The use of telephone to sell a product or service is known as telemarketing. There are many companies, which use this marketing technique to increase sales. These companies get leads and from this list they call the prospective buyer to promote the products. The leads may be purchased from another company or taken from a telephone directory.

There are two types of telemarketing: One is inbound telemarketing and the other is outbound telemarketing.

Inbound: In inbound telemarketing the telemarketing companies get calls and they need to be answered, such as taking down a sales order, take service calls and the like. Inbound calls are much easier than outbound calls, as you know the type of questions, that are bound to be asked, as the questions are related to the products you promote. The company does telemarketing on its own or it may be outsourced to a third party. Most of the companies try to outsource their telemarketing to countries like India, to cut down their costs.

Outbound: In outbound telemarketing a person calls to promote or sell a product. They get leads and from these lists they call the person. Most of the companies use this way of direct marketing to promote products. Banks also telemarket their credits cards and promote many products.

Telemarketing has come of age and it is widely used through out the world. It is one of the cheapest and easiest ways of communication. Most of the companies do not have in-house staff for telemarketing, they outsource to other companies who specialize in this. These companies are paid per hour, per call or on per sale basis.