passion, you can't put that spark, you know? Improving communication through strategic vocabulary Any professional would know how much money is invested in somebody. To get them to that stage in business, unless they're throwing F-bombs and just giving the company away. I don't know if I, I don't think I would buy that blush. You're not firing somebody because a random customer's calling up because they got 13 extra dollars charged on the bill for a month. But that's not here nor there. I have some techniques for you, my friend, when you're thinking of this stuff. I like to adjust my vocabulary to make it more strategic and diplomatic. So I wouldn't say, excuse me on the phone. I would replace that for my clarification. Is it A, B, C, or 1, 2, 3? For my clarification. And then there's also tie-downs you could say. Sounds good, right? Makes sense, right? Because if you just keep talking, I don't know if it does sound good or makes sense. You need underwater scuba diving checkpoints. And then finally, my biggest question, My biggest gripe, it's like a gnat or a fly that bothers you. Whenever somebody uses the word help, I understand the intention behind it, but it can provoke a sort of emotion. And so I suggest using assist, guide, and lend a hand. I just know that it's like a longbow. You'll get better distance out of that compared to using help. We're accustomed to it, but it's a very uncomfortable metal chair in a waiting room with bad magazines. It just doesn't work. And so I like to, as I mentioned before, use these soft skills with people. I like to guide. I like to assist and especially, and I give it double points because you're utilizing image streaming by saying lend a hand.

The Special Sauce of Pinball in the Workplace.

The Business Infrastructure show. Scale Tales From the Ground Up. How to build a call center? Podcast Episode #213 Curing back office blues. Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. The Business Infrastructure show provides solutions and real life stories to owners and operators of fast growing small businesses seeking practical tips for dealing with growth spurts. A few years after graduating from university, he accepted an offer to conduct training at a call center in Costa Rica. At 27 years old he decided to call Costa Rica home. That was over 20 years ago. And he never looked back. In this episode, Richard takes us on his journey as he leverages his advanced Spanish-speaking skills, business prowess, and emotional intelligence to build and scale Costa Rica’s Call Center from a one-seat to a 300-seat operation. While his friends pursued careers in fields like law, medicine, and technology, Richard Blank went in a completely different direction – language. In fact, his love of language and communications led him to study abroad for one semester in Spain. That experience changed the trajectory of his life. Discover how Richard used a cash-only approach to invest in the business infrastructure required to lay a foundation for sustainable growth, his tips for reducing attrition, and why he urges entrepreneurs to “act their wage.” Growth is not a bad thing. But too much growth, too fast presents a set of challenges often overlooked when discussing small businesses. The emphasis tends to center on the marketing and promotion necessary to grow your business, and not on the operations and business infrastructure needed to scale your business in a sustainable manner. These back office operations can make or break your business. Following a Path Less Traveled Richard, surely there's more to your story than this. Let's try that again. That's why you do the best interviews, Alicia. Thank you so much. How about this? When I was in high school and I graduated, most of my friends were going to Ivy League and studying law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. I myself decided to double down on languages. It was my favorite class. And at the University of Arizona, once again, being a communication major, I was able to focus on public speaking rhetoric and nonverbal communication. And so that was very important for me. Sometimes I kind of felt like a dreamer. and i was almost doing this alone but since my great-grandparents came from europe from romania russia germany and Poland, they came at the turn of the century. And so when they came to the United States in the early 20th century, and they learned English and were entrepreneurs, it was pretty much my strongest argument to my parents on what I was trying to do. Our family were nomads, we were risk takers. And for me, all I know is that I wanted some sort of adventure. And I know that by learning a second language, it would open many doors for me. And so my natural progression pretty much got me to where I am today. Growth Through Cultural Exposure Backpacking around Europe opened a whole new world for Richard. He learned the valuable lessons of evaluating and focusing on what really matters in life, as well as not taking certain things, experiences or people for granted. And what I figured out then was that the things that we hold so dear in the United States really didn't make a difference overseas. We're really just looking at your essence. So it just opened my mind. that there are other places in the world where I could learn and be accepted. And I guess my main thing, and I'm very proud of this, is that when you're 21 years old in Europe, all you want to do is party and have a good time, which I did. But if a party began at eight o'clock, what I made sure to do before that time was to see as many museums and buildings and as much artwork and architecture as I could. So at least I could put in my time to grow and see these incredible historical artifacts that made our cultures, our Western civilization. And so that was the year that I read more books and didn't watch television and really mastered Spanish. And so that was probably the year that I grew the most. Introduction: Overcoming Challenges and Fears Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live or work in another country? Be honest. I know I have. It’s a big reason why my team operates remotely around the world. But it’s not the same as living in those countries. How do you get over the mental hurdles to try something different in your business when everyone is telling you, no, no? This is the Business Infrastructure Podcast, the show where we offer strategies, tactics, and resources to cure back office blues and keep your business operating as good on the inside as it looks on the outside. I’m your host, Alicia Butler-Pierre, and you’re about to hear from someone who set his fears aside, listened to his inner voice, and proved all the naysayers wrong when he started a business in another country. This episode is brought to you by Equilibria Incorporated, the company behind this podcast where we design scale-ready business infrastructure for fast-growing small businesses. Richard's Pinball Collection and Its Role in Company Culture And you know what? It was true. As I looked at Richard, he was dressed impeccably. Not sure if you noticed it, but he mentioned playing pinball. Here's another interesting fun fact about Richard. He owns the largest collection of American pinball machines in Costa Rica. For him, providing a place where his team can have fun on the job is equally as important as them providing quality service. After all, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. Scaling a Business Without Loans: Richard's Journey And over the course of six years, I saved enough money to be able to purchase a three floor building that can house 300 agents. And so I did this without any sort of loans or partners or mortgages. because I don't like paying interest. The year is 2008. Richard lands his first client and eventually grows and scales Costa Rica's call center from one seat to 150 on up to 300 seats. I'm sure you're wondering how he achieved this kind of scale in just six years without seeking outside investments. Don't go anywhere because after the break, Richard will share the details of how he did it and how he sustains it. You started your business because you believed you could make a difference. But now you have more demand than you can keep up with, and if you don't get your operations in order soon, you could lose everything you've worked so hard to build. The chaos is causing angry customers, bad reviews, failed audits, and more. Starting Small: Richard's Strategy of Buying Used We're back, and before the break, we learned about the humble beginnings of Costa Rica's call center and how Richard Blank, as founder and CEO, scaled his operations without outside investments. But how? Well, one thing he did in the beginning was buying used. That is, he strategically purchased either brand new or gently used furniture and computers from other call centers that were going out of business. Here's Richard. The Path to Success: Humility and Dedication I think the greatest thing you can do in the beginning is to be very humble, appreciative. And if you, it's like the game of life. You need to start out in the tent and then you end up in the, in the mansion, but you go through your certain stages. And as long as you can keep pace where you act your wage and and you do it accordingly, you're going to be exceptionally successful. And most people love to hear about the story. They could care less about where I am today. They really want to know about the struggle. And I guess, Alicia, my last parting bit of advice is dedicated practice. And so if anybody really wants to master their craft, they have to put in the time off the camera when your friends aren't around, when you're by yourself. And so if you can invest that sort of time in yourself, you'll be more than prepared when the time comes to shine. The Special Sauce of Pinball in the Workplace These are such amazing machines, and they're usually older than the agents. And you and I both know that when you play these games on the Internet, it's one thing. But when you are with the machine, especially pinball, You can really feel it. And so to give these agents that sort of gaming experience is just, and it's free play as well. I don't charge them. But it's just really one of those special sauce things that we do here at Costa Rica's call center, which my opinion, Alicia, reduces attrition. https://youtu.be/qw09sFl1DZU https://youtu.be/Gpq-w_WWdn8 https://youtu.be/Cf1PDpZu67M https://youtu.be/It9x2zUkxC8 https://youtu.be/TYSM3A8Wlx0 https://youtu.be/DG1TJ9JcS0k https://youtu.be/Kg_qKh-mqxU Alicia Butler Pierre is the Founder & CEO of Equilibria, Inc. Her career in operations began over 20 years ago while working as an engineer in various chemical plants and oil refineries. She invented the Kasennu™ framework for business infrastructure and authored, Behind the Façade: How to Structure Company Operations for Sustainable Success. It is the world’s first published book on business infrastructure for small businesses. Alicia hosts the weekly Business Infrastructure podcast with a global audience across 60 countries. Equilibria, Inc. is an operations management firm specializing in business infrastructure for fast-growing organizations. Our mission is to provide access to tips, resources, and proven frameworks that revolutionize the way small businesses operate. We do that through original podcast episodes, blog posts, videos, presentations, workshops, and coaching sessions. The Business Infrastructure Podcast has accepted Richard Blank's invitation to join the audience for a solid discussion regarding starting a company from scratch in Costa Rica as an expat. Topics discussed with Richard advanced telemarketing strategy, conflict management, interpersonal soft skills, customer support, rhetoric, gamification, employee motivation, phonetic micro expression reading. Richard’s journey in the call center space is filled with twists and turns. When he was 27 years old, he relocated to Costa Rica to train employees for one of the larger call centers in San Jose. With a mix of motivational public speaking style backed by tactful and appropriate rhetoric, Richard shared his knowledge and trained over 10 000 bilingual telemarketers. Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain. A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. In addition, inducted into the 2023 Hall of Fame for Business. Giving back to Abington Senior High School is very important to Mr. Blank. As such, he endows a scholarship each year for students that plan on majoring in a world language at the university level. Costa Rica’s Call Center (CCC) is a state of the art BPO telemarketing outsource company located in the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica. Our main focus has been, and will always be to personally train each and every Central America call center agent so that we may offer the highest quality of outbound and inbound telemarketing solutions and bilingual customer service to small and medium sized international companies, entrepreneurs as well as fortune 500 companies. #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Leadgeneration #Appointmentsetting #businessinfrastructureshow https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/