Telemarketer Kaihoko ā-Waea

Telemarketers promote and sell goods or services by telephone.

Telemarketers may do some or all of the following:

  • take or make calls to sell goods and services to customers
  • explain the product or service they are promoting to customers
  • persuade customers to upgrade their existing service
  • raise funds for charity
  • ask people to pay their bills
  • keep and update records of sales and customers
  • make appointments for sales representatives
  • follow up on telephone messages left by customers
  • gather information about customers and conduct polls or surveys.

Useful Experience

Useful experience for telemarketers includes:

  • sales experience
  • customer service
  • work that involves helping or motivating people.

Personal Qualities

Telemarketers need to be:

  • good listeners and communicators
  • good at customer service
  • tolerant, tactful, and patient
  • confident and persuasive
  • motivated
  • resilient and able to cope with rejection
  • able to manage their time well.

Skills

Telemarketers need to have:

  • knowledge of the companies, products or services they call people about
  • customer service and sales techniques
  • the ability to explain technical details clearly
  • the ability to solve problems and make decisions quickly
  • a good telephone manner.

 

Conditions

Telemarketers:

  • usually work flexible hours, which may include weekends or evenings
  • work in call centres and offices, and may work from home.

Telemarketers can earn around $49K-$58K per year.

Pay for telemarketers varies depending on skills and experience.

  • Telemarketers usually earn $49,000 to $58,000 a year..

They may also receive commissions and bonuses.

Source: careers.govt.nz research, 2023; Hays, 'Salary Guide FY23/24', 2023; and Seek, 2023.

Telemarketers may progress to become market research analysts or sales representatives, or move into management roles.

Telemarketers can specialise in the role of:

Appointment Setter
Appointment setters books appointments for leads (people who have shown interest in a company's goods and services) to meet with sales representatives.

Years Of Training

There are no specific requirements to become a telemarketer. However, you need to have a good standard of spoken and written English.

Telemarketers are trained on the job.

A free training course in contact centre skills is available for people who are out of work. It's funded by the Ministry of Social Development and includes support with devices, access, job hunting and interviews.

Find out more from the Customer Contact Network New Zealand (CCNNZ) website.

Telemarketer