Work from home virtual telemarketers need composure and maturity.INspired INsider Podcast guest Richard Blank Costa Rica's Call Center

Richard Blank: For my clients.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: Let's talk about culture for a second and when, when Covid hit, again, like you have the tools and opportunity to do things virtually, obviously, cause people call you, you're a call center and you're doing things virtually, but what about in house? Did things change at all with Covid? Did you find that more people were able to work from home, Um, and then, you know, or did they come back in the office?

Dr. Jeremy Weisz: How'd that transition look like? Kind. During Covid and then, and then post Covid.

Richard Blank: It's an excellent question, Jeremy. Well, nobody knew what was happening. You're a doctor. I mean, nobody really knew what was happening when Covid first did. So the Costa Rican labor law gave me up to 50% capacity in my call center.

Richard Blank: I chose to make it 20%. I did need people here for PCI compliance onboarding. Something happens at home. They can have a turnkey station. What we lost is the camaraderie. This is a very social environment. I do believe in synergy and unlike certain vocations where people can just sit in a cubicle and get their job done, this is a very open floor plan where people were feeding off of the energy and we're all public speakers.

Richard Blank: And so it really reduced my effectiveness in regards to onsite training where I could just walk the rows and, and stand there and give someone shadowing or some sort of positive reinforcement. But I also saw the isolation side of it. People once again, loved coming to work to eat lunch and spend time with their best friend.

Richard Blank: And we also had some people here that were so influential that if you sat next to 'em, you were definitely gonna be better. Like, you know, when you're playing basketball, if you play with someone better than you, you're probably gonna hit better shots. And so the positive side of it has a lot of people that lived far away could save their time and money, spend more time with their family.

Richard Blank: And once again, they showed some sort of composure and maturity to be able to work from home, even though we are able to monitor their work. And so it was really a give or a take. You and I, what we had to do was just adjust accordingly. And so besides just following the labor laws, we had to open up a lot more communication channels.

Richard Blank: We had to be a lot more active. And in the best way that we can try to continue our company culture of empathy, of caring about the agent, letting them know that we're still investing in them and they're not expendable, are we capable of doing it? Sure. And I think everybody needs to adjust to this virtual world.

Richard Blank: It's, it's a shame, my friend, because I think a lot of it we're losing a certain artist perspective of what it's like to do something live in front of people. Compared to just doing something virtually. And so as long as people, once again, can make sure if they're on a Zoom call to represent themselves properly or if they are working with somebody, just take the extra efforts to let them know that you're thinking about them and that you support them in that sort of way and, and those sort of messages.

Richard Blank: Doctor, as you know, go a long.

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

INspiredINsider.com Show features interviews with successful and inspirational entrepreneurs, authors, and visionary leaders.The interviews reveal deeply personal stories and explore the tough journey of Big Challenges or Big Mistakes that the inspirational leaders overcame to achieve success. Have You Ever Hit