Mastering the Pivot: Richard Blank’s Path to Building a Call-Center Empire

Inside of me, I knew that I was going to be successful in whatever I use this extra benefit in whatever career I chose.

Today we sit down with Richard Blank, the CEO of Costa Rica's call center. With over 18 years of leadership, Richard took a leap of faith that started in Northeast Philadelphia and blossomed into a thriving international business. He's a master of language, a champion of bilingual communication, and an expert in building high performing teams from the ground up.

In this episode, Richard opens up about how he navigated career uncertainty, built his business from scratch, and grew to hundreds of seats without overextending himself. We dive into the art and science of call centers, surviving industry shakeups and adapting to a virtual workforce. Plus, how he's embracing AI as both a challenge and an opportunity.

If you've ever wondered what it's really like to scale a business internationally, face the realities of remote work or stick to your values as a leader, this episode is packed with hard won wisdom and inspiration. As always, if you found value from this content, please like and subscribe. All right, Richard Blank, welcome to Beyond Fulfillment. Dave, so happy to be with you and your audience today. Really excited to share ideas with you. Yes sir. We're glad you're here.

So Richard, you are the CEO of Costa Rica's Call center and you've had that company for the past 18 years. And it started in a very interesting way. Can you just give us that story? It almost started when I was in Northeast Philadelphia graduating the proud Abington High School. All my friends had a plan, Dave. They were going to be doctors, attorneys, engineers. Years. I didn't know what to do so I decided to double down.

I was a Spanish major at the University of Arizona and then post grad when I was 27 years old, I was in between jobs. Sending out my resume via fax machine shows how old I am. And I had this one in a million opportunity to move to Costa Rica for just a couple months and work at my friend center and teach some English. I got past parents guilt, shed some skin, and I stayed for four years and learned the business from the inside out, not at sea level.

And then as you mentioned 18 years ago, I threw my hat in the ring and started my company. And here we are today. Okay, wow. And we'll get into the how the company's grown and the success you've had. But let's just go back to that, that beginning of your career, right? Because we know there's so much pressure on kids to pick a career, go to college. What's your major? What are you going to do? And you didn't, you didn't under. You didn't know what you're going to do. You didn't have a plan.

And maybe by societal standards he could have even been looked at as like, what, what's this guy? He doesn't know what he's going to do, right? Almost like kind of failing. Right. Would you, would you agree with. That's kind of how society views that if you're not kind of set in what, what you're doing and your career. Whatnot, tons of expectations. And also think about it like this, maturity. You're talking long term investment.

And I've known a lot of people that went to college and studied something and now they're just selling real estate, which is fine. But you understand my point. This is what I do know, Dave. If you go above and beyond anything in life, we call it dedicated practice. Kind of like Mr. Miyagi and Danielson in the Karate Kid, man, you gotta go above and beyond classroom and dojo. You have to live it and love it.

And if you do this and make it a part of your life, the odds are in your favor, like a boxer, any sort of competitor. And so no, most of my friends are not language majors. But I did know this. Every time that I would speak with someone outside of my bubble, someone in the Latino community I just met around the way around Philadelphia and in Tucson, I got such positive reinforcement. It was an incredible first impression. I got that sort of respect.

And it's almost like when you're a child going to a birthday party, I always got a goodie bag. They would always give me more vocabulary and straighten up my grammar a little bit more. So I got stronger along the way. And so if you get that sort of reception from people and that sort of positive energy, my man, you're doing something right. You're not being a joker and acting the fool. You're really showing good intentions. And so inside I know that I was going to.

And it's especially fulfillment. I felt full, I felt accomplished. And even though it took a long time to learn a second language, I was building on that on a daily basis. So inside of me, I knew that I was going to be successful. And whatever I use this extra benefit and whatever career I chose, you know. Okay, and so you're in between jobs, you're, you're trying to find a position and you get this opportunity to move to Costa Rica, right?

So what, what was. And like, clearly like you just mentioned, right, there's signs along the way with the language and the type of fulfillment you get. And you, you're on, you're going with that innate feeling of like there's something here and you're following that and you get, then you get this opportunity to move to Costa Rica. So what was that? Like you're letting go of some weight. I was able to shed some skin when I came here.

The moment I walked off the plane, I knew I wanted to stay here. And at 27 years old, you're at a good stage of life. You're not a little boy nor too much of a man. So you're, you're really at the perfect time to try something new with a good foundation. And so I jumped into it when I walked into a call center. And you're talking about August of 2000. It's a little bit different today. They had the big monitors and people working off of sheets and making phone calls.

But what a beautiful environment. I saw the art of speech, especially people that were bilingual, which to me bears the mark of higher education. The Average age was 24. I was 27. That was great. So I'm watching these amazing young men and women converse on the phone and convert. And then I. It's not like Hollywood. It's a little bit different because not everyone slings stuck. And so I got to see such talent and skill.

And so as I mentioned before, when I got there, I was given the opportunity to stay because a buddy of mine owned the call center. Thank you, Joey. And I was having a great time. I was his eyes and ears. But also I knew it was my graduate school. But I tell you what, the smartest thing ever is learning things from the inside out. Where you sit with the people you hear the good and the bad and the happy and the sad. Anyone can write checks and build a business on a certain side.

But unless you can really connect with the people where it's your own wheelhouse, where you are a scratch golfer and you can teach someone this. It was a very nice transition for me because I think when someone puts a lot of attention into listening and they take copious notes and they do study semantics and rhetoric and adjust their tones in a positive way, extend empathy and confidence when they're speaking with people, turn taking tie down questions.

It's amazing what people can do if they have that sort of structure when they're making or receiving phone calls. And so I got a chance to master this industry in a sense and it's been once again very fulfilling for me in regards to an artist. Okay, so like you mentioned, you got to learn the business from the inside out. And all these various aspects of a phone call and that the mechanics of it. Correct.

Onboarding, the training, retention, customer support, sales, back office support, non voice support, even search engine optimization. So in a sense, I learned what a call center was and how people handle certain departments. Okay, and so you did that for four years at your friend's company and really mastered this industry. And was there an aha moment where then you, you realized like, hey, I've got to build something of my own?

What a great question, Dave. Well, it was When I was 35 years old, time was a ticking and I was losing my hair and I knew if I didn't do it now, it was never going to be done and I would regret it for the rest of my days.

And so a friend of mine said, hey, Ricardo, why don't you just start a call center? I'm like, come on, Dave, how are we going to do this? I mean, think about the money and the people and the stuff. But when you take big piles and you make them into smaller piles, it becomes easier to carry. So I needed to calm down. Number one, I'm a guest in this country, so I needed a home court advantage.

Why don't we hire CTOs, accountants, attorneys, and human resources directors that know the local labor laws? I don't have time to put into that. That's number one. I built the team around me. And secondly, you're thinking call centers. Yes, today I'm sitting on a building that can house 300 seats. But when I first started, what I did was I, I never overextended myself, Dave. I was renting a turnkey station at a blended call center, which is like a glorified Internet cafe.

I don't own the plane, I'm just renting out seats. So. And so I could get the seat with the computer and all the stuff, some coffee, the bathroom, and they pay for the Internet. But that's fine because I could pay that station, pay the benefits, the salary and make my margin. And I scaled accordingly, did that for two years. Then when I had the capital and the clienteles that were stable, I rented space. Now, in my industry, there's an attrition and a turnover. You can buy certain things used.

I bought used cars. I also buy used Dell computers and chairs that are about a month old. So instead of paying import taxes and paying top dollar, I'm getting things for pennies on the dollar. And just like Monopoly, I'm scaling it out. One seat and one Row at a time. I could scale accordingly.

I did that for six years and I was building out the server room and I was getting my clients and then finally I had enough to be able to purchase property, put on the third floor, art deco it out, pinball machines, air hockey tables, you name it. But if your audience thinks that this thing was done like this and over a long weekend, you're out of your mind. On the tortoise, I'm not the hair. But I also paced myself where Dave. I acted my wage.

I never had to take on a shady partner or take out a loan or do something that made me question my ethics. I realized that I could hold my own and I could weather storms because I saved money for certain Covid periods or if I lost a certain account. And so this is the way that I was raised by my family. So I could have been footloose and fancy free, but in my mind I'd rather sleep at night and know that I'm responsible to my clients and doing the right things.

And I hope that makes any sort of sense. Oh, absolutely. Makes sense. So, so much, so much to unpack in that last little bit there. So let's start in the beginning too, right. Like you want to start this company, but you're like, you're. It looks daunting. Right. And you talked about breaking this down into small piles. Right. And just sounds like just doing the next logical step. Is that a fair way to say it? Well, it actually started with the day that I was playing with Plasticine clay.

I had to think of what my logo was going to be. You can't start anything until you have the. The genesis. And so I created my ccc. I did it in Broadway font. From there, the website went up and October 4th of 2007 and I landed my first account February 6th of 2008. 1c for one week. But I, I put my knowledge on the website. It was really somebody that was so raring to go. I was a stallion. I just never ran the track. Once I could compete with Secretariat, I felt.

But it was the thing where when people spoke with me, I was able to share such information in regards to quality assurance and onboarding and script writing. Because I've done it that a lot of people, not these extremely large companies, but entrepreneurs, mid sized companies that kind of understood the long shot. The Philly kid that moved to Costa Rica started his company. You relate to that. That's how I was able to get on the podcast today, Dave.

And so when I would speak with these potential clients I would break down with them how much leads we would need on a monthly basis, which is about 4,000 per person on a five minute talk time. I use a predictive dialer, which is better than manual dialing or smart dialing. I have supervisors that analyze your phone calls to make sure that they're following the quality and asking all the questions.

And so just by shaving and polishing, the metrics go up because you're putting it into an environment that just knows what they're doing. And I tell you what, my man, when you put Dave and Richard in there and we use our own style, you know, I give some Philly guilt and I teach them what to say so they have self confidence and self reliance. You really see someone have breakthroughs and grow. So it's a great way as a boss for me to pay it forward as well.

And, and that's why I can maintain good talent and have been in business for so long because of that, I guess that authenticity as an owner. The people that work with me see that I'm really, you know, I got their back. Yeah, and I think that's a testament to how you came up in terms of, you always knew that something with language was there. You had the bilingual skill set, then you worked in the industry and really mastered it as an employee over four years, every aspect of the business.

And then when you are on your own, right, you know how to wear all the hats you can. And so often too, right. I find you have to speak different languages in business, whether you're speaking to a CEO or a vendor or someone in the warehouse or whatever level. Right. You have to be able to communicate appropriately in that, in that context. And it sounds like you really mastered that.

And that way you could get your reps to buy in, you could get a prospective customer to, to buy in and give you a shot because you knew the industry and I mean, we didn't get into this. But then how, how were the results just starting out in terms of the system you built and then what that translated forward to your initial clients? That's a great question. Well, it's, it's someone that has the size, strength and strategy. They just don't have the structure yet.

It's that athlete that goes to Lou Olson with the Wildcats and then goes into the NBA. You know, you, you need that final coach and mentor. And so for me in the beginning I needed that 10,000 phone calls to analyze, to see the patterns for me, then to add my sauce to make it right. So it was a learning curve. And I got disappointed more than I did angry because yes, the call center industry does have a very large attrition.

So you could spend an enormous amount of time training someone and then all of a sudden they quit next payroll and go to Amazon because his girlfriend works there. And so I had to realize to be a little bit more selective of the agents that come in, mercenaries, perfect English, they'll sell you to death, but they'll also leave you immediately. If they can make another dollar somewhere else, I don't blame them.

But I also learned in time that the shiny objects you might not want, I'd rather have the diamond that you and I need to polish and mold so they don't have bad habits and they're not a cancer. And so I've learned that in time too, of the people that we're hiring here that I could see could be a better bet. Or how about this right bus, right seat. I've brought people in that were not the best left winger, but they're better at goalie, so you got to move them. And so I've seen that as well.

But it's trial and error. But I tell you what, if you have good faith and good intentions, regardless of the outcome of your day, you can at least look at yourself in the mirror. You know, you gave it your best shot. But there are some surprises. And I've realized I have character during chaos. And I tell you what, I will never keep you waiting as a client, good, bad or ugly, I will let you know what's going on and I'll have an action plan.

Because the moment that you duck or try to avoid it, then, then the confidence is lost. And so some of the best relationships I've had is one we've had to go through tough times together are the ramp up stages of the projects. Okay, and glad you mentioned that too, because earlier you, you detailed your road to scaling where you didn't get overextended. You were very measured in terms of just renting out what you could afford. And you really built that and scaled it over time.

And it's so contrary to really the messaging we get, especially now in today's age with the social media and so much instant gratification. But, but you know, over that, it was eight years or so before you purchase property or something like that, where you're scaling very slowly over that time, over that eight year period. And you detailed some of the challenges with your attrition.

But was there ever a moment where things were so tough that you considered giving Up. Yeah, three times. The first time is the first place. I was renting out a guy that was strong arming me because he didn't want me to go because he knew he was making a lot of money each month. And there's a certain point when you pay a la carte. Come on, man. I can buy my own plane now. I mean, we've already filled 75 seats. I mean, it's. It's. You're paying more than what you're getting.

And so I. I outgrew that first area, so I had to leave. But it was very uncomfortable at one time and, you know, without getting into too many details, so I didn't like that thought. Strong arming me. That's number one. And the second thing is, when I lost my largest client back in 2010, I was working with a debt settlement company, a wonderful company, amazing people. And unfortunately, when the laws changed and certain things hampered the industry, I lost, like, 87 seats like that.

And so I had to ask myself, do I just pack up and take what you made and start something new, or do you reinvest your money and give it one more go? And I did. So everything that we earned, I reinvested to build back my seats that I had lost and was growing from there because I was still mid size. And then when Covid hit, what an interesting time, I saw people that I really depend on run and hide or yellow with fear.

And then I had the freshman, the kid that was wet behind his ears, completely step up to the plate like a champion when things were the toughest and renewed my faith. And so what it was is my industry, which is very. Where it was, very brick and mortar. Now it's virtual, which I'm very fortunate, and I was able to survive and still thrive. But the majority of the people today want to be virtual as the labor pool. Now, I consider the agents now 85% proficient.

Not saying they're not doing a great job, but let's make some arguments. My main man, when somebody is on site, okay, there's Internet redundancy, backup, electricity, immediate IT support. That's a couple percentage points. Come on, now we're at 90%. What about me and Dave sitting next to you? High five. And having pizza at lunch? You're not feeding off of that energy When Dave's crushing deals. That's my main man. Come on, at least give us a couple points on that too.

And then what about the relationship between the owner and the people? I love walking the roads and seeing them and being there to Congratulate you and meeting your parents or significant other outside and letting your family know how amazing Dave is. I also collect pinball machines and air hockey tables, and so you don't think that's another percentage point and just recess. So I believe that synergy was removed and the thing that made me shine the brightest was taken away.

Still have my industry, but what about my live show? You know, it's. That's what made the magic happen. So now it almost feels more like a print than it does when I made it a painting. Does that make any sort of sense, my man? So now have you transitioned to, like, majority virtual rather than in house in your business? I'm 100 virtual right now. Okay. They all wanted to go home. Okay. I afforded them that luxury, and they've earned it, too. I just miss them. I really do.

But I understand the time and the money, and I know they're comfortable at home. But you and I are talking as business owners and professionals. I'm letting you know they're losing 15, and I gave you my arguments on it, and I think they could be that much stronger. They could be a serious A plus player. I think that the industry now virtually is a B plus. That's all. I think it dropped a grade. Okay. And, you know, talk about such a mammoth shift, right.

When you think about prior to Covid, the environment and the workplace, Right. And then transitioning to 100 virtual, I mean, what. What type of mindset did you need to really make that shift and still succeed as a company? It's almost like a parent letting their child go off to college. You have to let them leave the nest. But then also, if you leave the cage door open and the bird comes back, you've done well.

There is a trust factor there. I have to make sure. I mean, of course, we can monitor the work they're doing and making sure they log in, but there is a trust factor there. I got to make sure they're not drunk or high, watching things, distracted, not paying attention. I mean, it's just, you got to make sure they're professional still. And there was a much more controlled environment on site. That's just number one. But we used to have.

I mean, when you have meetings virtually, it's a lot different than when people are sitting in the training room or in the break room. I mean, everyone's there. But as I mentioned before, you don't feel this electromagnetic transfer of energy. But AI will be enhancing my industry by gathering and assisting along the way. They'll take us to about the 10 yard line, but they'll still be a press zero or a customer support agent to put that ball in the end zone.

And I experienced something yesterday when I was speaking to a telecom provider. The ivr, the integrated voice response. It was good, but it was annoying and it still wasn't there yet. So there's something called the uncanny valley.

The moment that these robots and the AI sound too human, like it's going to drop into a valley, we're going to get freaked out a little bit because you know, it's the kind of thing where you still want to have that human interaction with somebody if you're sharing information or you want to feel less intimidated.

So as I say, I still believe that industries and certain companies will want our services to speak with their clients to make sure that they're getting some of the best experience as possible. So I kind of see that shift in the industry as well. Dave. Yeah, and I'm glad you brought up AI because that's another major disruptor, let's call it within business in all sorts of levels and particularly the, the rise of AI agents. And I'm sure you've, you've seen them, you're in the industry.

I mean I see them within my logistics industry where there's all these robocallers that sound so real and you can train them up to have conversations and whatnot. But like you said, it's different than a real person. But how have you managed to, you know, navigate those waters given it's also new and the value prop for business owners is just cut costs and you can outsource to robots and that sort of thing. Like how is that, how have you been able to navigate that as, as a call center owner?

Well, for an example, let's just say somebody fills out a form online instead of me being on the phone with you for 25 minutes asking you every single question. And then it's better off that if somebody shows that interest, it's like double opted in data. So a, it's an extremely qualified lead, they give you all this stuff, you can do some due diligence prior to the phone call, you can prepare it. And so when I do call you Dave, I am more than prepared to follow up on that.

And it could save me time depending on the volume because let's say you have three to five people making the outbound calls. You could have the omnichannel non voice of the filling out the forms of the chat or the email support as automated just to tee it up for You. Is it replacing jobs? Sure it is. But I tell you what, let's call, let's call it straight.

There is fatigue and sometimes when it comes to finding an address or last name spelled correctly, people have a difficult time with that too. And the amount of speed it takes to be able to convert these leads. And so I see the good and the bad of it, depending on how long it needs to be in intricate. But when we do get these filled out forms and then we make that outbound call within a certain period of time, it's phenomenal for us. But what else has AI done for us?

Well, now that people are only expecting emails or let's just say they don't pick up and you have to leave a voicemail. Fortunately for us, with AI you can get some goodies in regards to the client. They might give you a quick summary of how long Dave has been in business, Beyond Fulfillment podcast, how many episodes, people that he's interviewed. What's my man up to? And so they can give you that Cliff Note summary.

So if I have to send a custom made email or leave you a specific type of voicemail, that will save you time. That's like skip tracing for you in a sense could be looking up that information. And so I see that as extremely valuable. It's like those fishermen with the huge nets that they throw out and just pull it right back. I mean, I, I love that sort of stuff. It's great working smart. It's also very intimidating. People kind of see the writing on the wall in some sense.

But how about this, my man? If you have skills and you're marketable, you'll always get a job and get hired. It's those that just coast and do the maximum of minimum and try to just blend in with the rest. Of course you're going to be replaced. There could be a computer that can do it better than you. And if it saves my client money and makes them more money, it's as Flavor Flav says, that's just the way the ball bounces. Gee. So I really nothing more I could say about that.

Well, and I love your perspective towards it in terms of particularly being in your industry where AI in some respects can be like a competitor, but you're looking at all the positive aspects. And I, I, I love that mindset to where if you're just doing the maximum of minimum, of course you're at risk. But quality people always are going to be attractive to business owners because we all need people. That's right. Definitely. Okay.

All right. So Richard, with everything you've built and what you've scaled out till now here in 2025, what's next for Costa Rica's call center? Well, we're going to continue to grow, stay in this business, hope to promote more from within so I can take some more time off. Just on a quick note, I've done some local arts projects. I produced a song here called Shine the Sun with a band called Igny Faroki.

And I was fortunate enough to hire Gary, Gary Beers, the basis of In Excess, to lay the bass track down on it. So if you check out that video, it's pretty cool. And I also did a local rap break dancing video with the call center with a couple of the agents that work with me. And so, yeah, I try to support the local arts and have some fun.

And if you guys want to check out some of the cool things we do here, you'll see some of the video games in the building and just what it's like to be CEO of a call center for a day. But, Dave, I can't thank you enough, man. I had a great time with you today. Yeah, absolutely. We appreciate you being here, Richard, sharing all this valuable wisdom from your journey with our audience. So we greatly appreciate it. Thank you very much. My pleasure.