'The Phone Lady' charges $480/hour to help Gen-Z staff overcome their fear of ... trends now
A woman dubbing 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 starting The Phone Lady company in 2006, claims that 'phone phobia' is now most prominent among Gen Z, who were never taught how to hold proper conversations over the phone.
The problem has gotten to the point where receiving a phone call without warning is viewed as 'an act of aggression,' among the younger generation, according to the Irish Times.
To combat this, Copps charges nearly $500-an-hour for one-on-one coaching, $365 for 30-minute webinars as part of a seven-part program, and corporate workshops going at $3,500-a-day, Business Insider reports.
Copps told DailyMail.com that some of that while some of the advice may be 'obvious,' many people suffer from phone anxiety and need to be reminded of the basics.
One YouTube video of her tips 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. 'As when you meet someone in person, you want to share your name.'
'That's the beginning of building relationship[s].'
Mary Jane Copps, known as the phone lady, has coached 15,000 workers on how to communicate properly through the phone. She charges $480-an-hour for one-on-one coaching, $365 for 30-minute webinars, and corporate workshops going at $3,500-a-day
Copps, who is based in Nova Scotia, boasts about her ability to create 'excellent communication' skills on her website, saying she's worked with many businesses, non-profits and government organizations in North America to train young workers.
A former real estate journalist, Copps joined the marketing world in 1987 at age 29, noting that when she made her fist sales call back then she had 'no knowledge of how the conversation should be structured.'
She claims that the problem persists now for Gen Z, the digital natives who are most used to communicating via text messages then phone calls.
'The Blackberry came out in the 90s, and we've been talking with our thumbs ever since... so Gen Z have never grew up with the phone skills others did,' she said.
'In my generation, the phone was on the wall in everyone's house. We were taught at a young age how to answer it, make calls and 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.
She added that 50 percent of her clients in 2022 were repeat customers, boasting the success she's had training staffers for companies and other agencies.
Alison Papadakis, head of clinical psychological studies at Johns Hopkins University, agreed with Copps and said 'phone phobia' was common in the younger generations.
'Gen Z and millennials
