Say the word “telemarketer” and you’re likely to see some disgusted looks and eye rolls, loud sighs, and plenty of irritating experiences. While it’s true that telemarketers often cause frustration for most people, have you ever wondered why this form of marketing exists? The answer is clear and simple: it works.

Telemarketing is a type of direct marketing that involves a salesperson using a telephone to solicit potential customers to purchase products or services. Recorded solicitation messages are also considered a form of telemarketing known as automated telemarketing. There are two main categories of telemarketing: business-to-consumer and business-to-business.

Telemarketing began in the 1950’s and DialAmerican Marketing, Inc. is believed to have been the first company to dedicate its entire operation to inbound and outbound telephone sales and service. However, it was not until the late 1970s that the term “telemarketing” began to be used to describe the sale of products and services over the telephone.

Telemarketing calls can be made from a company office, a call center, or from a person’s home. In reality, an effective telemarketing process involves more than one call, with each call trying to achieve a different goal. For example, the first call is intended to determine the customer’s needs, while the final call is designed to encourage the customer to purchase a product or service.

Telemarketers obtain potential customer information through various means, such as credit limit, purchase history, previous inquiries, application forms, another company’s customer database, a phone book , etc. The customers that a telemarketing company will attempt to contact are those who are most likely to purchase the product or service being offered.

In the US today, there are thousands upon thousands of telemarketers, and telemarketing is among America’s thriving industries. This may come as a surprise, but think about it, why would telemarketing continue to exist if it wasn’t a profitable business?

Despite its profitability, there’s no denying that most people consider telemarketing to be one of the main drawbacks of owning a phone. For this reason, the National Do Not Call Registry was created to reduce the number of intrusive telemarketing calls received by phone users. Therefore, if you have not already done so, you may want to register your telephone number(s) with the Registry. You will find that it is free and easy to do.

Also, you can find the owner of a phone number here, which can be useful if you want to know the identity of a telemarketer who keeps calling you after you’ve asked them to stop, or if you suspect you’re receiving prank calls.

Remember, you are the only person who can reduce the number of telemarketing calls you receive. So, take action and ask unwanted telemarketers to put you on their do not call list.