Telemarketing is the process of using of the telephone as an interactive medium for selling goods or services to customers, for promotion and measuring promotion response and surveying consumer preferences through telephonic conversations. Outbound telemarketing is also used to follow-up on inquiries, to clarify or upgrade an order, or to gather information about consumers or other aspects of the market. It has been successfully used to market a variety of products and services, and it has the potential for selling virtually any consumer product or service. If the purpose of telemarketing is to make a sale, sometimes telemarketers have personal information when they call a customer which is useful for further strengthening the business prospects. Telemarketing can also include pre-recorded sales pitches programmed to be played via automatic dialing.

Telemarketing is used by business-to-business marketers to identify qualified leads, thus avoiding time and costs associated with personal sales calls. The success of any telemarketing project is measured in terms of contacts made in reaching the desired person, attempts made, and completed sales, surveys, etc. termed as conversion. Most telemarketing calls are cold calls meaning these are unsolicited phone calls to prospects customers or consumer they don't know, without a prior appointment in an attempt to attract a new business. For this reason telemarketing is one of the most controversial types of marketing.

Telemarketing can be divided in two major categories; business to business and business to consumer and it can be further divided in four subcategories namely:

Lead Generation as the name implies, it is the process of collecting information about qualified prospects. Sales, it is the process of using persuasion or negotiation skill to sell a product or service. Outbound, is proactively contacting prospective and pre-existing customers for business purposes.

Inbound, is reactive reception of incoming orders or requests for information. Inbound telemarketing occurs when customers call in to businesses to place orders.

Procedure - telemarketing can be done from company office, from a call centre or from home. It may involve live operator or a pre-recorded message, it is known as automated telemarketing.

An effective telemarketing process often involves two or more calls, first or a series of first call determines the customer needs and second call is made to motivate the customer to make a purchase.

There are various ways and means of identifying the prospective customers, namely previous purchase history, requests for information, credit limits, competition entry forms or application form. Names may also be purchased from another company database or obtained from a telephone directory some other public list or forum. The qualification process is a way to find prospective customers who are most likely to purchase the product or service being sold or advertised. A Call is not considered telemarketing call if it is made for gathering data for market research or survey. Charitable and other non profit making companies often use it solicit donations.

To be a successful telemarketer, one needs to have good listening skill, good memory, should be able to concentrate while making a call and develop the ability to block out the distractions around. A genuine interest in people will go a long way toward success in telemarketing jobs. When you treat the people you are calling as individuals and not just the next number on your list, it will show in your work. You will be better able to connect with them, and your success rate in selling products or booking appointments will increase. Telemarketing jobs will definitely help you to develop your people skills and the lessons you learn while working in a call center can be applied to other situations. There are certain rules that all telemarketers must adhere to, they must maintain do not call list and they are to display a phone no that can be called back to.