So you just dropped out of school, your parents are kicking you out and you need to find a job that pays rent, bills and food. Okay, things might not be that bad, maybe you just need some additional income to save some money for that new TV/car/whatever. These days, many people when faced with the problem of unemployment turn to telemarketing and for a good reason: assuming you have some patience and are willing to learn, pretty much anyone can do it.
The real problem is that telemarketing is truly a jungle out there: there are lots of absolutely horrible companies to work at, some truly nice and well-paying companies and a lot of those that fall somewhere in-between. Here are some of my suggestions on DO's and DON'Ts of getting into telemarketing. This is pretty basic stuff, but I guess it could help some people.
Let me preface this by saying that I am in no way, shape or form advocating telemarketing that consists of calling up completely random people and trying to sell them stuff they are unlikely to want. It is a waste of their time (because they are not interested) and your time (because you are not likely to make much sales and income). However, it is very possible that you might find a telemarketing job that lets you sell great products and/or services in a nice enviroment and make some nice money.
First of all, you need to find a few companies that are actually selling products you can "believe in", if you honestly think that the product you are offering is crap, you won't be getting lot of sales no matter how hard you try. Selling magazine subscriptions is a nice way of getting in, I am pretty sure there are a couple of magazines you enjoy reading and are familiar with. Figure out which companies are marketing the magazines you enjoy reading (call them and ask if you have to) and apply for a job. If you find out that a big publisher has their own telemarketing sales division, try them first as they are generally amongst the best-paid places to work at in the market.
Arrange yourself a couple of interviews and take a really good look around the places you are applying to work at, pay attention to all the small details. How big is the place? How well-dressed are the employees? When talking to your prospective employer, don't be afraid to ask lots of questions. Some good questions to ask are:
How do they obtain numbers of people they call? This is IMPORTANT! Stay the hell away from companies that just go through the phonebook number by number. If they get lists of "old customers" from magazine publishers, mobile phone carriers (depending on the product you will be selling), you are good.
How is the salary calculated (pure commission, hourly wages + commission)? If you have absolutely no previous experience, I recommend a job with hourly wages + commission. However as you get better at your job, you might eventually realise that you could be getting a (much) better salary at a company with a salary based on pure commission. What is the average "turnrate" of employees at the company? How flexible are the work hours?
So you got the job? GOOD (if you can't even get a try-out period at a telemarketing job, you have bigger problems). One of the first things you should do when starting at the new job is making friends with people at work, fast. Zero communication with coworkers can make any good place to work at a living hell, fortunately the folks who end up in a telemarketing job tend to be the social kind, so this shouldn't really be a problem.
Final Advice: Don't give up too easily. You might only get 2-3 sales per day for a few couple of weeks, but with practice you WILL get better, MUCH better. Listen to the calls made by good salespeople at your company (ask the boss who they are), you will learn a lot. Happy telemarketing!
The real problem is that telemarketing is truly a jungle out there: there are lots of absolutely horrible companies to work at, some truly nice and well-paying companies and a lot of those that fall somewhere in-between. Here are some of my suggestions on DO's and DON'Ts of getting into telemarketing. This is pretty basic stuff, but I guess it could help some people.
Let me preface this by saying that I am in no way, shape or form advocating telemarketing that consists of calling up completely random people and trying to sell them stuff they are unlikely to want. It is a waste of their time (because they are not interested) and your time (because you are not likely to make much sales and income). However, it is very possible that you might find a telemarketing job that lets you sell great products and/or services in a nice enviroment and make some nice money.
First of all, you need to find a few companies that are actually selling products you can "believe in", if you honestly think that the product you are offering is crap, you won't be getting lot of sales no matter how hard you try. Selling magazine subscriptions is a nice way of getting in, I am pretty sure there are a couple of magazines you enjoy reading and are familiar with. Figure out which companies are marketing the magazines you enjoy reading (call them and ask if you have to) and apply for a job. If you find out that a big publisher has their own telemarketing sales division, try them first as they are generally amongst the best-paid places to work at in the market.
Arrange yourself a couple of interviews and take a really good look around the places you are applying to work at, pay attention to all the small details. How big is the place? How well-dressed are the employees? When talking to your prospective employer, don't be afraid to ask lots of questions. Some good questions to ask are:
How do they obtain numbers of people they call? This is IMPORTANT! Stay the hell away from companies that just go through the phonebook number by number. If they get lists of "old customers" from magazine publishers, mobile phone carriers (depending on the product you will be selling), you are good.
How is the salary calculated (pure commission, hourly wages + commission)? If you have absolutely no previous experience, I recommend a job with hourly wages + commission. However as you get better at your job, you might eventually realise that you could be getting a (much) better salary at a company with a salary based on pure commission. What is the average "turnrate" of employees at the company? How flexible are the work hours?
So you got the job? GOOD (if you can't even get a try-out period at a telemarketing job, you have bigger problems). One of the first things you should do when starting at the new job is making friends with people at work, fast. Zero communication with coworkers can make any good place to work at a living hell, fortunately the folks who end up in a telemarketing job tend to be the social kind, so this shouldn't really be a problem.
Final Advice: Don't give up too easily. You might only get 2-3 sales per day for a few couple of weeks, but with practice you WILL get better, MUCH better. Listen to the calls made by good salespeople at your company (ask the boss who they are), you will learn a lot. Happy telemarketing!
2 comments:
decent article... not that I'd want to put any effort whatsoever into that 'career path'
it's the job of the desperate college student here, and is generally reserved for people who can't actually hack face to face people skills.
Peop: I wouldn't agree, but then again the situation in the US could be very different to what it's like here in Finland.
The horror stories you hear about telemarketing that generally consist of "it's hard to sell many products" and "you won't be getting enough money" are usually spread by the people who neither have the patience nor the willingness to learn what is required to become good at telemarketing.
A good telemarketer working a well-paying job can be making 2000 - 2500 euro/month (before taxes) and it's not really even that hard of a job, it just requires a specific mindset.
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