Telemarketing is the direct marketing of goods or services to potential customers over the telephone, internet, or fax. It can also involve contacting potential customers via emails or other online communication. Telemarketing may either be carried out by telemarketers or increasingly by automated telephone calls or "robocalls". The practice of telemarketing has been used for decades and is still an effective and widely used technique in various sectors such as public service, insurance, credit cards, and NGO sectors.
Some key features of telemarketing include:
- Types: Four common kinds of telemarketing include outbound calls, inbound calls, lead generation, and sales calls.
- Legal requirements: Telemarketers must abide by any local, regional, or national regulations. In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission’s Telemarketing Sales Rule “requires that telemarketers make specific disclosures of material information; prohibits misrepresentations; sets limits on the times telemarketers may call consumers; prohibits...” .
- Advantages: Telemarketing is a cost-effective way to reach out to a wide range of potential customers, and the ability to customize each call for the customer makes it a powerful tool in the hands of a skilled sales development representative (SDR). From generating leads to increasing sales, the benefits of telemarketing are numerous.
However, the intrusive nature of telemarketing, including spam calls, has led to a growing backlash against this direct marketing practice. Countries such as the U.S. and Canada have federal "Do Not Call" lists where individuals can register their phone numbers to avoid telemarketing calls.
