Outsourcing with Costa Rica's Call Center. Richard Blank telemarketing business sales tips

Monday, June 16, 2025

A Personal Story of Academic Failure and Self-Reflection. #sales #busine...

For the Curious and Confused podcast. Host Don McTaggart has a conversation about persuasion with Richard Blank For the Curious and Confused Podcast We live in a world where we’re surrounded by experts, but rarely do we get to hear what truly sparked their passion or how they grappled with uncertainty. So, how can we better understand this world through the people who inhabit it? "For the Curious and Confused" is a podcast hosted by Don McTaggart, a PhD Chemistry student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The podcast focuses on exploring diverse perspectives and experiences from thinkers and doers across various fields, aiming to foster understanding and address collective confusion. Don McTaggart's LinkedIn profile confirms his role as a PhD student and his interest in fostering deeper connections through listening. The podcast, described as a "collection of conversations meant to foster understanding and connection" according to Spotify - Web Player: Music for everyone, features interviews with guests from various backgrounds. The goal is to delve into the passions and uncertainties of individuals, offering insights into their personal journeys and how they navigate the world. Episode(#006) Richard Blank is the CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center, based in San Juan, Costa Rica. When Richard was 27, he moved from Philadelphia to Costa Rica and has since trained over 10,000 bilingual telemarketers. Richard specializes in advanced telemarketing strategy, conflict management, interpersonal skills, and customer support. He also owns the largest collection of restored American pinball machines in Central America. Our conversation was dynamic and zigzagging, and it's made me revisit the subtle ways we use behavior to influence or gain favor with others. Chapters: (0:00) - Introduction and background (5:00) - Costa Rica and making your own path (12:00) - Telemarketing as artful communication (17:00) - Soft skills and connection (23:00) - Gamification and pinball machines (30:00) - Recruiting and training in Costa Rica (37:00) - Ethics and stereotypes about call centers (43:00) - The purpose of language and empathy (50:00) - Overcoming obstacles (1:01:00) - Extra questions and wrap up A Personal Story of Academic Failure and Self-Reflection when you reflect on some of the most challenging moments of your life, were there any internal narratives that either helped or hindered your ability to navigate those situations? I had to put some things to bed. Without getting too into it, there's some kids that have grown up and have failed out of school or gotten kicked out of school. I'm not saying I burned the school down. I just failed out via grades. I went to a really nice private school and I failed out in seventh grade. And it's a school my father and brother went to. And so I was a disappointment to people and to myself personally. And I'll never forget this moment. You know when people have dreams where they show up? A lot of people have high school dreams where they show up for the final exam and not studied. Well, this was a true dream. I mean, this must have been, what, late May? And I'm sitting at the dining room table on a Sunday, and it's like 3 or 4 o'clock, sun's going down, books are piled up. https://youtu.be/lVmtYq9xB1c https://youtu.be/EA8BZi6oO-k Richard Blank hired bassist Garry Gary Beers of INXS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieGjN5H4xPQ For the Curious and Confused podcast, Don McTaggart, 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 For the Curious and Confused (podcast) - Don McTaggart As a chemistry PhD student, I’ve found that real understanding and connection emerge when we listen more deeply. In this podcast, I invite thinkers and doers from all walks of life to share their insights and stories. Join me as we try to sort out some of our collective confusion with open-mindedness and curiosity. I'm passionate about contributing to solutions for real-world sustainable energy challenges. Current research projects focus on the discovery and characterization of novel materials for fluoride ion batteries. Roles in community engagement and broader impacts include: • NC Energy Literacy Fellow • Parr Center for Ethics Graduate Fellow • Treasurer (current) and outreach co-chair (previous) of UNC Materials Research Society Chapter • Resident Advisor at Guilford College (voted RA of the Year in 2021) • Shadow-A-Scientist liaison • Camp counselor for Friends of Santa Claus • Conference organization committees: -- Future Fuels and Breakthrough Batteries (UNC Sustainable Energy Research Consortium) -- Triangle Student Research Competition (UNC Materials Research Society) -- International Conference on Fluoride-Ion Batteries I also enjoy health and wellness, philosophy, AI, reading, and being outside! 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. 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/ #FortheCuriousandConfusedpodcast #DonMcTaggart #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Gamification #CEO #trend #trending #listennow #subscribe #podcastclip #podcastvideo #videopodcasting #podcastguest Mastering Conversational Techniques in Sales Calls Let me teach you how to jump clouds and have a romantic death. Are you ready? This is what will keep you from not going insane on Devil's Island when you're in a call center. If you can do a company named Spike... Okay, we're all going to talk about for the Curious and Confused podcast. How are you today? At least I'm going to say it. At least I said that. Judy answers the phone. I'm going to let Judy know she's great. But prior to that, Judy's going to say, who is this? And I'm going to say, it's Richard blank. And then who is Richard Blank? And that's where I use, and you were talking about adjustments of tones, a buffer boomerang technique. Judy, that's an excellent question. My name is Richard Blank. Richard Blank, what's ABC? Judy, glad you brought that up. ABC is 123. Richard, what's 123? Once again, Judy, so glad you mentioned that. 123 is ABC. Oh, it's... Beautiful adjustments. Challenging Call Center Stereotypes and Explaining the Industry Reality So you're an American who moved to a less affluent country to start a for-profit company. And you said you currently make seven figures. So I may be unjustly calling it a stereotype here, But I think when people hear the phrase call center, many of them think of like a large warehouse in India where labor can be exploited because poverty is widespread. And so just so we're all on the same page and understanding where you're at. Does your call center have any similarities to this dynamic? And if not, what am I missing in the story? Well, you definitely have large areas where people are working in their cubicles. And a lot of times they have triple wides compared to things that are tight. Do they have natural light? Does it stink in there? Is it fresh air? What are the conditions like? What are the managers like? What are the accounts that you're on? Do you get paid on time? So as I say before, if it was as bad as people say it is, I would have never lasted 25 years in the industry, but there are so many people that give it a bad rap. Conversation Checkpoints and the Power of Answering Speed And so you think that a phone call lasts 10 minutes done. It's really 20, 30 second checkpoints that gets combined into a conversation because there is an introduction, a body and a conclusion, just like in an experiment. Same thing with conversations. It could be done in 10 minutes or it can be done every 30 seconds, 20 times. That combines into one full conversation. And so that's just the fanatic part. But then here's the best thing. Your tone rate and pitch could be manipulated. It could, but the one thing that cannot is you're answering speed because you do need silence for sound. I mean, that's the part of the thing in the experiment. And so that's why the police usually bring out the evidence by the fourth question. And it's almost impossible for someone to control answering speed. And so that to me, I see is just more of a linear and to see where he goes from zero to 10 every 30 seconds, how quickly do they respond?

For the Curious and Confused podcast by Host Don McTaggart. Verbal persu...

Saturday, June 14, 2025

Why Humans Will Still Matter in an AI-Driven World. #business #callcente...

Jason Schmitt's Firewatch Business. The Secret to Closing More Deals with special B2B guest Richard Blank. Firewatch Business - Entrepreneurial Insights I’ll help you break free from the 9-5 and build a life of independence and freedom on your own terms.—so you have the money to seize opportunities, support your family, and create the safety and stability you need. You’ll also gain the tools to take control of your time, so you never miss family events and can decide when and how you work, instead of letting a boss dictate your life. My channel is here to I am a CPA and serial entrepreneur. I am made money and lost money and want to share my insights in how I did both. Want to close more deals and master the art of persuasion? In this exclusive interview, Richard Blank, owner of Costa Rica Call Center, reveals a powerful yet overlooked sales secret-active listening. It's not just about getting the script; it's about tuning into every detail, from a prospect's tone to background noises (yes, even a barking dog matters!). Richard also shares insights on building real human connections, why AI can't replace empathy, and how his love for vintage pinball machines ties into his sales philosophy. Don't miss out-this could be the game-changer for your sales strategy! Selling With Integrity: Open Cage Birds Always Return He liked you so much that when we were playing golf, he mentioned you. You made that impression. You spoke to him for how long we've been on? 59 minutes and 36 seconds. And you still didn't force him to sign the contract like they do in Glengarry Glen Ross. He spent an hour with you? Yeah, tons of advice and this and that and stories. Really? Didn't hard sell you? No. No, it's the open cage bird that will always come back. Using Language and Tone to Improve Customer Interactions I'll give a good example for you. This will assist. People need to really use the thesaurus. because not saying their vocabulary is not expansive, but I mean, there are certain times you just clash and it's just not the right thing to wear. So people use the word help all the time and that's all right, but it evokes an ego, an ego defense. It's not that closing your eyes, you think of yourself in quicksand saying, Jason, help me. And so we just don't want that. Depending on the stage of the relationship, you start off with assisting somebody. In the middle, you're guiding them. And then at the end, you lend a hand. I'm just, I'm readjusting tones is all I'm doing. And so secondly, instead of saying, excuse me, which a lot of people do, or I'm sorry, there's certain things you do in chess. You can sacrifice pawns. And so I'd say, Jason, for my clarification, was it ABC or one, two, three? It's your dog that's barking. It's your bad self-connection. We know that, but instead of putting you on the spot, it's me on the spot on something like that. Why Humans Will Still Matter in an AI-Driven World When you go to the town square and you see the person playing the violin or the one drawing in charcoal people's profiles, they're going to be rock stars because AI is just going to do 99% of our heavy lifting. But that 1% is that hug, is that handshake, is that look that humans do with each other that make us best friends. and want us to continue. And so am I concerned? No, because I'm going to take advantage of it. Like everybody, there's luxuries to it. Will it affect my industry? Absolutely. Buggy whip all the way. It's going to replace the majority of the people at this call center, but there will be individuals. I'll be willing to pay money to actually speak to somebody to suppress that zero. They'll spend the extra dollar and they'll know it's not AI. because of the way that we respond, https://youtu.be/ixQ0n6W2Xiw https://youtu.be/ONV2EftwTj4 https://youtu.be/S85b0iVInZ4 https://youtu.be/LXGxd30OxBo Richard Blank hired bassist Garry Gary Beers of INXS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieGjN5H4xPQ Firewatch Business, Jason Schmitt, 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 Hi, I’m Jason — CPA and your accountability partner. With 20+ years as a CPA, wedding DJ, and full-time coach, I help entrepreneurs turn goals into reality. Whether you want more freedom, income, or family time, I provide the clarity and strategy to make it happen. Let’s turn your “someday” into “this year” and build the life you want. But I’m also a wedding DJ, a business coach, and a guy who’s built a side hustle that paid for two trips to Italy last year… and my wife’s facelift. You’re not lazy. You’re just stuck. Starting a side hustle sounds exciting—until you’re tired after a long day, juggling kids, and doubting every step. I’ve been there. That’s why I created Firewatch Business: to give you a clear path, a boost, and a partner who won’t let you quit. The Firewatch Framework Clarity We uncover your best-fit hustle and set a specific financial goal. Action We break that goal into weekly milestones you can actually do Accountability I follow up with you. We track progress. We adjust the plan. Results Your hustle earns income. You gain freedom. And you don’t burn out doing it. Sound crazy? It’s not. It’s just what happens when you stop waiting and start working your plan. HOW THE DJ BUSINESS STARTED For years, I tailgated at Alabama football games — good food, cold drinks, and music blasting. One night during a Bama vs. LSU game, we had 400 people doing the Cupid Shuffle in the parking lot. That same year, I went to six weddings. Five DJs were awful. One was decent. I kept thinking, I could do way better than this. So I did. I invested $800 in equipment and launched my DJ side hustle. That business is still growing in 2025 — and it helped fund some pretty amazing memories. WHY I STARTED FIREWATCH BUSINESS I know what it’s like to be stuck. I wanted more income, more freedom, and more options for my family. But I didn’t want more fluff. When I looked for help starting a side hustle, all I found were vague YouTube gurus and books full of buzzwords, not steps. So I wrote the book I needed: -How to Find Your Side Hustle — a practical guide that’s now got over 80 five-star reviews. -Firewatch Business grew from that same place — a mission to help people like you find a real, doable side hustle and create a way out of your 9 to 5. WHO I HELP (AND HOW) I work with guys who are mid-career and mid-burnout — guys who are tired of trading time for money with nothing left at the end of the month. You want something that works. Something that pays. Something that gets you closer to freedom. I won’t just cheer you on. I’ll hold you accountable. I’ll help you build a step-by-step plan and push you to follow through — because action is what creates results. 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. 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/ #FirewatchBusiness #JasonSchmitt #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Gamification #CEO #trend #trending #listennow #subscribe #podcastclip #podcastvideo #videopodcasting #podcastguest Coaching Cold Callers with Empathy Do you ever get calls, sales calls to you and you go, and do you ever coach the guy who's calling you if he's poor when he calls you? A thousand percent. Sometimes they don't have the time. They have to go because Billy's yelling at them in the background, but I will speak with some people and I will QA them. I'll quality control them. Oh, why not? Why not? If they have the guts and, Off record between me and you, don't tell anybody. Most of them hate what they're doing. They're making calls kind of like, give the image of someone whose shoulders are slugged and they're walking in the rain with a wetsuit, getting splashed on and laughed at. That's how they feel. And that's what you can sense from them. And my heart goes out to them.