A woman calling herself “The Phone Lady” is charging $480 an hour to help Gen Z workers overcome their fear of talking on the phone.
Mary Jane Copps, who has coached 15,000 people since launching The Phone Lady in 2006, says “phone phobia” is most prevalent among Gen Z, who were never taught how to hold hands. appropriate conversations on the phone.
The problem has gotten to the point where receiving a phone call without warning is considered ‘an act of aggression’ among the younger generation, according to irish time.
To combat this, Copps charges nearly $500 per hour for one-on-one coaching, $365 for 30-minute webinars as part of a seven-part program, and $3,500 per day for corporate workshops. . Business Intern reports.
Copps told DailyMail.com that while some of the advice may be “obvious”, many people suffer from phone anxiety and need to remember the basics.
Mary Jane Copps, known as the Telephone Lady, trained 15,000 workers on how to communicate properly over the telephone. She charges $480 per hour for one-on-one coaching, $365 for 30-minute webinars, and corporate workshops at $3,500 per day.
A YouTube video of her advice shows The Phone Lady telling her clients that the key to a successful phone conversation is to simply “use your name and smile”.
“Always when you answer the phone, use your name and smile,” Copps says. “Like when you meet someone in person, you want to share your name.”
This is the start of building a relationship[s].’
Copps, who is based in Nova Scotia, boasts of her ability to create excellent communication skills on her website, saying she has worked with many businesses, nonprofits and government organizations in North America. North to train young workers.
A former real estate journalist, Copps entered the marketing world in 1987 at the age of 29, noting that when she made her first sales call she had “no knowledge of how the conversation should be structured. “.
She says the problem persists now for Gen Z, the digital natives who are most used to communicating through text messages and then phone calls.
“The Blackberry came out in the 90s, and we’ve been talking with our thumbs ever since…so Gen Z never grew up on other people’s phone skills,” she said.
In my generation, the phone hung on the wall in everyone’s house. We were taught very young to answer them, to make calls and to take messages.
On her website, Copps says she can improve people’s phone skills in weekly 30-minute webinars because she understands the “psychology” behind phone conversations and can help anyone succeed.
Copps said younger workers grew up mostly texting, so they lack the phone conversation skills of the older generation and have developed a “phone phobia.”
She added that 50% of her clients in 2022 were repeat customers, bragging about the success she had trained staff for businesses and other agencies.
Alison Papadakis, head of clinical psychological studies at Johns Hopkins University, agreed with Copps and said “telephone phobia” was common among younger generations.
Gen Z and Millennials have much less experience on the phone, as texting and instant messaging have been their generation’s primary mode of communication, she told Insider. Since they have much less experience on the phone, they are less comfortable.
“It makes people who are vulnerable to social anxiety feel anxious in that situation.”
When coaching someone, Copps said she asked them to stop texting and making calls to friends and family.
“If they’re not even used to talking on the phone with their mom, then the process is so scary,” she told Insider. “So I can’t say I’m going to force them to call potential clients because they’ll just crumble – we start with their family or someone they know.”
She said she herself would often call someone out of the blue to surprise them and see how they would adjust to the situation.
Emer McLysaght of the Irish Times said such surprise phone calls are seen by the younger generation as a “mildly aggressive act requiring immediacy of thought and social skills”.
Like Copps, McLysaght said younger workers are more used to carefully planning their words via text or email, and have become increasingly anxious about physical phone calls.
McLysaght added that phone calls are considered a last resort, meaning Gen Z only use them in emergencies.
So when they get a call, McLysaght said, they assume the worst and go off.
“I would never call a friend without first texting them to let them know I’m about to call and probably reassure them that ‘it’s nothing wrong, promise’ to really put it in the situation,” McLysaght wrote of the new phone. Culture.
Others revealed their hatred for Friday afternoon business meetings
Making phone calls while at work has proven to be one of Gen Z’s biggest pet peeves that they try to withdraw from the office.
The introverted lawyer, a TikToker, summed up the sentiment in an animated video that quickly went viral and racked up more than two million likes.
“Part of the job is talking to other humans,” the caption read, along with the clip of an office worker crying on his desk phone.
“Me whenever I have to call someone for anything at work,” the text of the video reads.
Followed by the character saying, “I don’t want to do this, please don’t pick up, please don’t pick up.”
The viral video resonated with other TikTokers, with one admitting they avoid making calls at all costs.
“I remember my phone broke at work and I didn’t say anything for weeks,” they said.
Others revealed the video made them feel better – knowing they weren’t alone – with some dubbing Gen Z as the phone anxiety generation.
“I used to work in a call center and it’s too specific,” said one.
“I work in customer service and this is too specific,” said another.
While others admitted the calls made them more nervous.
‘Outgoing calls are good because I know what it will be. Incoming calls scare me because they can be anything,” one man said.
Mr Butler said the anxiety people feel about making calls when new to a role is “normal” but can be managed with practice.
“(by) letting your manager and colleagues know that this is something you struggle with will allow them to support you by delegating fewer calls to you at first, or even providing a script to read,” he said. -he declares.
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