Richard Blank's Journey to Costa Rica.
Richard Blank 82 views 1 day ago 28 followersI'm really looking forward to this conversation because you have taken what was a 27-year-old's opportunity to train a couple thousand folks, and you've turned it into, fast forward 20 years later, an amazing career. And you're at the point now, I'd say you've probably trained tens of thousands of folks at Costa Rica's center. Talk to us. What was the story that led Richard Blank going to Costa Rica, of all places, and now having such an amazing career of success leading this amazing center team? Thank you so much for the great question. It actually starts back in Northeast Philadelphia. When I graduated Abington High School back in , I doubled down on my favorite class, which was Spanish.
The Brian Nichols Show. An Old-School Retro Gamer vs. the Sales Experience with Richard Blank.
Welcome to The Brian Nichols Show. Part of the We Are Libertarians Podcast Network. Brian Nichols Instead of focusing on winning arguments, we’re teaching the basic fundamentals of sales and marketing and how we can use them to WIN in both the worlds of business and politics; teaching you how to meet people where they're at on the issues they care about.
When people are best friends with other people, they usually stay at a company. On today's episode of The Brian Nichols Show, I'm joined by Richard Blank (CEO of Costa Rica's Center) who give us some real, authentic means to enhance the sales experience for both the prospect AND the salesman.
Episode 5. On today's interview of The Brian Nichols Show, I'm joined by Richard Blank (CEO of Costa Rica's Center) who give us some real, authentic means to enhance the sales experience for both the prospect AND the salesman.
Empowering Leadership in Centers
Well, Brian, you do know when you're a CEO of a company, you have leverage. You can hire, you can fire, you can make or break somebody. You and I, the way that we were raised, we chose the former. My ego's fine. I don't need to go on the floor and embarrass somebody or make them cry. What I'm looking to do is to delegate promote from within. And in order for me to scale, sometimes I gotta bring in people that have no experience at a center, but they're coming bilingual, which bears the mark of higher education. It gives you and I the opportunity to mold them, to coach them. They don't bring in bad habits and we can have them grow with our own company culture. And so for me, everybody has the opportunity to grow at this company.
Key Fundamentals for Successful Center Reps
So let's kind of walk through some of the basics. What are some of the key things that you would say are fundamentals that make a good center rep, as you would say over at Costa Rica's center? Perfect. Before I give you an actual phone tips and tricks, let's talk about leaving a voicemail. I believe something should be custom made. Take an extra couple seconds to look at a LinkedIn or a company website so you can find something specific to separate you from others when you're leaving a message. Also on an email template, as I'm mentioning before, make sure it's custom made so it's not just boiler room.
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"Well, since I grew up in the 70s, and 80s, I loved going to arcades - and I'm a retro gamer. I don't have a PlayStation or an Xbox. I'm an old-school gamer. And so my passion turned into an obsession.
And once I started making a little money and have the room here at the center, I started treasure hunting. And there are people down here with pinball machines and jukeboxes and a lot of toys that one man's trash is another man's treasure.
And so me Oscar the Grouch, I'll be willing to drive a couple hours to find myself a classic rock cooler, or a pinball machine. And so most of these games are older than the agents here, I created a happy neutral environment so people can meet others from different departments that can let off steam - they can recharge batteries. And imagine an environment where you can hang out and play some games together.
And so, for me, I felt it was very important. It reduces attrition. When people are best friends with other people, they usually stay at a company."
We're all tired of the partisan politics. It's exhausting hearing the news with their blatant bias and narrative. People are looking for solutions to the problems they see in the world. Where to turn?
BRIAN NICHOLS PODCAST GUEST RICHARD BLANK COSTA RICA'S CENTER