The best Telemarketing Job Description and Telemarketing Resume tips along with Interview Questions and Answers… all of this and more can be found in these pages.
If you think you may be suited to a job as a Telemarketer you will need to have a Telemarketing Resume as well as being prepared for interview questions and answers. Telemarketing employment is great work. It is fun, it is simple and it can pay very well. Having said that… not everyone is suited to Telemarketing.
Telemarketing goes by many names and for that reason it is easy to be confused about what a Telemarketer really does. If I were to give you a general Telemarketing Job Description it would be:
Contacting prospective clients over the phone via an outbound call, with the aim of ultimately selling your product or service.
Of course it is not always this simple…. there is a sales process that needs to be followed as well as a whole list of both necessary and desirable skills that a Telemarketer must have. But basically, a Telemarketer speaks to clients over the phone as part of a sales campaign.
Telemarketing can be the whole sales process, or just a part of it.
For instance many Telemarketers book appointments or do surveys. In this case they are not actually asking the client to purchase anything, but it is still a part of the business sales strategy.
A Telemarketing Job Description would not include taking inbound calls or working in customer service. Traditionally Telemarketing refers only to making outbound calls.
Wikipedia offers a great Telemarketing definition… click here to view…
Telephone Techniques, Good Communication Skills, Listening Skillsand the Keys to Success will all help you develop the right skills to be a Top Telemarketer.
Telemarketing Job Description – The types of Telemarketing Jobs
Appointment Setting
An appointment setter will book appointments for either themselves or a company sales person to visit with a potential client. Often people think that this is an easier Telemarketing job than other types. I actually disagree. You are still selling an appointment to your client, so it is not so different to any other type of Telemarketing employment.
Customer Surveys or Market Research
Telemarketing to do customer surveys is usually part of a lead generationprocess. What I mean by this is that often we call clients to do research on their thoughts of our product, service or industry. Some time later we would call these clients back to tell them about what we offer… whether that is to book an appointment or to sell over the phone is interchangeable.
Doing the actual market research calls is actually one of the simplest telemarketing jobs I have come across. It absolutely takes skill…. but it is normally a quick and uncomplicated call.
Charity Collection
Charities will often call new or existing customers either asking for donations or selling raffle tickets or the like. Working for a charity as a Telemarketer can be satisfying. The role itself though is very similar to any telemarketing role.
Telesales
This is where you are directly selling your product over the phone. This may be to new or to existing clients.
Prospecting
Prospecting is normally done by sales people or small business owners. This is where we are calling people to build some interest in what we are offering. Often the aim here is to book an appointment to visit with the client and discuss their needs further.
Return to Telemarketing Employment to learn about hours, wages and types of employment offered…..
Cold or Warm Calls?
Within each of these roles there are different types of calling that Telemarketers do. Different Telemarketing environments will use either cold calls, warm calls or luke warm calls. Sometimes they will use a combination of these.
Cold Calling
This is where we call people who have had no prior contact with our business or us. Normally we call from Lists of names and numbers.
Warm Calling
Warm calls are calls we make to clients who have had some level of contact with us before. Maybe they have enquired by email, we spoke to them at a trade show or a shopping center or maybe we are returning their call. Warm calls are great as the client already has a level of need which we can then further develop.
Luke Warm Calls
I call luke warm calls the calls we make to people who have had some contact with our business but are not expecting a contact from us. Maybe they have entered a competition we run, maybe a friend has referred them to us or maybe they helped us out with market research. However, when we call these people they are likely to remember their contact with us which makes the call transition easier.
A Telemarketing Job Description therefore must be tailored to each specific type of Telemarketing employment. The term “Telemarketing” really refers to any person making oubound calls…. the specifics of a job will depend on the business, industry and role you decide to look for as a Telemarketer.

