Telemarketers

• Summary

• Details

Work Activities

• Telephone or write letters to respond to correspondence from customers or to follow up initial sales contacts.
• Deliver prepared sales talks, reading from scripts that describe products or services, to persuade potential customers to purchase a product or service or to make a donation.
• Explain products or services and prices, and answer questions from customers.
• Record names, addresses, purchases, and reactions of prospects contacted.
• Maintain records of contacts, accounts, and orders.
• Obtain names and telephone numbers of potential customers from sources such as telephone directories, magazine reply cards, and lists purchased from other organizations.
• Obtain customer information such as name, address, and payment method, and enter orders into computers.
• Schedule appointments for sales representatives to meet with prospective customers or for customers to attend sales presentations.
• Answer telephone calls from potential customers who have been solicited through advertisements.
• Adjust sales scripts to better target the needs and interests of specific individuals.
• Contact businesses or private individuals by telephone to solicit sales for goods or services, or to request donations for charitable causes.
• Explain products or services and prices, and answer questions from customers.
• Conduct client or market surveys to obtain information about potential customers.

Skills

• Mathematics
  • Using math to solve problems.
• Coordination
  • Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
• Technology Design
  • Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
• Social Perceptiveness
  • Understanding people's reactions.
• Complex Problem Solving
  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
• Quality Control Analysis
  • Testing how well a product or service works.
• Judgment and Decision Making
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
• Programming
  • Writing computer programs.
• Learning Strategies
  • Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
• Science
  • Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
• Operations Monitoring
  • Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
• Repairing
  • Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
• Systems Analysis
  • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
• Systems Evaluation
  • Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
• Time Management
  • Managing your time and the time of other people.
• Management of Financial Resources
  • Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
• Management of Material Resources
  • Managing equipment and materials.
• Reading Comprehension
  • Reading work-related information.
• Active Listening
  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
• Writing
  • Writing things for co-workers or customers.
• Persuasion
  • Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
• Speaking
  • Talking to others.
• Equipment Maintenance
  • Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
• Installation
  • Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
• Troubleshooting
  • Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
• Service Orientation
  • Looking for ways to help people.
• Equipment Selection
  • Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
• Operations Analysis
  • Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
• Critical Thinking
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
• Negotiation
  • Bringing people together to solve differences.
• Monitoring
  • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
• Operation and Control
  • Using equipment or systems.
• Active Learning
  • Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
• Instructing
  • Teaching people how to do something.
• Management of Personnel Resources
  • Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

Abilities

• Gross Body Coordination
  • Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
• Depth Perception
  • Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
• Speech Recognition
  • Recognizing spoken words.
• Written Comprehension
  • Reading and understanding what is written.
• Information Ordering
  • Ordering or arranging things.
• Time Sharing
  • Doing two or more things at the same time.
• Wrist-Finger Speed
  • Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
• Dynamic Strength
  • Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
• Explosive Strength
  • Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
• Deductive Reasoning
  • Using rules to solve problems.
• Peripheral Vision
  • Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
• Memorization
  • Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
• Perceptual Speed
  • Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
• Arm-Hand Steadiness
  • Keeping your arm or hand steady.
• Trunk Strength
  • Using your lower back and stomach.
• Visual Color Discrimination
  • Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
• Rate Control
  • Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
• Originality
  • Creating new and original ideas.
• Written Expression
  • Communicating by writing.
• Finger Dexterity
  • Putting together small parts with your fingers.
• Fluency of Ideas
  • Coming up with lots of ideas.
• Night Vision
  • Seeing at night or under low light.
• Auditory Attention
  • Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
• Number Facility
  • Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
• Speed of Closure
  • Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
• Flexibility of Closure
  • Seeing hidden patterns.
• Spatial Orientation
  • Knowing where things are around you.
• Category Flexibility
  • Grouping things in different ways.
• Manual Dexterity
  • Holding or moving items with your hands.
• Reaction Time
  • Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
• Stamina
  • Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
• Near Vision
  • Seeing details up close.
• Extent Flexibility
  • Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Far Vision
  • Seeing details that are far away.
• Dynamic Flexibility
  • Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Glare Sensitivity
  • Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
• Speed of Limb Movement
  • Quickly moving your arms and legs.
• Control Precision
  • Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
• Response Orientation
  • Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
• Oral Comprehension
  • Listening and understanding what people say.
• Oral Expression
  • Communicating by speaking.
• Problem Sensitivity
  • Noticing when problems happen.
• Inductive Reasoning
  • Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
• Hearing Sensitivity
  • Telling the difference between sounds.
• Sound Localization
  • Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
• Mathematical Reasoning
  • Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
• Visualization
  • Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
• Selective Attention
  • Paying attention to something without being distracted.
• Multilimb Coordination
  • Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
• Static Strength
  • Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
• Gross Body Equilibrium
  • Keeping your balance or staying upright.
• Speech Clarity
  • Speaking clearly.

Knowledge

• Personnel and Human Resources
  • Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Therapy and Counseling
  • Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
• Mechanical
  • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Education and Training
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Administrative
  • Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
• Computers and Electronics
  • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Chemistry
  • Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
• Fine Arts
  • Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• Mathematics
  • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Law and Government
  • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Philosophy and Theology
  • Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
• Communications and Media
  • Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Foreign Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
• Telecommunications
  • Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
• Economics and Accounting
  • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• Design
  • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• Building and Construction
  • Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
• Production and Processing
  • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Administration and Management
  • Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Food Production
  • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
• Medicine and Dentistry
  • Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• Sociology and Anthropology
  • Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
• English Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
• Public Safety and Security
  • Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Sales and Marketing
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Engineering and Technology
  • Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
• Biology
  • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• History and Archeology
  • Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
• Transportation
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
• Physics
  • Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
• Geography
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
• Psychology
  • Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Customer and Personal Service
  • Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Education

Education

No formal educational credential

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

Less than 1 month on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

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Education and Training Opportunities

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Pay

Washington Annual Salary

38570/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

18.55/hr

Washington Employment Trends

Currently Employed

2,010

Yearly Projected Openings

330

Personality

Enterprising: People interested in this work like activities that include leading, making decisions, and business. They do well at jobs that need:

• Persistence
• Integrity
• Adaptability/Flexibility
• Initiative
• Stress Tolerance
• Dependability

Tools

• Autodialers
• Conversation recording units
• Personal computers
• Phone headsets
• Special purpose telephones

Technology

• Access software
• Customer relationship management CRM software
• Electronic mail software
• Helpdesk or call center software
• Interactive voice response software
• Office suite software
• Presentation software
• Spreadsheet software
• Video conferencing software
• Word processing software