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All right.

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Hi everyone.

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And welcome back to For the Curious and Confused, a podcast for people who want to understand

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different perspectives of the world through the people who inhabit it.

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I'm your host, Dom McTaggart, and today I'm joined by Richard Blank, an entrepreneur based

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in San Juan, Costa Rica.

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When Richard was 27, he moved from Philadelphia to Costa Rica to start a telemarketing company.

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Since 2008, he's been the CEO of Costa Rica's call center and has trained over 10,000 bilingual

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telemarketers.

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Richard specializes in advanced telemarketing strategy, conflict management, interpersonal

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skills and customer support.

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Giving back is important to Richard, and each year he endows a scholarship for students

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majoring in a world language at the university level.

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He also owns the largest collection of restored American pinball machines in Central America,

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which is a pretty cool flex in my opinion.

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So Richard, thank you so much for sharing your time today, and I'm excited to learn

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about your life in Costa Rica.

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Well, Don, I'm so happy to be a guest on your podcast today.

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Confused and confused.

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Well, I majored in both of those, and so I think I'm here to be able to share some life

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advice.

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Awesome.

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I hope we can both be a little more curious and a little less confused by any of this.

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So to start us off, could you give us a two minute introduction into who Richard Blank

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is and what motivates him?

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Of course.

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Of course, Don.

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I'm a long shot.

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I'm the CEO of Costa Rica's call center, but this story began back in Northeast Philadelphia

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back in 91 when I graduated the Proud Abington.

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I really wasn't sure what to do.

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Most of my friends are going to law school or being doctors or getting a PhD in chemistry.

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I had no idea, but I gravitated towards languages.

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And so I decided to be a Spanish major at the University of Arizona where all the world's

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a stage.

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I could practice outside the classroom.

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And then post-grad, when I was 27 in August of 2000, I was given a one in a million opportunity

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to move to Central America.

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And I took it.

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I worked at my friend's call center for four years, learned the business from the inside

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out.

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When you're with the people, you hear the good and the bad and the happy and the sad.

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And then 18 years ago, I decided to throw my hat in the ring, started a call center.

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One seat for one week was my first account.

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I was renting space in a blended center, which is like a glorified internet cafe so I could

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scale accordingly.

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It wasn't pretty, but I could grow.

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And then I rented space and built rows and put out the server room.

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And then a couple of years ago, I purchased a building, put on a third floor, and it can

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hold 300 people.

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And so it's slow and steady.

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It's more of a tortoise than the hare.

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But I avoided any sort of real bad rabbit holes and setbacks by being very, I guess,

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cautious in the beginning and taking my time.

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And so in a wrapped up sort of way, that's where we are today.

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That's a great introduction.

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So to dig in a little bit to actually the moving to Costa Rica part, because that's

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not a very common story.

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You mentioned the once in a lifetime opportunity type of vibe.

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What was that opportunity like and about and how did you make that decision to be able

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to do that?

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Some things are thrown on you in a spontaneous way, but I was building up to this almost

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like when the barn door gets open, that horse is gone.

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Between me and you and your amazing audience, sometimes you need to make selfish decisions

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in your life.

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So I had to get past some serious parents' guilt and some naysayers of good friends that

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love me.

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They just didn't understand me.

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And having enough faith and grit and getting out there and taking that path.

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Now, there's a certain stage where if you keep losing, you stay down, you throw in the

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towel.

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But if you see momentum, if you go above and beyond with dedicated practice, if you read

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the articles and you meet people that have the same interest, I see that as being something

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positive.

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We all can't be cookie cutter.

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And as much as I admire your degree, I could never do chemistry.

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It was difficult for me when I took it back in the day, not that I don't respect it.

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But once again, it's the passion.

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And I had the passion for second languages.

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And I know that if I held on to that, where that could be taking me.

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And so you have intuition.

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We called Koskia Smariposa, you get the tingles or the butterflies.

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And if you do not believe in that sort of intuition, then don't play with the stars.

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Don't believe in your fate.

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And just kind of be in a box without walls and live a life for other people.

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And so these were big decisions for a young man.

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But I kind of had this vision in the future that things were going to be okay.

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How did you choose Costa Rica of all of those spots you could have gone to?

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It was chosen for me.

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I had good friends that were here prior and one very good friend had a business.

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He had a customer support team for his business.

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And so it was really like an underhand pitch with a wiffle ball.

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I was walking in friends with the owner.

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I got the desk by the window.

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There was really no metrics.

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He's like, Richie, just relax for a couple of months.

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You're 27.

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You're in between jobs.

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Stop sending your resume out via fax machine to try to get a job in Tempe.

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You know, relax.

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I don't want you to do that.

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And so I shed some skin on.

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And I saw an environment, a technical environment where people had a CRM and were using different

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programs and noise canceling headsets and Cisco phones and logging in.

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And I thought that was pretty interesting.

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That's a tough part.

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You got to be kidding.

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I can learn that in a day.

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But I saw English second language individuals conversing on the phone.

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They're intense concentration.

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They're advanced vocabulary.

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They were converting.

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And I said, wow, I think that I would like to join this group of linguistic artists,

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kind of like a circus, kind of like the old circus, which I would have loved to have been

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there back in the day, you know, traveling around in those little gypsy carts and setting

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up and being a barker and getting them in the tent or telling fortunes.

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What do you think your circus, not gimmick, but show would have been if you were to be

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part of the circus?

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I hate to say it.

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I would have been a fortune teller because I could have looked at you and told a thousand

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stories.

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And then through deductive reasoning and they do have, it's called mentalism.

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You can through a certain way, choose good percentages of choose your own story and adventure.

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Almost like in Pee Wee's big adventure, when the fortune teller looked at the wall and

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saw Pee Wee with the bike, of course it's the bike.

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You know, I mean, come on, put three and three together.

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But no, I would have been a fortune teller.

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I would have gotten people in the tent or I would have gotten people over to play the

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ring game or something.

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It's kind of fun to send out that electromagnetic energy to people.

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And it does respond.

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People do it through smiles and handshakes and hugs and chin ups and thumbs up like Burt

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Reynolds.

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I mean, you know, that's cool.

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And I don't know, I kind of like the things that are done without technology that are

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natural because I think it sets longer.

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I think it's more of the long game.

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So is telemarketing kind of like the, it's not the fortune telling of the 21st century,

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but what similarities are there between telemarketing and fortune telling?

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Well, it's just a communication.

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It's a medium.

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Naturally, you're using image streaming.

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So your vocabulary should be very colorful and descriptive.

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Here's the beauty of, and you'll understand this in regards to chemistry, my man, you

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have a controlled environment.

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You have a focus group and you look for patterns and consistencies.

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And so in my environment, you're removing three of your five senses, your taste, touch

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and smell.

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It's true.

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And don't think that we've been making telemarketing calls for thousands of years.

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We've been communicating.

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We haven't been making phone calls.

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In fact, it's maybe a hundred years old.

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Stonograph was what 1865.

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And so your hearing must get expanded only when you're in the now.

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If you're thinking of lunch or your rebuttal or something else, you're going to catch,

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you're going to miss the dog barking or the positive or negative reinforcement, the side,

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the typing, the inquisitiveness.

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But my favorite part is the visual.

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Most people say you can't see over the phone.

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Well, you perfectly know that books are 10 times better than the movie because of your

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imagination.

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And so sure, through metaphysics, you can describe anything.

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It's better that way.

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And so I try to imagine what it's like for people.

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And also it's like a cheat sheet.

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If you think about it, if someone doesn't see you, unless you're on a zoom call and

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you're making a telemarketing call, you can plaster your wall with rhetoric.

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It's right in front of you.

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It doesn't have to be memorized.

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It's really a beautiful leverage for you until it's part of your system.

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And so there is many ways that just through communicating with 100 to 200 people a day,

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that's not normal.

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Very rare that you speak to that amount of people.

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And so if you can master social grace and introductions, regardless of the outcome,

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Don, these are the sort of soft skills that will only enrich your life outside of the

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office.

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Everywhere.

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It'll save a marriage, get you best friends, increase your networking.

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And so I see it as an art of speech.

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And as much as AI is coming in now and they're beautiful with gathering and they'll get better

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with the voice and the response, even though there is an uncanny valley where they get

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too close to us and we freak out a little bit.

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It's not the point.

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I think the last 10% and we spoke to this part of the podcast, it's the empathy.

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Computers can never tell you what it's like to break an arm or lose a puppy.

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They really don't have your heart broken.

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And if they try to give you a hug, it's going to be cold like a metal bench at a bus stop.

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And it's not real.

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And so as much as you think AI is going to take over anything, there will always be that

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selected department or when you see that artist downtown that plays the sax in the square

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or draws you in charcoal, they're going to be considered rock stars 10 years from now,

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the most beautiful people that still want to do human efforts.

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And so I'm still holding on to that sort of spark that I think separates us and unites

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us at the same time.

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Separates us and unites us.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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So let's tell the marketing, you know?

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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So it sounds like you are good at picking up on patterns of behavior of people.

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So when you're talking to a hundred people a day, I'm sure you are observing a lot of

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nonverbal cues.

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What kind of patterns do you observe in people?

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Either when they're, I don't want to box it in and say when they're receptive or not receptive,

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but what patterns do you observe in people in general?

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It's beautiful that you mentioned that when you're saying nonverbal, that's difficult

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for me because it has to be verbal unless it's the silence part.

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But there is congruence where audio matches the visual and some people have tell signs

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and it's almost easy to watch somebody when they're playing poker or they're fidgeting

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or clicking things and biting nails.

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But let's talk about, and once again, phonetics I think is the purest form.

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And so yes, there are certain tell signs that people have.

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Phonetics is broken down into four points, your tone, rate, pitch, and duration.

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Your tone in my opinion should be the consistent variable.

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And if I had to choose the two chemical elements to connect into my perfect variable equation,

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it would be confidence and empathy.

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Those are the two combinations I think are the best.

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Now there is a technique called mirror imaging that salespeople use to match how body language

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and how people speak, but you shouldn't match a negative tone.

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Only do it if it's positive.

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Now here is where I see the tell signs, my intelligent friend.

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Remember in eighth grade, the simple X, Y chart and pre-algebra.

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Let's consider the X, the horizontal as your rate of speed and your Y, your vertical is

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your speaking level or is what they say is your pitch.

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Is that like volume?

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Sorry to interrupt you.

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That is correct.

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Pitch and tone.

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No, no, you're 100.

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And that's why when they say pitch in the textbooks, it might confuse people.

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So I'd say speaking level, volume.

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Thank you.

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Yes.

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So you have speed and you have volume.

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Why is that to me very important?

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Because it can be done in any language.

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I'm taking the semantic out 100%.

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So any sort of F-U word or I love you word or removed could be, you know, those words

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00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:25,300
can be expressed differently as well.

242
00:13:25,300 --> 00:13:31,160
And so I am paying attention every 30 seconds, 30 because five seconds is too short.

243
00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:32,160
A minute's too long.

244
00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:37,800
But the 30 seconds is a perfect time for giving a take and pauses in between to see if there

245
00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:42,320
is a speeding up, slowing down faster or slower for arguments.

246
00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:44,360
They put me in quadrant one.

247
00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:48,000
I'd be an eight in regards to speed eight in regards to sound.

248
00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:50,860
Now, why do we do this?

249
00:13:50,860 --> 00:13:52,080
Because you can do your job.

250
00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:54,840
And subconsciously, if you're paying attention to this, make your X, Y chart.

251
00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:58,440
Just keep checking off while you're making calls after three weeks becomes habit.

252
00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:04,340
When you see a spike or a dip just in regards to phonetics, that's when you should be asking

253
00:14:04,340 --> 00:14:05,980
a clarification question.

254
00:14:05,980 --> 00:14:08,680
Just like in chemistry, you do have checkpoints.

255
00:14:08,680 --> 00:14:10,440
You just don't wait till the end.

256
00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:14,280
You wait towards certain stages to see if things are going the way it should.

257
00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:17,880
You just don't start pouring everything in like soup.

258
00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:24,700
And so you think that a phone call last 10 minutes done, it's really 20, 30 second checkpoints

259
00:14:24,700 --> 00:14:29,720
that gets combined into a conversation because there is an introduction, a body and a conclusion,

260
00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:31,320
just like in an experiment.

261
00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:32,320
Same thing with conversations.

262
00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:37,140
It could be done in 10 minutes or it can be done every 30 seconds, 20 times that combines

263
00:14:37,140 --> 00:14:40,160
into one full conversation.

264
00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:42,820
And so that's just the phonetic part.

265
00:14:42,820 --> 00:14:44,780
But then here's the best thing.

266
00:14:44,780 --> 00:14:48,020
Your tone rate and pitch could be manipulated.

267
00:14:48,020 --> 00:14:52,240
It could, but the one thing that cannot is you're answering speed because you do need

268
00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:53,240
silence or sound.

269
00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:55,720
I mean, that's the part of the thing in the experiment.

270
00:14:55,720 --> 00:15:00,840
And so that's why the police usually bring out the evidence by the fourth question.

271
00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:03,920
And it's almost impossible for someone to control answering speed.

272
00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:08,160
And so that to me, I see is just more of a linear and to see where he goes from zero

273
00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:11,120
to 10 every 30 seconds, how quickly do they respond.

274
00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,440
And so you need to do this.

275
00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:15,440
Why?

276
00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:17,920
Because if you've been making phone calls for two decades, like I have, you have to

277
00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:19,640
do something else while making calls.

278
00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:21,200
You've done it so many times.

279
00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:25,560
You're like a juggler that can now bite an apple or juggle fire.

280
00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:27,280
You've done it enough.

281
00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:33,840
And so I was capable through mastering the simple rules of telemarketing to crack some

282
00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:38,040
codes because I was bored, starting to go insane when the lists were bad.

283
00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:41,980
I wasn't making a fool of myself, but I was just saying, can I make it a little bit wider

284
00:15:41,980 --> 00:15:44,360
than net and give me better percentages?

285
00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:52,200
And so I've noticed people's sounds when they sigh, where they breathe in, I've paid attention

286
00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:53,920
in the background to dogs.

287
00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:59,400
And my man, if I hear a dog in the background, I will stop everything.

288
00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:00,840
And I will say, Don, I love dogs.

289
00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:01,840
It's a me too.

290
00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:04,200
Like I'll act her and you go, I love dogs too.

291
00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:05,720
Yeah, I know you have one.

292
00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:08,040
And then I'll say, what's your dog's name?

293
00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:09,040
What breed is it?

294
00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:13,080
And how old is your puppy?

295
00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:20,960
And that's what really reduces any sort of, I don't know, sudden the water and it makes

296
00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:21,960
things clear.

297
00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:23,640
And for a second, you're like, Hey, Richie's a nice guy.

298
00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:24,640
He likes dogs.

299
00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:28,600
So instead of your defense being a 10, it drops now down to a six.

300
00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:36,120
But prior to that, I'll teach you some other tell signs, especially in the intro, the call,

301
00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:38,280
because we don't have time to go through everything.

302
00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:40,800
If you can't land an intro, you can't even make a phone call.

303
00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:44,680
And so a lot of the times when people will call your company and for the curious and

304
00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:50,000
confused, what they're going to do is try to angle their way in there to speak with

305
00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:54,440
you if you have a secretary or if they get you on the phone, they'll just start pitching.

306
00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:58,120
What we like to do is we like to do company name spikes.

307
00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:02,000
I would love to say for the curious and confused, how are you today?

308
00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:07,120
I'll say that prior to even my own introduction or asking for you because you're so black

309
00:17:07,120 --> 00:17:12,200
and blue from all the telemarketing calls that you received.

310
00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:16,280
And let me ask a question, Don, do you work with an assistant at your company?

311
00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:17,280
Nope.

312
00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:20,640
This is just a side project I'm doing for fun.

313
00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:21,640
That's my brother's.

314
00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:27,680
Well, listen, if I spoke to Judy prior to being transferred to you, I would let her

315
00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:30,440
know how great she's doing.

316
00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:32,800
And then when I get transferred to you, you're like, Hey, this is Don.

317
00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:34,800
Hey, Don, I just got to let you know Judy's great.

318
00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:39,640
You have no idea who I am, but I'm complimenting your right hand.

319
00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:43,160
And so you would say, yeah, she's amazing.

320
00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:47,360
It's my mom or you know, she's been with us for 20 years or I could not run this company

321
00:17:47,360 --> 00:17:48,360
without her.

322
00:17:48,360 --> 00:17:52,320
Now I'm going to ask you a question business wise, young man, how many people have complimented

323
00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:55,080
Judy at the last hundred calls?

324
00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:56,080
Maybe a few.

325
00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:57,080
Some people have courtesies.

326
00:17:57,080 --> 00:18:02,720
But when I send you the meeting minutes and the follow up email, I'll mention her and

327
00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:04,000
say, Hey, say hi to Judy for me.

328
00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:05,000
Remember she's great.

329
00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:12,040
Out of a thousand people in the next 10 years of your career, young man, how many of your

330
00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:17,680
prospects are going to write you and in writing talk about your colleagues?

331
00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:21,800
And so you have to make a decision on the contracts that you want to do with people.

332
00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:27,840
I might be a dollar or two more than India, you know, Philippines, but I like how Richard

333
00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:31,880
treated Judy prior to any sort of contract.

334
00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:37,660
And if he treats us like that, imagine what's going to happen when we're clients.

335
00:18:37,660 --> 00:18:44,080
And so I went to old school because my good friend, there will be people that can out

336
00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:49,040
did you have more resources than you and that's fine.

337
00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:54,520
But if you get one tenth of 1% of any sort of market, you can still be a millionaire.

338
00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:59,640
And you'll always with the thousands of podcasts out there, you and I are here today.

339
00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:01,400
And so water seeks its own level.

340
00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:06,280
And so if you have faith in that sort of business and business ethics, you'll find the right

341
00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:10,000
people to grow your business.

342
00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:14,920
When they got to, I very much grew that particularly the part of if I don't, if I've never heard

343
00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:17,080
of you, I don't know you, I'm gonna call for you for the first time.

344
00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:19,720
And you say something nice about my assistant.

345
00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:21,080
I'm immediately on board with you.

346
00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:24,520
And also the part about the, the dog being in the background.

347
00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:31,920
So it sounds like you're identifying trying to as quickly as possible, identify points

348
00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:38,760
of commonality to make whatever the dialogue is more about two humans interacting rather

349
00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:40,440
than two humans.

350
00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:45,300
And then also some sort of business opportunity proposition, what have you as well.

351
00:19:45,300 --> 00:19:47,520
So am I hearing that right?

352
00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:52,400
Is that kind of the goal is to forget about the business part first and then do that after

353
00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:53,920
the connection has been made?

354
00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:56,080
Yes and no, but let's do a quick exercise.

355
00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:57,440
Does it sound like fun?

356
00:19:57,440 --> 00:19:59,200
Like in school, put your pens down everybody.

357
00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:00,640
We're going to do overwork.

358
00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:04,640
Let me see how quickly, let me see how quickly you can zig and zag because you're very professional

359
00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:07,560
on a podcast and I know where your mind's going, but let me see if you can think of

360
00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:08,880
some things.

361
00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:09,880
What's your favorite color?

362
00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:10,880
Blue.

363
00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:11,880
Yeah.

364
00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:12,880
Blue is a great color.

365
00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:15,280
What's your favorite ice cream flavor?

366
00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:17,360
Moose tracks.

367
00:20:17,360 --> 00:20:19,720
Never heard of that before.

368
00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:20,720
Okay, great.

369
00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:23,680
And what's your favorite television show?

370
00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:24,680
Peaky blinders.

371
00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:25,680
Perfect.

372
00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:26,680
Here's the skins.

373
00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:31,040
I've got a lot of people, I'll ask them questions like that in training class and they can't

374
00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:33,840
give me an answer of their favorite color.

375
00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:35,520
And so Mike, yes.

376
00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:41,440
And so if you're capable in the moment in the jump to tell me your tastes, stand behind

377
00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:43,600
them or if I have, what was the name?

378
00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:44,600
Pinky what?

379
00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:45,600
What was the name of the show you like?

380
00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:46,600
Peaky blinders.

381
00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:47,600
Okay.

382
00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:51,080
And I've been like blah and if I'm on the phone with you, blah, blah, blah, just like

383
00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:54,120
Peaky blinders, you're like, Hey, I love that show.

384
00:20:54,120 --> 00:20:55,120
Yeah.

385
00:20:55,120 --> 00:20:59,920
I mean, sometimes you can throw this, you can throw 10 grand on a snake eyes roll from

386
00:20:59,920 --> 00:21:00,920
time to time.

387
00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:04,840
If you're up with the house and they love you, you know, play with the house's money.

388
00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:12,680
If you and I are jiving and we're having a great conversation, I'm willing to extend.

389
00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:19,720
And I tell you what, by doing some due diligence, by looking at your podcast and knowing that

390
00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:25,280
you're getting a PhD in chemistry and how you like that the world is so all over the

391
00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:26,280
place.

392
00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:27,680
You see where things are connecting.

393
00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:28,680
That's great.

394
00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:31,840
Even if I learned the one thing about you, at least it shows that I tried.

395
00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:33,040
Right.

396
00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:35,960
And I like the image that you do with the two heads coming together and then the one

397
00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:36,960
thing in the middle.

398
00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:38,280
And you know, I like that.

399
00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:39,280
You design that, didn't you?

400
00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:40,280
At least you're a part of that.

401
00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:41,280
Right?

402
00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:42,280
Yeah.

403
00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:43,280
Yeah.

404
00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:44,280
I just went to AI and I did like how to make some cool things.

405
00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:45,280
And I liked that one.

406
00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:46,280
So yeah.

407
00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:47,280
Okay.

408
00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:49,680
So we're supposed to be selling you long distance or some sort of insurance, but for a moment,

409
00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:54,920
I'm talking how great your website is in chemistry and how smart you are and stuff.

410
00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:59,120
And then all of a sudden you said, you know, I'll give Richie three minutes.

411
00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:00,120
I'll give it to him.

412
00:22:00,120 --> 00:22:02,160
Let me see where he goes with this.

413
00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:05,760
So what happens is it's the barriers come down a little bit.

414
00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:10,240
You're giving me a fair play and both people can respect that because something's on the

415
00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:11,240
table.

416
00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:14,520
There's no more stuttering anymore or trying to get your points in.

417
00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:16,040
They said, Richard, you got it.

418
00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:20,320
And so you need to get that pass to pitch.

419
00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:27,600
And just by showing some sort of common courtesy and some levels of real interest, it's almost

420
00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:31,720
like the fourth wall, as they say in Hollywood, when they just turn it around and start showing

421
00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:33,920
the audience and they're waving and stuff.

422
00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:37,000
I think that's fascinating because they're part of the show too.

423
00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:45,400
And I think that if you and I can take the podcast portion and as you say, prior to getting

424
00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:48,640
online, it might go left and right.

425
00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:50,340
You need to take those.

426
00:22:50,340 --> 00:22:54,400
That's what's going to make your podcast the most special is the point of the pyramid.

427
00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:57,200
And the only way to get there is when you and I are here together.

428
00:22:57,200 --> 00:22:59,360
I can't do these sorts of things alone.

429
00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:05,640
When you say the left and right and take those, are you meaning like when the car is in diverges

430
00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:11,200
to some weird topic, is that the left and right you're talking about?

431
00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:15,120
Of course it's how do you explain?

432
00:23:15,120 --> 00:23:17,720
There's no way you can set up anything in this world.

433
00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:22,680
Even if you have your day planned out, you still didn't make the road and you still can't

434
00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:25,680
handle traffic.

435
00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:27,100
All I'm saying is you're there.

436
00:23:27,100 --> 00:23:31,920
The only thing you control is what your body is doing and where you are at the moment.

437
00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:36,200
And so I'm almost at this point, it's like woo way.

438
00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:38,040
Really I'm going with the current.

439
00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:39,400
You're not supposed to swim against it.

440
00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:40,880
You'll drown.

441
00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:47,760
That's why they made sails back in the day, cross oceans and tubing is fun in a river,

442
00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:48,760
right?

443
00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:51,320
When you're sitting in the current just chilling with your buddies.

444
00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:58,160
And so I'm trying to accept now in life, if there is traffic, I have something for my

445
00:23:58,160 --> 00:23:59,160
wrist.

446
00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:01,720
I'll grab that in the car.

447
00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:05,880
But I've learned to take deeper breaths and I give benefits of the doubt.

448
00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:08,440
And don't kid yourself, me today, you tomorrow.

449
00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:12,200
I've seen traffic and when I've driven by the traffic, I've seen someone with a flat

450
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:14,800
tire or a car that's not working.

451
00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:19,440
I drive a beautiful 92 cabriolet and you can ask a bunch of my friends here, that thing

452
00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:21,480
is broke down at least a half a dozen times.

453
00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:27,680
So I know what it's like to be that guy and get the sour faces because I'm holding people

454
00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:28,680
back traffic.

455
00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:31,480
I'm like, you know, my heart's breaking because my forget about you.

456
00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:32,480
It's my car.

457
00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:35,240
You know what?

458
00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:40,680
I've learned to extend that sort of empathy towards people because I believe that most

459
00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:42,440
of the time it's not their fault.

460
00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:50,560
We're just catching them on one of their worst days of their lives.

461
00:24:50,560 --> 00:25:00,200
So the in being a salesman, fortune teller or telemarketer, all that, I'm getting such

462
00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:06,600
a strong sense from you of you can read people so well and read situations so well.

463
00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:17,040
And my question is, how do you balance the agenda of knowing that you're talking to people

464
00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:20,760
and using these interpersonal skills to try to make a sale?

465
00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:24,720
And that's one form that you can use those skills, talents, whatever you want to call

466
00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:25,720
it.

467
00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:30,360
But on the other side, we are just two people and we're interacting.

468
00:25:30,360 --> 00:25:37,600
So how do you balance using your capacity to understand people and read people and talk

469
00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:43,840
in a way that draws people in without going too far down like the, I got to make a sale

470
00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:45,400
right now kind of field.

471
00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:47,320
Does that make sense?

472
00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:48,320
Of course it does.

473
00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:49,680
It depends on the person.

474
00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:55,680
I never wanted to do anything that was against my good faith and good intentions.

475
00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:57,360
You can earn a dollar a million ways.

476
00:25:57,360 --> 00:25:59,760
You don't have to break laws or do something.

477
00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:02,760
You can't tell your parents what you're doing.

478
00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:05,800
Have I needed to be in fifth gear?

479
00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:10,140
Yes, there have been certain times I needed to be assertive.

480
00:26:10,140 --> 00:26:14,580
If you're aggressive, you'll redline and you'll burn out your engine.

481
00:26:14,580 --> 00:26:17,800
If you're passive, you'll stall out.

482
00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:22,120
But there are certain times you need to give it the gas or you need to cut the fat.

483
00:26:22,120 --> 00:26:26,800
Or as I'm mentioning, there's ways to chisel a question to get that answer.

484
00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:28,560
And a lot of the times it's open ended.

485
00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:31,400
You might be able to, instead of saying, do you like ice cream?

486
00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:33,000
You know, what kind of ice cream do you like?

487
00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:34,840
You can tell it to me.

488
00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:38,360
And you might even say two scoops and the sort of cone that you like and the place where

489
00:26:38,360 --> 00:26:39,360
you like to buy it.

490
00:26:39,360 --> 00:26:44,880
And so there are ways you can stack like waiters, plates and certain questions because people

491
00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:47,560
get tired with certain time.

492
00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:50,480
And you don't want to go back and forth question, answer, question, answer.

493
00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:53,220
That gets tiring as well.

494
00:26:53,220 --> 00:26:57,440
You do need to pause before names and numbers.

495
00:26:57,440 --> 00:26:58,840
That's emphasis.

496
00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:00,980
So at least they'll remember it.

497
00:27:00,980 --> 00:27:03,200
And I also believe in trigger words.

498
00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:05,480
Certain things need to be spiked.

499
00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:06,480
Choose your audience.

500
00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:07,480
A million dollars.

501
00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:10,920
Bill Gates could care less about that word, but he cares about his kitten.

502
00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:12,480
You know, he'd much rather hear that word.

503
00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:14,880
And so it's a fun game.

504
00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:16,200
Either way, you can't lose.

505
00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:20,520
As I mentioned, if your intentions are honorable and you can cash in, because if you did the

506
00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:22,800
Judy thing, you did your due diligence.

507
00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:25,760
You've been very polite, full knowing boundaries.

508
00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:29,960
There's no reason why, as I mentioned before, you can keep buying 30 seconds to a minute's

509
00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:32,640
worth of time.

510
00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:39,080
And even if it's two ships in a night done and you don't get a converted call, let's

511
00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:42,880
just say you wanted fish and all we sell are steaks.

512
00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:47,400
I've had this, people thanking me, enjoying the time.

513
00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:51,160
And then I'll get a phone call a couple months from now and it's Billy and Billy goes, hey

514
00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:52,160
man, do you know Don?

515
00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:53,160
I go, of course I do.

516
00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:56,600
And he goes, he said you're the greatest and that you're selling steaks.

517
00:27:56,600 --> 00:28:02,000
And most of my business is from referrals of people that I never pressed.

518
00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:05,480
That we realized through an educated point of view, they made a decision that it just

519
00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:07,640
wasn't a good fit.

520
00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:13,400
And that's how we were able to float that feather.

521
00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:15,480
You shouldn't burn bridges and stuff.

522
00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:16,480
Don't take it so personal.

523
00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:17,480
You're a telemarketer.

524
00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:20,080
Most people hate telemarketers, look at Hollywood did.

525
00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:24,960
But strangers or friends you haven't met yet, you can give them a refreshing view, shatter

526
00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:32,080
misconceptions, teach them that it is a means to an end in regards to retentions, upsells,

527
00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:33,400
referrals.

528
00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:34,960
It's still an art form.

529
00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:41,920
And today, when most people are doing chat emails and texting, and I understand that,

530
00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:48,480
the classic phone call, I believe packs more of a punch.

531
00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:53,320
I think it's not a coincidence that my generation is so afraid of making phone calls.

532
00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:58,600
And the idea of talking to somebody on the phone is just scary for a lot of people, I

533
00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:03,600
think, because so much of the communication has turned into the digital just back and

534
00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:07,480
forth thing of one and zeros.

535
00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:08,480
Let me ask you a question.

536
00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:11,000
If there's less people digging, isn't there more gold for you?

537
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:12,560
That's a good point.

538
00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:13,880
That's a good point.

539
00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:17,000
You should always volunteer for those sort of missions.

540
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:21,640
Public speaking, telemarketing, A, builds character and self-confidence, and B, if you're

541
00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:24,680
good at it, you'll do very well.

542
00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:28,880
A second ago, you mentioned shattering misconceptions.

543
00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:37,040
I'm curious, are there any misconceptions that people have about you sometimes or telemarketing

544
00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:38,040
in general?

545
00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:39,040
Either one of those two?

546
00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:40,040
Of course.

547
00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:41,040
Yes.

548
00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:44,080
And I want to go back to a point that you were making in regards to people and people

549
00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:45,840
and trying to make a sale.

550
00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:48,720
Think of it as fire.

551
00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:52,400
You have something for warmth, but you can also burn.

552
00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:57,720
Like Eminem, so talented in rapping, he could rap you to death in front of everybody and

553
00:29:57,720 --> 00:29:59,760
make you want to quit school.

554
00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:01,720
So it's such a beautiful thing.

555
00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:06,320
Even with your chemistry, you know what to put together that could destroy someone's

556
00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:07,320
clothes.

557
00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:11,160
Don't mix what is a chlorine and ammonia.

558
00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:14,680
So I know about these things.

559
00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:25,280
But no, it's very interesting today in regards to this field that when people learn to make

560
00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:33,040
these calls in your generation, it's an excellent way, as I say, to have these sort of long-term

561
00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:35,400
connections with people.

562
00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:39,440
And so, yeah, it's an art form.

563
00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:44,320
Look what Hollywood did with Glenn Gary, Glenn Ross, with Gene the Machine.

564
00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:47,760
And it's a beautiful speech with Alex Baldwin talking about ABC.

565
00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:50,520
I'm not familiar with those, unfortunately.

566
00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:54,080
If I were you, just for curiosity, give yourself about an hour.

567
00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:58,240
We should look at Alec Baldwin's Blake speech from Glenn Gary, Glenn Ross.

568
00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:00,520
He talks about coffees for closers.

569
00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:03,520
It's a very famous quote between salesmen.

570
00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:08,480
And it also puts you in a position of people that were hot one time and not doing well.

571
00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:12,640
And what that does mentally to Gene the Machine who was on top.

572
00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:15,800
And then you have Ricky Roman, who's not even at the meeting on a rainy day because he's

573
00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:17,700
off closing a deal.

574
00:31:17,700 --> 00:31:18,700
Very interesting.

575
00:31:18,700 --> 00:31:23,520
And if you really break it down and then you have Borla Room, which is a great story.

576
00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:30,400
I think it was Oakman, Sherman Oakmont or something in Long Island.

577
00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:37,280
And these players that were up there making these stock sales and such talent, Vin Diesel

578
00:31:37,280 --> 00:31:41,520
closing, Cold Call closing, sending things to mansions.

579
00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:45,320
But what I enjoyed about that movie, taking out the ethics of it, it showed different

580
00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:51,860
sections of Seth that was learning the ropes and the script to then understanding it, receiving

581
00:31:51,860 --> 00:31:56,480
calls at his house, a telemarketing call and paying it forward, which I love doing with

582
00:31:56,480 --> 00:32:04,280
telemarketers that call me being a top dog in his department and how his demeanor changed.

583
00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:10,640
And then you have a wonderful movie, The Wolf of Wall Street.

584
00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:14,880
My favorite scene is the first gig he has when he's working at the shopping center where

585
00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:18,920
his back is to everybody and closes John in a minute, 46.

586
00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:20,240
He does six name drops.

587
00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:21,240
He does the loud whisper.

588
00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:22,240
He does the pause.

589
00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:28,840
And I mean, we used to watch that thing without sound, without sound, because we knew the

590
00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:33,560
speech by heart anyway, but we were watching the body language and then we were critiquing

591
00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:36,920
the people behind them saying, why aren't they making calls?

592
00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:37,920
What's wrong with these people?

593
00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:39,760
You should be talking during break.

594
00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:44,040
They were looking at amazement of somebody that was just in their groove and in their

595
00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:45,320
rhythm.

596
00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:54,040
And another really good movie is The Prime Gig with Ed Harris was in that one and Penny,

597
00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:59,640
I forgot his name, the tall actor, I forgot his name, but good pitching.

598
00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:05,040
They really show what the only bad side that they show is that people sold their soul.

599
00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:11,000
They really should be showing certain phone calls of companies that retain a client or

600
00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:18,720
that someone knows somebody by their first name and goes above and beyond to keep somebody.

601
00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:19,720
That's all.

602
00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:24,520
I mean, you really are looking at incredible individuals with advanced rhetoric and over

603
00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:27,280
the phone and it's fine and the suits.

604
00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:30,480
Yeah, I've been in those places.

605
00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:31,840
I've seen them.

606
00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:35,920
I've competed and I've held my own.

607
00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:39,520
I like my Philly style and I like things from the 80s.

608
00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:45,440
I'll mention Fast Times of Richmond High and Pac-Man and fun stuff.

609
00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:48,320
It loosens things up a little bit.

610
00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:49,920
That's a great segue to the next question.

611
00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:55,880
So you Pac-Man and having the largest collection of pinball machines in Central America.

612
00:33:55,880 --> 00:34:00,360
And you also mentioned gamification being important.

613
00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:03,840
And now that I'm actually speaking with you, that matches really well.

614
00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:08,240
So I'm curious if you could talk a little bit about the pinball machines in general,

615
00:34:08,240 --> 00:34:09,760
like what attracts you to them?

616
00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:14,760
And then also gamification mixed in with all of this as well.

617
00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:16,880
How does all of that fit together with you?

618
00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:17,880
All right.

619
00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:20,880
I was born in 1972.

620
00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:24,480
So I grew up in the 70s and 80s where arcades were great.

621
00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:28,760
You could find machines everywhere around town from pizza parlors to bus stops.

622
00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:31,880
And so there was always a game to try and to play.

623
00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:37,200
And what beautiful works with their cabinets and marquees.

624
00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:40,200
It's a joystick, one or two buttons, easy plays.

625
00:34:40,200 --> 00:34:42,040
It's go.

626
00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:45,160
And the pinball machine.

627
00:34:45,160 --> 00:34:49,000
Or sometimes 50 cents, it wouldn't last a minute.

628
00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:52,680
And sometimes the machine didn't like you and throw all the balls down the middle.

629
00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:55,440
I could play Asteroids for 45 minutes.

630
00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:57,440
And so to me, it was out of reach.

631
00:34:57,440 --> 00:34:58,480
It was a luxury.

632
00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:02,440
They were just so gorgeous, so high maintenance and just there.

633
00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:04,660
Very rarely that I played them.

634
00:35:04,660 --> 00:35:11,280
So fast forward to my career, not only did I have the space, but I had the income.

635
00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:15,840
And I'm also choosing the right time where arcades were going out of business.

636
00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:19,800
Not saying there's anything wrong with your generation, but you guys play virtual.

637
00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:23,820
And most of these machines are in bodegas or they're just throwing them out.

638
00:35:23,820 --> 00:35:30,000
And so I would go on to the Mercado Libre and I would see Don Pedro that lives three

639
00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:32,320
hours away selling all his machines.

640
00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:34,240
And I didn't want most of them.

641
00:35:34,240 --> 00:35:36,840
They were like fighting machines and kidding machines.

642
00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:43,640
But in the corner, I'd see like a NBA fast break or a Daddy East lacks action hero.

643
00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:45,600
I was like, so I call him up.

644
00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:46,880
It's like, yeah, it's not working.

645
00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:47,880
Of course it's not working.

646
00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:49,040
It's pinball.

647
00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:54,720
And so I go in there and I take a quick look and I realize it's a fuse or it's a wire

648
00:35:54,720 --> 00:35:56,560
or it's just something that needs to be done.

649
00:35:56,560 --> 00:36:02,940
And so I'd give them two to $300 for a machine, grab it, bring it back.

650
00:36:02,940 --> 00:36:07,040
And there are places in the United States, Don, where you can order all the plaque, the

651
00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:09,560
placas and all the CPUs.

652
00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:12,760
And so these things are 40 years old.

653
00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:13,760
They're corroded.

654
00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:14,760
They're old.

655
00:36:14,760 --> 00:36:16,160
You got to blow on them.

656
00:36:16,160 --> 00:36:18,040
No, buy brand new ones.

657
00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:22,880
And if you replace everything on the machine behind the marquee, she's about 95% working.

658
00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:27,240
The rest you need to do is fix a cable and change a light.

659
00:36:27,240 --> 00:36:35,200
And so for a total investment of let's say another 700 bucks, thousand total, I'm sitting

660
00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:37,640
on machines that are worth like five grand.

661
00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:38,760
Are you looking to resell them?

662
00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:39,760
Of course not.

663
00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:44,640
But I'm just letting you know that one man's trash is another man's treasure.

664
00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:48,920
And if you know the value of something, grab them.

665
00:36:48,920 --> 00:36:50,280
And I had the space for it.

666
00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:56,400
And currently I have 13 pinball machines, six jukeboxes and air hockey table.

667
00:36:56,400 --> 00:36:58,960
I got an Alpine racer to ski machine.

668
00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:01,560
And you're probably saying why?

669
00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:04,880
Let me ask you a question.

670
00:37:04,880 --> 00:37:10,240
Weren't your best friends made during recess when you could play?

671
00:37:10,240 --> 00:37:12,680
Oh, yeah, that's fair.

672
00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:13,680
Yeah.

673
00:37:13,680 --> 00:37:17,880
Wasn't it great to let off steam in between social studies and math class?

674
00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:18,880
Agreed.

675
00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:19,880
Agreed.

676
00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:21,600
Yeah, but you're a chemist.

677
00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:22,600
You probably like math.

678
00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:23,600
You probably like, damn, recess?

679
00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:24,600
No, I'm not kidding.

680
00:37:24,600 --> 00:37:29,680
And so you could let off steam.

681
00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:30,680
You laughed.

682
00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:32,000
You hit the home run.

683
00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:33,880
You played tag.

684
00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:37,920
And now that we're adults, it's terrible.

685
00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:43,360
And you might have a TV or ping pong table in a certain room or they'll put a Wii or

686
00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:45,160
an Xbox in there and that's fine.

687
00:37:45,160 --> 00:37:47,680
But it's nothing like an air hockey game.

688
00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:48,680
I love it.

689
00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:49,680
I know you said that.

690
00:37:49,680 --> 00:37:50,680
I love air hockey.

691
00:37:50,680 --> 00:37:51,680
Yeah, yeah.

692
00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:55,800
But I had to switch out the pucks because the old plastic ones were way too loud and

693
00:37:55,800 --> 00:37:57,560
were almost hitting people in the eyes.

694
00:37:57,560 --> 00:38:01,200
So there's these rubber ones that are still good.

695
00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:04,880
If you use Wildcat 125 on the surface, it still flies.

696
00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:07,440
You just can't hear it as much and it won't kill you.

697
00:38:07,440 --> 00:38:10,480
But it's a good trade off.

698
00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:14,240
But you know what I saw, my man, and you know chemistry.

699
00:38:14,240 --> 00:38:20,000
When somebody laughs, do you think there is some sort of chemical difference within the

700
00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:23,120
body?

701
00:38:23,120 --> 00:38:24,120
I do.

702
00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:25,120
Yes.

703
00:38:25,120 --> 00:38:30,040
Do you think, you know, it's some people might say it's inappropriate to touch your boss

704
00:38:30,040 --> 00:38:31,320
or somebody else.

705
00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:35,000
But if you get the shoulder tap in the morning when I'm playing Pac-Man and they say, good

706
00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:39,400
morning, would you find that inappropriate or OK?

707
00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:41,960
Seems pretty OK to me.

708
00:38:41,960 --> 00:38:44,480
I think it's demaciado OK.

709
00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:48,920
I think the fact that someone is comfortable enough for me to say, what's up, hefe, knowing

710
00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:54,560
that that's my joystick hand, but he's still messing with me.

711
00:38:54,560 --> 00:38:56,440
I think that's a beautiful thing.

712
00:38:56,440 --> 00:38:59,560
I think these are the sort of connections when they say, Richard, you're the only boss

713
00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:00,560
that ever knew my name.

714
00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:03,400
You're the only one that got me to smile.

715
00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:08,320
You're the one that got me to quit smoking cigarettes because I would play the game.

716
00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:11,320
Listen, I married I married Maria.

717
00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:14,920
We used to play Pac-Man every day and then we fell in love.

718
00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:17,200
I had that happen at my center a bunch of times.

719
00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:22,680
And so there's I'll go into the lunchroom.

720
00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:27,680
There'll be a table for and they're all on their phones looking at Japanese anime.

721
00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:31,160
I don't get it.

722
00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:32,220
They're just not talking.

723
00:39:32,220 --> 00:39:40,160
And so I I'm not forcing them, but I at least gave them a happy home and a certain environment

724
00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:45,440
where I think we could produce some more chemistry and energy.

725
00:39:45,440 --> 00:39:47,600
How do you recruit people for for your call center?

726
00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:52,040
Is it are people coming to you or are you going out to try to find certain personalities

727
00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:54,960
or what is the, what does that look like?

728
00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:55,960
That's both.

729
00:39:55,960 --> 00:39:57,640
We love referrals.

730
00:39:57,640 --> 00:40:03,360
We compete against Amazon, HP, Intel and Oracle for the labor pool here, which has a neutral

731
00:40:03,360 --> 00:40:06,160
accent and they're very skilled.

732
00:40:06,160 --> 00:40:11,540
At least we match Amazon's entry level base and benefits so I can compete there.

733
00:40:11,540 --> 00:40:14,420
Certain clients give incentives.

734
00:40:14,420 --> 00:40:20,240
Not thankfully, but realistically I'm not hiring 50 people tomorrow.

735
00:40:20,240 --> 00:40:27,200
A lot of my clients need a half a dozen people so I could be more selective in that process.

736
00:40:27,200 --> 00:40:30,400
I don't need to cattle call, but then how about this?

737
00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:36,320
It's a reverse since the leverage is with the employee because they have so many options.

738
00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:40,680
That's why in our industry, the attrition is very high and people are considered jumpers.

739
00:40:40,680 --> 00:40:44,080
And there is a difference between natural and forced attrition.

740
00:40:44,080 --> 00:40:47,600
Can you remind me what that is?

741
00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:48,760
It's a turnover.

742
00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:50,560
It's when people quit.

743
00:40:50,560 --> 00:40:52,880
Now my industry has got 300%.

744
00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:56,320
Most people burn out within six months of the industry in general.

745
00:40:56,320 --> 00:40:57,840
I've been at 18 years.

746
00:40:57,840 --> 00:41:01,600
How do you like that as an old gladiator?

747
00:41:01,600 --> 00:41:03,640
But you thrive in a certain environment.

748
00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:08,760
Sometimes you like the taste of blood, but I'll lose people because of a scheduling conflict

749
00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:10,080
for university.

750
00:41:10,080 --> 00:41:11,760
You're still in school.

751
00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:17,160
What happens if your girlfriend works at Amazon or it's closer to your home and Don, you have

752
00:41:17,160 --> 00:41:18,160
skills.

753
00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:22,200
It would be an insult to think you're earning entry level for the next 20 years.

754
00:41:22,200 --> 00:41:27,680
If you have an opportunity or it's within your industry chemistry, you must take it.

755
00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:37,120
I encourage people and I give recommendations when we cross paths, but I like to hire somebody

756
00:41:37,120 --> 00:41:40,040
that has no experience in a call center.

757
00:41:40,040 --> 00:41:42,080
I'll teach you CRM in a headset.

758
00:41:42,080 --> 00:41:44,320
That's two hours.

759
00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:49,400
But if you've learned English, Don, that shows dedication, structure, discipline, and high

760
00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:51,840
cognitive skills.

761
00:41:51,840 --> 00:41:54,600
Just like chemistry languages, it's a language.

762
00:41:54,600 --> 00:41:55,600
There's combinations.

763
00:41:55,600 --> 00:41:59,120
At least I see that coming into the board.

764
00:41:59,120 --> 00:42:00,640
But then guess what?

765
00:42:00,640 --> 00:42:03,720
They do not have bad habits.

766
00:42:03,720 --> 00:42:07,520
I can mold them like a squire to a knight.

767
00:42:07,520 --> 00:42:11,200
They can be homegrown, organic.

768
00:42:11,200 --> 00:42:12,680
That's all.

769
00:42:12,680 --> 00:42:15,160
I love that for this next generation.

770
00:42:15,160 --> 00:42:20,720
They just need to be responsible in regards to showing up to work on time and doing their

771
00:42:20,720 --> 00:42:24,120
job.

772
00:42:24,120 --> 00:42:29,240
But that's my challenge because I'm not the only game in town and I'm not the largest

773
00:42:29,240 --> 00:42:30,240
game in town.

774
00:42:30,240 --> 00:42:35,160
But I tell you what, my brother, if you have multiple options and then you saw someone

775
00:42:35,160 --> 00:42:41,920
like myself that would invest in you and teach you phonetic micro-expression reading and

776
00:42:41,920 --> 00:42:47,960
talk about the thesaurus and listen to your phone calls and play air hockey with you and

777
00:42:47,960 --> 00:42:50,920
talk to you about big boss things.

778
00:42:50,920 --> 00:42:56,360
So when you're a big boss one day, you can do the certain things that I did that got

779
00:42:56,360 --> 00:42:58,680
you to work with me.

780
00:42:58,680 --> 00:43:02,200
And I know the thing that got you to join my company compared to others, when you were

781
00:43:02,200 --> 00:43:06,840
filling out the application, I came into the reception like this is interesting.

782
00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:09,240
Now I'm giving you dignity and respect.

783
00:43:09,240 --> 00:43:10,240
You're the man.

784
00:43:10,240 --> 00:43:11,240
Don, you showed up.

785
00:43:11,240 --> 00:43:14,000
And then I'm going to say, hey, Don, do me a favor, turn your paper over and give me

786
00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:15,800
a coming of age moment.

787
00:43:15,800 --> 00:43:21,160
I want to know a time you beat up a bully or saved a kitten because I want to know your

788
00:43:21,160 --> 00:43:22,160
depth.

789
00:43:22,160 --> 00:43:27,560
I want to know if that Richard before giving a contract to you asks you a bully question.

790
00:43:27,560 --> 00:43:29,920
Can you tell me that story?

791
00:43:29,920 --> 00:43:33,320
And you will and you'll give me an amazing story.

792
00:43:33,320 --> 00:43:39,880
So I can give you a nickname and pick you up on a rainy Wednesday and connect with you

793
00:43:39,880 --> 00:43:44,880
on like the other teachers, coaches or friends failed to do.

794
00:43:44,880 --> 00:43:49,560
And if I'm capable of doing that, then we have a foundation.

795
00:43:49,560 --> 00:43:54,560
And there's a very good chance that you will work with me for a very long period of time.

796
00:43:54,560 --> 00:44:02,760
And that to me, when you put money aside are the jewels of what you get of being an owner

797
00:44:02,760 --> 00:44:04,760
of a company.

798
00:44:04,760 --> 00:44:08,800
When you see that sort of fidelity, it's a pretty weird thing.

799
00:44:08,800 --> 00:44:16,280
But when it's there, you can't, what do you say to somebody that's been with you 16 years?

800
00:44:16,280 --> 00:44:18,400
I give them a pinball machine.

801
00:44:18,400 --> 00:44:19,400
That's right.

802
00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:22,720
Got my oldest employee with me giving them a pinball machine.

803
00:44:22,720 --> 00:44:24,520
Of course I am.

804
00:44:24,520 --> 00:44:25,520
That's the greatest present.

805
00:44:25,520 --> 00:44:30,480
Anyway, you kind of get me off on tangents, but you bring the best out of your client

806
00:44:30,480 --> 00:44:34,760
or your guests here.

807
00:44:34,760 --> 00:44:44,120
And that's important that you get people to disclose and to share their thoughts.

808
00:44:44,120 --> 00:44:46,040
Thank you for that tangent and all the other ones.

809
00:44:46,040 --> 00:44:47,040
Yeah.

810
00:44:47,040 --> 00:44:56,840
I think a big reason that I started this podcast was so that people and guests could just brain

811
00:44:56,840 --> 00:44:58,320
spew kind of offense.

812
00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:02,120
So I'm appreciating your brain spewing right now.

813
00:45:02,120 --> 00:45:10,920
And so I think that was circling in my head as you're talking about training these people.

814
00:45:10,920 --> 00:45:16,860
So you're an American who moved to a less affluent country to start a for-profit company

815
00:45:16,860 --> 00:45:20,120
and you said you currently make seven figures.

816
00:45:20,120 --> 00:45:25,760
So I've maybe unjustly calling it a stereotype here, but I think when people hear the phrase

817
00:45:25,760 --> 00:45:31,260
call center, many of them think of like a large warehouse in India where labor can be

818
00:45:31,260 --> 00:45:34,000
exploited because poverty is widespread.

819
00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:38,400
And so just so we're all on the same page and understanding where you're at, does your

820
00:45:38,400 --> 00:45:42,480
call center have any similarities to this dynamic?

821
00:45:42,480 --> 00:45:45,960
And if not, what am I missing in the story?

822
00:45:45,960 --> 00:45:51,920
Well, you definitely have large areas where people are working in their cubicles.

823
00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:55,400
And a lot of times they have triple wides compared to things that are tight.

824
00:45:55,400 --> 00:45:56,400
Do they have natural light?

825
00:45:56,400 --> 00:45:58,160
Does it stink in there?

826
00:45:58,160 --> 00:45:59,160
Is it fresh air?

827
00:45:59,160 --> 00:46:01,360
What are the conditions like?

828
00:46:01,360 --> 00:46:02,360
What are the managers like?

829
00:46:02,360 --> 00:46:04,840
What are the accounts that you're on?

830
00:46:04,840 --> 00:46:06,480
Do you get paid on time?

831
00:46:06,480 --> 00:46:12,280
So as I say before, if it was as bad as people say it is, I would have never lasted 25 years

832
00:46:12,280 --> 00:46:13,320
in the industry.

833
00:46:13,320 --> 00:46:15,720
But there are so many people that give it a bad rap.

834
00:46:15,720 --> 00:46:18,560
Do they exploit cheaper labor?

835
00:46:18,560 --> 00:46:22,280
I am doing this at least.

836
00:46:22,280 --> 00:46:27,760
My US corporation has a presence here, a Costa Rican corporation.

837
00:46:27,760 --> 00:46:32,240
I am capable of hiring 150 people a month.

838
00:46:32,240 --> 00:46:33,920
At least I'm able to do that.

839
00:46:33,920 --> 00:46:42,040
At least I'm also able to pay taxes and have probably more of the competitive salaries

840
00:46:42,040 --> 00:46:45,700
in this country, unless you're a tech supporter or doctor.

841
00:46:45,700 --> 00:46:50,280
What we pay is better than the tourism industry or working in retail.

842
00:46:50,280 --> 00:46:54,440
And so you're up there and the kids that work here can afford cars, apartments, and spending

843
00:46:54,440 --> 00:46:56,720
money.

844
00:46:56,720 --> 00:46:59,920
We pay them what we can.

845
00:46:59,920 --> 00:47:08,120
And today with the dollar dropping and inflation and with our competition offshore, we do lose

846
00:47:08,120 --> 00:47:09,920
accounts too.

847
00:47:09,920 --> 00:47:15,840
And so it goes so many different ways, but it is what you think it is.

848
00:47:15,840 --> 00:47:17,360
You could see it one or two ways.

849
00:47:17,360 --> 00:47:24,240
You could see it as 100 people in a room where people have BO and it's bad lighting and everyone's

850
00:47:24,240 --> 00:47:27,880
screaming and you hate your product and you can't wait to get the hell out of there.

851
00:47:27,880 --> 00:47:33,760
Where you can be in a place that's climate controlled, big bay windows.

852
00:47:33,760 --> 00:47:35,680
Do you have some plugins?

853
00:47:35,680 --> 00:47:36,680
Yeah.

854
00:47:36,680 --> 00:47:44,160
It's the nice sense of what, Hawaiian and Christmas time, cinnamon and apple.

855
00:47:44,160 --> 00:47:45,600
Is that you guys?

856
00:47:45,600 --> 00:47:47,200
Of course it is.

857
00:47:47,200 --> 00:47:48,200
And it's clean.

858
00:47:48,200 --> 00:47:50,800
We have people cleaning the, you can't eat at your desk.

859
00:47:50,800 --> 00:47:56,520
It's like, ah, let you munch on a candy or something, but we don't want crumbs and cockroaches

860
00:47:56,520 --> 00:47:58,400
and smells and sicknesses.

861
00:47:58,400 --> 00:48:06,000
And so everything's clean and you feed off of that energy.

862
00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:09,880
Why do you think your chemists, isn't it the greatest, but I know you guys have your mad

863
00:48:09,880 --> 00:48:14,520
scientists in their laboratories, but I think some of the best environments are when you're

864
00:48:14,520 --> 00:48:20,520
working together in a laboratory and sharing ideas and having those successes together.

865
00:48:20,520 --> 00:48:25,360
And what I respect about chemists and scientists as well, it's not like they like to be wrong,

866
00:48:25,360 --> 00:48:27,360
but they're constantly questioning.

867
00:48:27,360 --> 00:48:28,540
So it's never right.

868
00:48:28,540 --> 00:48:31,520
And they love feedback and questions from their colleagues.

869
00:48:31,520 --> 00:48:33,280
So they never take it personal.

870
00:48:33,280 --> 00:48:34,480
I love that.

871
00:48:34,480 --> 00:48:35,480
It's always probing.

872
00:48:35,480 --> 00:48:37,280
It's always intelligent.

873
00:48:37,280 --> 00:48:39,120
You squeeze as much as you can out of it.

874
00:48:39,120 --> 00:48:41,560
And so I think people put their egos aside.

875
00:48:41,560 --> 00:48:44,920
I think most people do it for the good of humankind.

876
00:48:44,920 --> 00:48:49,980
Now I'm not putting my career as a linguist and call center up with what you do, which

877
00:48:49,980 --> 00:48:53,940
cures cancer and brings us to the moon.

878
00:48:53,940 --> 00:49:03,200
But I do believe if you can spread courtesy and certain soft skills and diplomacy, it

879
00:49:03,200 --> 00:49:08,280
could reduce temperatures and build better relationships with people.

880
00:49:08,280 --> 00:49:11,480
And so I'm not as smart as you, man, but at least I'm doing my part.

881
00:49:11,480 --> 00:49:16,880
At least I made the team, the Don team, put me in at least this position of the team.

882
00:49:16,880 --> 00:49:20,080
You know, I'll make people smile and laugh during the meetings.

883
00:49:20,080 --> 00:49:21,080
That is true.

884
00:49:21,080 --> 00:49:22,080
The smile and laughing, I give you that.

885
00:49:22,080 --> 00:49:24,240
I also like the taking the temperature part down.

886
00:49:24,240 --> 00:49:29,440
I think that's something that particularly in America, but also just in general, taking

887
00:49:29,440 --> 00:49:37,680
the temperature down, I'd be able to have those more slower conversations that are feeding

888
00:49:37,680 --> 00:49:41,640
into the common humanity between people.

889
00:49:41,640 --> 00:49:46,680
So my next question is when you reflect on some of the most challenging moments of your

890
00:49:46,680 --> 00:49:52,480
life, were there any internal narratives that either helped or hindered your ability to

891
00:49:52,480 --> 00:49:54,080
navigate those situations?

892
00:49:54,080 --> 00:49:58,080
I had to put some things to bed.

893
00:49:58,080 --> 00:50:01,920
Without getting too into it, there's some kids that have grown up and have failed out

894
00:50:01,920 --> 00:50:04,480
of school or gotten kicked out of school.

895
00:50:04,480 --> 00:50:06,000
I'm not saying I burned the school down.

896
00:50:06,000 --> 00:50:07,680
I just failed out via grades.

897
00:50:07,680 --> 00:50:12,080
I went to a really nice private school and I failed out in seventh grade.

898
00:50:12,080 --> 00:50:15,800
And it's a school my father and brother went to.

899
00:50:15,800 --> 00:50:19,960
And so I was a disappointment to people and to myself.

900
00:50:19,960 --> 00:50:21,720
And it was, and I'll never forget this moment.

901
00:50:21,720 --> 00:50:25,040
You know, when people have dreams where they show up, a lot of people have high school

902
00:50:25,040 --> 00:50:29,160
dreams where they show up for the final exam and not studied, well, this was a true dream.

903
00:50:29,160 --> 00:50:30,960
I mean, this must've been what, late May?

904
00:50:30,960 --> 00:50:35,160
And I'm sitting at the dining room table on a Sunday and it's like three or four o'clock,

905
00:50:35,160 --> 00:50:37,440
sun's going down, books are piled up.

906
00:50:37,440 --> 00:50:38,880
And here's the thing.

907
00:50:38,880 --> 00:50:42,000
I just didn't understand the concept of time still.

908
00:50:42,000 --> 00:50:44,700
I was 12 years old.

909
00:50:44,700 --> 00:50:50,200
And so I didn't understand that you can't burn through a hundred pages within a day.

910
00:50:50,200 --> 00:50:55,560
I just still wasn't at that stage yet of comprehending time.

911
00:50:55,560 --> 00:51:00,280
I just thought like in the movies and skimming through and all-nighters and stuff like that.

912
00:51:00,280 --> 00:51:04,560
And it was the first time when you're in seventh grade compared to elementary school, it's

913
00:51:04,560 --> 00:51:06,280
real homework and it might add up.

914
00:51:06,280 --> 00:51:07,280
It's not just like easy stuff.

915
00:51:07,280 --> 00:51:10,560
You just sit in class and it was the first time I didn't take notes.

916
00:51:10,560 --> 00:51:12,120
I didn't study and I was overwhelmed.

917
00:51:12,120 --> 00:51:15,720
I was off playing sports and doing other things, not paying attention.

918
00:51:15,720 --> 00:51:18,680
And I knew I was going to fail.

919
00:51:18,680 --> 00:51:19,680
I knew it.

920
00:51:19,680 --> 00:51:23,280
I knew I was going to spin it and it wasn't funny and it wasn't cute.

921
00:51:23,280 --> 00:51:27,000
And I didn't like how I felt about myself at that period of time.

922
00:51:27,000 --> 00:51:30,120
And maybe it's good that I shed some skin then compared to doing something stupid in

923
00:51:30,120 --> 00:51:34,940
my twenties or having a bad marriage or something.

924
00:51:34,940 --> 00:51:40,000
And so I guess I had to grow up quickly and it was probably the best decision of my life

925
00:51:40,000 --> 00:51:45,620
because going from this wonderful elite school, which was a wonderful elementary education,

926
00:51:45,620 --> 00:51:49,240
I went to a public school where there was 10 times the amount of kids and they all were

927
00:51:49,240 --> 00:51:50,240
in my neighborhood.

928
00:51:50,240 --> 00:51:54,960
So I got a thousand friends and it was the right place for me.

929
00:51:54,960 --> 00:51:58,120
I felt where I belong.

930
00:51:58,120 --> 00:51:59,800
And then it clicked in my head as well.

931
00:51:59,800 --> 00:52:03,120
Richard, you sometimes don't have to live in a box.

932
00:52:03,120 --> 00:52:04,120
It's true.

933
00:52:04,120 --> 00:52:06,720
I mean, with what your friends are talking about in the lunchroom where they're going

934
00:52:06,720 --> 00:52:12,280
to go to school, they're going to go to Tulane and GW and Harvard and all this, but so, so

935
00:52:12,280 --> 00:52:16,840
smart and study law and medicine is very intimidated.

936
00:52:16,840 --> 00:52:19,360
I didn't have a plan.

937
00:52:19,360 --> 00:52:24,800
And so there's a certain point of your life and I don't know what stage it has to be where

938
00:52:24,800 --> 00:52:26,440
you almost have to say effort.

939
00:52:26,440 --> 00:52:28,800
You just got to start believing in yourself.

940
00:52:28,800 --> 00:52:32,800
Yes, you have mentors and there's teachers and you got to follow certain things at the

941
00:52:32,800 --> 00:52:38,600
bank and certain rules of society, but other rules of society do not make sense.

942
00:52:38,600 --> 00:52:44,120
I like to, like for an example, there was absolutely no way I was going to pass Shakespeare

943
00:52:44,120 --> 00:52:45,960
exams in college.

944
00:52:45,960 --> 00:52:53,160
Thank God I could go to the obscure VCR video stores and rent the videos of them because

945
00:52:53,160 --> 00:52:58,560
there's no way I was going to read Hamlet and Shakespeare and Macbeth and stuff.

946
00:52:58,560 --> 00:52:59,560
I couldn't get it.

947
00:52:59,560 --> 00:53:01,000
I was bored.

948
00:53:01,000 --> 00:53:08,320
Even the Cliff Notes were difficult for me, but I could watch it and I got it and my exams

949
00:53:08,320 --> 00:53:09,320
were great.

950
00:53:09,320 --> 00:53:11,880
And then I just read through the Cliff Notes again to fill in the gaps.

951
00:53:11,880 --> 00:53:16,480
And so there are certain ways that people learn how to learn.

952
00:53:16,480 --> 00:53:17,960
I sculpt things with clay.

953
00:53:17,960 --> 00:53:21,440
I'm not a painter, but I'm an artist.

954
00:53:21,440 --> 00:53:28,920
And thank God at a very young age, I realized my tastes, but still blended in societal norms

955
00:53:28,920 --> 00:53:31,720
so I wouldn't get in trouble anymore.

956
00:53:31,720 --> 00:53:34,800
But you need to be a dreamer then.

957
00:53:34,800 --> 00:53:37,760
And if you walk alone, then so be it.

958
00:53:37,760 --> 00:53:40,120
And as I mentioned, why is Spanish hurting anybody?

959
00:53:40,120 --> 00:53:42,480
I was the only one of my friends that could do it.

960
00:53:42,480 --> 00:53:44,640
It was fun.

961
00:53:44,640 --> 00:53:45,960
And here's the thing.

962
00:53:45,960 --> 00:53:48,800
This is when I really knew I had it done.

963
00:53:48,800 --> 00:53:50,160
This is when I knew I had the gift.

964
00:53:50,160 --> 00:53:52,080
None of my friends could do it.

965
00:53:52,080 --> 00:53:56,240
My friends thought it was cute and it was a parlor trick and you tap me on the head,

966
00:53:56,240 --> 00:53:58,040
yeah, come speak in front of our friends.

967
00:53:58,040 --> 00:54:04,040
And so when we would go out to a restaurant or I was somewhere and I saw the name Jesus

968
00:54:04,040 --> 00:54:09,880
or Jose or Maria, I immediately would speak Spanish and it wasn't to insult.

969
00:54:09,880 --> 00:54:11,120
It wasn't to make a joke.

970
00:54:11,120 --> 00:54:13,160
It wasn't to make a scene.

971
00:54:13,160 --> 00:54:18,400
The reaction, the smiling, the questions, the answers.

972
00:54:18,400 --> 00:54:24,080
And it was like Al Pacino dancing in front of a woman in front of my parents and friends.

973
00:54:24,080 --> 00:54:26,520
I was talking for like a couple of minutes.

974
00:54:26,520 --> 00:54:33,000
And at the end, the sort of goodbye and they'd always give me, it's like a goody bag.

975
00:54:33,000 --> 00:54:37,800
They'd always give me either a phrase, adjust my grammar, of course, and a couple of new

976
00:54:37,800 --> 00:54:39,160
vocabulary words.

977
00:54:39,160 --> 00:54:41,120
They'd always be taking something with me.

978
00:54:41,120 --> 00:54:43,240
I'd give you Dona Maria.

979
00:54:43,240 --> 00:54:46,200
And my friends would look at me and they're like, dude, how did you do that?

980
00:54:46,200 --> 00:54:50,840
And then I said, if I can do that, imagine if I can add business with that.

981
00:54:50,840 --> 00:54:51,880
I love doing that.

982
00:54:51,880 --> 00:54:56,120
If I could do that 20 times a day, I'll dance 20 times a day.

983
00:54:56,120 --> 00:55:03,080
And so that in my sort of roundabout way is how we got here.

984
00:55:03,080 --> 00:55:04,080
Yeah.

985
00:55:04,080 --> 00:55:10,600
I went to, I was in Spain for a couple of weeks, a while ago, and I would not say I'm

986
00:55:10,600 --> 00:55:14,360
good at Spanish at all, but I had picked up like a little bit enough to sort of try making

987
00:55:14,360 --> 00:55:16,760
some conversation or ordering food or whatever.

988
00:55:16,760 --> 00:55:21,140
And it was always very intimidating to do that, but it was always like a very good response

989
00:55:21,140 --> 00:55:23,840
from whoever I was trying to communicate with though.

990
00:55:23,840 --> 00:55:26,480
And so I think.

991
00:55:26,480 --> 00:55:28,360
What's your favorite word in Spanish?

992
00:55:28,360 --> 00:55:31,120
Do you have a favorite word?

993
00:55:31,120 --> 00:55:35,040
I don't know if you're familiar with webkins, but it was like this little stuffed animal

994
00:55:35,040 --> 00:55:39,280
that was like an online store, like an online game thing.

995
00:55:39,280 --> 00:55:45,920
And I got a dog and I really liked the Pedro, just like the word for dog in Spanish.

996
00:55:45,920 --> 00:55:46,920
It's a Pedro.

997
00:55:46,920 --> 00:55:50,680
I like the, the, the, the, I like Pedro is a funny, it's a cool word.

998
00:55:50,680 --> 00:55:51,680
I like that one.

999
00:55:51,680 --> 00:55:52,680
That is cool.

1000
00:55:52,680 --> 00:55:54,400
It's enough to get a smile from Maria.

1001
00:55:54,400 --> 00:55:55,520
You want to hear another cool word?

1002
00:55:55,520 --> 00:55:56,520
You'll love this one.

1003
00:55:56,520 --> 00:55:57,520
Buwo.

1004
00:55:57,520 --> 00:55:58,520
Buwo.

1005
00:55:58,520 --> 00:55:59,520
That's an owl.

1006
00:55:59,520 --> 00:56:00,520
That's that one.

1007
00:56:00,520 --> 00:56:01,520
An owl.

1008
00:56:01,520 --> 00:56:02,520
Okay.

1009
00:56:02,520 --> 00:56:03,520
How do you spell that?

1010
00:56:03,520 --> 00:56:04,520
Is that the W in there?

1011
00:56:04,520 --> 00:56:06,520
No, it's B U O.

1012
00:56:06,520 --> 00:56:07,520
Buwo.

1013
00:56:07,520 --> 00:56:08,520
Yep.

1014
00:56:08,520 --> 00:56:09,520
Buwo.

1015
00:56:09,520 --> 00:56:10,520
Okay.

1016
00:56:10,520 --> 00:56:11,520
That's an owl over here.

1017
00:56:11,520 --> 00:56:12,520
That's I like that one.

1018
00:56:12,520 --> 00:56:16,480
You're like a buwo and they're like, yeah, you know, even if you just start with a word,

1019
00:56:16,480 --> 00:56:17,960
it's more than enough.

1020
00:56:17,960 --> 00:56:19,440
More than enough.

1021
00:56:19,440 --> 00:56:20,440
Yeah.

1022
00:56:20,440 --> 00:56:21,440
Very cool.

1023
00:56:21,440 --> 00:56:22,440
All right, Richard.

1024
00:56:22,440 --> 00:56:24,420
I have a question for you.

1025
00:56:24,420 --> 00:56:28,560
What is a question that you wish someone would ask you?

1026
00:56:28,560 --> 00:56:33,160
I've been giving you all these ones based on what I have in my mind, but what is something

1027
00:56:33,160 --> 00:56:39,840
that would help us understand you that you don't get asked often or at all?

1028
00:56:39,840 --> 00:56:44,360
There's also might be two on the spot either, as well.

1029
00:56:44,360 --> 00:56:46,360
So don't make it too complicated.

1030
00:56:46,360 --> 00:56:51,080
A lot of people don't ask what my favorite movie was.

1031
00:56:51,080 --> 00:56:52,320
What is it?

1032
00:56:52,320 --> 00:56:53,760
The Maltese Falcon.

1033
00:56:53,760 --> 00:56:56,920
I've not heard that one.

1034
00:56:56,920 --> 00:56:59,680
When was that released?

1035
00:56:59,680 --> 00:57:01,440
You got is in the 40s.

1036
00:57:01,440 --> 00:57:05,460
It's with Humphrey Bogard, Peter Loray, Sydney Greenstreet.

1037
00:57:05,460 --> 00:57:10,520
If you like murder, mystery and mayhem and old school shady, you'll love it.

1038
00:57:10,520 --> 00:57:12,880
It's one of the best movies that's ever been made.

1039
00:57:12,880 --> 00:57:13,880
And you're a smart guy.

1040
00:57:13,880 --> 00:57:17,960
Listen, you got to go through things without the technology because it's going to really

1041
00:57:17,960 --> 00:57:22,440
make you think, you know, how these people were able to pull things off back in the day.

1042
00:57:22,440 --> 00:57:28,800
Yeah, I've been, I watched a couple episodes of the Twilight Zone a couple weeks ago and

1043
00:57:28,800 --> 00:57:33,520
was just struck by the, how different the pace of the shows are.

1044
00:57:33,520 --> 00:57:38,200
You're talking about pitch and tone and pace earlier.

1045
00:57:38,200 --> 00:57:42,760
And there's been such a cultural change in how movies are made and how shows are made.

1046
00:57:42,760 --> 00:57:47,240
And so yeah, I'm sure I bet there's some cool stuff going on with the Maltese Falcon.

1047
00:57:47,240 --> 00:57:48,240
I'll check it out.

1048
00:57:48,240 --> 00:57:49,840
Yeah, of course.

1049
00:57:49,840 --> 00:57:52,720
But there's nothing wrong with speaking like that.

1050
00:57:52,720 --> 00:57:53,920
I think it's eloquent.

1051
00:57:53,920 --> 00:57:58,440
You don't need to speak Queen's English or use SAT words nobody understands, but there's

1052
00:57:58,440 --> 00:58:04,080
nothing wrong with once again, how you treat your life on the way you present yourself

1053
00:58:04,080 --> 00:58:07,400
and your arguments and your delivery.

1054
00:58:07,400 --> 00:58:09,120
It's a nice gift if you keep practicing.

1055
00:58:09,120 --> 00:58:10,120
And that's all.

1056
00:58:10,120 --> 00:58:12,800
If I can make two other suggestions, if I'm going to give you some homework.

1057
00:58:12,800 --> 00:58:16,560
Do you remember the show, The A Team back in the eighties?

1058
00:58:16,560 --> 00:58:18,440
I've heard of it, but I never watched it.

1059
00:58:18,440 --> 00:58:20,200
I'm giving you great stuff to watch.

1060
00:58:20,200 --> 00:58:25,720
You should be studying a character named Templeton Peck played by the actor Dirk Benedict.

1061
00:58:25,720 --> 00:58:26,720
He was great.

1062
00:58:26,720 --> 00:58:27,880
And you'll get Mr. T on that show too.

1063
00:58:27,880 --> 00:58:28,880
It's great.

1064
00:58:28,880 --> 00:58:30,280
And then there was a show and I know you didn't watch this.

1065
00:58:30,280 --> 00:58:32,640
It was called Remington Steel.

1066
00:58:32,640 --> 00:58:36,480
This was Pierce Brosnan before he became James Bond.

1067
00:58:36,480 --> 00:58:39,920
And so if you're looking, especially you being a chemist, one day you'll be at a seminar

1068
00:58:39,920 --> 00:58:44,860
and you're going to have to sell your brand new breakthrough product.

1069
00:58:44,860 --> 00:58:47,560
These were my influences.

1070
00:58:47,560 --> 00:58:52,520
And finally, if I got to throw the oldest of school, if you like old time radio, listen

1071
00:58:52,520 --> 00:58:54,760
to Basil Rathbone.

1072
00:58:54,760 --> 00:58:57,880
He was incredible from the thirties and forties.

1073
00:58:57,880 --> 00:59:03,800
And so those were my graduate school classes that I took for myself.

1074
00:59:03,800 --> 00:59:06,120
That's a good list.

1075
00:59:06,120 --> 00:59:09,120
I'll be going through these for a while.

1076
00:59:09,120 --> 00:59:10,120
Awesome.

1077
00:59:10,120 --> 00:59:11,120
All right.

1078
00:59:11,120 --> 00:59:13,400
Okay, Richard, this has been super awesome.

1079
00:59:13,400 --> 00:59:16,960
I've got one more question for you before we end up here.

1080
00:59:16,960 --> 00:59:21,480
What's a piece of advice that is important to you that you could leave us with?

1081
00:59:21,480 --> 00:59:22,480
Of course, Don.

1082
00:59:22,480 --> 00:59:28,440
The most important bit of advice in my opinion is just not to be hard on yourself.

1083
00:59:28,440 --> 00:59:29,440
Okay.

1084
00:59:29,440 --> 00:59:33,040
You have your private moments.

1085
00:59:33,040 --> 00:59:35,160
Make sure you make your bed.

1086
00:59:35,160 --> 00:59:36,640
You can look at yourself in the mirror.

1087
00:59:36,640 --> 00:59:39,760
If you're really cool with it, give yourself five.

1088
00:59:39,760 --> 00:59:43,000
But just, you know, when you put your head on your pillow and you're having those final

1089
00:59:43,000 --> 00:59:49,360
thoughts, I need for you to have a clear mind, just regardless of the outcome that day, just

1090
00:59:49,360 --> 00:59:54,360
know you did things with the best faith you could.

1091
00:59:54,360 --> 00:59:58,260
And it's a weird game, life.

1092
00:59:58,260 --> 01:00:00,040
And you can make so many decisions.

1093
01:00:00,040 --> 01:00:03,280
And I know I could have stayed in the States and worked at a family business and things

1094
01:00:03,280 --> 01:00:05,280
would have been different.

1095
01:00:05,280 --> 01:00:12,120
But I just wanted to drink life a little bit and try to be responsible.

1096
01:00:12,120 --> 01:00:16,720
Maybe if you're capable of evenings, early mornings and weekends to put in time, you

1097
01:00:16,720 --> 01:00:18,800
could still put 40 hours in a week.

1098
01:00:18,800 --> 01:00:21,400
80 hours is what CEOs do at a minimum.

1099
01:00:21,400 --> 01:00:25,880
And so you can still pay your bills and still ramp up something like you said, doing a side

1100
01:00:25,880 --> 01:00:26,880
project.

1101
01:00:26,880 --> 01:00:33,440
And so don't wait too long, but also don't rush.

1102
01:00:33,440 --> 01:00:39,200
And as my grandparents taught me, if you can't do things in cash, just don't do it.

1103
01:00:39,200 --> 01:00:42,320
That's my own personal advice.

1104
01:00:42,320 --> 01:00:43,320
Why?

1105
01:00:43,320 --> 01:00:46,080
Because I never overextended myself.

1106
01:00:46,080 --> 01:00:50,760
And then when things like that happen for an entrepreneur, then you make very rushed

1107
01:00:50,760 --> 01:00:53,200
and bad decisions and desperate decisions.

1108
01:00:53,200 --> 01:00:55,840
And so we don't want to do that either.

1109
01:00:55,840 --> 01:01:02,120
And so I hope I was able to share some good advice for you and your amazing audience today.

1110
01:01:02,120 --> 01:01:03,120
I've had a good time.

1111
01:01:03,120 --> 01:01:07,840
This has been, I think, one of the most presence driven interviews I've done.

1112
01:01:07,840 --> 01:01:13,760
I appreciate you earlier for the audience before you mentioned that wanting this to

1113
01:01:13,760 --> 01:01:15,600
be kind of a raw conversation.

1114
01:01:15,600 --> 01:01:20,080
And so I was kind of filtering that as we were talking the whole time.

1115
01:01:20,080 --> 01:01:24,020
And so I think that really contributed to the conversation we had overall.

1116
01:01:24,020 --> 01:01:25,020
So really appreciate it.

1117
01:01:25,020 --> 01:01:26,360
I got two questions for you.

1118
01:01:26,360 --> 01:01:29,320
Did we go through all 18 questions that you have?

1119
01:01:29,320 --> 01:01:31,680
We did not go through all of them.

1120
01:01:31,680 --> 01:01:36,760
I think though that the direction our conversation went was better.

1121
01:01:36,760 --> 01:01:39,720
And come on, give me a quick question that we wouldn't have done.

1122
01:01:39,720 --> 01:01:40,720
I'm just curious.

1123
01:01:40,720 --> 01:01:41,720
I won't be able to sleep.

1124
01:01:41,720 --> 01:01:42,720
Okay.

1125
01:01:42,720 --> 01:01:43,720
Okay.

1126
01:01:43,720 --> 01:01:44,720
Fair enough.

1127
01:01:44,720 --> 01:01:45,720
Let's see.

1128
01:01:45,720 --> 01:01:47,520
What do you like about Costa Rica itself?

1129
01:01:47,520 --> 01:01:48,520
I love the weather.

1130
01:01:48,520 --> 01:01:49,520
Give me another one.

1131
01:01:49,520 --> 01:01:50,520
Weather.

1132
01:01:50,520 --> 01:01:51,520
Let's see.

1133
01:01:51,520 --> 01:01:56,880
What are the most critical components for a successful call center?

1134
01:01:56,880 --> 01:02:00,240
That's why we couldn't skip these things here.

1135
01:02:00,240 --> 01:02:02,120
You need a definite CTO.

1136
01:02:02,120 --> 01:02:05,320
If you don't have a chief technical officer that's running your server room, nothing else

1137
01:02:05,320 --> 01:02:06,320
is going to work.

1138
01:02:06,320 --> 01:02:12,520
Plus good supervision, super management, not 1984, but they just really need to make sure

1139
01:02:12,520 --> 01:02:13,520
people stay focused.

1140
01:02:13,520 --> 01:02:14,520
Give me another.

1141
01:02:14,520 --> 01:02:18,000
Quick question for a follow up on the servers.

1142
01:02:18,000 --> 01:02:23,440
So our lab does some computational stuff and we have a relatively large supercomputer.

1143
01:02:23,440 --> 01:02:28,120
So I'm curious how big are these computers and servers you have in your rooms?

1144
01:02:28,120 --> 01:02:31,440
Oh man, you're asking me a serious tech question.

1145
01:02:31,440 --> 01:02:32,440
Let me put it this way.

1146
01:02:32,440 --> 01:02:34,960
It's more than enough to support 300 people.

1147
01:02:34,960 --> 01:02:38,840
And so we have backups, redundancy, you name it.

1148
01:02:38,840 --> 01:02:41,040
I got more stuff in there, but it doesn't look like spaghetti.

1149
01:02:41,040 --> 01:02:42,360
We actually cleaned it out.

1150
01:02:42,360 --> 01:02:43,840
Oh, they're cable management.

1151
01:02:43,840 --> 01:02:44,840
Very important.

1152
01:02:44,840 --> 01:02:45,840
Yeah.

1153
01:02:45,840 --> 01:02:46,840
Okay.

1154
01:02:46,840 --> 01:02:49,120
What is the success rate for your calls?

1155
01:02:49,120 --> 01:02:52,040
What percentage of calls results in a sale or a-

1156
01:02:52,040 --> 01:02:54,040
Brilliant question.

1157
01:02:54,040 --> 01:02:57,160
If it's outbound prospecting, a lot of it has to depend on a list.

1158
01:02:57,160 --> 01:03:00,960
If it's opted in data, I mean, they're waiting for the phone call, but if it's a list that's

1159
01:03:00,960 --> 01:03:04,320
10 years old, you're just, you know, you're panning for gold.

1160
01:03:04,320 --> 01:03:08,760
I was mentioning certain soft skills earlier that can prolong talk time, more talk time,

1161
01:03:08,760 --> 01:03:11,440
better chances compared to an immediate hangup.

1162
01:03:11,440 --> 01:03:15,000
If the information is up to speed that assists you, someone's been dead six years, it puts

1163
01:03:15,000 --> 01:03:16,480
a bad taste in their mouth.

1164
01:03:16,480 --> 01:03:18,040
Emails need to be updated.

1165
01:03:18,040 --> 01:03:19,560
Websites need to be updated.

1166
01:03:19,560 --> 01:03:24,560
All we're doing is increasing percentages for contact ratios and pretentious of pitching

1167
01:03:24,560 --> 01:03:25,560
them.

1168
01:03:25,560 --> 01:03:26,560
Really?

1169
01:03:26,560 --> 01:03:30,440
I mean, I've had things that were one and done's where you've had to make a hundred

1170
01:03:30,440 --> 01:03:31,840
phone calls to get an appointment.

1171
01:03:31,840 --> 01:03:33,800
And a lot of them were no shows.

1172
01:03:33,800 --> 01:03:38,200
And so a lot of it also, if I may, is following up on it.

1173
01:03:38,200 --> 01:03:42,440
If you're putting it on a calendar, make sure someone does a reminder call, sends the email,

1174
01:03:42,440 --> 01:03:44,160
making sure we're still there.

1175
01:03:44,160 --> 01:03:46,300
So you need to sometimes marinate it.

1176
01:03:46,300 --> 01:03:50,400
If it's inbound, you're talking about retention, you're talking about support.

1177
01:03:50,400 --> 01:03:51,680
So you don't want to lose a client.

1178
01:03:51,680 --> 01:03:54,520
You want to make sure that you reduce the talk time.

1179
01:03:54,520 --> 01:03:57,560
There's something called first call resolution as well.

1180
01:03:57,560 --> 01:03:59,920
And you want to see what you need to do to be able to keep this person.

1181
01:03:59,920 --> 01:04:03,160
If you do an excellent job, you might get a referral from them.

1182
01:04:03,160 --> 01:04:07,600
We have something called a quality assurance department where we have KPIs, key performance

1183
01:04:07,600 --> 01:04:08,600
indicators.

1184
01:04:08,600 --> 01:04:13,560
There's a minimum of at least 20 simple ones that I'm paying you to do to qualify people,

1185
01:04:13,560 --> 01:04:14,920
make sure the call's there.

1186
01:04:14,920 --> 01:04:19,100
You and I look for the soft skills, the dog, as we mentioned earlier, certain things about

1187
01:04:19,100 --> 01:04:21,920
chemistry and other things that really give you the points.

1188
01:04:21,920 --> 01:04:26,360
Or if you start saying my name on the call, start calling me Richard, you get extra points

1189
01:04:26,360 --> 01:04:27,360
for that too.

1190
01:04:27,360 --> 01:04:28,840
That means we're bonding.

1191
01:04:28,840 --> 01:04:35,000
And so, but people need to have realistic expectations.

1192
01:04:35,000 --> 01:04:38,040
I don't like surprises with clients.

1193
01:04:38,040 --> 01:04:43,520
Once again, we're not looking to waste their money, but there's a very good chance for

1194
01:04:43,520 --> 01:04:46,320
them to see disposition reports.

1195
01:04:46,320 --> 01:04:51,680
And you'll see how many calls went straight to voicemail or were wrong numbers or even

1196
01:04:51,680 --> 01:04:52,680
a fax machine.

1197
01:04:52,680 --> 01:04:58,140
And so, let's be realistic in regards to those metrics there.

1198
01:04:58,140 --> 01:05:01,520
And so, I hope in a nutshell that answered that question.

1199
01:05:01,520 --> 01:05:02,880
That's a lot of logistics to go on.

1200
01:05:02,880 --> 01:05:04,800
It's not just call on a phone.

1201
01:05:04,800 --> 01:05:05,800
That's right.

1202
01:05:05,800 --> 01:05:07,920
It's also by someone that's- I'm trying to sound smart.

1203
01:05:07,920 --> 01:05:10,520
I'm sitting with a chemist.

1204
01:05:10,520 --> 01:05:12,280
They had no idea prior to the podcast.

1205
01:05:12,280 --> 01:05:13,720
I let you know, I'm very intimidated.

1206
01:05:13,720 --> 01:05:16,440
I'm trying to impress you, my honor roll student.

1207
01:05:16,440 --> 01:05:17,440
So let's keep going.

1208
01:05:17,440 --> 01:05:18,440
What else you got?

1209
01:05:18,440 --> 01:05:20,720
What do you actually telemarket?

1210
01:05:20,720 --> 01:05:23,600
What products are you selling?

1211
01:05:23,600 --> 01:05:24,600
Beautiful question.

1212
01:05:24,600 --> 01:05:25,600
Here's five we don't do.

1213
01:05:25,600 --> 01:05:29,840
We don't do sports books, casinos, stocks, pharmacies, or sweepstakes.

1214
01:05:29,840 --> 01:05:32,580
But the clients we have are from the US and Canada.

1215
01:05:32,580 --> 01:05:35,480
And it's with transportation and movies and music.

1216
01:05:35,480 --> 01:05:41,320
We're very good with law firms and travel companies.

1217
01:05:41,320 --> 01:05:42,320
So it's all across the board.

1218
01:05:42,320 --> 01:05:45,600
I mean, I've had things that were working with a borescope.

1219
01:05:45,600 --> 01:05:46,600
A borescope.

1220
01:05:46,600 --> 01:05:47,600
What is that?

1221
01:05:47,600 --> 01:05:52,540
Those are the things, those are the sort of snake-like, what's it called?

1222
01:05:52,540 --> 01:05:56,000
The cameras that you put in engine turbines or down people's throats.

1223
01:05:56,000 --> 01:06:00,200
So some guys like, he's a guy, I got a thousand numbers to call.

1224
01:06:00,200 --> 01:06:01,200
Will you call him for me?

1225
01:06:01,200 --> 01:06:03,640
I go, I would love to call them for you.

1226
01:06:03,640 --> 01:06:04,920
Those were the greatest calls ever.

1227
01:06:04,920 --> 01:06:09,200
I think we batted like 95%.

1228
01:06:09,200 --> 01:06:13,840
And then on the flip side, I was working with a law firm that was working with a class action

1229
01:06:13,840 --> 01:06:14,840
lawsuit.

1230
01:06:14,840 --> 01:06:20,840
It was for an anti-psychotic drug and they had 4,000 packets that we had to walk people

1231
01:06:20,840 --> 01:06:24,480
through and the average talk time was 45 minutes.

1232
01:06:24,480 --> 01:06:25,920
So could you imagine those calls?

1233
01:06:25,920 --> 01:06:28,600
Or sometimes we had to call them back two or three times to complete it.

1234
01:06:28,600 --> 01:06:35,680
And so much respect for those telemarketers that prospect and retain clients.

1235
01:06:35,680 --> 01:06:38,880
It really is an amazing skill.

1236
01:06:38,880 --> 01:06:40,120
Yeah.

1237
01:06:40,120 --> 01:06:45,760
I was, before we got on the call, I was imagining what it would be like to work at a call center

1238
01:06:45,760 --> 01:06:47,400
for like a long time.

1239
01:06:47,400 --> 01:06:51,240
And I think I would struggle with that.

1240
01:06:51,240 --> 01:07:00,240
Like I think the always trying to sell and always be on and always having the pebble

1241
01:07:00,240 --> 01:07:05,040
to the metal personality wise in order to convince someone that we're jiving kind of

1242
01:07:05,040 --> 01:07:06,040
thing.

1243
01:07:06,040 --> 01:07:07,720
So how about this?

1244
01:07:07,720 --> 01:07:11,160
Let me teach you how to jump clouds and have a romantic death.

1245
01:07:11,160 --> 01:07:12,160
Are you ready?

1246
01:07:12,160 --> 01:07:15,120
This is what will keep you from not going insane on devil's Island when you're in a

1247
01:07:15,120 --> 01:07:16,120
call center.

1248
01:07:16,120 --> 01:07:17,120
Okay.

1249
01:07:17,120 --> 01:07:19,080
If you can do a company name spike.

1250
01:07:19,080 --> 01:07:20,080
Okay.

1251
01:07:20,080 --> 01:07:22,960
We're going to talk about for the curious and confused podcast.

1252
01:07:22,960 --> 01:07:23,960
How are you today?

1253
01:07:23,960 --> 01:07:24,960
At least I'm going to say it.

1254
01:07:24,960 --> 01:07:27,760
At least I said that Judy answers the phone.

1255
01:07:27,760 --> 01:07:30,080
I'm going to let Judy know she's great.

1256
01:07:30,080 --> 01:07:32,400
But prior to that, Judy is going to say, who is this?

1257
01:07:32,400 --> 01:07:35,120
And I'm going to say it's Richard blank.

1258
01:07:35,120 --> 01:07:36,320
And then who is Richard blank?

1259
01:07:36,320 --> 01:07:40,120
And that's where I use, and you were talking about adjustments of tones, a buffer boomerang

1260
01:07:40,120 --> 01:07:41,120
technique.

1261
01:07:41,120 --> 01:07:43,980
Judy, that's an excellent question.

1262
01:07:43,980 --> 01:07:46,200
My name is Richard blank.

1263
01:07:46,200 --> 01:07:47,200
Richard blank.

1264
01:07:47,200 --> 01:07:48,200
What's ABC?

1265
01:07:48,200 --> 01:07:49,880
Judy, glad you brought that up.

1266
01:07:49,880 --> 01:07:51,920
ABC is one, two, three, Richard.

1267
01:07:51,920 --> 01:07:52,920
What's one, two, three.

1268
01:07:52,920 --> 01:07:57,200
Once again, Judy, so glad you mentioned that one, two, three is ABC.

1269
01:07:57,200 --> 01:08:00,720
Oh, it's beautiful adjustments.

1270
01:08:00,720 --> 01:08:05,320
And if I can do that in the beginning, where she asks, well, after the company name spike,

1271
01:08:05,320 --> 01:08:06,920
instead of saying, how'd you get my name?

1272
01:08:06,920 --> 01:08:07,920
Is this a sales call?

1273
01:08:07,920 --> 01:08:08,920
Take me off your list.

1274
01:08:08,920 --> 01:08:12,600
I usually get a positive reinforcement by saying, who is this?

1275
01:08:12,600 --> 01:08:15,240
So I'm using anonymity.

1276
01:08:15,240 --> 01:08:17,400
Not for the whole call, Don, that's shady.

1277
01:08:17,400 --> 01:08:20,560
But if you do it in the beginning, at least you're playing an even role.

1278
01:08:20,560 --> 01:08:21,560
Then they'll say, who is this?

1279
01:08:21,560 --> 01:08:23,000
And I'll go, Judy, I'm so glad that you asked.

1280
01:08:23,000 --> 01:08:24,000
My name is Richard blank.

1281
01:08:24,000 --> 01:08:25,880
And then she said, who is Richard blank?

1282
01:08:25,880 --> 01:08:27,560
I didn't say name my company yet.

1283
01:08:27,560 --> 01:08:29,360
Then I said, I'm so glad that you asked.

1284
01:08:29,360 --> 01:08:31,160
And then my company is Costa Rica's call center.

1285
01:08:31,160 --> 01:08:32,640
I'll double dip it.

1286
01:08:32,640 --> 01:08:34,920
That's 30 seconds worth of speech.

1287
01:08:34,920 --> 01:08:38,760
Company name spike, the double dip of the name and the company name with two buffer

1288
01:08:38,760 --> 01:08:43,200
boomerangs, and then the positive escalation regardless of you get transferred or not.

1289
01:08:43,200 --> 01:08:45,520
You can do that 150 times a day.

1290
01:08:45,520 --> 01:08:48,280
So at least you're speaking in the movie before they hang up on you.

1291
01:08:48,280 --> 01:08:50,000
At least you said something.

1292
01:08:50,000 --> 01:08:51,000
Nice.

1293
01:08:51,000 --> 01:08:56,080
And if you do something like that, I've seen the ego defense reduced from a 10 to about

1294
01:08:56,080 --> 01:08:57,080
a four.

1295
01:08:57,080 --> 01:08:59,960
But what do we do with that mass, Mr. Chemist?

1296
01:08:59,960 --> 01:09:01,320
You still have six.

1297
01:09:01,320 --> 01:09:07,240
Well, it goes from the reduction to the momentum.

1298
01:09:07,240 --> 01:09:08,240
Isn't that amazing?

1299
01:09:08,240 --> 01:09:14,080
You took that lux, that liquid oxygen and you moved it from the defense and you moved

1300
01:09:14,080 --> 01:09:17,360
it into your engine for the offense.

1301
01:09:17,360 --> 01:09:20,360
It had to move somewhere, sir.

1302
01:09:20,360 --> 01:09:24,800
I just moved it in my direction and I do that 10 to 20 times on a phone call.

1303
01:09:24,800 --> 01:09:26,560
How do you like them apples?

1304
01:09:26,560 --> 01:09:32,280
I was just going to say that that is the first time I've heard the conservation of mass argument

1305
01:09:32,280 --> 01:09:35,160
implemented that way and I'm not mad about it.

1306
01:09:35,160 --> 01:09:36,160
That's pretty cool.

1307
01:09:36,160 --> 01:09:37,160
Okay.

1308
01:09:37,160 --> 01:09:38,560
Let's see what else I missed here.

1309
01:09:38,560 --> 01:09:40,360
I was going to get your 18 questions.

1310
01:09:40,360 --> 01:09:42,000
I knew I was going to do it.

1311
01:09:42,000 --> 01:09:44,440
I appreciate the tenacity here.

1312
01:09:44,440 --> 01:09:45,440
Yeah, let's see.

1313
01:09:45,440 --> 01:09:47,760
Game of Cation talking about that.

1314
01:09:47,760 --> 01:09:51,000
Yeah, here's one.

1315
01:09:51,000 --> 01:09:56,160
How does being able to speak more than one language change your perspective of the world?

1316
01:09:56,160 --> 01:09:59,360
Oh, what a beautiful thing.

1317
01:09:59,360 --> 01:10:03,000
You see the commitment from other people plus Spanish is a romantic language.

1318
01:10:03,000 --> 01:10:06,320
You have the subjunctive, which is the desire and the doubt.

1319
01:10:06,320 --> 01:10:11,840
And then if you have that, you have the base where you can almost understand Italian, Portuguese,

1320
01:10:11,840 --> 01:10:12,840
and a little bit of French.

1321
01:10:12,840 --> 01:10:14,440
It's still somewhat there.

1322
01:10:14,440 --> 01:10:15,440
You're with it.

1323
01:10:15,440 --> 01:10:18,680
I still feel like a more part of the world in that sense.

1324
01:10:18,680 --> 01:10:22,840
I feel James Bondish if I go to a Latino country and I could speak Spanish.

1325
01:10:22,840 --> 01:10:30,200
I also believe that I have a protection because depending on the individual, I'll either let

1326
01:10:30,200 --> 01:10:36,200
them know I speak Spanish or I'll be like, no, speako Espanolo and see if they say something

1327
01:10:36,200 --> 01:10:39,120
in front of me that may be of concern.

1328
01:10:39,120 --> 01:10:42,200
And so I can use that as something to protect me.

1329
01:10:42,200 --> 01:10:44,320
But that's pretty tricky of you.

1330
01:10:44,320 --> 01:10:48,120
Well, you need to do it from time to time to see if they want to take you to Boys Town

1331
01:10:48,120 --> 01:10:49,120
and rob your Rolex.

1332
01:10:49,120 --> 01:10:51,120
I mean, go on, seriously.

1333
01:10:51,120 --> 01:10:58,280
But what this has done for me, it has given me the most wonderful first impression for

1334
01:10:58,280 --> 01:11:04,640
people enabled me to build businesses or when I was selling things in Arizona prior going

1335
01:11:04,640 --> 01:11:09,800
down to Southwest Phoenix and going into the car, nice areas and bodegas, just walking

1336
01:11:09,800 --> 01:11:10,800
right in there.

1337
01:11:10,800 --> 01:11:14,320
And you kept saying earlier, I would hate to work in a center and do this and that.

1338
01:11:14,320 --> 01:11:19,560
Imagine if today I needed your company for something I needed to hire or you needed my

1339
01:11:19,560 --> 01:11:20,560
company.

1340
01:11:20,560 --> 01:11:23,560
This would almost in the sense be like a sales call.

1341
01:11:23,560 --> 01:11:26,120
You still ask me about how my company runs.

1342
01:11:26,120 --> 01:11:27,620
And these are normal questions.

1343
01:11:27,620 --> 01:11:31,440
Some would be asking me, but my man, we're having way too much fun.

1344
01:11:31,440 --> 01:11:33,240
Imagine if this was the sales call.

1345
01:11:33,240 --> 01:11:35,360
And then at the end, you're like, I can't wait to work with Richard.

1346
01:11:35,360 --> 01:11:36,800
I can't wait to work with you too, Don.

1347
01:11:36,800 --> 01:11:40,160
This is going to be an amazing really, you know, this is where it's at brother, where

1348
01:11:40,160 --> 01:11:45,800
you can still be business, but have the best time on the phone with somebody and talk about

1349
01:11:45,800 --> 01:11:51,360
other things so we can really see if we're a good fit.

1350
01:11:51,360 --> 01:11:59,880
But yet also, sorry, you need crossword puzzles and languages to keep your head sharp still

1351
01:11:59,880 --> 01:12:03,120
in the future is what they say for Alzheimer's and stuff.

1352
01:12:03,120 --> 01:12:10,040
But I don't know, my man, I gave myself something where I don't need to download, have electricity,

1353
01:12:10,040 --> 01:12:11,920
bring equipment or go somewhere.

1354
01:12:11,920 --> 01:12:13,520
Spanish is universal.

1355
01:12:13,520 --> 01:12:15,360
So everywhere and anywhere I can use this thing.

1356
01:12:15,360 --> 01:12:17,160
So it's been so much fun for me.

1357
01:12:17,160 --> 01:12:18,160
Yep.

1358
01:12:18,160 --> 01:12:19,160
That's awesome.

1359
01:12:19,160 --> 01:12:20,160
Yeah.

1360
01:12:20,160 --> 01:12:25,800
My parents spent some time on a sailboat in the Caribbean and they learned a decent amount

1361
01:12:25,800 --> 01:12:27,600
of Spanish enough to communicate.

1362
01:12:27,600 --> 01:12:31,920
I wouldn't say they're fluent, but it just seems like such a cool skill.

1363
01:12:31,920 --> 01:12:34,400
So yeah, I resonate with that.

1364
01:12:34,400 --> 01:12:35,400
One last question for you.

1365
01:12:35,400 --> 01:12:37,400
This is the last one, the 18 that we didn't get to.

1366
01:12:37,400 --> 01:12:42,240
So you briefly mentioned the future part and like the technology part.

1367
01:12:42,240 --> 01:12:45,200
We also briefly mentioned AI at the very, very beginning.

1368
01:12:45,200 --> 01:12:51,320
So the question is, what do you believe is the most important way the AI will impact

1369
01:12:51,320 --> 01:12:55,880
society?

1370
01:12:55,880 --> 01:13:04,480
Convenience, like an ATM where you don't have to go to the banking hours wait in line to

1371
01:13:04,480 --> 01:13:08,080
get your $50.

1372
01:13:08,080 --> 01:13:15,600
Like today with self checkouts and where you can fill your own gas.

1373
01:13:15,600 --> 01:13:19,960
What this is going to do for us, I don't know how it's going to do, but it'll be a universal

1374
01:13:19,960 --> 01:13:22,560
card or your thumb print.

1375
01:13:22,560 --> 01:13:28,480
But it will save you time from repeating information to an insurance company.

1376
01:13:28,480 --> 01:13:33,560
Or remember when you're filling out certain things to join certain things, your address

1377
01:13:33,560 --> 01:13:34,560
or phone?

1378
01:13:34,560 --> 01:13:39,440
I think it's just going to be plug and play AI.

1379
01:13:39,440 --> 01:13:43,480
Also I tell you what, and this is where it's frustrating for me in my industry, these integrated

1380
01:13:43,480 --> 01:13:44,620
voice responses.

1381
01:13:44,620 --> 01:13:49,760
When you're trying to give your information to airlines, they don't get the departure

1382
01:13:49,760 --> 01:13:53,440
date or the location or anything correct or the spellings.

1383
01:13:53,440 --> 01:13:56,600
And then after nine times they transfer you still haven't mastered that.

1384
01:13:56,600 --> 01:13:59,680
They will in a couple of years, but they still haven't gotten there yet.

1385
01:13:59,680 --> 01:14:04,960
And also when I'm receiving these robo calls, it's Judy trying to talk about my auto insurance

1386
01:14:04,960 --> 01:14:05,960
for Arizona.

1387
01:14:05,960 --> 01:14:09,760
I've been out of the country since 2000, but I'll let Judy pitch me the, you know, from

1388
01:14:09,760 --> 01:14:10,760
the Jetsons.

1389
01:14:10,760 --> 01:14:14,600
And so the only thing there is, is they're answering speed.

1390
01:14:14,600 --> 01:14:15,600
It's off.

1391
01:14:15,600 --> 01:14:17,880
Just like, as I mentioned earlier in regards to it.

1392
01:14:17,880 --> 01:14:22,880
So, you know, it's nobody after they're weird answering you.

1393
01:14:22,880 --> 01:14:23,880
That's all.

1394
01:14:23,880 --> 01:14:27,280
So I think it's going to make a lot of things convenient, but there's going to be a lot

1395
01:14:27,280 --> 01:14:35,880
of gasoline attendants, tellers, and other people that might be losing their jobs because

1396
01:14:35,880 --> 01:14:38,520
of the kiosks and conveniences.

1397
01:14:38,520 --> 01:14:39,520
Yeah.

1398
01:14:39,520 --> 01:14:46,000
That all seems very real and it's going to impact different industries in different ways.

1399
01:14:46,000 --> 01:14:49,080
But yeah, very, we'll see how it goes.

1400
01:14:49,080 --> 01:14:50,080
Speculation at this point.

1401
01:14:50,080 --> 01:14:53,280
All right, Richard, that was all the 18.

1402
01:14:53,280 --> 01:14:54,600
That was the last one we had there.

1403
01:14:54,600 --> 01:14:59,200
So we can try again, second time.

1404
01:14:59,200 --> 01:15:00,200
Great conversation.

1405
01:15:00,200 --> 01:15:02,200
I really appreciate your insights.

1406
01:15:02,200 --> 01:15:04,920
Yeah, this has been very dynamic.

1407
01:15:04,920 --> 01:15:09,040
I really appreciate the zigging and zagging that we went through.

1408
01:15:09,040 --> 01:15:10,680
So thank you for your time today.

1409
01:15:10,680 --> 01:15:11,680
Really appreciate it.

1410
01:15:11,680 --> 01:15:12,680
Appreciate it.

1411
01:15:12,680 --> 01:15:13,680
Your time is well done.

1412
01:15:13,680 --> 01:15:16,680
Thank you.