Great expectations.

Richard Blank

In Episode 1312 of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, host Josh Elledge interviews Richard Blank, the CEO and co-founder of Costa Rica's Call Center. The episode focuses on how Blank built a premier nearshore business processing outsourcing (BPO) company from scratch in Central America, highlighting advanced telemarketing strategies and the human elements of scaling a business. Key Interview Highlights Founding Story: Richard explains how moving to Costa Rica at age 27 to teach English at a friend's business inspired him to open his own state-of-the-art call center in San José. The Costa Rican Advantage: The discussion covers why Costa Rica is an ideal outsourcing hub, citing its high-caliber college-educated workforce, strong cultural alignment with North America, and thriving ecotourism. Linguistic Focus: Richard breaks down how he builds confidence in his frontline agents by expanding their vocabulary and teaching them how to read phonetic micro-expressions. Workplace Gamification: The episode explores the unique culture at Costa Rica's Call Center, which features Central America's largest collection of restored American pinball machines and antique Rockola jukeboxes to motivate employees. Addressing Misconceptions: Richard clarifies that choosing a nearshore center isn't simply about chasing the lowest possible price point (as seen in offshore regions like India), but rather about investing in high-quality, professional brand representation.    https://youtu.be/xdsImuJOnvE

Transcript

00:00Yeah. And for someone who is considering hiring a call center, are there any misconceptions that

00:12you see coming in from customers in terms of expectations? And you say, I don't know what

00:19your observation is in and around that. So many. And that's a wonderful question,

00:23Josh. Thank you. They're comparing offshore prices in India and the Philippines to near

00:29shore prices, Costa Rica. So they're confused on why someone here will not be willing to accept $1

00:35an hour to work. You can offer it. Doesn't mean someone's going to accept it. And also they might

00:41be having a home court advantage. There could be people that grew up around Chicago, Los Angeles,

00:47or New York that know the neighborhood better, know how to call it the shore and not the beach.

00:52Certain athletics or certain things that they recognize in the city. So, but also there's a

00:58tone that an office has, you know, when you've seen the movie Boiler Room or Glengarry Raw for the

01:04Wolf, you and I could handle that environment. We could thrive in that environment. But if you try

01:09to put that sort of energy here, it might not work. There are certain things in the United States that

01:16just do not really have any sort of value here. It's really more of the essence. So I think some

01:21of

01:21the expectations are in regards to how supervisors would be speaking with the agents, maybe not with

01:27profanity. And sometimes your inside jokes might be misinterpreted. And so a lot of this stuff we'd

01:33have to explain in the beginning is just blending just to make sure that there's a good fit. Because

01:38if there is, then of course we can share the best of each other and avoid the worst. But if

01:43they just

01:44come in guns ablaze and expecting F-bombs and caps and the sort of thing that in my Philadelphia ice

01:51hockey coach would motivate me, yeah, sure, that works for the Flyers. But it might not work here. And so

01:56I

01:57sometimes have to not just calm people down. I just want to give them more of a lucid, a clear

02:02view of a

02:03different culture and our sort of expectations.

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