Why Visit Costa Rica

We have a 95% literacy rate and the best infrastructure. And I mentioned before, companies like HP into Oracle and Amazon are here. So we pack a punch. And finally, our ecotourism. Besides coming to visit me for business, imagine going to waterfalls, beaches, ziplining, and seeing all the monkeys and iguanas coming up to your room. And it's a direct flight. I mean, we're so close to the United States. It's just a couple hours and you'll be down here. And so I encourage everyone and anyone to come visit me in the land of Pura Vida. Business growth on purpose podcast Episode 160: Keys to Connecting with New People with Richard Blank Welcome to Business Growth On Purpose hosted by Jose Palomino, CEO of Value Prop Interactive. Every week, you'll hear insights from leading B2B growth experts and veteran business owners from around the world. You'll also hear Jose's own insights gained from a few decades of B2B sales and marketing experience. The result is THE show for B2B Owners who are hungry for growth, stuck on a revenue plateau, or just want better ways to deal with the everyday challenges of revenue growth. If you need help taking the next steps to take control of your business growth, come check out what we're doing at ValueProp.com. Most business owners will tell you that who you know is just as important as what you know when it comes to growing your business. You may be among the brightest in your field, but if you don't know how to meet new people (and the right people), your business will struggle. Today's guest is Richard Blank of Costa Rica's Center. Richard is an entrepreneur who has built a full-blown business south of the border interacting with American companies with a bilingual center. In this episode, he will share some insights into his journey, and what he sees happening in the business world, and as a special treat, we are going to get some "secret sauce" on making effective B2B calls. Adaptability and the Value of Brick and Mortar Centers Wonderful. Well, adaptability, of course. The Costa Rican labor law said that we couldn't have more than 50% of the people on site. I chose to make it 20%, and the agents that were here were for PCI compliance, onboarding. Let's just say something happens in their home in regards to internet redundancy, electricity, or failing equipment, they could always be at my station or at my center for a turnkey station within a half an hour. But centers are brick and mortar. A lot of the clients like the fact that people are here for that support. This is a synergy environment unlike other businesses where people may not converse or relate to one another. All we do is talk. And so on the floor, you could feel that energy. Creating a Unique Center Culture Well, you know, I mean, human nature is always going to be on a bell curve, right? There's going to be some people that just function a certain way and on either end. And it sounds like you've created an environment which you can, one is you can communicate what your culture is about. So that's going to attract certain people and other people going to want no part of it. Some people want to be anonymous. You know, people, there are people who prefer to be very anonymous, don't want to ever grow. They just want to do that, like punch in, punch out. And if you have an environment, if you create an environment which allows that people maybe some more spark, to say, this is a place, maybe not day one, but eventually I can grow into that. And again, because it's smaller, it's not a team of 10,000 people, whatever a large center would have. I think that's very exciting. Effective Strategies for B2B Calls like me. We're on a conversation. You asked me the second buffer boomerang question. Richard, what do you do? I'm so glad that you brought that up. This is what we do. And what the problem is with some people is they do desert pitching. They will talk for five minutes without any sort of oasis to drink and to rest. So if I'm naming you four things, I'm going to take your vertical and try to horizontal and try to put it into a vertical. I will mention the first thing that we do and almost like a dessert tray where I will wait for a positive or a negative reinforcement from you. So I will say A, B, C. Oh, you like C. So we take it from horizontal, go to vertical. And I start open-ended questioning, stacking you. So I'll be asking you questions for more of these explanations. And then I will be raking by saying, I'm sure you like at least one. So out of the whole list that I do, I'm sure that you like at least one of these things. Empathy in Center Management Sure. My friend did an excellent job, but whatever profession you're at, an environment, sometimes it lacks empathy. And what I wanted to make sure, especially in this center industry where there's turnover and burnout, that people are not treated like a robot, they're not expendable, and they're not just a number. And so as long as you know somebody's name, put them on a level playing field and prepare them and treat them with some dignity, there's no reason why your attrition could be reduced. And you could get the best out of people. And so I just saw from being a Philly boy, just to roll up my sleeves, know people's name, walk the rows with them, train them. I have a gamification culture. So I like to play pinball and Pac-Man with my agents. And so maybe I just did it the old school way. Okay. Just by knowing your name and treating it with that sort of respect. https://youtu.be/oiFduoa-Vl0 https://youtu.be/HfH2CDmfENw https://youtu.be/IwoGPjwH40o https://youtu.be/xXlEzKA6y4k https://youtu.be/lcPz3VnVB2c https://youtu.be/XvVwjCX6mu0 https://youtu.be/2Qucd4jUvXs BUSINESS GROWTH ON PURPOSE PODCAST GUEST RICHARD BLANK COSTA RICAS CENTER.