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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“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
In our house, CBC Radio is on most of the time. Sometimes I listen intently, sometimes bits of information enter my consciousness while I’m focused on other things. This is what happened on November 28. The Current was on and a panel was discussing the … Read more
As many of you know, my husband received his Alzheimer’s diagnosis about two years ago. At this moment, we are “rockin’” dementia, as he has retained his amazing sense of humour, I am able to be quite flexible with my work schedule, and friends and … Read more
Picking up the phone and speaking with the appropriate managers and supervisors at the companies you’ve researched is the best way to tap into the hidden job market. But it can be a big challenge. When I send texts, emails and DMs, not only can … Read more
“While not every phone conversation I’ve had has resulted in a sale, every sale I’ve made started with a phone conversation.” Mary Jane Copps Thirty-two years ago, when I first sat down at a tiny kitchen table set up in the living room of our … Read more
There was great feedback during my recent Dial In webinar on call reluctance. The one that stands out for me the most was from a participant who commented that they didn’t realize other people were struggling with the same issues around picking up the phone. … Read more
Like everyone, I have a healthy dose of imperfections. Some of them, I’ve learned to live with and found ways to compensate. For example, I’m quite physically awkward, uncoordinated. (If my friend Sean is reading this, he’ll be laughing. He witnessed the month(?) it took … Read more
There’s a vague image in my mind of standing in the middle of our high-ceilinged, converted-industrial-space office at Adelaide and Spadina in Toronto listening to a news story about future technologies. I’m guessing this was the mid-90s and the newscaster was saying that soon all … Read more
On October 5, I celebrated 32 years as an entrepreneur. Yes, that’s a big accomplishment and what most stands out for me is how much I’ve learned – and continue to learn – every day. Owning and running a business is about constantly acquiring and … Read more
Dear Readers and Phone Lady fans: First, thank you so much for taking the time each week to read and share this post. It is an amazing gift that I don’t ever take for granted. That’s why I need to update you on a change … Read more
It doesn’t seem to matter how many projects I do as The Phone Lady, I still get incredibly excited when I’m on a discovery call with a new client. As they start sharing their challenges with me, my brain shifts into high gear and I’m … Read more
When looking for a job, listing companies of interest is a great start. Then you need to move to the next step – phoning them. But the next question is… who ya gonna call? In my last post, we got started on your research journey. … Read more
A few months ago an executive approached me about working with her sales team and we arranged to meet. She came to my office and we had a wide-ranging conversation about many aspects of her business and the specifics of the problems she wanted to … Read more
Earlier this week, I was walking down the frozen food aisle in Costco. You know, the one that comes after the huge bags of chips, fresh fruit and then frozen burgers and … full frozen pigs? Well, after trying to get ahead of a slow–paced … Read more
For the past few years, due to my husband’s journey with Alzheimer’s, I’ve been assisting him with his duties as Power of Attorney (POA) for his mom, who also has dementia and now lives in a nursing home. We have almost completed transferring this POA … Read more
Welcome to September! While it does have that “fresh start” feeling, it’s important to recognize that, for most of us (depending on your work week and upcoming vacation days), there are approximately 77 days until year-end. January has that “I have a whole year” feeling; … Read more
When listening to the news, there are moments I feel discouraged and often wish I had quick and easy solutions to the many situations and challenges that exist in our world. So on August 15, while doing the evening dishes and hearing a familiar scenario … 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.