We can now curate who we talk to in a way that wasn’t thinkable when a bulky landline phone rang with anonymous urgency. Listen in here.
The Phone Lady's Blog
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My initial reaction to the notion that phone calls would one day include cameras is very clear in my mind. I remember exactly where I was when someone shared this news item with me. It was sometime in the mid ’90s. I was standing outside … Read more
It is a whole new world when it comes to customer service. The pandemic has given every business a myriad of things to think about, implement and change in order to keep both staff and customers safe. It’s a huge responsibility. Despite all of this, … Read more
Several weeks ago Allison Smith of Dandelion Digital approached me with this question: Do you have resources on how to do this diligent research of ideal prospects? Since I did not have a downloadable resource to share with her (yes, this is now on the “to … Read more
Reopening is not a return to things as they were earlier this year. We remain a world impacted by COVID-19. Yet this past week, several colleagues shared stories with me of their clients’ high expectations. There was someone who was surprised by a wait of … Read more
Last week Allison Smith read my post very carefully and responded with this question: Do you have resources on how to do this diligent research of ideal prospects? So … she’s become our first case study on how to reach your ideal target market. Allison owns Dandelion … Read more
For many businesses and individuals, the plan they created earlier this year to reach their financial goals is now obsolete. And with so many unknowns still in play, likely for some time to come, it can be difficult to create a new plan that delivers … Read more
Twenty-eight years ago, on May 15, my then business partner gave birth to her first child. We were in our fourth year of growing our company and while we did manage to organize a (sort of) maternity leave for her, once that time was up, … Read more
In mid-January, while doing errands early on a Saturday morning, I listened to a radio interview with a family living in lockdown in Wuhan, China. While they were well organized and optimistic, the strain was clear in their voices. At the time, I was foolish … Read more
It has been a difficult week here in Nova Scotia. While all of us were continuing to hang on to the roller coaster that is COVID-19, last Sunday morning news began to surface of unimaginable gun violence in our small towns and villages. Many of … Read more
As a child, I loved exploring. It was so much fun. Our backyard merged with the bush and I spent hours, with friends or by myself, looking for treasures – everything from pyrite to ripe blueberries. And in the depths of winter, I would head … Read more
In the past two weeks, I’ve spent time with numerous business teams in a wide range of industries helping them revise their sales and customer service messaging. Why? Because the words they used prior to COVID-19 to speak with customers and inspire conversations with prospects … Read more
It’s hard to take in that the world … the entire world … is sharing one event. While each country, culture, region is experiencing COVID-19 differently, and each individual is having unique reactions and responses, we are all being impacted by this pandemic at the … Read more
Earlier this week I had the pleasure of being a guest on The Sheldon MacLeod Show, on News 95.7. Our conversation was about conference calls, now a part of daily life for most of us. Sheldon connected with me because of all the versions of … Read more
In my 14 years as The Phone Lady, I’ve often been asked, “Why the phone, Mary Jane? How is it that you’ve ended up championing the phone?” Most often I’ve given a quick and easy answer. The phone has been part of every job throughout … Read more
When I was 26 years old, I was offered a job at The Globe and Mail, writing one or two columns a week for the real estate section. Unfortunately, this opportunity was seen by my current employer (the Toronto Real Estate Board, where I wrote … Read more
Years ago, needing a birthday card for a dear friend, I walked into a greeting card store believing my errand would only take 10 to 15 minutes. After 40 minutes, I purchased a card that I felt wasn’t quite perfect enough, along with a few … Read more
“Model the behavior you wish more people would display. Lead first.” — Robin S. Sharma Years ago the term “ghosting” came into my world. At that time it was all about the young people in my life – their friends and relationships that involved a … Read more
My dad was a great lover of comedy. Born in 1920, he grew up in the era of vaudeville and silent movies (where the piano player sat below the screen at the theatre and played the soundtrack!). I loved it when he shared these memories … Read more
This past December, while visiting family in California, I received an email from CBC’s The Current. Associate producer Danielle Carr was interested in interviewing me. While the segment was about phone scammers and how they are changing our relationship with our phones, she wanted to … Read more
There’s a long-standing bit of etiquette that’s often overlooked today. I do understand why. Our schedules are jam-packed and our deadlines seem to multiply daily. We book meetings on the hour and if one happens to run a bit late, there’s a domino effect that … Read more
Almost every small business owner I’ve worked with starts out keeping track of prospects using a spreadsheet. They carefully choose and set up the columns. Then they add to it weekly, sometimes daily, listing all the people they’ve spoken to and a bit of information … Read more
“The only constant in life is change.” -Heraclitus (500 BC Greek philosopher) Change is not something I thrive on. In fact, those who know me best might say that I often strive to avoid it. But I think it’s more accurate to say that I’m … Read more
To reach your financial goal, build your business and create consistent revenue, you must embrace persistence. In last week’s post, I used a couple of different dictionaries to create a simple comparison between persistence and pestering and shared with you the value of continuing to reach … Read more
Persistence remains a challenging topic for the business owners, entrepreneurs and salespeople who work with me. For some reason, persistence and pestering get intertwined and while the two words may start with the same letter, they are not at all alike. The word persistence comes … Read more
Early in my career, I had very little interest in creating a LinkedIn profile. With Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat already on my phone, I felt like my social accounts were taking up enough of my time and I didn’t quite understand the value of LinkedIn. … Read more
My sister chose a perfect Christmas present for my husband, David. Canadian Pie is a collection of essays by Will Ferguson, winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize and three-time winner of the Leacock Medal of Humour. Needless to say, he’s very funny. We are reading … Read more
“Take care of your words and the words will take care of you.” – Amit Ray For the fifth year, I’m sharing with you the concept of One Word. I was introduced to this idea in 2016 by my colleague and friend Jeanie Burke, Senior … Read more
While it’s certainly exciting to find presents under a tree, there are hundreds of other ways to embrace the joy of this season. It will come as no surprise that one of mine includes phone conversations, while the other … well … it can be … Read more
I’ve spent a lot of time observing and researching miscommunications lately and something that I can’t seem to satisfy is the thought that we spend SO much time looking at each other’s words on a screen instead of listening to each other through a phone … Read more
As I’ve shared in many posts over the years, I love the business numbers, the statistics, the metrics. Technology allows all of us to look closely at the numbers behind so many of our activities. Take this post for example … I can now see … Read more
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CRTC has recently taken new steps to fight fraud calls and phone scams. Read (and listen) to what Mary Jane has to say about this problem.
Cold Calls: The Psychology Behind the Human Voice - listen to this podcast featuring The Phone Lady.
Episode featuring The Phone Lady - watch Telephone Lessons for Millennials.
Some on Wall Street are hanging up on voicemail. See what The Phone Lady has to say.