The Phone Lady's Blog

Inspire Conversation

email communication

The Case of the Disappearing Workshop

By Mary Jane Copps | March 26, 2023

This past week contained a disappointment – for myself and others. What occurred was surprising and frustrating. Like a tightened knot I was convinced I could untie, I kept revisiting the situation, obsessing. This is always a sign that there’s a lesson to be learned. … Read more

The Many Skills of Conversation

By Mary Jane Copps | March 11, 2023

Here are some statistics that caught my attention this week: Worldwide, 23 billion texts (Forbes 2021) and 333.2 billion emails (Zippia Oct/22) are sent each day. Of those emails, only 18% actually get opened. And we know that “opened” doesn’t automatically indicate “read” – and … Read more

Phone Coach Tip #2 – Sent Versus Received

By Mary Jane Copps | June 4, 2022
woman talking on the phone

Sometimes people are surprised to learn that as “The Phone Lady”, I include skills for both email and text in my webinars. The focus of my work, my passion if you will, is clear communication. This includes the words we write – and send – … Read more

Email Assumptions Revealed by Persistent Follow-up

By Mary Jane Copps | January 17, 2021
woman using laptop

As 2020 ended and 2021 began I found myself in the midst of an unusual communication challenge. In mid-November, the head of a medical team filled out my website Assessment Form, looking for information on phone skills for front desk staff. Through a series of … Read more

A Formula for Cold Emails

By Mary Jane Copps | January 2, 2021
woman using laptop

Many years ago I participated in a workshop that included a graphic facilitator – an individual that recorded our discussions and ideas by drawing them on the walls of the room. It was an amazing experience and a skill I’ve been fascinated by ever since. … Read more

Ask … and Tell!

By Mary Jane Copps | March 7, 2020
woman working on laptop

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

Who’s On What?

By Mary Jane Copps | February 23, 2020
texting

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

7 Ways to Showcase Your Persistence

By Mary Jane Copps | January 18, 2020

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

What Does It Take to Be Heard?

By Mary Jane Copps | September 8, 2019
lawyer

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

How to Save $1.04 Million

By Mary Jane Copps | August 24, 2019
making a phone call

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

How Does Summer Impact Business Phone Calls?

By Mary Jane Copps | June 9, 2019

With temperatures rising, children finishing school, cottages beckoning, and family visits being organized, there’s no doubt that some of our attention is turning toward summer vacation. As entrepreneurs and independent professionals, we need to give some extra attention to our phone communication. How are we … Read more

We Have The Technology … But We’re Not Using It!

By Mary Jane Copps | April 21, 2019

Reports in the news recently about the City of Ottawa being scammed out of close to $100,000 reminded me of similar, much more costly mistakes at MacEwan University in Edmonton. The technology that could have prevented both of these losses has existed since 1876. Why … Read more

Keep Your Team “In The Loop”

By Mary Jane Copps | November 4, 2018

Florence Anderson is a customer service aficionado and a regular reader of this blog. She’s responding to the October 6 post with an insightful story about email assumptions and the chaos that can result. When should an email be accompanied by a phone call? What’s … Read more

Are You “In The Loop”?

By Mary Jane Copps | October 6, 2018

We have so many ways to reach each other. I continue to be deluged by email and text is a constant, as well. I have friends and family who are best reached by Instagram, others who are faithful to Facebook. And, of course, there are … Read more

“Send” Does Not Mean “Received”

By Mary Jane Copps | August 11, 2018

We have very high expectations of email … and text. We believe that once we hit “send”, our words have been received, read and acted upon. But this is not always true. To create excellent communication – and avoid some uncomfortable situations – we need … Read more

The #1 Way to Increase Phone Conversations with Prospects and Customers

By Mary Jane Copps | July 28, 2018

Last week I received an email request from a not-for-profit in Toronto. They had found my website and were looking for information on how I might help them with fundraising calls. I happened to be at my desk when the request came in and I … Read more

What I’m Thinking About: Customer Service

By Mary Jane Copps | July 22, 2018

I have a bill on my desk that is twice what I expected. It arrived from my accounting software company several months ago. Because I have this company set up for monthly auto payments, this large bill has already been paid … even though I … Read more

Get Out Your Cape and Communicate!

By Mary Jane Copps | April 8, 2018

The memory is vague. I was visiting someone, somewhere, and the television was on. The talk show discussion, about marriage, drifted around us, a dull background hum. And then, like an unexpected tap on my shoulder, I heard this: “When you are not communicating, it … Read more

Are You a Work “Protectionist”?

By Mary Jane Copps | January 14, 2018

Admittedly I’m being very liberal in my use of the word “protectionist”, which means “someone who upholds the economic policy of restraining trade between states”. But for the past few years, a similar philosophy has surfaced in our daily business lives. In an effort to … Read more

3 Ways You Can Impact Phone Communication

By Mary Jane Copps | June 10, 2017

Whether you want your sales team to be on the phone more often, or your clients to speak with you on the phone regularly, or your children to talk with their friends from time to time instead of texting, it all starts with you. Avoiding … Read more

Millennials Are On The Phone … But You Aren’t Answering!

By Mary Jane Copps | June 4, 2017

Last week’s post (Calling All Generations – How to Work with Millennials on the Phone) sparked an immediate reaction from one reader, a millennial himself, who found both my ideas and tone offensive. Why? It turns out I ignored a vital aspect of Millennials’ relationship … Read more

Calling All Generations – How to Work with Millennials on the Phone

By Mary Jane Copps | May 27, 2017

Generational nicknames annoy me. Creating one label for a vast range of people sets all of us up to make incorrect assumptions and communicate ineffectively. Recently though, a client specifically requested I include more information in a workshop on how Millennials use the phone. How do … Read more

When We Communicate …

By Mary Jane Copps | August 30, 2015

“Some opportunities knock softly. Pay attention” Mark Hobbs, Partner, Fundmetric One thing I know to be true after 28 years as an entrepreneur: “You just never know”. Something seemingly insignificant can turn out to be an amazing opportunity and …vice versa. Our ability to notice … Read more

Are You Being Received?

By Mary Jane Copps | November 2, 2014

Recently home from a week of travelling (in wonderful Prince Edward Island – beach photo included here),  I took a few moments to clear out my Spam folder and was reminded of one of the many ways phone communication trumps email. When you send email to … Read more

3 “Must-Do’s” for B2B Phone Sales in 2014 (Part II)

By Mary Jane Copps | December 15, 2013

Using email to sell to prospects and clients without any conversation is like working on a jigsaw puzzle with pieces missing. The end result won’t be what you wanted and … it won’t be as much fun! It isn’t that I don’t appreciate email. Know … Read more

Either/Or? Try Both … Or More!

By Mary Jane Copps | October 20, 2013

There’s no doubt we are struggling to communicate with each other. I don’t mean that we are having a hard time understanding each other, although that certainly happens. I mean we are having troubling connecting, knowing which medium to use to reach which audience … … Read more

Why it’s completely normal for a phone call to fill you with dread (and how to get over it). Read the stats and Mary Jane's advice.
How to revive a retro technology called the telephone that can still work wonders in these modern times. Find out.

Phone Phobia Hits the News

Phone phobia, or telephobia, has been getting a lot of attention in the news recently. See what Mary Jane has to say about it...
This Hour Has 22 Minutes
22 Minutes correspondent, Brandon Hackett, figures out which end is up on this thing called a telephone, with help from The Phone Lady. Watch Telephone Lessons for Millennials.
The Wall Street Journal.
Banks Curtail Employee Use of Voice Mail: Voice mail is viewed as an expensive vestige of a bygone era. See what The Phone Lady has to say.