Messages and Methods podcast b2b  guest CEO RICHARD BLANK COSTA RICA'S CALL CENTER. - video Dailymotion

Richard Blank

Messages and Methods Podcast interview. Special guest Richard Blank.  What online entrepreneurs want is visibility, impact, and profit but they often get overwhelmed by the technology. We inspire excitement for content creation and marketing yourself and your brand while answering all your technology questions.   Get actionable tips to consistently create and distribute content to grow your online community and position yourself as an expert in your industry. At AGK Media Studio, Shelley and Toby provide content marketing strategies and a content consistency framework so you can engage more clients every week.  Our Story Your Story is a YouTube channel that features stories and interviews with Toby Younis and Shelley Carney. Toby and Shelley are retirees, content creators, and authors of A Gypsy's Kiss: A Treasure Hunt Adventure. (available on Amazon)  In their stories, Toby and Shelley share their life experiences of growing up, living a life, and raising a family. They also offer advice and inspiration to others about creating your own YouTube channel and community.  \At The Podcasting and Livestreaming Channel we interview entrepreneurs and business owners who rely upon podcasting and livestreaming to expand their social media presence. Join us every Tuesday at 7pm Mountain Time to meet another successful podcaster-livestreamer.  The Podcasting and Livestreaming Channel is produced entirely by Shelley Carney and  Toby Younis of AGK Media, LLC in their studios in beautiful downtown Bernalillo, New Mexico. If you enjoy our programming, please take a moment to LIKE it, share it with your family and friends and subscribe to be informed of upcoming episodes. Thanks for listening.   https://youtu.be/58CPEsVkh98 https://youtu.be/VOLBt4zU5zA https://youtu.be/4yPwevllawk https://youtu.be/0NYOIk2C390 https://youtu.be/uCjx-wnaUag https://youtu.be/9pAGjMlrzZs https://youtu.be/adDv9Nqggqg https://youtu.be/ygfEggY0Cz4 https://youtu.be/j0O-rHwZ6NM https://youtu.be/l8QNUbYR3fg https://youtu.be/0dHiI3JzGsM https://youtu.be/w5xY0nWSJKM https://youtu.be/D5nZaFaWrsw https://youtu.be/KdicYSeXmls https://youtu.be/HV0bEOE786k

Transcript

01:00Experts who share their knowledge and experience to provide actionable tips to land more clients, nurture leads, and position yourself as an expert in your industry.

01:10Chat with Shelly and Toby live every Wednesday on YouTube or Facebook.

01:15Hello.

01:17How are you doing?

01:20Hi, I'm doing well.

01:22And here we are with Messages and Methods.

01:25I'm the host, Shelly Carney.

01:27And I'm the co-host, Toby Yunus.

01:29We have a special guest today.

01:30His name is Richard Blank.

01:32He's the CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center.

01:35And I'm going to give you a little bit of a blurb that he sent us.

01:37Costa Rica's Call Center is a state-of-the-art BPO telemarketing outsourcing company located in the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica.

01:48I've been there many times and actually had plans to move there.

01:52And we may get a chance to talk with Richard about whether it's a good idea or not.

01:57So, Shelly, did you have any other announcements you wanted to make?

02:01Hey, just to let you know, to look in the crawl for all of our links and information, you can call or text us at that number, 505-750-2744.

02:17You can reach out by email at support at messagesandmethods.com.

02:22You can get our new Livecast Life book at book.livecast.life.

02:26You also can get our free guide for Livecast Life, that's a workbook, at guide.livecast.life.

02:36And you, too, can register to be a guest on our show at journey.agkmedia.studio.

02:44And there's a typo in that word, so we'll have to fix that.

02:47Oops.

02:48If you want to set up your own live stream studio, check out our studio equipment at studio.agkmedia.studio.

02:56Sign up for our weekly newsletter at news.agkmedia.studio and get your free show flow template at showflow.agkmedia.studio.

03:05All of these links will be in the description box and show notes, so please look there for those.

03:13And I'm ready to get right into it.

03:16You have one more thing, your new survey.

03:18Oh, quiz.agkmedia.studio is our quick content quiz that we would love for you to fill out.

03:28And, again, that's scrolling across the bottom or check the description box for those.

03:33All right.

03:34Now we're ready.

03:35Let's bring Richard on to join our conversation.

03:38Hey, Richard.

03:39Good to have you here.

03:40Hey, Shelly.

03:41Hey, Toby.

03:41We're so happy to be a guest on your Messages and Methods show tonight.

03:46We're glad that this could finally happen.

03:48We had some problems with scheduling applications, but we're glad we finally got coordinated enough

03:54to make sure we had you on the show.

03:56We're looking forward to the conversation.

03:58Me too.

03:59All right.

04:00Richard, why don't you start us off by telling us about yourself and your business?

04:04Thank you so much, Shelly.

04:05I am the CEO of Costa Rica's call center.

04:08I'm originally from northeast Philadelphia, so it's been a long journey of some twists

04:13and turns.

04:13But I moved to Costa Rica when I was 27 years old in August of 2000.

04:18A very good friend of mine asked if I could come down for just a couple months and teach

04:22English at his call center, and I stayed.

04:25So I worked with my friend for four years, and I learned the business from the inside and

04:29out, not as a C-level executive, but as one of the many Costa Rican Ticos that were

04:34making and receiving calls, and Shelly and Toby, I figured out ways in which to enhance

04:39the experience, not only for the client, but especially for the agent.

04:42When those that work in a call center industry, they do deserve their empathy and dignity,

04:48and I just wanted to make sure that they're not expendable and treated like robots and

04:52numbers, and so I've created a certain culture and a company environment where my attrition

04:58is low and my production is very high.

05:00Well, it sounds like you've done an amazing job to motivate your people as a result of

05:07the effort that you've invested in improving them, their skills, the environment, and what

05:13they do as a profession.

05:15And I know a little bit about it because I spent several years in a call center way back

05:21in the 70s when we were still, it was still a telephone call center and we were selling

05:26magazines.

05:27Were you using rotary phones?

05:29No, I'm only kidding.

05:30It was damn near that, but I really enjoyed the work and it made good money at the time.

05:37I was still in the military, but I was living in Washington, D.C., which as you probably know

05:42is a very expensive area to live in, and so I had to supplement my income in some way and

05:48I found this opportunity and I spent almost three years there before exiting the service and

05:55going to work for the National Security Agency.

05:57So I know the experience.

05:58I know it's a long time ago and probably a whole different world in terms of telemarketing,

06:04but we're glad to hear that you're working towards making some improvements from both the

06:09caller's perspective and the recipient's perspective.

06:12So let's talk about, we've all had to deal with the issue of the pandemic over the past several

06:20years, and so we'd like to know from people like you, what did you learn about marketing,

06:28especially digital marketing, in the last two years?

06:31Well, once again, that's an excellent question.

06:35Once COVID hit, legally, we weren't allowed to have a certain amount of agents here, so

06:39a lot of people were working from home.

06:41So I guess it went from brick and mortar to virtual, and so to try to keep people's attention

06:46and try to make them inclusive and feel like that they belong, maybe my message had to change

06:52a little bit.

06:53So instead of making something that's just so cookie cutter and boilerplate, what I like

06:59to do, not only for my agents, but for prospective clients, is just to take a couple extra minutes,

07:04do some due diligence on a LinkedIn or a company website profile, so I could custom make a message,

07:12a delivery, or just to show that I took a little bit of extra effort to research this company

07:18before I contacted them.

07:20And so besides the digital marketing that I do, there's a lot of digital information out

07:25there that I could use to my advantage, so I can really almost custom make my messages

07:30and deliveries for that much more of an impact.

07:34So are you responsible for all the sales responsibility in your organization as well as being the CEO?

07:42That's a very, very good question.

07:44I am pretty much in charge of closing the deals.

07:47I do have a lot of people out there that refer my business and speak for me.

07:51But when it comes to the contracts and people moving forward to work with me,

07:55because only about 10% of my clients fly down here, most of them, it's just sight unseen.

08:00So they want to speak to the jefe.

08:02They want me to answer their questions.

08:04They want me to reassure them that by working with a near-shore call center just a couple hours

08:09away on a flight, that their company and their work is in good hands.

08:14Now, a lot of people have not worked with a call center before.

08:18Toby, you're familiar with it.

08:19And Shelley, I don't know if you ever did the grind in the call center, but it's definitely

08:22for not the faint of heart.

08:25But what we do here is we are able to assist companies to scale.

08:30I can compare apples when someone puts me on a level playing field.

08:34The agents here, Toby, they're bilingual.

08:36So to me, it bears the mark of higher education.

08:38So just besides them getting a return on investment of their education, they find English stimulating.

08:45So it's not really a transitional job as you'd see it in the States.

08:48And so even though they're doing heavy levels of concentration in shorter periods of time

08:53because it is a second language, once again, their fulfillment in their job and the passion

08:59that they put into it is pretty incredible.

09:01And so I've been able to see people grow within this industry because not only of their English

09:09levels, but the fact that they are learning, once again, the North American market, certain

09:13genres we have, getting very attuned to the North American ear.

09:18So it makes them exceptionally marketable and valuable.

09:21So as I said before, we have an extremely, extremely competent workforce here in Costa Rica.

09:27Before I turn it back over to Shelly, I have a question of curiosity.

09:32You mentioned that you went down there in 2000 to help a friend of yours, but you stayed.

09:38Why Costa Rica instead of all the opportunities to create call centers literally any place

09:44in the world, including the United States?

09:47If it wasn't for my friend, I would be anywhere.

09:49But I will share this with both of you, Shelly and Toby, that if you can get past your parents' guilt,

09:54you can pretty much live anywhere in the world.

09:55So when I graduated high school, unlike most of my friends that were going to Ivy League

10:01and were studying medicine, law, engineering, and architecture, I doubled down on languages.

10:06My favorite class was Spanish.

10:07So I went to the University of Arizona, and I was a Spanish communication major.

10:12So I just didn't really fall into this.

10:15I interned for Telemundo and worked for an importer of Corona.

10:18So I was always using my Spanish sales and public relations.

10:21And so that one in a million opportunity crossed my path when I was 27.

10:27And once again, there were certain opinions that were given to me, and there were certain

10:32expectations in regards to my career.

10:35But guys, if you think about it, my great-grandparents came over from Europe, learned a second language,

10:39and were entrepreneurs.

10:40So my best argument to my parents was, hey, if great-grandpa did it, why can't I do it?

10:46And so I guess I really put them to bed on that one.

10:49But I was on a mission.

10:51I was being true to myself.

10:53And I know that when you have these sort of cosquillas, when you have these chills, and

10:57you know that the stars could sometimes be aligned for you, you know you're doing the

11:01right thing.

11:03And so by having this opportunity, it's only supposed to be just for two months.

11:06But when I was here, and I was in Central America, and Toby, you mentioned how much you

11:10love Costa Rica.

11:11I thought it was incredible.

11:13And it was the first time I ever walked into a call center.

11:15So the three of us have seen the movies.

11:18Boiler Room, and The Wolf of Wall Street, and Glengarry.

11:20And sure, there's a lot of places that are like that, but not every vertical sells stock.

11:26And I'm in a very strict Catholic country, so a lot of these agents would refuse those

11:30sort of accounts.

11:32And so when I was here, once again, I got to see the art of speech.

11:36Even though the technology changed, Toby, since the 70s, still the empathy, the act of listening,

11:43the rebuttals, and being proficient in your craft, that has not changed.

11:48Except today, most people are looking for omni-channel non-voice support.

11:53They prefer to do things in chat and in emails.

11:56But the three of us know that if you're not on the phone with someone, you are eliminating

12:00an upsell, a retention, a possible referral, and worst case scenario, an exit interview to

12:07find out areas in which we could have approved or how our competition is doing it to earn

12:12their business.

12:13So I'll make a very, very strong argument to still have voice work instead of non-voice

12:18work here at the call centers.

12:20Nice.

12:21Shelley, over here.

12:23Just to answer your question, yes, I did work in a call center for Southwest Airlines

12:27reservations in the late 80s, actually.

12:30Oh, wow.

12:31Yeah.

12:31Did you get a lot of positive escalations?

12:33Did you do well on your QA reports?

12:35I didn't care for the job.

12:42One of the things I didn't care for was being strapped to a headset, and now here I am again.

12:50So it did give me a lot of learning and experience that came into play later.

12:59So I have a question for you.

13:00You were there, both of you were there, and you saw the ups and the downs and the good

13:05and the bad time.

13:06And for me, to try to give you a CEO cracked code, it's really as simple as empathy.

13:12Once again, if you treat somebody well and you prepare them and give them the proper resources

13:17and onboard them in a certain way, the chances are they're going to work very well with you.

13:22And so I just didn't really want to cut corners and wanted to ensure, since English is their

13:27second language, that we're constantly focusing on the thesaurus to expand their vocabulary

13:32with incredible similes to be able to be more diplomatic, strategic, and to avoid any sort

13:39of rabbit holes and to control the conflict management.

13:42Well, my experience, I've got to tell you that the organization I joined at the time was

13:48an old line organization.

13:50They had been around for a really long time, and their onboarding process included a lot

13:57of solid training as well as classes in what you now call, I didn't see it that way then,

14:04as empathy building, understanding to whom you are selling and how to deal with each respective

14:11situation because you're trained to work from a script.

14:14But the script only gets you so far, and you have to be ready for almost anything that could change.

14:21I tell a story about the one time I called someone and made my offer to John Smith,

14:28and the response was, John Smith?

14:31John Smith?

14:32He died three weeks ago.

14:35You know?

14:35And the idea is, where do you go from there?

14:38Because that's not in the script.

14:41You ask a follow-up question.

14:42Exactly.

14:43You ask how amazing John was and what he did to be special.

14:47And that's exactly the training that we were given to follow on question, but make it a question

14:54of empathy.

14:55Because one of the valuable lessons that I learned during that period was,

14:59if you keep asking questions in an empathetic way, people will answer those questions.

15:07So Shelly and I are writing a book right now on interview, the art of the interview,

15:12and we're incorporating a lot of that good advice.

15:16So how has digital marketing for entrepreneurs, the people that you do business with,

15:24how will that change in the next 12 months, as opposed to how it's changed in the past

15:29two years?

15:31Well, me personally, I've been doing a lot more podcasts than I have before.

15:36I'm kind of on this podcast kick.

15:38Usually it was just writing articles and putting out photographs and contributing on other sites

15:43in certain ways that were call center and telemarketing related.

15:47And so right now, I just want to maybe destroy any sort of misconceptions people have about what

15:52a CEO is, what a telemarketer is, and what an owner of a call center does.

15:56And so, as I say before, walking rows and breaking bread with people.

16:00And I don't know about both of you, but here at the call center, I have a gamification culture.

16:05So I collect classic pinball machines and arcade machines so I can create a neutral environment

16:10for people to meet others from other departments, let off steam and recharge batteries and spend

16:16time with me.

16:16I love this digital marketing now because not only am I so thankful to be here with you two

16:23this evening, but it allows me to share my ideas prior to a phone call to me.

16:28So it could save me time.

16:30I don't have to spend an hour discussing certain things when they've already listened to it.

16:35Or it could, once again, eliminate things they're not interested in only focusing on one section,

16:40which could save us some time.

16:42But also, they get to see my smile and they get to see my passion towards what I do.

16:48So by making this call, they're speaking with a genuine boss.

16:52So we're almost starting on third base and with some serious momentum.

16:56So this digital marketing today has greatly assisted me in closing a lot of deals.

17:02We're seeing that from a lot of the folks that we have conversations with.

17:08Shelley, back to you.

17:09So, Richard, what do you see as the biggest obstacle for the people that come to you and

17:16how do you solve that for them?

17:19That's a wonderful question.

17:20I believe that since I'm here in Costa Rica, I do follow all the Costa Rican labor laws.

17:26So a lot of my clients will have specific expectations that we're just not able to do,

17:32either legally or ethically.

17:33And so I have to make sure that I'm very crystal clear, very candid about our capabilities here

17:40and what their expectations are.

17:42And in addition to that, a lot of the times that people will tell me what they're doing

17:48in their office and not saying that I'm superior or inferior, but I'm an expert in my field.

17:54So what I like to do is to ask specific questions, at least 10, and they will give me their answers

18:01and I will listen carefully.

18:02Add two more additional things there to establish my credibility that I know what I'm talking

18:06about.

18:07And one by one, walk backwards just to see if, A, I can fulfill their needs.

18:11And I'll give you a simple example.

18:13Metrics.

18:14If some guy's telling me that I need to do 10 calls an hour, but the average talk time

18:19is seven minutes, okay, that's 70 minutes, but then you're not even putting in the CRM,

18:25the wrap-up time, or any sort of coaching in between that.

18:28So as much as you can tell me someone in your office is doing that, I have to ask you to

18:32re-explain it to me because my infrastructure here does not say so.

18:36So as much as you want to reverse psychology me, we have to also be extremely realistic.

18:42And it's okay because a lot of the times the scripts that they'll send to me is not complete

18:47or I don't believe that the tone would be appropriate.

18:51And then sometimes the rebuttals as well could be a little too aggressive for the profile

18:56of agent that we're looking for.

18:58So I make certain suggestions to see if it's a good fit.

19:02And if it is, then it's very able for me to start working with people.

19:06So once again, from an educated point of view, Shelley, I'm really just trying to make the

19:11best decision for all of us.

19:13So we'd be able to, once again, have a very successful project.

19:17So I've got a question that's going to lead into that, but let me ask a follow-on to the

19:22one that you just responded, to which you just responded.

19:25And that is, the impression I get is that you hire agents after you have an agreement with

19:32a prospective client.

19:33Is that correct?

19:34100%, yes.

19:35I mean, imagine if I were hiring 50 people for prospective people.

19:39Imagine the amount of time that it would take for the interviews, calling their references

19:43and background checks.

19:45So I have to give priority to my existing clients.

19:50And as much as I want to show good faith and earn business, I also don't work for free.

19:54You're not going to cut me a check when I bring you 10 people.

19:57That could be two weeks worth of serious work when I'm trying to do other things.

20:01So you'd have to show me some good faith as well that you're going to work with me.

20:06And as long as I, once again, can show these sort of values in our first phone calls, you

20:14know what I also like to do?

20:16I like to introduce them to my floor supervisor and my chief technical officer, allow them

20:21to pick their brain.

20:22We send out a pre-launch checklist.

20:24And if I really need to, this is what I'll do.

20:27I'll send you a dozen recordings, a dozen people.

20:30That's not a problem because I can have them interviewing for multiple accounts.

20:33But at least you get to hear the English levels, reading your script out of the 10 people,

20:39how many would you choose?

20:41And that at least will not ruin my momentum, hold me back from anything.

20:46And it's really nothing for an agent to make a recording for a minute or two.

20:49They like that sort of stuff.

20:51So I can actually invest a little bit of time in my resources to earn that business.

20:57So let's take that the next step.

20:59What should a prospective client already have in place in order to ensure you can help them

21:07with whatever their plan is?

21:08An open mind.

21:10I just, if they have something that's already plug and play, that's fantastic.

21:14At least just make sure I'm on a level playing field.

21:17But if they're starting from scratch, never even wrote a script before, as long as they're

21:21willing to do a Lennon-McCartney with me, we can spend some time writing and creating

21:26together and practicing, if they're willing to invest in a process, then they will get

21:33the sort of returns that they're looking for.

21:35It's, once again, they've never worked with a center before and maybe spoken to someone

21:39like myself that writes for a living, that does training and onboarding and quality control.

21:44And so once the dust settles and they realize the sort of tools that I have in my tool chest,

21:49it makes perfect sense for them to move forward with me.

21:52But, you know, Toby, one of the challenges I have, it's really price over merit.

21:57And so sometimes people will call me and before even introducing themselves, they're like,

22:00what's your price?

22:01And I go, $1,000 an hour.

22:03They go, no, it's not.

22:04I go, of course it's not.

22:05Why don't we answer that at the end?

22:07Ask me some other questions just to see if I can rank higher than other your centers.

22:12Because if you're just looking for price, I can send you to some offshore centers in

22:16India and the Philippines that can do it for less than half.

22:19But if you're looking for somebody that is accountable for their agents, that will give

22:24you no surprises, and that will work with you to ensure that you're successful, I will

22:30be able to prove to you that I'm worth that extra dollar or two.

22:35I think that's a big challenge.

22:38We have, of course, much smaller clients than you do.

22:42But we have a rule that we don't talk about price until we've had a one-hour conference

22:47call where we can understand what their expectations are before we even suggest a price for them.

22:56So that's a good point.

22:58Shelley, back to you.

22:59Do you have a story or an example of something that you've learned from working with a recent

23:05client?

23:07Well, I have, actually.

23:08I always believe that someone's character is shown, Shelley, during chaos.

23:14And when COVID hit, as I mentioned before, some people quit.

23:18They were nervous about working.

23:20And people had to move off-site, which, once again, you are putting in risk.

23:26Internet redundancy, electricity, and immediate IT support.

23:30And so that's what some of the challenges we are, people working from home.

23:34And so, as I mentioned, as long as I am forthright with my clients and not just tell them that

23:40there's a problem, but make multiple suggestions and give them every sort of resource that we

23:46have, I've been able to solidify much more stable and secure relationships with my clients

23:52because they see I'm a straight shooter.

23:54And I call the balls and the strikes.

23:57And I am very real-time.

23:59I'm never lated.

24:00Because when somebody is waiting for a phone call, an email, or a response,

24:04that causes stress and miscommunication.

24:07And I believe, as I mentioned before, that, you know, clean the spill, pay for the bill,

24:12and let's get out of the bar.

24:13You know, I'm the kind of guy that will solve issues and make suggestions

24:18and make things much easier for you.

24:21And so, as much as I want things to be running smooth and perfect, which they are most of the time,

24:27the best relationships I have with my clients is when we are able to work through a challenge together.

24:33Nice.

24:35So, I'm going to share a screen with you that you'll, I'm sure, recognize.

24:40It's your website.

24:42And the reason I bring it up is because I want to know from you,

24:46how does a website affect your marketing success?

24:51Once again, I am just trying to share as much information as possible.

24:58We have multiple sections on this website.

25:00And I think what most people like the most is that I have my own CEO page

25:06where I have my bio there and a photograph.

25:08It's an older photograph of me when I was 35 years old with some hair.

25:12Oh, always.

25:13Always.

25:14Yeah, the younger, the better.

25:15But it was the time, my friends, right before this company hit.

25:21I launched my website in October of 2007 and landed my first account in February of 2008.

25:29And so, the photograph of myself is there right before I landed my first account.

25:33So, I'm very proud of myself.

25:35It's almost the seed, but before it grew.

25:38But I didn't want to give away all of my special sauce,

25:41but I had to make sure that I broke down every single service that I could offer them.

25:46The IT infrastructure that we have, which people would be interested in.

25:51Photographs of the center.

25:54And so, I believe that more information is better, so people aren't guessing,

25:59or you're just trying to hook them in to call you in order to answer that one or two question.

26:05And so, not only will it save time, but it increases my momentum when people learn more

26:10about what I can offer and the skill sets that we have.

26:13So, my website has been extremely, extremely helpful for me.

26:18Shirley?

26:19Well, I'm going to jump ahead to this question.

26:24What is your most important takeaway tactic or advice for small business owners?

26:28And where can our viewers and listeners find you on the internet?

26:33Well, I think the number one rule for a business owner is,

26:38and I'm going to say it before, is to have empathy.

26:41And if you don't delegate and look to promote from within,

26:44then people will see that there's no real long-term options there.

26:47I'll bring specialists in for the IT department.

26:50But my CTO and my floor manager have been with me over a decade.

26:55And so, these individuals have completely earned their stripes.

26:58And they are part of this culture here, which I think is fantastic.

27:02And I also believe a second thing for a business owner is to save your money.

27:08I was very old school.

27:12My grandmother told me that if I can't pay for it in cash, you don't do it.

27:15And as much as I want to give you this amazing story of quick movement,

27:20I was more of a tortoise, not the hare.

27:23I first started renting a turnkey station at a blended center.

27:27And once I got up to about four dozen agents after, let's say, a couple of years,

27:31I saved enough money to rent a place where I built out 150 seats

27:36and did the whole server room.

27:38Was there for six years.

27:40Saved enough money to build this building that I'm in now that can house 300 seats.

27:46No loans, no partners.

27:48My wife and I started this from scratch.

27:51And we took a couple dips.

27:53There were a couple times when, you know, we lost a large account,

27:56which I don't suggest putting all your eggs in one basket.

27:59But what did it do for me?

28:00I had enough acorns to last the winter.

28:03I could weather that storm.

28:04If I lost an account, my lights could still be paid

28:07and I wasn't walking the floors pissed off.

28:09And I realized that slow and steady is the way to go.

28:15And it's not flashy.

28:17And I take care of myself.

28:19I'm in a nice suit.

28:20I got my Ricola behind me, the jukeboxes.

28:23I have all the toys.

28:24But that's not the important thing.

28:26The important thing is the job stability for the agents.

28:30Because, Shelley, it's a multi-generational families here.

28:34These young men and women pay the bills,

28:37might even take care of the medicine for their family.

28:40And so I feed 150 families a month.

28:43And it's imperative for me that not only do they have their job stability,

28:47but when they're here, that they can recharge their batteries

28:50so when they leave the office,

28:52they're able to conquer any sort of challenges that they have.

28:56And then they come back again.

28:58And so that sort of delicacy is so important for me as a CEO.

29:03I'm not the kind of guy that defaces people on the floor and makes you cry.

29:06I'm the first person to put wind in your sails.

29:09And so you don't have to be this tough CEO that you see in the movies.

29:13Who does that?

29:15What you need to do is be very humble and be very grateful

29:18and realize is that success is built on one million thank yous.

29:24And there is no way that I would be here today

29:27if it weren't for the support of my family, my friends,

29:30and these amazing people that are continuing to make my company very strong.

29:37And so anyone that wants to get in touch with me,

29:39my suggestion is do what Toby did and grab a plane ticket

29:42and fly down and come visit me.

29:45That's number one.

29:46But give me a call.

29:49Yeah.

29:50Well, all the contact information is on his website.

29:53We will post that link in the description box below.

29:57So if you want to reach out to Richard, you can use that link.

30:00And there's a button there called the CEO hotline.

30:03So I'm sure you'll get directly connected to Richard.

30:06But most importantly, since it's live,

30:09I'm going to be putting you on my Facebook fan page.

30:12I got 98,000 local Costa Rican Ticos that are there.

30:15We're the number one site in the country.

30:17It will also give you a really good pulse

30:20on the business process outsourcing industry in Costa Rica.

30:24We're near shore.

30:25I'm a couple hours on a direct flight.

30:27We're the only democratic society in Central America.

30:30There's no standing army.

30:32That money got put back into education.

30:34So Shelley, there's a 95% literacy rate.

30:36We have the best infrastructure, the most neutral accent.

30:40And companies such as HP, Intel, Oracle, and Amazon are here.

30:45So we pack a punch.

30:46And Toby knows this firsthand.

30:49Ecotourism.

30:49It's beautiful here with the rainforest, the waterfalls, the beaches,

30:55the ziplining, the monkeys, and the iguanas.

30:57It's a never-ending paradise.

31:00Yeah.

31:01It was my dream.

31:02And one of these days, I'll tell you the story of how it didn't get to be.

31:05But I still love to go visit.

31:07It's a beautiful country.

31:09Everything that you've said about it is true.

31:12And if I ever got the opportunity, if I ever decide to leave America, I think Costa Rica

31:18or Europe would be one of the two places I would go.

31:23Our guest today has been Richard Blank, CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center.

31:30And as you can see, not only is he very articulate, but he's very knowledgeable in his field

31:36and has been around for a significant amount of time.

31:39We look forward to future conversations with Richard.

31:42Last word, Shelly?

31:44Just thank you for joining us.

31:45And we will see you again next week.

31:48This was a pleasure.

31:49Thank you so much.

31:50It was our pleasure, Richard.

31:51Thank you for taking the time to join us today.

31:55Thank you for joining Messages and Methods Livecast Life 2.0,

31:59hosted by Shelly Carney and Toby Eunice.

32:02Please subscribe and leave a comment or question.

32:04And we'll consider your ideas for future shows.

32:07Share this podcast with your family and friends so they can learn about current digital marketing

32:12practices too.

32:14Check the show notes for links and resources and please come back again next week.

Messages and Methods podcast b2b guest CEO RICHARD BLANK COSTA RICA'S CALL CENTER.

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