Real Estate Jam session podcast full video. Welcome to the Real Estate Jam session Richard Blank Costa Rica's Call Center

Richard Blank Podcast Guest Appearances from Costa Rica's Call Center

Joe Killinger: Welcome to the Real Estate Jam session. You know, I always try and bring value to you guys and it's all geared toward the real estate industry, and I'm always looking for ways that I can really enhance the experience of being in this industry. And cold calling, like it or not, is a big part of our industry.

Joe Killinger: So as fortunate to run into Richard Blank, Richard has been a cold collars entire life. Matter of fact, he runs a cold calling company down in uh, Costa Rica, which I think I need to go visit someday. Looks beautiful down there, but he came on the show today and really gives us tips and tricks to really be more successful with our cold calling.

Joe Killinger: So make sure you check it out. Give us a like while you're there. Now, if you're new to the channel, my name is Joe Klinger. I've been a real estate entrepreneur for over 20 years, and I use this channel to bring on people like Richard to really help you learn all that tips and tricks to be successful in this industry.

Joe Killinger: So make sure you check it out, give us a like where you're there, and if you haven't done so, make sure you.

Joe Killinger: So Richard, you know, is a, a real estate agent. Breaking those barriers, getting in front of a client, a serious client, and, you know, a, it's, it's daunting, right? You know, you gotta pick up that phone and be ready for rejection and, um, you know, it, it's very hard. So, can you kind of, uh, let's, let's start with commercial real estate first.

Joe Killinger: Let's, let's start there and talk about what tactics do you put in place to really help you, um, get through to the decision maker?

Richard Blank: First and foremost, very happy to be sharing these ideas with you. And yeah, I appreciate enjoying the time that we're having today on this podcast. And so what I do here, I have a simple structure.

Richard Blank: I have an introduction of body and conclusion, usually in a normal conversation, and the average attention span, in my opinion, is 30 seconds to two minutes. So let's say you're making a prospecting outbound phone call, as you were mentioning, B to. B to B business to business, the first thing I would do is when somebody answers the phone, is to use your anonymity and do a company name spike better than they would.

Richard Blank: So I'd say, Hey, how's Joe doing today? , you know, and then just to make sure that the whole company is doing great. And then the individual that answers the phone would usually ask me. What is your name? And the first technique I would mention is a buffer boomerang technique because they're usually, as you mentioned, black and blue, from getting so many phone calls.

Richard Blank: Mm-hmm. . And the fact that they are just gonna say, We're good. Thanks. Hang up or not transfer the call. You almost have to differentiate yourself, mothers, So usually I like to say even the name of the company and how the company's doing the first time. And then when they ask me this buffer boomerang technique, I will say, Hey Joe, that's an excellent question.

Richard Blank: My name is Richard Blank, and so this individual sees the active listening. I can readjust their negative tone into a positive tone, repeat their question, and then send it back once again with a name drop and who I am. And so after gaining the trust of this gatekeeper, as you would call them, I'm also gonna let them know that I'm transferred to the decision maker.

Richard Blank: I'm gonna let them know how great you are on the phone. We call that a positive escalation. So it increases your odds of actually having that call transferred. Didn't say you got the appointment but transferred. So then when the call is transferred, you are given the gift of telling this individual how amazing Joe was who answered the phone.

Richard Blank: And so you still have your anonymity. And don't be anonymous. The whole call, that's a little bit of shape, right? But if you just start off strong by complimenting someone that works with. , it separates you from the others that have been calling and shows what you do prior to contracts. And so this individual, once again will ask who you are.

Richard Blank: It's another word buffer. Boomerang, That's an excellent question, Mr. Decision Maker. My name is Richard Blank, and so we're having these conversations with the individual and if you're mentioning all of the different services, options, and features of your real estate business, In your way. I just wouldn't do desert pitching Joe, because a lot of times people are so scared or reluctant to let someone speak for the fear of being hung up upon, So I believe pitch.

Richard Blank: Desert Pitchings. If you give a list of five things in a row and not even giving the person a chance to look at your dessert and make sort of reaction on it, there's no oasis in the

Joe Killinger: desert. I'm gonna learn a lot today, I can tell. Ok. And so

Richard Blank: it's almost like the MLS when you're talking about a house, you know, you mentioned ways of the house.

Richard Blank: With the commercial real estate, you have to go over certain sections, and since it's a non-visual call, you have to gauge the positive or the negative reactions from. This potential client. And so I say slow down on your list of things that you're offering. Take the horizontal to a vertical because you are gonna find one or two things of interest, and then stack that with opened ended questions so they can explain to you.

Richard Blank: Why commercial real estate is important, why they may move forward. Okay. And so as we're continuing this conversation, my suggestion, cuz you're very keen on this, is that this is a first time phone call and there are certain tele signs you can get from somebody over the phone. Once again, I talked about 30 seconds to two minutes.

Richard Blank: My tone needs to be consistent of empathy and confidence, right? There's four sections to phonetics. It's tone, rate, pitch, and duration. Everyone talks about mirror imaging, but I'm not gonna mirror image someone that's negative. So I will always stay positive and always have the answer. But this is the part Joe of manipulation that you will enjoy if you pay attention to how fast and the speaking level, the pitch of somebody.

Richard Blank: In every 30 seconds to two minutes, you might see a spike or a dip, and you know perfectly well that's the perfect time to ask a tie down, pin down question. Or potentially if there's noise in the background because some people are working from home, that's still even within, uh, commercial realing that you would passively inadvertently and passive aggressively.

Richard Blank: Let them know the Me Too technique on how much you like dogs. Because the dog is making noise or there's a distraction. Someone's on a cell phone. In a car. And so you can always ask the follow up question, What's the dog's name? And so if someone says, Fluffy , Well, I love dogs. Yeah, Put fluffy outside. It's throwing in the call.

Richard Blank: And when they come back, Joe, and I know you're trying to lock in in an appointment, but this is the time that your audience can anchor the coal. You've already made your introduction and you're in the body of the coal, but the fact that you and I could talk about your dog for a couple minutes, What that does is that's when you will usually ask me again, excuse me, what is your name?

Richard Blank: And then I'd say, That's an excellent question Joe. My name is Richard Blank. And then your name dropping me the rest of the call. And so when we finish it up, when we go to the conclusion, I want you to say, Joe, since you still have me on the phone, are there any other questions that you have? Cuz you showed me you like A, B, C, and d.

Richard Blank: I know you don't like 'em all, but you showed me you'd like two. Any other questions that you may have, You may or may not. But I always review the information, Joe in military. because A is to clean its way, but instead of ending the call, a lot of the times the people have served in the military, nobody's that has.

Richard Blank: Yeah. And then instead of ending the call, you're on the call for another five minutes. Yeah, but I'm still not done. When I'm doing the follow up email to the individual, I will definitely give a written positive escalation on Joe who assisted me. Mm-hmm. to transfer the call. So when I do the Richard Circle and I come back again making the follow up, call the individual yourself, that answer the call is gonna say, In 10 years, no one has ever written something like that about me.

Richard Blank: Yeah. Thank you. And so I'm not saying that you're gonna get the deal, but obviously going from half court to three point to foul line, Yeah. I think you've increased your odds and you've also separated yourself. A lot of people that are just trying to angle in on that goal. Yeah. Oh yeah. You're not just custom make and you compliment a promotion or an anniversary.

Richard Blank: And you really just take that extra effort that will separate it. And I have seen a larger conversion ratio of emails coming back from those. Not just, it just doesn't work.

Joe Killinger: Yeah. It's, it's personalizing. It is, You know, we've even, I've even tried doing a personal note after I had a conversation with somebody sending it.

Joe Killinger: I couldn't believe the return on that. You know, it

Richard Blank: just remember the positive escalation of

Joe Killinger: everyone. Yeah, it was just a quick little notes and it really worked. But now how do you, I've got so many questions because this is brilliant. The way you're phrasing all this is exactly, how do you get in, Let's say you the, the gatekeeper's, a really good gatekeeper.

Joe Killinger: Ooh, what's the, Yeah. How do you, the scary ones, right? How do you break through that? How do you get through to, from them to the next level?

Richard Blank: My good friend. Did you ever see the movie Wall Street when Bud was trying to get into Gordon Gecko? Oh, oh Christ. I

Joe Killinger: watched that movie a hundred years ago, ,

Richard Blank: But what I remembered most about that movie was he wasn't disrespectful to the coworkers and the executive assistant of this gentleman.

Richard Blank: And so instead of trying to. Not follow the protocol, be rude, curse or, or just bully their way in there after a while when he did get that pass to pitch and he did show up at the office before going into that meeting, obviously there was a bit of admiration from, as you say, this tough gatekeeper because that's why they're there.

Richard Blank: Yeah, they're the best, but they're also human. I'm sure they're wonderful mothers and fathers and, and, uh, and they're responsible people because that position is very important. But that's why I mentioned the anonymity in the beginning, because if I can say, How's Costa Rica's call center doing today?

Richard Blank: Yeah. They have to respond well, and I get to give them that sort of power punch right off the bat. Mm-hmm. and. , it might take two or three calls to call back because Joe, you might be busy and that is fine, But, But how about this? Once you follow the rules and you're respectful, and if you ever do those positive escalations, this individual is a plethora of information about the company culture.

Richard Blank: They might give you direct extension numbers or tell 'em about the son's birthday party or, or just let you know other things. You, you were mentioning yourself celebrating a birthday with one of your most treasured employees, and I think that was very cool. I hope they saved you the biggest piece. , but, uh, yeah.

Richard Blank: No, it was too big. I know, right. And, uh, That's what I'm hoping too, as I mentioned before about anchoring. Yeah. As much as I'd love to give you a tip and a trick and, and a million dollar secret, the success I've had in, in real estate is this, you know, relationship building mm-hmm. and respecting their rules.

Richard Blank: And sometimes a pipeline could be a week or could be six months out. Yeah. And as long as you leave a lasting impression. And custom make emails and especially voicemails Yeah. And involve everybody that's assisted you, You're probably gonna get to the front of the line and you will be given your true chance to state your case and to earn

Joe Killinger: this business.

Joe Killinger: Yeah. How often do you, if you, you can't get through,

Richard Blank: you're probably gonna get to the front of the line and you will be given your true chance to state your case and to earn this

Joe Killinger: business. Yeah. How often do you, if you, you can't get through two or three or four times, how often do you call them? Every two weeks, three weeks?

Richard Blank: That's a great question. Depends on the sense of urgency, the size of the list and what vertical you're calling about. Yeah. You could be over killing it. And then how many times can you be creative on a voicemail? I mean, after you're

Joe Killinger: em off, right? You know? Now they're just angry at you.

Richard Blank: It depends. You could be clever and you could talk about, unlike other people that are doing one thing, you're doing another.

Richard Blank: or if this person is celebrating an anniversary, you could be calling on those days and saying congratulations on your 14th year. You could really time it perfectly for certain things that, you know, they're celebrating. If you wanna do that, um, you know, persistence is fine. Yeah. And as I mentioned before, sometimes people only prefer to do non-voice.

Richard Blank: And I have to respect that. But if they're gonna be doing non-voice, then I'm gonna be expanding 50 times the descriptions of the emails that I'm gonna be sending to you. Mm-hmm. , Or I might just, you roll the dice and go to page seven on your website and describe some sort of machinery or some sort of photograph you took with your crew and mentioned how awesome that was.

Richard Blank: Why, Right? Why not ? We might as well try And

Joe Killinger: so, no, that's it, right? You've gotta try and.

Richard Blank: You're gonna catch my attention. Yeah. I mean, if you really take the time to Google me and to go to my website, it's obvious I've given you three things that will get you to, for me to take your call, write you back and say, Thank you, my man, for taking the time.

Richard Blank: Mm-hmm. , you know, it has to do with the beautiful art building, the pinball machines I have. Yep. And also the writings that I do with the empathy and the relationship I have with my agents. Yeah. Those are the keys to unlock my door, to pitch me on buying or selling my. Yeah, so I'll at least give you five minutes.

Richard Blank: Yeah, no more. And you have to earn more time after that. No one's giving you 20. It might just give you a minute. And what I believe is that, Joe, you're buying time. I have a huge suggestion for you and it's a soft skill suggestion. Okay? A lot of people say you have to name drop em. Well, yeah, you do. But I would suggest doing a five to one name drop pronoun, where you're gonna say your, your, are your.

Richard Blank: Right, Joe , you know, so I think you set 'em up, set 'em up, set 'em up, power bomb. And so if you practice that sort of speaking structure to keep their attention, then there's a good chance you don't have to repeat something, ruin the tone of the call. Next thing you know, the information has to be done.

Richard Blank: Again, you don't want to walk home to get your homework. And so you should really slice and dice these calls very, very carefully. And I've even seen calls that had to go halfway in. And then you pick up where you're left off and as long as you take needing minutes, as long as you're up to speed and can recap, maybe it is a 50% call.

Richard Blank: And then Joe and I go over next Thursday, next week to finish the call. And as don't be surprised when I call you back on Thursday on time and I am ready to go pen it, the ready the odds. Once again, Joe, are in our favor.

Joe Killinger: Mm-hmm. . I agree. Richard is the, um, not listening. They're so busy. They've got somebody on the phone, they're trying to get everything out so fast and, but they're not listening to what the person on the other end is saying.

Joe Killinger: And I just think that if you, you, you know, my, my father, it's amazing how the older I get, the smarter he gets it, just, you know, he goes, Joe, you've got two ears and one mouth. He goes, Listen more than you talk. And he's right. He was right on and I just am like in sales. That is something that you really have to take into consideration.

Richard Blank: So I have a follow up question to your statement there. Do your agents know your script by heart? A to Z, one to three. Do they know everything? No.

Joe Killinger: No, they don't. They, you know, and depending on the personality, you know, we have so many different scripts, so most of them don't even really follow a script.

Joe Killinger: They go by. What we try and teach is, you know, when somebody picks up the phone, you need to be listening to them and you know, kind of, I don't wanna say mirror, but understand how they're coming out there. You can tell right in the first few seconds how somebody is that day if they feel like they're bothered.

Joe Killinger: But I mean, they do have scripts, don't get me wrong. And they have like three of 'em that they all play off of, but nobody has one of them memorized, I don't think. But it's, But that's fine. But

Richard Blank: as you say that, they're well versed. They know they're subject well, yeah. And, and what I've seen happen multiple times is that they become plastic.

Richard Blank: Plastic to commercialize. They're not a painting, they're not raw. They're a character, not in character. That's why when your dog was barking, Joe, I asked what the dog's name was. Yeah. As a follow up question, or how many years have you been in this position, this promotion at your company? Not Congratulations on being ceo.

Richard Blank: How many years has it been, Joe? You know what? You know, where are you at right now? Yeah. And so when you say active listening to me, it's really more of an engagement. Because you're saying also as well that you might be upsetting somebody, but I'm telling you this, these are people you're meeting for the first time.

Richard Blank: I can't gauge the first round of the fight as I can on the 12th because things do change, like tug of ward. It goes back and forth. There's a push in a bull. Yeah. But if I can. Match just your speed and how loud you go. Then there's no crosstalk or interruption cuz I'm really moving with you at your speed.

Richard Blank: But then I know when to interject to do the follow up. That's the active listening they need checkpoints. They need pauses. Do you remember the show gets smart when he was walking down the hallway and the doors were closing behind him? They're gonna leave. Yes, I do. No. My main man, you know, they're gonna leave a door open.

Richard Blank: So after 15 minutes, they wonder why they didn't get the appointment. And all the client says is, Hey Joe, send me information. Yeah, no, because that's why when you gauge these people, you ask a follow up question to see if it makes sense or if it sounds good, I'd rather take a three second insurance. To ask you a tie down question, then to assume, which as you know, it makes an ass out of you and me and just keep moving forward for the fear of being hung up upon.

Richard Blank: And yeah, I believe in selling sizzle. So somebody has a beautiful building. I would love to take a look at it because when I was doing residential real estate, the MLS was a gold mine for me because you talk about the, the bedrooms, the kitchen, the sport court, the pool, the, the, the, the crown molding or even the curve appeal.

Richard Blank: And obviously it was the biggest glaring tell sign of what the people were most proud of. Oh yeah. And what they loved the most. And so I allowed through least resistance. It's called Woo Way. To, as you say, two on one. Listen, twice I know what I know. I need to know what Joe knows. Yeah. And so by me allowing you to ask these questions and, and me bringing you back in the conversation, don't be surprised if you not only can get everything out of it, but once again, they're probably gonna call you and tell you how great I was by setting the appointment.

Richard Blank: Mm-hmm. , that should be the goal of your staff. is to get that positive escalation when you call back Mrs. Jones to represent her property. Mm-hmm. and I always gave the most points on the call, Joe, when the client says your name. Yeah, I know you want a conversion and, and the scripts and, and I'm so proud of what you built.

Richard Blank: But to me, if they are not capable of having that sort of balanced, grounded in the moment sort of conversation where they are. Selling or buying one of the most expensive investments of their entire life, you have to put, it's almost like a vulnerable state for somebody. You really have to take that into consideration, and so instead of being a prospector, you're almost more of a consultant.

Richard Blank: Yeah, but you're not, Joe, The closer. That's not a problem at all. What I'm here to do today is to clarify for our edification additional things above and beyond your specs that Joe would need to know in order to be in the moment with you to move forward emotionally and to either purchase or let.

Richard Blank: Property go. So you're are such a good man in regards to the psychology. You're like someone's best friend or older brother, making sure I don't get in a fist fight and stay out of trouble. And Joe, that's why you get these accounts. I don't know if they could price shop around or give it to a family member, but you've closed a lot of deals of people you've met for the first time and these people once again, are entrusting this in you.

Richard Blank: And so. As much as I'm telling you before, there's no real secret sauce to this. If you show empathy, if you take an extra five minutes to speak with somebody when you're online with them, just start looking at the website and making compliments and asking how Eddie in the, in the mail rooms doing. Don't be surprised if Joe's gonna be way too busy and it's gonna have to eat two lunches to get his energy back.

Joe Killinger: Yeah. It's, you know, as far as you know, sales people we're always taught, get the league, get the deal, you know, get the appointment, you know, and I'm like, you, it's just kind of like, you know, it's a process, you know, you gotta have the process in place.

Richard Blank: You gotta do clean business. Yeah. You gotta properly represent yourself in the best light and, and there's no surprises with you, Joe, like as much as you'd like to give somebody a price or sell it with certain terms.

Richard Blank: Mm-hmm. , you're also realistic. And if you're able to have that sort of conversation with your clients, I think once again, they respect you that much more. Yeah,

Joe Killinger: I would bet that when you're doing reside,

Richard Blank: don't be surprised if Joe's gonna be way too busy and it's gonna have to eat two lunches to get his energy back.

Joe Killinger: Yeah. It's, you know, as far as you know, sales people we're always taught, get the league, get the deal, you know, get the appointment, You know, and I'm like, you, it's just kind of like, you know, it's a process, you know, you gotta have the process in.

Richard Blank: You gotta do clean business. Yeah. You gotta properly represent yourself in the best light and, and there's no surprises with you, Joe, like as much as you'd like to give somebody a price or sell it with certain terms.

Richard Blank: Mm-hmm. , you're also realistic. And if you're able to have that sort of conversation with your clients, I think once again, they respect you that much more. Yeah.

Joe Killinger: I would bet that when you were doing residential, you knocked it outta the park, didn't you?

Richard Blank: I sold a lot of sizzle. I said, Unlike other people that are just boring you, I'm telling you, your house is great.

Richard Blank: Oh, I had the greatest phone calls with people. I bet you know what I got the most. I tell you, it used to be about 80% prospecting, 20% referrals. Yep. And it got 50 50. Yeah. And then it got about 20% prospecting, 30% callbacks, 50% referrals. And so I got passed around, which was wonderful. Yeah. And people realized that if I myself at 10:00 AM on a Sunday morning or making prospecting calls to you, isn't that the sort of company you'd like to work with?

Richard Blank: And so it was very easy for me not to lie. I'm telling you the truth. I'm representing myself, introducing myself, and it's Sunday morning. I'm not hungover and I'm not on vacation. I'm, I would love to represent your home and, and why don't we have a, a meeting from this momentum that we have. I like you, Richard.

Richard Blank: Great. Put the checkbook away. I don't wanna sign who's talking about signing anything today. Mm-hmm. , what I, since obviously we have a momentum and we both know each other's names. Maybe the next step is to have Joe meet you and then from an educated point of view, then make a decision. But you're gonna love him , you know?

Richard Blank: And um, And it's being kind. Yeah. It's being nonthreatening. Yeah. And they realized that, and maybe Joe's the way that you and I were raised by our parents and grandparents, we were taught to have certain manners. And to respect other people's times. Yeah. And so by just taking that very simple common sense approach to my phone calls, I was not the real estate beast you thought I was.

Richard Blank: I was a very kind, non-threatening appointment setter for my older brother who is the broker or for my clients now that are in the United States that are doing their business. Yeah. So I was just the sell the sizzle, come into the tent. Yep. Greatest. Also, I was just the sell the sizzle. Come into the tent.

Richard Blank: Yep. Greatest will

Joe Killinger: on earth, kinda guy . Now how many calls, you know, we always get how many calls is, is, I'm sure it varies between commercial and residential, but um, how many calls a day were you making when you were doing residential? I bet you were cranking. I could manual

Richard Blank: dial myself 400 calls a day and Oh good.

Richard Blank: Don't take yourself. I got the phone with the big buttons on it. Yeah, it was much more easier and I didn't have to look at it, you know, the lady at the supermarket, but I used to work 10 hours a day, six days a week to hustle. Right. , and that is the money that I had earned in order to invest in growing my business.

Richard Blank: So it was like more of a leap fraud, but no manually dying. I was doing about 400. Now, if you're here with a predictive dialer, my suggestion is to at least on a five minute talk time, to give 4,000 unique numbers a month. You got two to four lines dialing at the same time. Mm-hmm. , which means you have.

Richard Blank: Contact ratio of almost a hundred percent besides your dispositions and ready status. Yeah. And so all it's like, it's like a batting cage. It's one call after another. And unless you've worked at a call center, you might not have that sort of endurance. Yeah. And my suggestions for a real estate company is to have a specialist making these calls for you, like a Squire or a page, and setting up the night for the win.

Richard Blank: Yeah. And. They are professional bird dogs and telemarketers out there that are phenomenal at their crack, and I would leave them alone because if they can build your pipeline and they can make follow up calls for you and they're definitely your sidekick, then you focus on the other things. But, but don't just leave them alone.

Richard Blank: If you're the closer, I would always be coaching, I would be listening to the calls that they made so you can enhance those skills or, or possibly. Uncover certain speaking styles of the potential client. So you can prepare your rhetoric, you can prepare your approach. Or even if the best case scenario comes, you uncover a gem where you know you're gonna anchor immediately with that individual and do some research on it and just, you know, bring the present.

Richard Blank: And

Joe Killinger: yeah, finding those people and making sure they have, We haven't been. Finding those people and making sure they have, We have a bad habit as real estate agents. We are, you know, we're a type personalities that are entrepreneurs, most of them, and that I run into, and so they just go, go, go, go, go. But if they've got a great individual like you're talking about, you really want to give them the opportunity to really enhance the experience that they're trying to create for you, really give 'em the proper training.

Joe Killinger: And I think we, we tend to not do that. And so having the proper training, I think is. Oh,

Richard Blank: I couldn't agree with you more. It reduces fear. Yeah, it prepares them. And, um, let me share something with you. Since I'm a CEO of a company like yourself, we have leverage. We can hire and fire, make or break somebody.

Richard Blank: And I choose with this sort of position to encourage and to move people forward. And so these individuals, and I break the stereotype because a lot of people say, Wow, you are so hands on and you know people's names and you break bread with them. And I say, Well, As you and I do, Joe. Yeah. We break bread with our people.

Richard Blank: And I heard how you spoke about this individual prior, so I don't need to remind you. Uh, but the greatest thing is with these individuals is it's about maturity. And when they realize that each individual is a unique experience, they might be making their hundredth call, but it's the first call for them.

Richard Blank: And so you really have to take that sort of delicate situation and not, and not be bored with your pitch. Yeah. Because as I mentioned before, you're, you're becoming plastic. Yeah. And you'll burn out on something

Joe Killinger: like that. Yeah. If they don't, we we, what we do is we make sure our agents know the market very, very well.

Joe Killinger: So let's say if you're gonna be a multi-family agent in, in Hollywood, and you better know every property that's on the market. Average days on market, average price per square foot, average size of units, everything. That makes the conversation a lot easier because you've got all this data in your head that you can give to these people cuz you're bringing value.

Joe Killinger: And that's another thing, you know, we get so many people that hey, they'll, they'll call like caught one a couple weeks ago, his calling was, Hey, are you somebody to answer? And he goes, Are you thinking about selling your building? Oh you're not. Okay. I'm like, No, no, no, no, no. . That's not

Richard Blank: gonna work. What's his, what's his nickname?

Richard Blank: Fonzi. Yeah.

Joe Killinger: I was like, Oh dude. Um, but yeah, it just doesn't work. There's gotta be a connection and I really think, you know, being in real estate the last 10 years has been, it's been really, really good. Right. You know, the economy's been booming. Uh, real estate's been. That's changing. You know, we're gonna, The fundamentals kind of got pitched out the windows when times were great.

Joe Killinger: And so we're going back to fundamentals. So cold calling's gonna be a big part of it for a lot of people, so you gotta get back to it. I

Richard Blank: listen to their calls, self analysis, self improvement. If they can take a step back. And I know you were mentioning that you have scripts. Mm-hmm. , I make a huge suggestion not putting the script on an Excel sheet, but you have qualifying question.

Richard Blank: At least put them in there. Two or three soft skills, Joe, that has made you successful, like positive escalation, pronouns, Name drops, military alphabet. Since you have me on the phone, I'm sure you like at least one. Those sort of soft skills just to ensure active listening because they are name dropping and they're putting back on the straight line, grade them, Hall of Fame call them.

Richard Blank: When you bring everybody together, not just for cake, but for training. And when the training session comes, you bring out the call and you watch the tapes like an athletic team does. Yeah, and since this is an individual effort, like wrestling and box. Your team knows the plays. They know the moves. Mm-hmm.

Richard Blank: or they're watching an individual, so there's no way to spin it. Yeah, that's new. And if your tone is negative, if you're interrupting. We spoke about desert pitching with no oasis, just to take a breath and a drink. If they're not named dropping or having their name dropped, then we need to pause it for a second and say, What do you think you could?

Richard Blank: Why didn't you ask a follow up question? When someone's father passes away and gives the house to the daughter and the daughter is in a certain state, and I've, I've seen people show, Oh, I'm sorry to hear that and continue with their next question, their closer, but I would've stopped immediately. Yeah, and

Joe Killinger: you gotta create the connection.

Joe Killinger: Have to

Richard Blank: pitch, you know, from

Joe Killinger: there. Yeah. Well, You gotta create the connection past the pitch,

Richard Blank: you know, from there.

Joe Killinger: Yeah. Well, um, so tell us a little bit about what you do. You've got call center down in Costa Rica, so I'm a little jealous about, I gotta come down there and scuba dive. I swear to God it's on my bucket list.

Joe Killinger: I made it to Belize. That was great. But Costa Rica's gotta be next. But tell us about your call.

Richard Blank: Well, I've been in business for 14 years in the industry for 22. I have bilingual agents here. They're college educated and they're dedicated, so they only work on specific campaigns, and so I have a gamification culture here.

Richard Blank: Okay, So I believe in restoring old pinball machines, jute boxes. I have an air hockey table, so I've created a neutral environment for agents from other departments to meet one another. They can let off steam and recharge batteries and, and it's an environment where I, as the L Hefe can spend time with my people.

Richard Blank: Sure. And, and so this sort of gamification environment has enabled me to reduce any sort of attrition. and to have some sort of bridge with the agents here. And so let's say it's a first day of training. Training class doesn't start till seven 30 cuz seven to seven to 30 we start with recess. So everybody can have a great time together.

Richard Blank: Yeah. And when they enter the first training class, they're loops. They have friends. Yep. They're just absorbing now Joe. They start contributing so, So I believe with your training sessions with the agents, there's nothing better than Interac. Role playing and suggestions and causing it and showing different techniques.

Richard Blank: It's a dojo. They all, Does everybody work in the same office or are they virtual agents, Joe?

Joe Killinger: Well, uh, about half and half the newer agents are in the office. The guys have been with us for 10 plus years, are at home. Most of

Richard Blank: you know the synergy in your office, you know, the new agents, they feed off of that energy with one another.

Richard Blank: Oh. And if somebody gets one, the high fives are

Joe Killinger: plenty. Yeah. One of 'em gets a good call and you know, they got a listing appointment or something. It's just the energy, it just through the roof.

Richard Blank: Rock on. Yeah. I missed that. With Covid that got taken away from me. The essence of my call center was to walk the rose and to break the bread and the high five.

Richard Blank: Yeah. And so I missed that, but um, I'm glad to hear you have that sort of culture there. I'm sure it's amazing. What, do you guys ring a bell? What do you do when someone gets to

Joe Killinger: leave? We don't ring a bell, but it's, it's, it's just fun. And you know what, it motivates the other agents, you know? So I find that if we really support that and, you know, make that a focus, the other agents are like, So what did you do?

Joe Killinger: What did you. How did it happen? And then they kind of grow from that as a team. Then you pull the call.

Richard Blank: Pull the call. Pull the call for the agents. Oh yeah. Listen to it. Go right into the training room. Wait after you cut it and then cut it up and everyone gets a slice. Let 'em see. Cause it's still fresh off the griddle, what that call was like.

Joe Killinger: I just love the, I love this business. First of all, I love the real estate business. I've done auctions and no estate auctions here in the US when it was a startup. That worked, Went very well in residential and now I've been focused on commercial the last. 20 some years. So, uh, I love the business and the people, and I love watching new people, you know, build a business and bring it in.

Joe Killinger: And I think, you know, e everybody's afraid that the economy's gonna slow down here. And, you know, being in Southern California we're a little bit spoiled and that we don't, and we are usually the last one in, if we go into recessions. I'm not saying we are, but if we. We're always one of the last ones in one of the first ones out.

Joe Killinger: I think our biggest dip has been in under, even under 10%. So we don't take a big hit, large population in the small geography. Right. But, um, yeah, so works pretty well. Now you get into Inland Empire, that's different deal, but LA proper. But yeah, I love the business. I love the love the energy. So I could imagine being in your call center, you know, it's gotta be.

Joe Killinger: That would be fun. That'd be a fun environment. And you even make it more fun with all this stuff, all that. Box

Richard Blank: and a candy I five at an eating lunch every day. If you were here it's best time.

Joe Killinger: Yeah. You know, as we get older, we really appreciate that even more, I guess, you know, so it's, it's just fun to be around youthful energy that makes me want to go back in and do more work.

Joe Killinger: So I probably be taking,

Richard Blank: These agents here are bilingual. Yeah. So once again, in regards to their intensive. Listening. Yeah. It could be exhausting. Yeah. And so the respect to them using what they've studied as I have with my Spanish Yeah. To recuperate that education costs and, and to earn a very, very good living.

Richard Blank: So once again, People are chatting and texting. I prefer the artist's speech, and if they can write in cursive, I think that's nice as well. So, Oh yeah. I'm always encouraging enhanced communication.

Joe Killinger: Yeah. I You get it. Um,

Richard Blank: who is enhanced communication?

Joe Killinger: Yeah, I You get it. Um, who is your, what does your typical client look like?

Richard Blank: Well, there's two types. Okay. It could be someone like yourself in the United States that needs to scale, and sometimes it's difficult to find qualified individuals that will meet your requirements in the States. Yep. Otherwise, individuals might not have the resources. We do, like I was mentioning earlier, manual dialing to predictive, dialing a quality assurance department, Human resources department supervises my experience.

Richard Blank: So a lot of the times my consulting could enhance their. Uh, I guess plug in place system. Mm-hmm. . Cause I can log into your crm. I could even log into your phone system. Yeah. But once again, by using my dialer and other sort of resources we have, we can almost just enhance what you have. And then other companies use us for overflow.

Richard Blank: If they have a dedicated workforce and their queue gets filled, then calls will come into our department too. But I always believe if we're on a level playing field and we're given all the resources as corporate, I have on multiple occasions be able to match and exceed expectations. Yeah. And that's why I'm able to earn these seats.

Richard Blank: But my ideal client would be someone that would first ask me about the labor laws here. just to make sure that everything is followed perfectly. Yeah. And the second thing is to judge me on merit, not on price. Because offshore centers in the Philippine and India obviously have much more competitive pricing.

Richard Blank: Sure. And then finally, metrics. I would like realistic. Expectations. And you asked me earlier about how many calls somebody could do. I was mentioning the dialer. I understand reverse psychology, but if you could only make 10 calls an hour, six minute calls, you can't expect me to do 15 or 20. I can't expand time.

Richard Blank: But you are mentioning manual dialing, I'm talking predictive dialing, and my backend structure here. There may be a chance, Joe, that I could do 50% more an hour and recuperate those costs and earn those seeds, but it's really more for somebody to have an open mind. A lot of the times they have made phone calls before, but there are things they haven't experienced yet, and so just by me, as you say, listening first and one by one reviewing with them.

Richard Blank: They don't have enough numbers to call. I need some more rebuttals. You don't have an email template. No one's answering when I try to do a hotly transfer. Mm-hmm. , these are certain ways to see if they qualify for me. Gotcha. I just wanna make sure I can fill the agents' needs, right?

Joe Killinger: Mm-hmm. . Yeah. So are you focused mostly on mid, uh, single agents or midlevel companies or large companies?

Joe Killinger: All of the above. Oh, pretty much all

Richard Blank: of the above. All the above. And so we're half and half. We do 50% inbound, non-voice and customer support, and then the other half does appointment setting lead generation in some.

Joe Killinger: Okay, well, I'm gonna make sure we have your website in the bottom of this video so people can reach out to you.

Joe Killinger: Talk about pricing. I don't, we don't wanna get into it now, I don't think, but they'll definitely be able to reach out to you and, um, you know, this, this was amazing. I appreciate all the information. Thanks. I'm have to go write some of this down actually. I'm gonna, I'm gonna utilize that and so thank you for coming on today.

Richard Blank: The pleasure is mine. Thank you for spending the time with me today.

Real Estate Jam Session Podcast has accepted Richard Blank's invitation to join the audience for a solid discussion regarding taking a chance by moving abroad and starting a company from scratch in Costa Rica. Joe Killinger discusses with Richard advanced telemarketing strategy, conflict management, interpersonal soft skills, customer support, rhetoric, gamification, employee motivation and phonetic micro expression reading.

Joe Killinger has been an active member in the real estate industry for many years, wearing different hats, and at times multiple hats! Over the years he has been an Agent, Investor, Syndicator, Founder and Operator of companies as well as properties he invests in. His expertise has been developed over the past 30 years. During that time he has been personally responsible for the sale of and/or directly involved in the marketing of over 5,900 assets, resulting in closed transactions totaling over 900 million dollars throughout the United States.

Richard’s journey in the call center space is filled with twists and turns. When he was 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. 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. Giving back 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.

Costa Rica’s Call Center (CCC) is a state of the art BPO telemarketing outsource company located in the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica. Our main focus has been, and will always be to personally train each and every Central America call center agent so that we may offer the highest quality of outbound and inbound telemarketing solutions and bilingual customer service to small and medium sized international companies, entrepreneurs as well as fortune 500 companies.

We encourage you to visit one of our call centers on your next personal vacation or business trip to Central America’s paradise, Costa Rica. While you are here, we would recommend taking an extra day of your trip to visit breathtaking virgin beaches, play golf next to the ocean, try your luck at deep sea fishing, explore tropical jungles, climb volcanos or just relax in natural hot springs. Come and see for yourself why call center outsourcing in Costa Rica is a perfect solution for your growing company and a powerhouse in the BPO industry.

https://youtu.be/rcXxPZc0__w

https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/

https://youtu.be/DgL4aBGjWqU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQBpdAiMcug

https://youtu.be/k1VMUwh1oaQ

https://youtu.be/sdL9DJOHz6o

https://youtu.be/Dnt-4hwnfM4

https://youtu.be/n3QEVAlvv6o

https://youtu.be/ImjaWfrYQr0

https://youtu.be/UwY9hImex6w

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