Most people have a basic understanding of telemarketing and how businesses use it to generate interest in their products and services. However, fewer people have a clear understanding of telesales and use the two terms interchangeably. Developing your understanding of the differences between telemarketing and telesales will help you to make effective use of these strategies in your small business.

Telemarketing is a process that is followed to generate interest in the products and services that your business offers and is used to provide information to consumers. You can use it to identify or create opportunities for your business and gauge customer reactions and feedback to your products and services. Telemarketing can be used to produce leads that result in future sales or make appointments with potential customers.

Telesales is a service activity that you use to sell your products and services to customers directly over the telephone. In telesales, no further contact is required and the entire selling process, including the payment transaction, can be completed during a single telephone call. Telesales can be used to generate sales from both your existing clients or from new customers, and can originate from either inbound (calls you receive) or outbound (calls you make) calls.

Telesales can be particularly effective when you already have the data and contact details of prospective or existing clients. For example, it is easier to sell a secondary or supplementary product to someone who has bought from your business in the past, as the buyer and seller relationship is already established. You could also consider targeting people in your contact list or database that have previously inquired about your products but not purchased from you, or that you have identified in a previous marketing campaign as potential customers.

One advantage of using telesales in a small business is that you can improve operational efficiency. Telesales reduce the time and expense involved in physically visiting clients and for a small business owner, this can be very important. Contacting prospective buyers on the telephone means that you are able to talk to more people in a single day, potentially resulting in more sales than what would be possible by other means. Without the need to travel, it can also allow you to simultaneously manage and attend to other aspects of your business if and when required.

It takes plenty of experience and dedication to make telesales strategies effective, but the benefits they can provide to small business are invaluable. Developing your skills in this key area will help you to drive sales and improve your chances of successful selling.