For many people telemarketing is a pet hate.  I have to say I agree, certainly consumer telemarketing.  However, is it telemarketing or telesales?  I think it’s telesales.

Who wants to be called at any hour of the day or night by a very persistent person who finds it difficult to take no for an answer, is obviously driven by targets and who is reading from a script?

I remember not being able to hear one poor telesales person because of the hullabaloo in the background as everyone celebrated someone in the office reaching their monthly target!

How infuriating is it to rush to get to the telephone only to hear silence at the other end?  Although the click on the line that signifies a predictive auto dialler makes my heart, sink.

Then there is this new trend in pre-recorded messages.  Who thought these were a good idea?  How many times do I have to press nine before they get the message and go away?

But that’s consumer telesales.

Business-to-business telemarketing is a completely different ball game.  At least it should be.

Telemarketing can be very useful in cleansing databases, obtaining named decision makers, carrying out marketing research and making appointments.

As in all things, carried out responsibly and professionally, telemarketing can be an invaluable tool for a business that wants to get the most out of its marketing.