Socio-Cultural Impacts of Remote Work

I think that might have increased things by about five percent in regards to production. Okay, so we're at 85%. Why aren't we in the 90s? You lost a complete 15% in regards to the on-site training, the camaraderie, the IT support, you know, the arcade game room. How about just getting out, shaving, putting on clothes and looking smooth? You know, you got to keep your game going. How about this? I've had a lot of people through the 17 years that have met here, gotten married, and have had children. I've had some call center babies that have been here the whole nine months, and I say hi to them every day, talk to the tummy. What's my point? That's not going to happen anymore. Those two people through Destiny might never meet now. We've hired a bunch of people post-COVID, but those A and Bs are never going to make C anymore. Ed Up Xcelerated Excellence podcast. Educating ESL Call Center agents with teacher Richard Blank A podcast for the advancement of educational effectiveness and equity for traditional and non-traditional educational experiences and contexts, higher education and beyond. The podcast seeks to engage educators, scholars, entrepreneurs, advocates, and policy makers at all levels. Our Guest is ⁠Richard Blank⁠. He is a native of Philadelphia, PA and CEO of ⁠Costa Rica’s Call Center.⁠ Richard shares the ingredients for supporting and preparing call center representatives for high-impact engagement with clients. He addresses the role of AI in call center productivity and the role of empathy as an effective tool in human interaction. He shares how developing community and engagement lead to retention of employees. Richard gives back to the community by offering scholarships for students. Strategic Language Use in Call Centers That's a wonderful question. First, let me address the fact that I won't bring any languages in here that I can't personally understand. I can't have Tommy on the phone, Carson. So I got to know. So it's going to be English, Spanish, and I'll even do Portuguese. We have enough Portuguese speakers here and I understand enough. Of course, it could go into two languages. It depends on the client. If you need to turn in a recording to them or you need to set up an appointment and no one in the office in corporate speak Spanish, you got to ensure that the person you're speaking with has a translator or can speak English. The Importance of Creativity in Communication It's better to be a rudder than the ship. And it's a nice thing to do. And so I've seen that we've been able to prolong conversations in the metrics that you have working at a center. And our conversion ratios have increased. Our contact ratios have increased. And even if we need to make a custom-made voicemail or email because of COVID or the way people are communicating, if you just do a little due diligence like you and I did prior to this podcast, people put a little of that magic dust on top and get their attention. And so be clever. Actually try. Just don't make it a print. Come on, Jacob, make it a painting. Make it something that people are going to remember. So at least through merit, you're getting their attention and having the chance to make your case. The Romantic Side of Call Center Work so tell us, what does it mean and what does it feel like to work at a call center? You sold your soul. Man, some people would rather do public speaking than this, and they feel that more than death. I'm only kidding. It's not for the faint of heart. You need to build up endurance for it. In my mind, I saw the romantic side of it. It's really beautiful rhetoric and semantics and a phonetic delivery. As good looking as you and I are, Jacob, the majority of our clients can see us over the phone. So you're losing that sort of suit wearing smile. But what I've seen and I've cracked a few codes is that when you speak to somebody, I believe that the phonetic tell signs are even stronger than if someone, if your micro expression reading them in person, they could just have twitches, just be nervous and sure, congruence is there. But the purest of pure is you're focused on the way somebody speaks. https://youtu.be/RgLRnWNgBVQ https://youtube.com/shorts/-RY2sq1yuk8?feature=share https://youtube.com/shorts/4ioKxk3kNyY?feature=share Jacob Easley II, Ed Up Xcelerated Excellence 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