May 2, 2016
Today I have a fireside chat with Mary Jane Copps, popularly known as The Phone Lady.
Mary Jane is a teacher, speaker, writer, coach and an expert in telephone communication. She gives individuals and corporations the ability to have a powerful presence on the phone, helping them become excellent at sales, fundraising, customer service and a lot more.
On this episode, Mary Jane tells us how she was introduced to sales and became effective in utilizing the phone as a communication mechanism.
She also gives some advice on how to approach “defensive” clients and overcome the challenges you may face during a cold call.
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“There are guidelines…that make a phone call work, and if you don’t follow them, the conversation won’t work.”
“You’re dealing with a medium that doesn’t have body language, and because of that you need to communicate differently.”
“If you wanna get their attention, you need to understand that and be empathetic to it, as opposed to pushy.”
“I never sell anything in one phone call.”
“As an entrepreneur, your first job is to let your potential market know you exist.”
Show notes:
[05:54] How to overcome the negative associations with sales and cold-calling
[06:21] Communicating over the phone is an essential skill
[07:11] How Mary Jane started out in sales
[07:48] Transitioning from being a real estate journalist to an entrepreneur
[10:20] The psychology behind sales calls
[11:00] The three challenges you face when making sales calls
[11:38] We are all experiencing “decision fatigue”; don’t be pushy
[13:24] How to approach clients who are avoiding you
[14:08] What to do (or not to do) when a prospect becomes defensive during a call
[15:28] Two questions you need to answer quickly.
[16:15] What is a cold call?
[20:21] Let your audience know you exist and pull them towards you
“Whether they hire me or not is not within my control; what is in my control is getting The Phone Lady information on the table.”
[23:00] The value of B2B communication
[24:38] Where does story-telling fit in a cold call?
[27:05] Let your (potential) customers know who your customers are
[28:38] Do it yourself first and define your process
Mentions:
Check out Mary Jane’s website at http://thephonelady.com/
Follow Mary Jane on Twitter @thephoneladyca and LinkedIn
The Phone Book: Essential Telephone Communication Skills by Mary Jane Copps