Episode 141 – Harry Abellanosa

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Richard Matthews  0:01  

Heroes are an inspiring group of people, every one of them from the larger than life comic book heroes you see on the big silver screen, the everyday heroes that let us live the privileged lives we do. Every hero has a story to tell, the doctor saving lives at your local hospital, the war veteran down the street, who risked his life for our freedom to the police officers, and the firefighters who risked their safety to ensure ours every hero is special and every story worth telling. But there was one class of heroes that I think is often ignored the entrepreneur, the creator, the producer, the ones who look at the problems in this world and think to themselves, you know what I can fix that I can help people I can make a difference. And they go out and do exactly that by creating a new product or introducing a new service. Some go on to change the world, others make a world of difference to their customers. Welcome to the Hero Show. Join us as we pull back the masks on the world’s finest hero preneurs and learn the secrets to their powers their success and their influence. So you can use those secrets to attract more sales, make more money, and experience more freedom in your business. I’m your host, Richard Matthews, and we are on in 3…2…1…

 

Richard Matthews 0:56 

Hey, hello, and welcome back to The Hero Show. My name is Richard Matthews. And today I have the pleasure of having on the line Harry Abellanosa, Harry are you there?

 

Harry Abellanosa  1:04  

Yes, thank you. Hey, Richard, thank you so much for having me. And again, it’s been a humbling experience being here. Thank you so much.

 

Richard Matthews  1:13  

Awesome so glad to have you on and what I want to do just to start off is talk about a little bit of who you are and where you’re from and everything I know you’re calling in from Cebu, Philippines. Is that right?

 

Harry Abellanosa  1:27  

Yes, exactly. I’m from Cebu, Philippines, raised and born here.

 

Richard Matthews  1:32  

So yeah. Awesome. And for those of my audience who are following along with my wife and I travels as we go and run this podcast, we’re currently in South Carolina for the holidays in the United States. And yeah, so I’ve actually I’ve got some family members and several staff members that live in the Philippines. And I know you run a call center in the Philippines, you started, what’s the name of the call center again?

 

Harry Abellanosa  1:57  

Here 2 Assist we’re a real estate ISA prospecting solution for brokers, investors, mortgage brokers, and agency owners, that is in the real estate niche.

 

Richard Matthews  2:09  

Awesome. So why don’t you tell me a little bit about what it is that you guys do, who your clients are, how you actually serve them with that business?

 

Harry Abellanosa  2:19  

Okay, we basically provide, in a nutshell, an automated prospecting system for the brokers and agency owners. And so basically, we run their CRM, we prequalify the leads for them, so that we could fill in more pre-qualified leads in their pipeline, and increase their sales. Because we’re providing them people that are already 50% looking to purchase a home or looking to sell. So we do the heavy lifting, by calling all the leads that they have, regardless of what sources they’re coming from. So we are the person that would reach out to their leads, first, give a really good impression then we prequalify them and send it to the broker so they could do their sales pitch and meet with these people.

 

Richard Matthews  3:09  

Awesome. So how long have you been running the call center?

 

Harry Abellanosa  3:14  

So we’re running the call center for two years now. We started in 2000, almost two years now started in 2019. Just to give a background story about myself, I used to be an ISA for 10 years before even building this call center. So the thing that I’ve been doing right now is just based on my experience back on those days working as a freelance ISA and, helped me really grow my business from like five ISA’s to grow to more than 20 now.

 

Richard Matthews  3:47  

Yeah, that’s really cool. So one of the things we talked about on the show all the time is your origin story, right? You know, every good comic book hero has an origin story, whether it’s the thing that made them into the hero they are today, I’m gonna hear that story, right? Were you born a hero? Were you bit by a radioactive spider that made you want to, you know, start your own call center and get into the business of helping real estate agents and brokers and whatnot? Or did you start in a job or as a, you know, a freelancer and eventually move into becoming an entrepreneur? Basically, how did this story come about?

 

Harry Abellanosa  4:19  

Oh, 13 years ago, is when I started working in the BPO industry, for actually some odd reason. I always end up in a startup Call Center, which actually helped me gain the knowledge and how to actually start the call center, the system that I need to have in place, the hiring process the training, so and like within that three years as well is I also met great leaders that you know, that I still look up to till this day, and one of those leaders actually showed me how to look for clients online. So I could have my own home base or home at work. So that’s where actually Start being doing a freelance job. So the first client that I got was actually a realtor in Ohio, which introduced me to the real estate industry. And I became their first ISA. So for the past 10 years, I’ve been a freelance ISA. But I did get, like sidetracked along the way, for basically a year, because I started working, believe it or not for another startup call center. But this time, they were like an ISA provider, specifically in real estate.

 

Richard Matthews  5:33  

So and real quick, what is ISA mean for our audience who may not be familiar? 

 

Harry Abellanosa  5:36  

It’s the inside sales agent. And we’re basically the one. So if there’s like, an outside sales agent, which goes outside and look for the clients, for the inside sales agent are the one that would handle the leads, so we’re the ones that will handle all the online prospects for them.  Yeah, that makes sense. And look for qualified leads. So yeah, and so just going back to they were like when I got into like that call center, they were like the were brokers from Calgary. So from Calgary, Canada, they had the vision of building an ISA call center for just the brokers. So they were looking for a team and a group of ISA’s. And I was like, one of the first pioneers that got into them. So that, you know, actually helped build that company. And the funny story was, like, my wife actually saw other job posts and submitted an application. And without me even knowing it, so I just found out that I had an interview, and it was actually them. So to cut long story short, they got me and to help them build a call center. So I had like, a lot of fingerprints in that company, because from building the script from building the training, from bringing in the ISA’s I had input in what they had to do back in that day.

 

Richard Matthews 5:53

Awesome. And how did you go from doing that to starting your own call center?

 

Harry Abellanosa 8:21

So what happened was like, there was like a split up with with the, with the company owner. So the company went down. So I end up working directly for further clients for another two, believe it or not, for another two years. So on, like, on April 2019 the broker that I worked with, suddenly stopped working with me, and I wasn’t able to receive my whole month’s salary. So the broker actually screwed me. So by that time, I said to myself, okay, I mean, this is enough. And like, I don’t want this anymore, okay. Like, I told myself, okay, this is enough, let me build my own. So that’s how actually here2assist started. We came up with a company name way back in 2016. We were supposed to start our own small team, virtual, I mean virtual assistant, but I got offered to work for another startup. And it was actually a great opportunity, because of the knowledge that I gained, and like, it’s that actually helping me right now grow my company. So yeah,

 

Richard Matthews  8:15  

So so now that you’re running your own call center, how many? How many agents do you currently have in your call center?

 

Harry Abellanosa  8:21  

Um, right now, we actually have around 18 to 20. Workers under me. So it actually includes the virtual assistants, and also the ISA’s that are calling our clients. So one ISA could work for five clients because some of the packages that I have are per lead. So when ISA could work with multiple clients at the same time, so right now we’re servicing around 80 to almost 100 clients per month.

 

Richard Matthews  8:48  

Wow, that’s impressive. And how long? How long has it been since you started?

 

Harry Abellanosa  8:53  

Two years. So but the crazy thing though, is like I’ve been a freelancer for 10 years, I’ve been looking for my clients on my own ever since. So when I had the system already in place where I could bring in more clients nonstop, and just have the ISA pre-trained and, and do all the work for me and all that. So yeah, I build a team that would handle that for sure. So yeah,

 

Richard Matthews  9:16  

So what’s your goal from here? How many agents and clients you want to have in the next, you know, I say, five years?

 

Harry Abellanosa  9:24  

Um my goal, for me is the number of people that I can have for my company. So I wanted to give as many opportunities for like future ISA’s that are Filipino, right? So I want to reach around 100 to 150 ISA’s in the next five years. I love what I’m doing. I’ve been doing this for quite a while now. And I really truly believe that this is something for me. So I’m here for the long run.

 

Richard Matthews  9:52  

That’s really awesome. I love the story and I love the opportunities that you’re given the people that you work with and then also you know, I assume yourself Writing a fantastic service for real estate agents and helping them win close deals and making a big difference all around the world, which is, you know, that’s why we run this show, to hear more stories of people doing that.

 

Harry Abellanosa  10:10  

Yeah, and I’m just very, very happy to really get this opportunity to actually share my story. Being in rock bottom being in like very humble beginnings as a worker as an employee. And right now having the success of running my own call center. It’s just a very humbling journey itself. So yeah,

 

Richard Matthews  10:30  

yeah, absolutely. So I want to talk a little bit about your superpowers, right. So every iconic hero has a superpower where that’s, you know, a fancy flying suit made by the genius intellect, or the ability to call down Thunder from the sky, or super strength or whatever. In the real world, heroes have what I call a zone of genius, which is either a skill or a set of skills that you were born with, or developed over the course of time that really energize of all of your other skills, right? It’s what connects everything together for you. And the superpowers what sets you apart and allows you to help your people slay their villains and come out on top in their own journeys. So that’s sort of framing What do you think your superpower is?

 

Harry Abellanosa  11:06  

Oh, I actually asked my wife about this. And I asked her first, like, what do you think I actually have two words or two things that are, in my mind, I want to ask you first, like, what do you think is my superpower? And she said, determination and focus. And that was the same words, that that actually was, in my mind, like, I have this super laser focus, where whatever happens in my life, personally, I can just move that aside and just focus on my goal. So I had that fire burning in me ever since. So that’s really got me started from zero to something right now. Right? So that’s at least, and I really think that you know, that determination and focus is one of the driving factors, why I have that hunger to learn from all the mistakes and to improve them. You know, what I’m saying? Like, yeah absolutely don’t go out of the window, you would say, it was just me trying to improve myself all the way. So yes.

 

Richard Matthews  12:10  

Yeah. And, you know, the focus is you know, that’s how they make laser beams. Right? What is it Superman’s laser eyes, its focusing lasers, and get stuff accomplished. So what do you think that focus does for you, in your business that like, if you didn’t have it, that you would struggle with?

 

Harry Abellanosa  12:29  

Like, the focus that I have is like, the thing is, like, if you came from rock bottom, if you’ve been there, that’s a place that you don’t want to be with, you know, what I’m saying? Yeah, that way back there is where I get my focus. So like, failing, like looking back, and me being that person that doesn’t have anything back in a day, that really drives me to do everything that I can to make things work. Right. So I have that focus, just, I don’t want to go back there, like once you get to rock bottom, you don’t want to go back there. That’s where the fire really burns me, I don’t want to go back there. So I need to do this. It’s gonna, it’s like I rather, you know, give it 100% everything I got, then go back to where I was, you know, a couple of years back. So yeah,

 

Richard Matthews  13:26  

it’s really interesting, too. Because one of the things that, I think is, is important to realize when you when you’ve gotten to where you are, is, you know because I’ve been there. And I was at a point in, you know, when my son was a couple of years old that my wife and I would like to choose which one of us was going to have dinner with our kids. The other one was gonna have crackers for dinner kind of thing, because we were that broke.

 

Harry Abellanosa  13:47  

Yes, I know how hard that is. 

 

Richard Matthews  13:50  

Yeah. So but you get, you get to this point, like where your business is running, and it’s growing. And you realize you’ve built a set of skills over the last however long that now even if you did lose everything and went back to zero, you would know how to build it back, you would know how to come back from that. And it’s not like, it’s not like a guessing game like it was when you were first starting out. You’re like, I don’t know how I’m going to get there. Because now I was like, if I went back to zero, I know exactly what I would do to move forward. And I assume you’re probably in that same boat where, you know, now that you have a set of skills, you know, you can crush it.

 

Harry Abellanosa  14:20  

Yeah, I mean, it actually gave me an extra confidence boost. Because when we started this business, there were a lot of doubts, right? There were a lot of doubts about what would happen if I do this, I will no longer have a job. Like I won’t have a salary next month, right? So when we did this, it was like a leap of faith and we didn’t even know what I feel like I was jumping on a cliff and it didn’t know where I’m gonna fall. Yeah, it would it be water or solid rock, would I die or would I still be alive, right? So like, that, that journey was was amazing, but it gave me confidence because I said to myself, I already had the skills I already had the knowledge I even give consultation to start a portion of but why can I build my own? And that was a struggle that because it was just me. Because at that time, I feel like there’s just too much work. You know, I saw I’ve been through a lot of startup call center, and I saw them fail. And I was afraid that it would happen to me. But I realized that those failures, I could actually correct them, so I won’t fail anymore. So I told my wife that we have all the skills we need, we have the years of experience already, these new entrepreneurs were actually ahead of them because we already have the experience. We live that life already. So the only thing we fail is that we don’t try. Yeah or if you give up, Yeah, if you give up so we took it, and right now looking back, especially if we like have a meeting me and my wife still do meetings with each other, like we check how the company is going and all that. Looking back, it was all worth it though, the struggle, the learning curve, all of that the problems that came that way was just a blessing, you would say?

 

Richard Matthews  16:11  

Absolutely. So I think let me flip the question then right, the opposite side of your superpower, if your superpower is the focus of determination, then the other side of that coin is your fatal flaw. And you know, every Superman has his kryptonite, every woman Wonder Woman has a bracelet of victory she can’t remove without going mad, you probably have a flaw that’s held you back in your business, right? Something that you’ve struggled with that may be like for me, it was perfectionism that kept me from shipping product or its lack of self-care. Let my clients walk all over me early in my entrepreneur career. But I think more important than what the flaw is, is how have you learned to rectify it and overcome that. So you could continue to grow? Hopefully. So your experience can help our audience learn a bit from you.

 

Harry Abellanosa  16:55  

Yeah, I mean, especially for the Filipinos, Filipino people, right? Because as a Filipino, we grew up in a service-oriented culture. So we ended up being so flexible, and always open for negotiation, you know, what I’m saying, which actually hurts us the most, because we’re ending up like, doing extra tasks. And for a low cost, which hurts the company to accumulate more funds to actually grow it. So that’s service-oriented culture that we have sometimes go extra, which, which is like, we ended up doing a lot more things for the client, and the client thinks it would be just okay, because this guy said, Yes. You know, cuz sometimes being as Filipino were, we’re shy to say no. So most of the time, we just say yes. And we work with what we have. So I think that’s, that’s the biggest flaw.

 

Richard Matthews  17:54  

That’s a cultural flaw learning how to, to that’s, that comes right into that self-care thing that I was talking about is learning how to set good boundaries, whether that’s the scope of work that you agreed to, or, you know, like, for me, it was like, Hey, I’m not taking calls after five o’clock, I’m spending time with my kids kind of thing. But you know, learning how to have a healthy relationship with the word NO, with your clients is an important, important skill to learn.

 

Harry Abellanosa  18:19  

Exactly. And a lot of us have actually struggled for that. I mean, struggled with that. And especially me until now, I still talk to myself, like, I don’t want to give any more discounts. But I still ended up giving more discounts. I said I don’t want to either, you know, negotiate with my price. But sometimes I get, you know, negotiated with my price. And I really feel it’s because of that service-oriented type of culture was like, just saying yes, because we know we can do the job. Yeah. Regardless of the outcome about the amount or the cost for it, because we know we could do the job that we say yes to it.

 

Richard Matthews  18:54  

Yeah. So so what is your suggestion? For people who are struggling with that their own, you know, that lack of self-care and their business and learning how to how to set good boundaries for themselves and their clients? How do you How have you worked to overcome that?

 

Harry Abellanosa  19:10  

They need to have a realistic expectation of what they could do. Because like, they need to make sure that the expectation for the client as well is set, so that way, they won’t do any extra stuff. And lastly, they need to say no to extra work, if it’s already over flooded if they’re already over flooded with work, right? They need to say no to a client because some of us the one thing that really drives us from doing that is the desperation of having a client because we wanted to make sure that we have a client on that month. So we’re actually afraid that we might not get another client for another couple of months. So we just say yes to do it. Whoever is the first one that comes in. So um, all I could say That just to say no if you can’t do it and say no if you don’t have the time, because finding clients will come, as long as you continue to start, you know, just continue looking for clients, and you will find them. The only way that you can find a client is if you don’t look for them.

 

Richard Matthews  20:16  

Yeah, and one of the things that I know has really helped me was I worked, I worked for a corporation for a couple of years and had a good mentor there. And one of the things that they always did when they sat around the negotiating table with big clients was they would talk in terms of gives and asks, right, so when the client asks you for something like, hey, I want you to do these extra tasks, or I want you to do these extra things, or I want to have, you know, a discount on the thing, right? That’s their ask, and then you can say yes to that, but only if, what’s the given return? Right? So, so it’s where negotiation comes in? where it’s like, Hey, you know, that’s, that’s outside of the scope we agreed to? So if we agree to that, what are you willing to do in return for that increase in the scope? Are we going to increase the, you know, timeline on the project? So the retainer lasts longer? Or are we going to increase the cost? Or like, what’s, what’s the given return? Because it’s got to be, it’s got to be a win-win for both of us. And if we just have the one side, where it’s like, Hey, you give and or sorry, you know, you take and I and I don’t know, right? Then you have, you have problems that way. And then you have unhappy relationships. So learning how to have that give and take in the relationship is really important, like a skill set to learn. 

 

Harry Abellanosa  21:32  

100% and a lot of us freelance don’t have that, you know, mindset or anything like that. It was just okay, this is work. Let’s, let’s have it. And that’s a very important point. And hopefully, the people that are watching right now would actually know that, you know, you just say no, if you can’t handle it right. So if they ask for extra tasks, just like when you said, like, give and take, like whatever they’re actually you need to get a counteroffer, just to make sure that it’s going to worth your time and your expertise as well. Because it’s going to hurt you along the run. Like, in the long run, it’s gonna hurt you because you know, the task that you’re doing, you can’t even fulfill them in time.

 

Richard Matthews  22:13  

So yeah, yeah, absolutely. So I want to talk a little bit about your common enemies, right. And, you know, we say every superhero has an arch-nemesis, it’s a thing that they constantly have to fight against in their world. And in the world of business, it takes on many forms, but generally speaking, we put it in the context of your clients, right. So in this case, it would be the real estate agents and the brokers that you’re working with. And it’s a mindset, or it’s a flaw that you’re constantly having to fight to overcome, right. And if you know, when you first bring them on as a client, if you had your magic wand and could just like bop them on the head and make it go away, so you could actually get them the results that they want? What is that thing that you constantly have to fight against in your world?

 

Harry Abellanosa  22:57  

Right now, the biggest thing that we have is fear and doubts. Like that’s really what’s stopping my company from growing to where it is? Or where it should be? The fear of like, maybe there’s no return or like, this is the only money we have, do we need to spend this much for marketing and all that does it have to get results? So the doubts, the fear, is really what’s stopping me. And really, there’s a really big wall in front of me this year, 2020, because of what the pandemic happened, and all of that, so yes, yeah, that’s one of them. And like, because Our goal is to become the number one ISA provider, or at least the top five, in the real estate niche. So we really need to, you know, overcome that fear and doubt. And that’s my plan for next year.

 

Richard Matthews  23:52  

Absolutely. So, when it comes to helping your clients deal with the fear and doubt Have you gotten into figuring out how to incorporate social proof from your existing clients into your sales messages and stuff like that, to help overcome that?

 

Harry Abellanosa  24:06  

Yes, 100%, like, I already have, like testimonials and all of that, that they could actually look at. And when they actually talk to me, itself, like they would already know what I’m actually talking about, because I could just share my experience with them. And they would already know. Like, they were already, like, they would already see that solution for what I’m actually giving them so yes.

 

Richard Matthews  24:32  

Yeah, that’s really cool. So hopefully, that starts picking up for you. And the world changes in a better direction this next year, so you can grow and hit your goals. And we can do the same over here. Which I think is a good transition for talking about the flip side of your common enemy, right. So if your common enemy is the thing you’re fighting against, which is that doubt in the fear, the driving forces what you fight for, right? So just like Spider-Man fights to save New York or Batman fights to save Gotham or Google fights to index and categorize all the worlds We want to know what it is that you fight for with your business, what’s your mission?

 

Harry Abellanosa  25:05  

Yes, my mission, to be honest with you is just, I wanted to show that the Filipinos could actually compete or even do better with our competitors. There’s been a lot of you would say, discrimination about doing outsourcing for Filipinos or people in India, because they think that we’re trying to scam and all of that. So I wanted to prove that there are legit people, there are legit, call center or ISA providers that are really competent in producing results for our clients. So I know, being you know, my goal to being number one is going to be a long way. I know that that journey is going to be a long, long way, there’s going to be a lot of roadblocks and all that. But I know that I actually have that determination and focus. That would definitely bring me there for sure. In the future. So that’s my goal is just to show that Filipino skill set.

 

Richard Matthews  26:06  

Yeah. And I, I’ve been impressed with, with my team I’ve been working with, with Filipino employees for 10 years now in various capacities. And it’s been a fantastic experience when you find the right people. And that’s probably one of the most challenging parts of running any business is learning how to find the right people and train them to do the job. Well, how have you, how have you been handling that in your business finding, finding the talent, you need to, to do what you want to do?

 

Harry Abellanosa  26:38  

Yeah, there are, there are actually two types, that a lot of people don’t know, there are those that just look for a job, and there are those that are professional freelance people that you need to look for. So you just have to look for those professional people that would always be on time, that knows the process and all that, but because there’s a lot of people wanting to have an online job thinking that it’s just gonna be like a home-based job, they can do whatever they want, it’s going to be very free when it comes to the hours and the shift. And there is also a freelance that knows that this is a job, I need to treat this as a job professionally and all that. So that is the type of person when you run when you do the hiring, that’s the type of person that you need to look for, is that that person that has the mindset of like having this as a job and not just work?

 

Richard Matthews  27:33  

Absolutely. So one of the things that I’ve talked with, with some of my employees in the past, who have worked for call centers in the Philippines is that sometimes the call centers built by international companies out in the Philippines can be kind of what do you call it grueling and not great work conditions? So how, how are you? How are you working to sort of change that for your workers?

 

Harry Abellanosa  27:58  

That’s one of the main factors, to be honest, that drive me to really make my call center because I said to myself, I wanted to do it right this time. Because when I was working for that call center or that ISA provider, the work experience was really not that good. Because they lack empathy for their workers, they lack empathy for these people that worked hard for the company to grow. So, um, that’s, that’s the main thing that I tell to myself is that I need to show empathy to my team, I really have to show them that I care. And I’m very, very happy for all the hard work that they did for the company. Because with other companies is just business, they, they look at you as a commodity, they don’t even treat you like with your skillset or be thankful for your hard work, they think that you’ve signed the contract, then you should do the job. Regardless about I don’t care about your feeling, just do the job. And that’s the problem with I’m not all though but owners that are from from the US or Canada, they don’t have that culture of like, having that empathy because they think that business is business. Right? So yeah, just empathy to my team is one of the most important things.

 

Richard Matthews  29:22  

I’ve noticed. That’s it’s a common thing with companies, when they start hiring staff internationally, whether that’s, you know, in the Philippines or India or China or Bangladesh, or, you know, even if they’re hiring outside of their own borders, or, you know, just remote work in general that sometimes it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s like we miss a step where you realize it like, hey, just because you don’t see this person every day in your office doesn’t mean they’re not a human being with their own hopes and dreams and goals and families. And they’re not just a cog in your machine that you’re building. Right. They’re, they’re, they’re a human being. And it’s one of the things that, you know, I’ve strived to you know, as I grow my business and everything is how do I build that culture of, you know, this is a place that my team wants to be and wants to help see this company succeed, right, they’re not just a, you know, a cog in our machine, right, they’re actually a part of making the business happen and making the bringing the value to our clients. And you know, it’s a, it’s a, it’s a more difficult thing to do when you have a remote team than it is when everyone’s all in the same office of the same building, you know, in your own country.

 

Harry Abellanosa  30:31  

Yes, you actually need to do extra communication, if it’s going to be virtual, because like, that’s the main problem because you don’t see each other every day. So you only need to over-communicate to your team to really build that culture and all that because, you know, working home base, or freelance or work at home, usually you’re alone. So some of them, some of them, like will suffer from burnout, because of doing the things every day, over and over and over again, and without anyone to talk to. So that’s the reason why culture is actually very important in a team. Like, for example, in my team, I actually have a very fun couple of managers. So they’re the ones that make everybody laugh, they’re the ones that always do the pranks to others for other company members. So we have that very loose way of a team where we’re very comfortable while we’re working, laughing at the same time. So you know, it’s more like a really good group of friends, where we hang out and all that even though we’re just all virtual, because for example, right now, after the podcast, we will have our exchanging gifts. So we will be in a zoom meeting, and we already sent the gifts to them prior to the meeting. So right now everybody’s gonna open their gifts at the same time. So yeah, so we had our internal exchanging gifts already. All everything online. So yes.

 

Richard Matthews  32:02  

That’s fun. So you guys, you guys run your whole call center virtually?

 

Harry Abellanosa  32:05  

Yes. And actually, the plan, once we reached around 200, is to have a physical one. So because like having that 100 to 200 is going to be very, very difficult to hold everything online. So we’ll definitely need a physical call center after that.

 

Richard Matthews  32:24  

Yeah, yeah. And you’ll have the revenue to support it, hopefully.

 

Harry Abellanosa  32:27  

Yes, it will for sure.

 

Richard Matthews  32:28  

Yeah. So I think that’s a good transition to my practical portion of the show, which is gonna be called the hero’s toolbelt. And, you know, just like every superhero has their tool belt with awesome gadgets, like batteries or web slingers, or laser eyes are, you know, big, magical hammers, I’m going to talk about the top one, or maybe two tools you couldn’t live without in your business, that could be anything from your notepad to your calendar, to your marketing tools, to something you use for your product delivery, something you think is absolutely essential to getting your job done every day.

 

Harry Abellanosa  32:59  

And I think, our training program, and our script, because our training program has been proven to really produce skilled ISA’s in our script, which has been with me for six years already, it’s been proven to produce results or leads that will, that will be under contract or closed for our clients. So that’s one of the things that I can live without because I perfected that one to really produce, like the training program itself could really produce a solid ISA team.

 

Richard Matthews  33:34  

So the training program is really interesting to me. So when you bring on new members, how do you actually run someone through the training so they can go from Hey, I’ve never been an ISA before, to their result producing ISA. How long does it take? And how do you actually do it?

 

Harry Abellanosa  33:49  

The first thing that you need to do first is like, the hiring process, and like, it should be there first is like looking for an ISA should start with the recruitment. I need to look for competent people that already have experience in the call center industry. Because I can’t look for beginners. I can’t look for rookies in the ISA industry because we’re going to be talking to people that are looking to purchase a home with 300k houses 500 to 1.5 million houses that they’re going to be purchased. So we need to sound excellent on the phone. So everything from the training starts in the hiring process that we have. Once we find that competent, or skilled person, then we put them in a two-week training, where we introduce them the script, the breakdown of the script, a real estate, commonnology or real estate terms. We tell them what’s a single-family, what’s a detached home, like what’s a mortgage and all of that. So we teach all of that, on the training like breaking down the script, what to rebuttal, live calls as well teaching them the system, the CRM that they need to have so So the first week, basically, it’s just going to be all the scripts, the second week, they’re already going to start calling, but we’re still going to have our coaches listen to their calls. So we could tweak those, you would say things that they could improve in, then after that a couple of months, or like after the third week, they’re going to go ahead and start doing the calls as well. So they’re going to do the calls full time. So it’s gonna be a very short training, but is going to be heavy on the coaching.

 

Richard Matthews  35:35  

So does your skillset that you train your employees and translate to other industries? Are you focused strictly on the real estate space? Have you considered doing calling and lead gen and other spaces?

 

Harry Abellanosa  35:50  

Yes, I have, like, we have clinics, we have pharmacists, we actually have roofers. Um, but right now, I wanted to focus on the skill set that I’m really good at. And that’s providing an ISA and I wanted to niche down because I wanted to see how successful I would be in the real estate industry before I move into another that’s a big space. So

 

Richard Matthews  36:15  

yeah, lots of room to grow.

 

Harry Abellanosa  36:18  

Yeah, it is like, I still have investors, mortgage brokers like agency owners, real estate brokers, real estate agents, all of that. So I still have a lot of people that I need to reach out to. So yes,

 

Richard Matthews  36:30  

Yeah. Speaking of heroic tools, I want to take a few minutes to tell you about a tool we built that powers The Hero Show and is now this show’s primary sponsor. Hey, there fellow podcaster. Having a weekly audio and video show on all the major online networks that build your brand creates fame and drive sales for your business doesn’t have to be hard. I know it feels that way. Because you’ve tried managing your show internally and realize how resource-intensive it can be. You felt the pain of pouring eight to 10 hours of work into just getting one hour of content published and promoted all over the place. You see the drain on your resources, but you do it anyway. Because you know how powerful it is heck, you’ve probably even tried some of those automated solutions and ended up with stuff that makes your brand look cheesy and cheap. That’s not helping grow your business. Don’t give up though, the struggle ends now. Introducing push button podcasts a done for you service that will help you get your show out every single week without you lifting a finger. After you’ve pushed that stop record button. We handle everything else uploading, editing, transcribing, writing, research graphics, publication, and promotion, all done by real humans who know understand, and care about your brand, almost as much as you do. Empowered by our own proprietary technology, our team will let you get back to doing what you love. While we handle the rest. Check us out at push-button podcast.com forward slash hero for 10% off the lifetime of your service with us and see the power of having an audio and video podcast growing and driving micro-celebrity status and business in your niche without you having to lift more than a finger to push that stop record button. Again, that’s push button podcast.com forward slash hero See you there. You’re listening to the hero show, unlocking the power of influence and success.

 

So I want to talk a little bit about your own personal heroes then right so every hero has their mentors, right. Frodo had Gandalf Luke had Obi-Wan Kenobi Robert Kiyosaki had his rich dad and even spider man had his Uncle Ben. So who were some of your heroes? Were they you know, real-life mentors? Were they speakers or authors, maybe peers who were a couple of years ahead of you in their own businesses? And how important were they to what you’ve accomplished so far and growing your call center?

 

Harry Abellanosa  38:34  

Yeah, First Nation, like for me as a Filipino, we never had that like having a hero or a teacher in the business. So for me, I actually found or like, for me, the person that really changed my mindset and got me dreaming of becoming more than just an employee was actually Robert Kiyosaki the author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Yeah. And from that on, it got me introduced to other people like Dan Peña, who is the coach of Dan Lok, the famous YouTube influencer right. Then I saw the movie wolf of Wallstreet, which got me curious about the sales and closing which made me do the research about Jordan Belfort and his trade line system.

 

Richard Matthews  39:22  

So for some crazy, we’ll buy and go through today.

 

Harry Abellanosa  39:26  

Yeah, exactly, like for some crazy reason that the people that I was really interested in, complimented my skills to change or like, complimented my skills, and changed my mindset. So like preparing me to build the business itself. So it all helped me on the run. And one of the things that really was a big factor was my mindset because I thought I can’t do it. I thought I’m just a regular Joe. I can’t do it. Like I’m just an employee. But when I start thinking about I could do this I could be an owner. So the only thing I need to do is just learn the skill. I already have the experience. I just need to learn the skill.

 

Richard Matthews  40:06  

Yeah, have you read Robert Kiyosaki’s cashflow quadrant?

 

Harry Abellanosa  40:10  

Not yet, but I was really itching to actually read that book.

 

Richard Matthews  40:14  

Yeah. Because he talks about the four quadrants, right? The ESB and I, which is Employee Self Employed business and investor. And you’ve made that transition from being an employee and to being a business owner, which is a really difficult transition to make. And, and he’s like, his, his big delineation is you’ll know you’re there, you know, you’ve made the transition, because right, like most people, go employee to some form of self-employed up into the business quadrant is, you know, you made that transition from, you know, self-employed business to business business, when you can take a month off, and you come back and your business is bigger than when you left.

 

Harry Abellanosa  40:50  

That’s true. Yeah, I actually saw a small clip of that on YouTube where it actually explains that. And, yeah, and that’s, that’s where we’re actually right. Well, yeah, that’s the goal. That’s your dream. And that’s where you’re actually working towards, like, automate all the things, but it needs a lot of work. Like you need to be there every step of the way, system by system, or system per system, to make sure that it’s gonna work the way you want it to be.

 

Richard Matthews  41:20  

Absolutely, I’m, I’m in the process of doing the same thing with my business and learning how to grow it that way. And hopefully, you know, in a couple of years, we’ll be there. But you know, it’s a

 

Harry Abellanosa  41:28  

it’s a very exciting journey. But and it’s a very stressful one though. Yeah. You know what I’m saying, but It’s a wonderful kind of stress.

 

Richard Matthews  41:40  

it’s always it’s, it’s always up and down. And it’s very different than having a job where, you know, the paychecks coming every week. So it’s a difficult thing. But you know, it’s, it’s something you got to do to grow a business and make a big impact. And it sounds like you’re well on your way. So

 

Harry Abellanosa  41:56  

Yeah, I mean like having that really starts to make you actually start to appreciate your boss back in the day, right? They were running their own business.

 

Richard Matthews  42:07  

So I want to wrap up the interview talking about your guiding principles, right. So one of the things that make heroes heroic is that they live by a code. For instance, Batman never kills his enemies, he only ever brings them to Arkham Asylum. So as we wrap up the interview, I’m going to talk about top maybe one maybe two principles that you live your life by now that maybe you know, something you wish you knew when you first started out on this whole entrepreneur journey.

 

Harry Abellanosa  42:33  

Um, the thing that I really wanted to do, honestly, is that I just wanted to do things the right way. I’ve been to a lot of Horrible Bosses back in the day when I was, you know, working. And I just said to myself, now me being a boss, I just wanted to do it the moral way. I don’t want to cheat. I don’t want to take advantage. I want both parties to be happy. I’m even willing to get a cut, just to make the team happy. Yeah, I agree, yeah, I really believe though, that, you know, with my team right now, I really believe that the word of like, we can do it. Before I didn’t have that. I’m so blessed right now to really have a good team, a really skilled team, which really helps me with my weaknesses, you would say, and that being in this call center world made me understand that having a team a really good team is very important to get solid results.

 

Richard Matthews  43:31  

Yeah, that’s a, the biggest thing I’ve learned over the last couple of years is not doing it all yourself makes your business significantly better.

 

Harry Abellanosa  43:39  

Yeah, that’s it. Like, for me, I’m not the best of anything, like my wife is even my partner. And this is the reason why I’m so blessed. I can’t say it enough, because I’m not a smart guy. Like, I just have the focus and determination. I’m not special. I don’t even have the IQ to you know, to be like the greatest guy ever. But I’m just happy that I have a team that catches me with my weaknesses and helps me THROUGH THROUGH THROUGH like, making this company work. Now, I can’t ask for more. I’m just blessed to have them.

 

Richard Matthews  44:18  

Yeah, and it sounds like you’re, you know, realizing that is, is the qualifier of being a smart guy. So I think maybe you are perhaps a smart guy in the end.

 

Harry Abellanosa  44:30  

I don’t know, I’m trying to be.

 

Richard Matthews  44:34  

So that’s basically a wrap our interview, but I do finish every interview with a simple challenge that I call the hero’s challenge. And I do this as a selfish way to get access to stories I might not be able to find on my own, you are actually a result of a hero’s challenge by a friend of mine, and that got you here onto the show. So the question is simple. Do you have someone in your life or in your network who you think has a cool entrepreneurial story, right? Who are they, first names are fine, why do you think they should come to share their story on our show the first entrepreneur that comes to your mind.

 

Harry Abellanosa  45:06  

The first person is Tommy Sumagang. He’s also an owner of the upscale marketing agency, a call center in Davao City, which has a similar backstory with just like a humble beginning of being a virtual assistant, through all those years and started to have a physical call center better than what I’m doing right now. So I actually met the guy on my journey up. And I’m just happy for him to be honest, me because like, we need more entrepreneurs in the Philippines to make sure that we change it. Like right now the people are just followers, the people are workers, employees, we need more entrepreneurs to change our country. So I really believe that this, or change the world, is the first step for us because like right now, people are coming up, the Filipino people are actually coming up making their own businesses. And I think this is gonna be like, there’s a shift right now this happening.

 

Richard Matthews  46:06  

Absolutely. I said, I strongly believe that entrepreneurship is, you know, they’re, they’re the unsung heroes of our world and our cultures. And you know, everything that we do and touch and interact with, in some way, shape, or form has been helped. It was shaped by an entrepreneur at some point in the journey. And that’s, that’s the reason why we do the hero show. So again, thank you so much for coming on today. So in comic books, there’s always the crowd of people at the end, who gather and cheer and clap for the hero and their acts of heroism. So as we close, we want to know, where can people find you, if they want your help? If they’re actually looking to hire ISA’s and in their business? Where can they light up the bat signal, so to speak, and say, Hey, Harry, we’d love to hire one of your ISA’s. And more importantly, who are the right types of people to reach out and ask you for that help?

 

Harry Abellanosa  47:01  

Got it? Oh, they can actually reach me on our website, which is www.here2assist.co. The number two, and they could go to our Facebook, which is here2assist real estate ISA solutions. And also our Instagram account, which is here2assist real estate ISA I just wanted to say, before we closed like, thank you so much for having me. I also want to thank your good friend, Zack, for the really nice introduction. This is a really great opportunity for me to represent the VA and the freelance worker in the Philippines. And thank you so much for letting me share my stories. Again, this is how this has been a really humbling experience. And I can’t thank you enough for this opportunity. Thank you so much. I hope to come back in the future.

 

Richard Matthews  47:52  

Yeah, absolutely. When we when you hit some of those big goals, we’ll come back and talk again about what the process has been like, you know, and hopefully our business will be grown more by then too we’ll have a good discussion about it. But again, thank you, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story. It’s stories like yours that really help inspire other entrepreneurs to go out and really crush it in their business. And like I said, I think the way that we change the world is by more entrepreneurs coming out and bringing their value. So thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story today, Harry and before I hit this stop record button, you have any final words of wisdom for my audience.

 

Harry Abellanosa  48:25  

I just wanted to say, take the jump, take the risk, take the leap of faith. And trust me, it’s going to work out in the future for you guys. Thank you so much.

 

Richard Matthews  48:37  

 

Thank you so much for coming on today.