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cover art for Your 12|30 podcast presented by Mike Solitro. Special guest CEO Richard Blank

Podcast guest appearances. Richard Blank Costa Rica's Call Center

Your 12|30 podcast presented by Mike Solitro. Special guest CEO Richard Blank

Welcome to Your 12|30 podcast. We all have a story to tell. Tell yours in 12 questions, 30 minutes. 


Hosted by Mike Solitro of AccomplishedRE.


https://youtu.be/ozpjkK95xxI


https://youtu.be/Dwg44crvhZQ

https://youtu.be/-LW8zYm5GhU

https://youtu.be/f28G1kjIWEc

https://youtu.be/arR80qg2xLQ

https://youtu.be/1wTHhcLB91o

https://youtu.be/9jukOsmJNqs

https://youtu.be/eTIOaO96u2I

https://youtu.be/qC-9RR3SrB0


Mike Solitro is the Director of AccomplishedRE, a real estate attorney, broker, and hosts the Your 12|30 podcast.


Mike graduated from Syracuse University and Suffolk University Law School. He was named a Cape & Plymouth Business Media 40-under-40, and is an alum of both the

Cape Cod's Entrepreneurship for All and Leadership Cape Cod programs. 


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 style backed by tactful and appropriate rhetoric, Richard shared his knowledge and trained over 10 000 bilingual telemarketers over two decades.  


Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture.Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008.


Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain. 


A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. In addition, entered into the 2023 Hall of Fame for Business along side other famous alumni. Paying it forward 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.


Breaking Free and Embracing New Opportunities


Mike, if you can get past your parents' guilt, you can live anywhere in the world as well. So I decided to take the chance and stay. And while I was there, I worked at my friend's center for four years and not at sea level, but I got to see the inside and out of a call center industry. And then in my mid-30s, I threw my hat in the ring and next thing you know, started my own center. 


Creating Company Culture and Making Decisions




More episodes

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    01:05:08|
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  • When it worked podcast. Using a nearshore contact centre to generate sales with Richard Blank.

    17:44|
    Success is about moments...When it worked podcast shares the experts who over came the odds to forge success on their own terms. Listen as Julian Leahy shares with us the key moments that changed everything for them.Cost Savings Of Using Offshore TelemarketersWe are considered near shore because of our distance to the United States the agents that we have here are bilingual spanish and english which in the United States spanish could be the most spoken language in the next 10 years and also in regards to our cost savings you can get a turnkey agent here for salary benefits, hr telecom and overhead for the same price you would be paying an hourly agent in the United States.https://youtu.be/s5O_Zr6tElIIt's Different When Telesales Agents Really Enjoy The JobMost of the agents in the States believe that call center and telemarketing jobs are transitional or they look down on it. I don't know why because many people earn a living making and receiving calls.In Costa Rica they find a second language stimulating and so they're constantly looking to increase their english skills and thus their marketability.So by making these calls in the United States they really find it fascinating and so what we try to do is to cultivate and grow their second language skills by expanding their vocabulary by explaining certain genres that we have.Incorporating Soft Sales SkillsWe are also serious about incorporating certain soft skills that some people claim that we've lost today because most people are chatting or sending emails.I prefer to speak with somebody. I think there's a much better chance to retain that client to get a referral, possibly an upsell and even worst case scenario if someone is not doing business with you. Maybe through an exit interview they can tell you ways in which you could improve or what your competition did in order to earn their business.Positive EscalationThe best thing about making an outbound call to a business is a positive escalation let's just say hypothetically I'm trying to get in touch with you but there's an individual that will be answering and filtering this call prior to transfer what I like to do is to find out the plethora of information about your company we could find about anniversaries or promotions or the company culture but this is the thing this individual that assisted me prior to transferring to you I will a let them know that they were amazing and I'm going to talk about them so when I do get transferred I'm going to let you know that you have the most amazing people at your organization.I'll do it verbally but then at the end of the call I will write you something as a follow-up and mention this individual as well in writing so the Richard circle comes where if I call your company back first they're going to know me they're going to thank me so much for talking about them to the boss and adding to my momentum they cannot wait to transfer the call to you and you're going to see the relationship I have with your company prior to any sort of contracts so I think you might take our good faith and our intentions much more into consideration compared to somebody just trying to angle their way in there for a sale with you.1. Interpersonal Communication Conflict Management Strategy2. Phonetic Micro Expression reading for mastering verbal tell signs.3. The Famous Buffer-Boomerang Technique
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  • Welcome To A Better Lifestyle podcast by My Men Richard. The Success Story of expat Richard Blank.

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  • weTHRIVE Podcast. A Philadelphia entrepreneur living in Costa Rica has what it takes. Episode 45.

    45:40|
    I have a buffer boomerang technique where if somebody asks you a question, sometimes their tone could be negative. So what I would like to do is buffer your tone and make it positive. So I'd say, Casey, that's an excellent question. My name is Richard Blank. Reinforce it with the question, repeated what you said to show active listening, and then sent it back to you in a positive way. There's positive, there's buffer boomerangs throughout an entire phone call when someone asks you a question and makes a statement. So then let's say that your assistant's name is Susan. And I answer her question and she likes me and she's willing to transfer the call to you. Prior to that transfer to call Casey at your consulting group, I'm going to let them know that how amazing that they are when I speak with you. So I'm going to be giving a gift and moving with some momentum. https://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91Ahttps://youtu.be/VRbCVWZKILwhttps://youtu.be/nJyrY8dD91Ahttps://youtu.be/O8O-r3Y3SF8https://youtu.be/H0gnT5P4JK4https://youtu.be/GAKngbhRvtEhttps://youtu.be/kbqnHBQRUeE
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