Cosmos

Welcome back to the show, my fellow extra Americans. Today’s guest is Richard Blank. Richard’s vision quest journey is filled with twists and turns. At 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 styles backed with tactful and appropriate rhetoric, Richard shared his knowledge and trained over 10,000 bilingual telemarketers over two decades. Richard has the largest collection of restored American pinball machines and antique rock-color jukeboxes in Central America, making gamification a strong part of CCC culture. He’s been the chief executive officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008, which has grown to over 150 employees. 

He was a keynote speaker for Philadelphia’s Abington High School 68 National Honor Society induction ceremony. In addition, he has entered the 2023 Hall of Fame for Business, along with famous alums. Paying it forward to Abington Senior High School is very important to Mr. Blank. As such, he endows a scholarship each year for students who plan to major in world languages at the university level. He’s an extraordinary American. I’m glad and honored to have him on the show. Richard, are you there?

Richard

I am so happy to be with you and your audience and to share ideas. Thank you for that incredible introduction.

Cosmos

Thank you so much, Richard. And Richard, thank you so much for being here as well.

Can you tell me the audience a little bit more about yourself, your background, how you got started, and your story in general?

Richard

Absolutely. I’m a long shot from northeast Philadelphia. Instead of following in certain family footsteps, academically and through certain traditions, I decided to go a different path. I was a Spanish major, not a financial major. I didn’t go to the Ivy League. I went to the University of Arizona. And when you do things outside of the classroom, there is a lot of dedicated practice.

I can speak Spanish with friends, watch movies, read, and volunteer my time in Tucson, Arizona, for certain organizations where I could use these skills. Postgrad, I landed a couple of jobs because of the language. But when I was 27 years old, I was given a one-a-million opportunity to move to Costa Rica and work at a friend’s call center for just a few months. I built on that momentum, moved here, learned the business from the inside out 17 years ago, started it myself, and here we are today. 

And so, when something drives you, it could be through art or any other medium, but for me, it was languages. All the world was a stage. I didn’t have to be somewhere, download, or have something with me. I could always interact and get that positive reinforcement. And since it was something outside of my immediate family, not my great grandparents who learned English, coming from Europe at the turn of the 20th and building their business, it skipped a couple of generations. But it was; it was in my blood. And I let them know, even though you can’t understand it.

I’m on a vision quest here; no one has a blueprint to be the CEO of a call center. Most people hate telemarketers, but I wanted to shatter some misconceptions and see if I could sprinkle some happy dust on this industry and make it slightly different.

Cosmos

So Richard, what strategic vision and goal took you from America to Costa Rica, and how has that vision evolved from the time you went there to what it is now?

Richard

Of course. Have you ever looked outside and wished you could go out and play? Well, what do you do when given the opportunity? And I knew that if something in my life could shed some skin, give me a new experience, or open my eyes, I’d be foolish not to take it. And so you sometimes have to make selfish decisions in life. 

So I had to move 3,000 miles away from my friends and family, not utilize any network and connections, starting from scratch. I tell you what, if you do that at a certain age in life, it’s a beautiful beginning. And many of the things that we held dear in such high esteem, where I grew up and were important, didn’t matter here. I had to learn a new dance. 

And so it humbles you. I know I have the maturity and the impulse control to enjoy this stage. Compared to a 10-year-old kid being forced to go to a museum on a Sunday who doesn’t appreciate the art in front of him, he’s thinking about baseball with his friends. I was ready for this. And I knew that if I took this opportunity to the maximum. What do you mean by that? Losing sleep? I’m talking about staying up late, waking up early, and being on such adrenaline that you’re not tired. You’re learning the art of introduction, so you have no problem meeting 100 people that day. Forget small talk. This is deep talk. You can have amazing 5-minute conversations with people. What does this do? It builds characters. You’re not in the same circle every day, and you’re comparing yourselves to the people you grew up with, which is fine, but you have never tested other waters.

 My Friend, I wanted to see if I had essence in life and it wasn’t about money. I wanted to see if I could drink life a little bit and have a hero’s journey. Something where if I looked in the mirror at the end of the day, I’d be at least proud of the efforts. I can’t compare myself to others. People are taller than me, run faster than me, and even make more money than me. I tell you what, as Mike Damone said, in fast times, if your toes are still tapping, then life is pretty good, and you can keep moving forward. And so many of my mindsets were short wins, checkpoints, and then eventually, you land the gold now and again. So it’s a nice place, my friend, so you don’t burn out on things like that.

Cosmos

So, Richard, it’s a really big risk to go from an entire, like, from one culture to an entirely different culture with no networks or anything like that, and then start, start afresh and just go from there and become successful from there. What is the mindset and the process you had that allowed you to take such a massive risk in life and then have it pay off eventually?

Richard

Being able to integrate the fact that I was a Spanish major in college and had a very strong base made it 10 times easier than any sort of tourist or gringo that was down here trying to get by. It also gave me a great way to protect myself in case people had bad intentions or I could find the right people for me. I am also in love and married the girl of my dreams here. That was one of the reasons why I stayed. But what makes you different? 

There are two ways you can look at it. You have a new person who enters a group, a new warrior. You hear about it all the time in these movies and stuff. It’s sometimes better if they don’t have bad habits. And they never grew up with it. They’re fresh and naive; they can give you a different perspective. The fact that I had never worked at a center before, had never been in Costa Rica before, and had no idea what a CRM or anything was like was fresh for me. 

Once again, I didn’t see it in a bad light like other people. I saw bilingual individuals converting calls. This shows structure, discipline, and cognitive skills. Even if they had a slight accent, it does bear the mark of higher education. I was pretty impressed. This was the art of speech. These were linguistic masters. 

And so I also realized that I fit in here, that this is something I could understand initially. It made sense to me, almost like a musician who can just hear and repeat the music. But then I added my flavor. They needed someone from Philadelphia to teach them certain things. And I also had the advancement of grammar and vocabulary. 

So that was a home-court advantage. It was easier for me. And by paying it forward and making suggestions in English, I got the same thing back in Spanish. And I was constantly making very nice friends with people. And so, why would you want to ruin that honeymoon stage? If every day is a beautiful Saturday in your mind, why would you want to leave? And so, sure, you have a plan. It could be a day, a week, a month, or a year. But if your run keeps going, why would you mess with it? You don’t want to break it. 

And so it was only supposed to be 60 days. I was there to take some time out, teach English, hang out, and go to the beach. Little did we know that I learned about this industry; it’s almost like graduate school, and I made many connections. A lot of it has to be done organically. School can only teach you so much. And you always get disappointed in your supervisors, managers, and bosses. Wherever you work, you’re like, man, I see five things we could do better. How come they’re not doing it? And so if you are assertive and you see certain things and suggest them diplomatically, you make a name for yourself, the owners of a company, like somebody like that. 

And so this was a good friend who owned the call center where I was working, so I wasn’t in any trouble. I didn’t have to kiss Butter to play off his politics. I was protecting his back and protecting my job. And by doing so and being with the people, I learned the business from the inside out. I. The happiness and the good stuff. And I wasn’t being a spy. I was learning. You learn from the people who represent you and what can motivate them. 

And so when it was my turn, okay, to run a call center, this is my wheelhouse. I’ve done this. I’ve sat in the cubicles, I’ve made the calls. I can close. I can retain clients and upsell. And so, at least, I earn the respect of those who work with me. And I realize that I’m just balancing bikes and giving advice and things like that. And so, how did it work? Like everything else works, you stay if you’re having a great time at a party. And I was being received in such a way that was so positive it didn’t make me want to cry and go home. So I hope that answers your question.

Cosmos

No. Yeah.

And, Richard, one of the things I wanted to know is, like, a lot of people, like, would want to know, like, what is the, the business model of like because they get calls all the time, right, from telemarketers. And many of the times, like, a lot of like, the calls they get, they just switch it off. 

So my, ah, question to you is, how did you train your telemarketers in such a way that they’re able to handle all these rejections and then continue to create a successful business?

Richard

What a brilliant question. And I love it. I can refer to it in two words. Romantic death. Oh, yeah. When you watch the battle, sometimes your favorite character is, yeah.

Cosmos

And then, all of a sudden.

Richard

His head gets chopped off. You’re like, but I love that guy. Yeah, but he had a romantic death. You know the percentages. Unless you’re given a Glengarry list, you won’t convert 100% of the calls. The best batters can hit 3 or 400, right?

 And so I look at it like this. Can you jump clouds? Can you master the intro? The body and the conclusion do not exist unless you anchor and get the past to pitch. And so my suggestion for this forced march, which some people might feel it is, is to be able to live with yourself so you don’t kill yourself. 

So, I think the greatest thing to do is start a company named Spike, Extraordinary America. How are you doing today? You know, you need to reach out and give a positive escalation.

 So if Judy is the gatekeeper, instead of fearing that individual, you would compliment them and let them know they’re doing a great job. And when you get transferred and speak to the company’s owner, you will let them know verbally. You also do it in writing. This separates you from a thousand other people making those phone calls and prospecting. If you do some due diligence and have the time instead of just carpet-bombing phone calls, you get a minute to look things up. You can leave custom-made voicemails and write custom-made emails. You get my attention if you leave me a voicemail and mention my pinball machines or my being from Philly. You get my 30 seconds of attention. It’s more than enough because you can buy another 30 seconds. After all, that’s our average attention span. 

And so it’s a beautiful give and take with some pausing in the middle. You want to spike names and numbers. Those are trigger words. There are certain things called tie-down questions. So, at least you have checkpoints, you can say, and that makes sense. Right? Sounds good. Right? 

And then if someone asks you a question, the greatest thing you say is, hey, that’s an excellent question. Please ask me more questions. You’re making it easier for me, and I’m encouraging them not to be resistant. You ask me the question. Richard, what’s ABC? That’s a great question. ABC is 1, 2, 3. And what I can keep doing is readjusting the tones into a positive thing. These, my friend, are simple, soft skills you can use on and off the phone, in and out of work. And so, instead of dreading what you’re doing, why don’t you enjoy making Judy’s day? She might want lobster. All you got is steak—nothing you can do about it. 

But if you can get positive reinforcement, Richard, thank you for calling. If we ever need steak, we’ll call you. Nice meeting you. It was great meeting you. Listen, how many women have you danced with in your life? It doesn’t mean you marry each one. You’re allowed to spend three to five minutes with somebody in life. Two ships in the night. What do you want to do? What I like to do, like in Al Pacino’s Scent of a Woman, is to make a scene, to make it amazing, a memory so you remember them. 

And they never cross the lines of decency. And we’re never too aggressive with you. Sure, it’s charming. You’re supposed to be charming. You’re supposed to have your game ready. And that might seem out of the ordinary because most people have mustard on their faces and don’t have a game. 

So what do you expect me to do? As Humphrey Bogart said in The Maltese Falcon. Do you want me to stutter? No, we’re professionals at this. And so, excuse me if I am able in my metrics to extend the talk time, get through to people, and convert. It’s what you pay us to do. But don’t pay us to lie or to sacrifice ourselves. That doesn’t work, and people will quit because morale will be low. There needs to be a good fit. We don’t do things in gray areas or shady. It’s got to be things we accept and feel good with. It’s a strict Catholic country. But to answer your question, how did you act in front of your grandparents and those you respected? 

So you sit up straight, take your turn, cut smaller pieces of Meat, and try to be on your super best behavior, but with a little bit of magic dust. So you’re interesting. And if you can do that, you may become this Excel professional who can get the sort of results that you’re looking for. And so that’s the curse in this industry. It’s given such a bad rap. 

But if you look at the art of speech, it’s different from texting, emails, and chat. I see it as a luxury, and AI will only gather for you, but you and I need that remaining 10% of empathy to retain a client and close that deal. So, I hope I made a very strong case regarding choosing to be a telemarketer, prospect, or customer service rep because it is beautiful. People want that sort of real human interaction these days.

Cosmos

So, Richard, one of the things that comes to my mind when I think of telemarketers is, ironically, the Wolf of Wall Street. Where Jordan Belfort gives this script, and he tells any telemarketer, hey, if you look at the script and if you do it exactly the way I tell you, if the certain inflections and here and there, then you can be successful and then you can sell any product or service. 

So, from your perspective, is there a secret formula for selling anything, including a pen? Is there a process or a scripted process? Or is it more of an informal kind of thing where you attune yourself to the person you’re talking to?

Richard

If I try to force the young lady to scream on the phone, do you remember the movie Police Academy from back in the day? There was this very soft-spoken and very timid woman. And the funny part of the movie is at the end, she screams, hey, put your hands up. You can’t get somebody out of character because they can’t hold it that long. It’s five minutes of a language in a restaurant. It’s cute, but then you can’t go to France and speak, you know, it’s, it’s like the Justice League. We all have these skills, but you must have a special skill. 

And not everything is for each person. The Wolf of Wall Street speaks to the fast-speaking guy. But grandma out in, you know, Alabama would rather speak to a soft-spoken individual. But no, he’s 100% correct. And I also believe in the vocabulary. I like the scene in The Wolf of Wall Street where he’s working in the first place out of the shopping center; I think he made a call in less than two minutes. And he said John’s name. I believe it was 10 or 11 times in the call. 

And so I would break down certain things of what he was doing. And I would also watch him without sound because you see how he’s leaning. He’s moving the paper, he’s pumping, he’s pointing. He turned around the whole place. Who’s not making phone calls, which they should be doing, but that’s personal for me. They’re watching him. So be it. He didn’t miss a beat. He’s supposed to be ready for that. Tiger Wood’s making that putt. 

And you know, it’s so interesting. In the beginning, the guy sitting beside him looks at him like he’s from Mars. And at the end, he’s taking notes. It’s so. Anybody eating pizza at the desk, one guy leaning back. What’s wrong with these people? You have to think about the work environment. I put that at the supervisor for not creating the action. This guy’s got to bring him in sometimes. That’s the way it is. You bring in a shiny object. But no, it should have been preventative. A supervisor shouldn’t have had an environment where people looked at some guy using 10-name drops and tie-downs. I mean, he whispered loudly, which I always enjoy. A loud whisper is very nice. It’s like putting a governor on your speech. 

And then also, I love it when you’re catching the tail. The guy goes, that could pay for my mortgage. Of course, that could pay for your mortgage, John. You always like trapeze artists. Grab, take what you said. Acknowledge, move to the next. I would say he danced. Now, why was this movie popular? Because he’s making a ton of money. Stocks. People like stock. There’s a little bit of an element of gray area. And so that’s exciting. But there are many people besides used car salespeople and stock people capable of selling rakes at the Home Depot. Huh? Or is the barber shop convincing you to trim that stack? I mean, sales come in all shapes and sizes. 

My main thing is keeping somebody’s attention, but not as a clown. And does it mean you need to be more animated in certain things so you don’t seem repetitive? Do you have the luxury of sight? Yeah, of course. You can do micro expression readings with your hands, body, and eyes and mirror image them. Come on. We’ve all studied it; we know it. You asked me for a good one. What about if it’s sight unseen? Come on, man; you’re talking over the phone; I can’t see you nodding and smiling and how good-looking we are. Well, I agree with that a thousand percent. Like the master communicator, Helen Keller had her taste, touch, and smell. Also, she created a language, spoke to the world, and was revered as one of the most intelligent communicators of all times and created a language, she and Ann Sullivan. 

I believe that our hearing should be expanded. But then there’s the theory of image streaming: your imagination, descriptive vocabulary, and adjectives. I mean, I love that sort of stuff. When you decompress your stimulation on a long walk, the gym, shower, or a plane ride, your mind starts wandering, and you start seeing things much clearer. 

And so I utilize storytelling. What I see and what you show on your website is to my advantage. What does this do? It buys me time, and then I can adjust accordingly. This is not million-dollar advice. I’m not slicking it in there to sell a pen. I am giving a positive escalation to a gatekeeper. I’m showing excitement. When I call your company, I’ll properly introduce myself. We call it a buffer boomerang technique. You would say, Richard, what’s abc? So glad that you asked. ABC is one to three. It’s easy to send it back half-moon, so you’re not surprised.

And these are also techniques, my friend, where you can tell somebody that that’s an excellent question. While looking up the answer, you can buy two or three seconds to look up the rebuttal. That’s it. And it’s very much in the now. And if you hear a dog in the background, that is immediate. Me too. Technique. I love dogs. Just don’t say that. Say, what’s its name? What breeding? How old is your puppy? It’s never a puppy. But what are you also doing? My good friend, I inadvertently and passive-aggressively let you know your dog is barking. It’s going to kill the call. I can’t hear you. 

And so instead of saying excuse me, we’ve replaced that by saying, for my clarification, I’ll sacrifice one on that. For my clarification, was it ABC or 1, 2, or 3? Was it because your dog’s barking, kids crying, bad self, or bad music? You tell me. But it’s a great way to let you know that I know that you know I can understand you. 

And so what polite rhetoric don’t ask someone to help them. It’s to assist, guide, and lend a hand, depending on where you are. Use the military Alphabet at the end because you were such an amazing, exotic name. I want to ensure I got the two Ds and the two Es, and it doesn’t bounce back. You know when I send you something, something, and that’s all. These are beautiful bedside manners and transferable soft skills; you can use them, and it doesn’t compromise ethics.

 So you are centered, you’re complete, and strangers become friends. And you wonder why. You build a nice pipeline, and people recommend you because you’re not pushy, like the guy next to you and this guy next to you. They’re too pushy. Please give me some room and calm down. People don’t like those sorts of things.

Cosmos

Yeah.

So, Richard, a follow-up question: You have trained over 10,000 people in telemarketing. What was the biggest lesson you learned while training all these people? And what was the biggest revelation you had while doing all of this?

Richard

Just like any athlete, at your core, it’s your breathing. Most people speak twice as fast as they should and speak differently on the phone than in person. It’s. Why are you talking like this? You sound weird. And so. But I try to max levels. Instead of going horizontal in training, I’ll see if I can stack it like servers with plates. 

So let’s say you’re in my training class. But guess what, champ, we’re going to the game room first. I want to play air hockey, pinball, and Pac-Man with you. We’re playing games for half an hour before I start training. Why? Why not? First, it’s my company, too. It’s fun. And see, I want you to relax and make some friends, please. And then you can take notes. 

So then you’re in class, and what we do is I’ll have you stand up to role play. Why? You’re practicing public speaking, and I put the script on the left. Use your right for illustrators, and you better walk and move your hands slower than your speech to give you perfect pacing. Why? Because if someone asks you to repeat it where there’s cross-talk or interruption, that’s on. You must ensure you’re pacing it well because you spill less if you slow it down. If your bilingual might have a slight accent, slower and a little bit louder means they will understand it better. But what about this word I can’t pronounce? 

Whenever I get to it in my script, I stumble, think about it, live it, and hate it. Well, good. Why don’t we take the word you can’t understand and write it out phonetically? Speak first, spell second. I’ll teach you how to spell it, but make sure you speak it correctly.

So, if you want to cross it out, write it the way you want. Put in the highlight. That’s a beautiful, happy shortcut bridge. It’s a nice little detour. Because I’ve seen one or two words kill a rhythm. That’s all I think about. Oh man, let’s put that thing to bed real fast. Sometimes, I have to replace the word and put it in something else. 

And so if I can address through preventative measures any sort of things to freak them out, spook the kitty, I don’t know, make them where they lose their focus. I could train you a thousand hours, but if you’re in a weird mood that day, I’m just hitting the ball and dragging Johnny. It’s not going anywhere but.

If you’re feeling good, and there’s wind in your sails and some current in your raft, you’re moving, you’re grooving, and it’s almost Wu way you’re moving forward without resistance. I mean, if someone’s asking me questions, saying, “Hey Richie, this sounds great,” I’m having a wonderful phone call. 

Yeah, call me Richie, and keep asking me questions because I know I will get the appointment, and you’ll probably recommend three of your cousins. And so I love things like that. When things are grooving, you let them groove. That’s what I want people to know. They cannot be like, you know, Gordon Belfort, and they can’t be like Blake and Glengarry or Vin Diesel and Boiler Room. That’s not you. You should find a beautiful way to communicate and share your ideas with people. But she’s soft-spoken. Yeah, but she’s killing it at the number she has on the wall. Look at her talk time. People love speaking with her. She’s very assertive but not aggressive. 

And so I want people to love their voice because this is what we have. And if I can mold it a little bit, give it some timing, and wait for the reaction to see where we go, then maybe we can manage this thing. And then 30 seconds turns into 10 minutes. And I tell you what, here’s a good philosophy. These aren’t 10-minute phone calls. These are 20, 30-second calls. Because it could end at any time, it’s a given take. So how many runs do we have on this crap table? I mean, let’s just keep running it and working with it until it exhausts itself. 

And so I try to broaden their thinking slightly more than just linear thinking where they’re just going in there and taking hits. People burn out and hate this industry because they lost their love for it. For me, I can sidestep the rebuttals and come back, you know, and say something very nice to, as I mentioned, have that romantic death. Come on, man. I said Judy’s name seven times. Seven before you hung up on me. You’re like, yeah, Richie, good job. I’m like, yeah, seven times, Judy. That’s how we do it. So, that’s the way you play a game with it. So you can laugh at it. When you make fun of yourself, you can laugh in the face of it. Just doesn’t hurt anymore.

Cosmos

So Richard, like you mentioned about the Boiler Room by Vin Diesel. And, like a lot of people, they have seen that movie. That’s their understanding of success, like you have, of telemarketing success or the Wolf of Wall Street. 

So, from your perspective, there seems to be, like, you have a certain way of how we can succeed differently. That’s different. So, from your viewpoint, what is the contrast between how you’re showing your telemarketing people how to do it versus the movie conceptions that people in America have about these people?

Richard

Forget telemarketing. Are you confident enough to stand up to 30 peers and recite the product, share an idea, or say something positive about yourself or somebody else? So, as I mentioned before, watch these things on mute. If you watch it on mute before you know what the movie means, you have no idea what this guy’s saying.

But you watch the confidence and people around him in sync, nodding to him at certain points. Vin Diesel, which I liked. In his scene, he was calling him Doc. I called him a couple of times. Dr. Jacobs, I mean, started calling him Doc, and he is comfortable. I joked about whether we should send your statements to your home or your mansion—funny, funny line. 

And there was a lot of pausing there. There were very few interruptions. The only time it wasn’t an interruption was assistance to End a sentence or continue the idea because you need to. It’s the resistance, not the no. The no is the infinite where they hang up on you. There’s no more talking. But if someone says no, they don’t know enough about what you’re talking about. So sometimes, instead of belittling or making them feel bad, there’s nothing wrong with not agreeing with, but understanding the position and giving your position. But what Vin Diesel was doing, and it’s a manipulative tactic, is a sense of urgency. There’s only 10 tickets left. You have to run and get it and pay whatever you get. But in my industry, sometimes there’s a luxury of time where you can choose when to start, and things happen. 

And so, there are certain variables you can use to your advantage. How much you have in stock, the time, and whatever’s happening. But I like the fact that he was well-versed. And as much as Giovanni Ribisi has five pages of script pointing to the third paragraph under his desk, Vin didn’t even need the script. And his conversation was a couple of minutes compared to going through that script, which could be miles of speech. Sounds like a desert with no Oasis, man. Who wants to do that? It’s amazing how you can shave time, get to the point, and answer those questions. Those rebuttals are because you are not doing the right delivery or, you’re saying, morning or don’t even know where you’re calling. 

So I’m sorry, you need to like Billy Madison. You got to start in kindergarten again. You got to begin. You lost all of your momentum. You gotta start, stop. And that’s terrible. You should be the push off the wall, like the swimmer or the guy that jumps. Motivation comes and goes. But something inside of you keeps you up on rainy Wednesdays. And if you can capture not a lot of it, but like swimmers do, one breath and I can still go, and I can swim forever by taking breaths.

 So it would be best if you gave yourself a breath. And it’s not through a converted call or making money or something like that. It would be best if you found a way, and I don’t know how to dig in that dirt to find some route to take a bite so you can survive another day. And if you can find it in your self-fulfillment by paying it forward, complimenting them, or reminding them to readjust their tone when people are calling or working with you, to listen to their calls. And instead of me telling you what you’re doing, you will hear you. 

So you’ll look at me and go, you’re right, Richard. I interrupted her. She couldn’t hear me. I should be a little louder. And you. And I don’t say a thing. Tilt their head and nice. Yeah. And then they know. You give them a little bit of guilt, and then they know. Self-reflection is where self-improvement comes from. I just can’t keep dragging you. When you see it for the first time, guess what? Those wrinkles go away. And when you listen to calls in the future, you realize that that got put to bed. Now, we can focus on yellow, brown, and black belt stuff. You know, they passed 101, they figured it out. 

And that’s just more balance. Isn’t that beautiful? And, and you, these are the things where you know you are sharing something that will enrich their life. Because you see them more confident in how they interact and more cordial and attentive, I’m not saying I will take all credit for it, but once they start imitating some of the things you say or say, hey, Richard, remember I did this. It makes you feel great. That’s what we do as educated, my brothers. That’s what we do.

Cosmos

So Richard, let’s see if somebody wants to start fresh and join the telemarketing industry and become successful as a businessperson or even a successful telemarketer. How should they do it, and what process should they follow to succeed in this field?

Richard

Building a pipeline. You’ll get your cold call closed, but respect boundaries and have all the resources necessary to make a call back to put it on the calendar. Remind yourself that anybody can make it. I’ll tell you what: you could have somebody missing a shoe. And if he’s making a phone call with all the game Plan A to Z1 to 3 and has everything ready, you’ll still do business with them. Kids prepared. 

So, he’s missing a shoe. Who cares? He follows through. And so, the more preparation you have, the better. But don’t be overprepared because I don’t want you to read me page 39 of something that’s like, as I mentioned, that thing in the boiler room; one of the funny parts of it is showing that entire script on page three that he’s supposed to go through. Why do you think they have shortcuts? Why do you think they taught you certain things or how to remember things in math class? Memory games. And so, it’s almost like mentalism in a sense. Don’t run, but don’t walk. 

But there’s nothing wrong with hopping or skipping. Or like a horse’s trot. It’s a good pace. And you could always kind of be ahead to think of where we’re going with this. If someone’s rubbing their tummy and licking their lips, they’re hungry. So you can smell the wind where this is going. And there’s nothing wrong with making a suggestion. You know, it’s like a hypotenuse. What you’re doing is just throwing something out there. What are you going to do? It’s an engagement. 

So, if somebody is willing to put themselves out there, make phone calls, interact with people, and be responsible for contracts and people’s money, you have to think about that. I know what your audience is thinking. They’re thinking of brand-new cars, champagne, dinners, yachts, plane rides, big meetings, Instagram, etc. I tell you, if that’s what you want, you won’t be satisfied. 

Because if you speak to every successful person out there, that’s just what comes with the territory. The greatest moment they ever had was when they started or picked themselves back up, the guy gave them their first break, or when they played that concert hall with just one person and decided not to quit. It’s the perseverance story. It’s not the gold and the riches. Anyone can have that stuff. And I tell you what, my man, that, that stuff loses its luster after a while. People get bored. I mean, how many lobster dinners can you eat? 

And so, people like Elon Musk or me and famous rich people like to see what they can do to pay it forward and be out there, not in ivory towers. And who decides to spend their time where and with whom is very interesting. And I have the luxury of education, not just writing checks. And I can listen to people speak, make slight adjustments, get excited, and have the resources and technology, so use everything to your advantage. If it’s telemarketing, you should focus on those KPIs and metrics, listen to recordings, refine your script, test the waters, and listen to what others are doing. And see what works. But do not be full. 

No one is sitting by the phone with a credit card ready. In the movies, it’s like anything else. It’s merit-based. You have to buy that time and earn that. And most people are so afraid to do this. Well, then, guess what? In public speaking, they feel more than death. If you and I go into the cave and there’s nobody there, then we get more gold. Who wants tons of competition like chum in the water with sharks? Who wants to live like that? And then you have to compromise ethics or work less than and have people hit you up on price and stuff. You know your worth. This is special. We’re the artists of speech with the last of them. It’s true, we’re the last painting. We’re not a print. And as much as you want AI and IVRs and these things that you can put in, there’s nothing better than that personal relationship that retains the client. 

And so, if I can get that sort of psychology in them to overcome any fear of rejection, they’ll see it like I do. They can still dance in the rain, enjoy their days, and feel satisfied. When you write a good script, or you retain a client. I mean, it’s a beautiful thing that you do. But record yourself seriously. And it would be best to listen to many of your film goals. And if you can do something like that, all you’ll do is improve your skills.

Cosmos

That is amazing the way you put it, Richard. And yeah, I agree with you.

Richard, I know you’ve been your call center’s CEO since 2008. Can you tell me in the audience a little bit more about that and the premise of how you got started during that time, like what the process is and all of that?

Richard

My process is slightly different from others, but I’ll share how I did it. So, what happened? I had a little bit of cash, I knew, and I was 35 years old. Time was ticking, and I wanted to see what I could do. So, I created a website in October 2007, and by February 6th of 2008, I landed my first account. It was one seat for one week. Oh yeah, oh yeah, I got it. And so, what could I do? I’m not sitting in this call center where I am today. Where do you go? 

And so, in my industry, I put two and two together. There is something called blended call Centers. It’s like an advanced Internet cafe where they would give me a turnkey station of the headset, the, you know, the computer, IT support, coffee, toilet paper. But it’s one big open room. Okay, it’s not the greatest, but I could scale accordingly. I could just add seats, reduce, and just keep adding rooms. It’s paying a premium. But I did it for two years until I had the capital and a stable clientele. 

So, I went out and rented space. I could purchase used equipment because call centers and other companies leave the business. So, I could pick up servers and routers, computers and monitors, desks and chairs for a fraction of the cost. Some were still in the box—I just never opened them. I went out of business for a garage sale to scale row by row and accordingly.

 So, I never overextended myself, took out a loan, or had a bad business partner. Then, after six and a half years, I had enough money and even more stable clients, and I purchased property, gutted it, third-floored it, made art, decorated it with marquees, neon lights, and vaulted ceilings, and here we are today—slow and steady. 

And as Grandpa said, just don’t do it if you can’t pay for it in cash. There was no way I would let a bank take this thing away from me. And I was in no rush. I was still renting another place. I was just hedging bets. But I wanted to own my land, and I wanted to overextend, pay triple, or have the risk if there was a slight setback. I have that bank taking that for me. I know some people do, and I’m not going to advise you on how to invest in your real estate, but for me, no, I wanted to make sure. And it was a gamble because everything that came in went back into that construction. What are you going to do in life? You’re going to dance? I was going for it and betting on myself, which was a great bet because I have consistency and was working my tail off. And so, I was responsible. And look what happened. Now I feel like the three little pigs. But I’m the pig with the brick house—bricks behind me. 

And so, no matter what, I can’t get thrown out. One day, I can rent her out. And maybe this is a testament to your hard work. You finally do have a castle at the end. I was also responsible for paying rent, especially my size. Imagine how much rent I’d be paying. So, I made that money back in spades.

 And so. Who teaches you this stuff? I don’t know, my man. It seemed like common sense to me. Some people could have talked to me about percentage rates, banks, etc. I don’t feel comfortable with that. And I get warm fuzzies. I might not be that financial or economic genius, but you can still build things if you play with Legos. And I did things very simply, the old-school way. I paid my taxes, paid the people, made a margin, saved the money, reinvested it, and had some fun. 

And that’s okay. Don’t you dare try to impress others with a huge showroom if it doesn’t make sense? And you’re cleaning up the mess at the end of the day. What a waste of money. Because sometimes you need it. In 2010, I lost my largest client. I went from about 90 seats down to four. Nice. But the interesting thing is those four people didn’t quit. And I was able to build my business back to 150 now. But am I happy that happened? No. But if there’s a great time to show character during the chaos, look in your eyes and ask yourself, do we continue or quit? What a weird time. I said, let’s keep going and see what happens. Look what happened. 

And so, looking back. Oh yeah, man, you made the right decision. You weren’t with me at that time. Neither were my friends. It was. I felt very alone. What do you do? You realize that tomorrow, we shall die, and you have a beautiful life. And if you’ve gotten to this point so far because of this, and I’m not talking about luck and snake eyes, I’m talking about freaking hard work, grinding it out. Resilience and foundation. Richard Blank. Well, then I say go one more round, buddy. Let’s see what happens. Look what happened. I’m so happy it happened.

I don’t know. But each one of us has our moments of darkness. And we also have our moments of clarity. So just don’t be hard on yourself, damn it. And don’t let other people’s or outside influences misdirect your path.

It could be the worst thing for you if you live someone else’s life where you take their terrible advice because of their insecurities, not telling you why they made a mistake in the past, or just maybe they would prefer you to fail. 

And it is so weird that sometimes you need to walk alone, make and stand behind that decision. But when you do come through on that decision, please do not go around and tell everyone I told you so they know. The best thing you can do is take them out to dinner. You just have a good time. But, man, does it make you humble when you realize what you’ve accomplished in a position like this? And it’s not a pat on the back; it’s to say I’ve lived a beautiful life. I went outside when it was shining, and I played all day. And you can appreciate that in life. 

So, I think with your entrepreneurs and business people, just have a nice plan, take it in small steps, listen to ideas, and wiggle a bit. But enjoy this ride. And if you do, I believe you’ll be successful at every stage. Yes.

Cosmos

Well, Richard, I’m glad you said that. It’s so inspirational. But many things you’re saying are common sense to most people. They need to know the thoughts and actions that lead to success. You know, we make the right choices; we make the right decisions at the right time. We will; we will succeed. 

For instance, saving and reinvesting. How many people take on debt by buying a car or things they don’t need to impress their neighbors? Instead of investing in ourselves, we reinvested that money so we could attain success. It’s just like small things like that, you know.

Richard

Your show is Extra Extraordinary America. I’m an extremely proud North American, paid my taxes and family, and served in the military. I. I also like to believe that I’m representing our country in the best light. A bilingual businessman, paying taxes here, employing people, you know, being a good kid. I mean, we all can’t live in the United States. I mean, a lot of us move around, but let’s be realistic about financial freedom. Living abroad, there might be places where your money may go a little further. 

The cost of living in Costa Rica was less than in the United States. Also, living abroad, I had bona fide residency since I was outside the United States for 300 days a year. My company is from the United States. I was tax-exempt from my first $110,000 right off the bat. That’s beautiful. It’s free money. And then if your wife’s involved or other people, it’s. That’s great. 

There are other benefits, but there are also sacrifices. I’m not close to you, and my family’s far away. You know I can’t come to visit you quickly, but you m. You think about those sorts of things long term. Those decisions also gave me that extra income to make these investments and expansions. 

And so maybe I do understand why people outsource. But don’t look at me as the enemy. Because I tell you what, there could be somebody in the United States who makes a better phone call than my agents. They should earn it. But then again, it doesn’t make sense if it’s inbound customer support where anybody can do it unless they can do twice the amount of work because they’re asking for twice the money. But if it’s offsetting that on merit through appointment setting and lead generational retention, it does make sense.

I’m open-minded. I don’t want to take people’s jobs away. But then again, what can you do if Billy doesn’t want to make phone calls and he’s killing your office? Or no one wants to come to work, or they weirdly look at telemarketing. So that makes sense to some people. Business is business, and I have to respect that. 

And so when it comes to India, the Philippines, and the East, and they ask me why they should do business with me when other places are less expensive, I make my arguments some ways to speak Spanish, closer to the States. If it’s sales or marketing, I might offset that. But it’s impossible if I need to double or triple that work because of cost. And ethically, you can’t take the account and shouldn’t take accounts you don’t understand. I can’t take a Chinese account, which I don’t want, but I can’t speak Chinese. I can understand Portuguese enough, but Spanish and English, so I don’t want somebody on the phone going rogue or doing something I can’t control; that’s dangerous, too. 

So you might, as an entrepreneur or business person, be selective of the business that comes in. A so that you can sleep at night, and B to fulfill their needs. You just don’t want to take business to pay for your lights. You shouldn’t be in that stage. Once again, do not compromise your ethics and values. Do the right thing and get the right business. You’ll feel better about yourself. It’s long-term, if that makes any sort of sense.

Cosmos

No, it does. And I’m so glad that you’re telling me that, you know.

So Richard, are there any other projects you’re working on that you’d want the audience to see?

Richard

Oh, absolutely. Now listen, I’m dating myself. I grew up in the ’70s and ’80s. We sponsored a local rock band down here, Igni Faroki. They’ve been around since 78, but they wrote a song for the call center, Shine Like the Sun. And then I parlayed that into having Gary, Gary Beer, as the bassist from In Excess, play a performance video and work on that song with us a little bit, too, and play bass on it. So that was cool. And secondly, I’m working with local dancers and artists to create a rap video here at the call center, which will be coming out shortly. It’s amazing what these young kids can do regarding freestyle dancing. It’s like the breakdancing back in the 80s with Beat Street and Break In, but not breaking.

 But yeah, it’s good stuff, and I like supporting the local arts. I like seeing these young kids express themselves, and if I can sponsor it and put a little minute of money behind it, not only for the company but also to give them things to increase their careers outside the center. But do you want to hear something interesting? I would have never known about this stuff unless, as a business owner, I asked about people’s interests. I would have never known that these kids dance or that one guy was a professional rapper. 

So instead of just walking by, making sure they’re making their phone calls or I’m going to fire you, maybe not only know their name but know a couple of things about them. And so, finding out these special talents, I just combined everything, and that’s how magic is made. And so, as I say, just ask a couple of follow-up questions with people and see what’s below the surface, and then maybe you might anchor and have that sort of relationship with that person that lasts.

Cosmos

No, totally. Richard and Richard, how can our audience connect with you and learn more about you, your work, and everything you do? If they wanted to contact you, how would they do it?

Richard

So I appreciate that they can buy tickets, fly to Costa Rica, visit me, and hang out. Or you could shoot me an email@ceocostaricas call center.com, and you know, if they mention your podcast and their buddies with you, I’d be more than happy to review their scripts and bounce ideas back and forth. I’m not going to close. Don’t worry, it’s free. But if there’s any way that I may assist, lend that hand and share some ideas. Those pay it forward.

Cosmos

No, totally. Richard, I appreciate that you made that offer. I’m so glad you took the time to come to the show and share your invaluable wisdom about telemarketing because it’s so relevant to sales. How you speak to somebody on the phone is pretty important because sales are ultimately the lifeblood of any business. And so these things do matter. And I do hope that you take the time to come to the show at a later time.

Richard

I had the best time. Are you kidding me? This was a pleasure.

Thank you.

Cosmos

I want to conclude this episode by informing my fellow extraordinary Americans. Hey, look, there’s something extraordinary happening with every one of us. We must awaken it and unleash it. Until next time. Bye for now.