The Culture Matters Podcast on International Business & Management Podcast. Build your Cultural Competence, listen to interesting stories, learn about the cultural pitfalls and how to avoid them, and get the Global perspective here at the Culture Matters podcast on International Business.

We help you understand Cultural Diversity better by interviewing real people with real experiences.

Every episode there is an interview with a prominent guest, who will tell his or her story and share international experiences. Helping you develop your cultural competence. Welcome to this culture podcast and management podcast.

“A surgeon cannot operate on one of their family members.“

Show empathy towards the people around you. Think about it: a surgeon cannot operate on one of their family members.

Remember that you’re a guest in the country you’re visiting.

Pay it forward. If you experienced or learned something new, make sure you share it with the circle(s) around you.

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Chris Smit, Culture Matters Podcast, Richard Blank,Costa Rica's Call Center, Outsourcing, Telemarketing Call Centre, BPO, Nearshore Contact Center, Sales, Entrepreneur, B2B, Business, Podcast, Gamification,Leadership, Marketing, CX, Guest, Money, B2C education, BPO trainer,call centre, contact centre, contact center

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Crunching Your Growth is the brainchild of an experienced entrepreneur, Phil Masiello. With several books on digital marketing and brand building already published by Amazon and an impressive portfolio of direct-to-consumer food, fashion, beauty, and personal care brands under his belt - you know your journey starts with the right mentor. But it doesn't stop there! Phil has gathered seasoned entrepreneurs from around the country who open up about their near-death experiences as startups – all for educational entertainment!

No more generic advice about startup success stories! Hear first-hand accounts from those who lived it - enjoy the funny moments and grasp how to succeed in business without going through everything yourself. Get insight on how to launch your dream product or company and how to avoid potential mistakes along the way. Take advantage of this fantastic opportunity to learn what starting a business looks like.

S3 E1: 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.

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Philip Masiello, Crunching Growth podcast, Richard Blank,Costa Rica's Call Center, Outsourcing, Telemarketing Call Centre, BPO, Nearshore Contact Center, Sales, Entrepreneur, B2B, Business, Podcast, Gamification,Leadership, Marketing, CX, Guest, Money, B2C education, BPO trainer,call centre, contact centre, contact center

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Dive into "Conversations with Rich Bennett," where extraordinary tales unfold. Join Rich as he engages with diverse guests, from trailblazers to survivors, sharing stories that inspire and challenge. Each episode is a journey into the heart of human experience, offering insights, laughter, and moments of profound connection. Whether it's exploring the depths of personal triumph or the intricacies of societal issues, this podcast promises to enlighten and entertain.

Join Conversations with Rich Bennett, where compelling stories come to life. Host Rich Bennett, often joined by cohosts, dives into extraordinary tales with guests from all walks of life—trailblazers, survivors, innovators, and more. Together, they explore personal triumphs, societal challenges, and everything in between, delivering episodes filled with insight, laughter, and profound moments of connection. Whether it's an intimate look at a guest’s journey or a broader discussion on pressing issues, each episode is designed to inspire, entertain, and enlighten.

In this episode sponsored by Four Seasons Landscape & Construction Services, Rich Bennett engages in a profound conversation with Richard Blank, CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center. Richard shares his inspirational journey from his roots in Philadelphia to his entrepreneurial success in Costa Rica. He delves into how his passion for vintage jukeboxes and pinball machines isn't just a personal hobby but a cornerstone of his company culture, fostering a unique, engaging, and joyful work environment.

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Rich Bennett, Conversations with Rich Bennett, Richard Blank,Costa Rica's Call Center, Outsourcing, Telemarketing Call Centre, BPO, Nearshore Contact Center, Sales, Entrepreneur, B2B, Business, Podcast, Gamification,Leadership, Marketing, CX, Guest, Money, B2C education, BPO trainer,call centre, contact centre, contact center

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Business Confidential Now with Hanna Hasl-Kelchner. Easy Ways to Improve Business Conflict Management Skills by Richard Blank

Business Confidential Now always aims to give you smart, practical, and timeless tips focused on helping you see things hidden in plain view that matter to your career and bottom line.

Conflict management skills are one of those talents some people are better at than others but being able to turn down the heat in a conversation and find a solution is a powerful leadership competency that can be used where we work, where we play, and even at home in our personal lives.

And who better to talk about this delicate subject than the founder of a call sales center, a business whose daily bread a butter deals with the conflict surrounding unwanted solicitations and complaints!

Conflict management skills are one of those talents some people are better at than others. Being able to turn down the heat in a conversation and find a solution is a powerful leadership competency that can be used where we work, where we play, and even at home in our personal lives.

Season 10 Episode 5. Discover how can we get better and improve our conflict management skills with these great tips from Richard Blank, Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center.

Hanna Hasl-Kelchner, Business Confidential Now, Richard Blank,Costa Rica's Call Center, Outsourcing, Telemarketing Call Centre, BPO, Nearshore Contact Center, Sales, Entrepreneur, B2B, Business, Podcast, Gamification,Leadership, Marketing, CX, Guest, Money, B2C education, BPO trainer,call centre, contact centre, contact center

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Do you struggle with managing your call center and telemarketing operations? Are you looking for ways to improve your customer service and expand your business appeal? Our guest today is here to help. He's a leader in the call center industry, with over a decade of experience training and managing top-performing telemarketers in Central America. With a background in communication and Spanish, he knows how to effectively motivate and inspire his teams to achieve success.

Episode 1156 . Now, let's welcome to the show the CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center, Richard Blank.

The Business Bros Podcast's goal is to help you create wealth today and generational wealth for tomorrow by effectively adding insurance in to your existing business and through the power of podcasting to help you take control of your branding and marketing.

Hernan Sias has a number of certifications and professional designations like High School Financial Algebra Teacher, Real Estate Sales License, Life and Health License, a partner at Pipeline Insurance, CTEC Certified Tax Professional and a bachelor’s degree in Accountancy.

We have a plethora of education and a number of experiences that we utilize every day to build businesses, invest in real estate and secure our financial freedom. We invite you to be a part of the conversation, ask us questions, critique our advice, share your opinions, and help us to grow as we work hard to help you too achieve success.

Ethical Telemarketing and First Impressions

I still find telemarketing is a means to an end, and I think you should gauge the calls you make in regards to ethics. You feel comfortable making the call, or you're being shady, or as you say, just spammy. And so since I'm a guest in a Catholic country, the agents have leveraged it, and I need to make sure that they can go home and tell their parents what they do for a living. But let's be realistic here. You're looking to buy time. You're not gonna get the 10 minutes that Hollywood shows you. There's a lot of gatekeepers out there. So my suggestions for people that are doing, let's just say business-to-business type of phone calls, your first impression should be a company name spike. As much as I want to know how well Ernance CS is doing today, if you answer the call, I'm going to say, hey, Business Bros Podcast, how are you doing today? I'm going to say it better than you do. And so what it's going to do is use my anonymity as good faith. It's almost like a mystery shopper. I've been there before. So these gatekeepers reduce it a little bit. They start asking me my name and politely I will introduce myself, but I'll take it a step further.

Introduction to Traditional Marketing's Relevance

Boom all right ladies and gentlemen i know we communicate a lot through social media but some of these traditional ways of marketing and getting uh you know your message out like picking up the phone if that sounds interesting to you because there's still money to be made in that industry a lot of it we're going to talk about that on this episode let's get this thing going here we go shut up and sit down look A business can give you everything you want in life, prestige, wealth, freedom. It can also take everything away from you. This show is for those who are willing to take that risk. These are the real-life stories of entrepreneurs. But before we start, I have one small favor to ask.

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Welcome to Brain Work Frame Work, where seasoned professionals Adam and Chris share their wealth of experience and insights in the realms of Business, Sales, and Entrepreneurship with other like-minded business owners. Share your wins and loses, tips and tricks, and your journey through entrepreneurship.

Join us in this episode as we dive into the incredible journey of our guest Richard Blank, who embarked on a vision quest at 27, moving abroad to Costa Rica and founding Costa Rica's Call Center (CCC) from scratch. Our guest, Richard Blank, shares insights on taking chances, advanced telemarketing strategies, conflict management, soft skills, customer support, rhetoric, gamification, pinball machines, employee motivation, and the art of phonetic micro expression reading. Discover the secrets behind CCC's success and the lessons learned along the way.

Entrepreneurship: Slaying Dragons and Personal Growth

A lot of people will decide to live their own life and not fulfill the lives of others. And so did it break some hearts? I guess. But then again, my friend, We all need to leave our own castles to slay dragons and save princesses. And if someone's holding you back, you're never going to go on a roller coaster and experience life. And so my argument was to live. And I could have always clicked my heels and come home and been in the family business. But I wanted to try. I had some grit. I had some vigor. And I know that at the end of the day, I wanted to look at myself in the mirror and know that I went 15 rounds. That's the kind of forced march that people are on as entrepreneurs. Those are the sort of moments of clarity you have when you ask yourself, do I continue or do I stop?

Reinventing Work Relationships: Checkpoints Over Burnout

Of course, you had mentioned the six-month mark where people, you know, they fall out of love. I don't believe in that. I believe in checkpoints. I believe in positive reinforcement. Let me give you specifics for my industry because most people don't like telemarketers and I do not think the majority of your audience are CEOs of call centers. They didn't sell their soul like I did for this golden fiddle. So anyway, in my industry, there are certain things that I can do. It's a luxury trade. Besides making or receiving phone calls, these individuals are bilingual, which bears the mark of higher education.

The Power of Silence in Communication

So you're not going to really know the sound unless you have the silence. And the silence, in my opinion, speaks much more than your tone, your rate, and your pitch, because that is inside of you, right? And so if you're looking for certain tell signs, if people are facetious with you or you need additional clarification, those would be the times, in my opinion, that you should interject and ask for that clarification question because something's just not right.

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An inspiring story about pushing his car in the rain with a client, which turned into a memorable bonding experience. The conversation highlights the importance of vulnerability, human connections in business, and the dedication to overcoming challenges. Richard also discusses his business and the unique opportunities in Costa Rica.

The time when I turned misfortune into a memorable moment with Richard Blank.

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Ana Gonzalez

Ana helps businesses multiply their productivity by automating their sales and support with AI. She has an unrelenting passion for learning, constantly seeking new knowledge and getting excited by new discoveries. Originally from Mexico City, Ana now calls Austin, Texas her home.

What if you could 4x your lead conversions without changing a thing in your business?

That’s exactly what I help businesses do with my Conversational Funnels at Anabots, an AI-powered method that turns every lead into an opportunity, every interaction into a conversion, and every business into a success story.

Originally trained as an architect, I now build sales systems that never sleep, never miss a lead, and always show up when your customers are ready to buy.

AI isn’t about replacing you or your team; it’s about giving you the tools to work smarter. The best part is that you don’t need to be a tech expert to make it work. Conversational Funnels is simple, effective, and built for business owners who value their time.

Beyond building AI strategies, I co-host two podcasts, Basic Business AI and BizHaps, where I break down complex AI strategies into simple terms and highlight real stories from entrepreneurs. I’m always looking for fresh voices, so if you’d like to share your insights or story, let’s talk about having you on as a guest!

If you’d like to know about how this could work for your business, let’s chat.

Vulnerability and Growth

I could have done the easy thing and punked out, but I did the tough thing and just sucked it up. And little did I know that this individual might've been in this situation before, And so they extended some empathy, got out there and pushed with me. And I can also take the jokes and the jabs. That's what it's all about. It only gives you more foundation, more bonding and a funny sort of talk about during cocktails. I knew this in business. If you can make yourself vulnerable, my good friend, Anna, it makes you powerful. And that was one of the days I shed some skin and actually grew as a person.

Ana Gonzalez, Bizhaps Podcast, Richard Blank,Costa Rica's Call Center, Outsourcing, Telemarketing Call Centre, BPO, Nearshore Contact Center, Sales, Entrepreneur, B2B, Business, Podcast, Gamification,Leadership, Marketing, CX, Guest, Money, B2C education, BPO trainer,call centre, contact centre, contact center

#AnaGonzalez #BizhapsPodcast #RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Gamification #CEO

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Big conversations with bold thinkers—where curiosity meets connection. On the Big Performance Podcast, Alex hosts unscripted, thought-provoking conversations with fascinating guests, exploring ideas that challenge, inspire, and entertain.

For Curious Wanderers, Critical Thinkers, and Seekers of Meaning drawn to spirituality, philosophy, and knowledge.

Featuring Authentic Storytellers, Big Thinkers, and Bold Explorers unafraid to tackle life’s biggest questions.

Subscribe and join a community that values exploration, growth, and meaningful dialogue.

Today, we speak with Richard Blank, a remarkable entrepreneur who transformed his dream into a thriving reality. Richard's journey from renting desks to running a 300-seat call center in Costa Rica is nothing short of inspirational.

Guest Introduction:

Richard Blank is the CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center, a powerhouse in the telemarketing industry. His unique approach, combining old-school values with innovative strategies, has not only helped him grow his business but also fostered a strong, resilient company culture. Richard's story is a testament to the power of relationships and perseverance.

Key Takeaways:

1. Journey of an Entrepreneur: Richard's transition from a communications background to a call center mogul.

2. Building a Company Culture: How Richard's focus on relationships and trust helped him navigate challenges, including the pandemic.

3. Surviving crisis: Strategies Richard employed to maintain business continuity and employee morale during the pandemic.

4. Gamification in the Workplace: The importance of creating a fun, engaging environment for employees.

5. Communication Strategies: Tips and techniques for effective telemarketing and client interaction.

6. The Role of Empathy in Business: Why human interaction will always have an edge over AI in customer service.

7. Richard's Passion for Pinball: How vintage arcade games play a role in his business and personal life.

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