My Career in Telemarketing

When I first got a job as a call center agent, I was 27 years old. We were given a month to train before we were brought to the production area. We had to practice our English and grammar skills, master our script and rebuttals, and know our product in that period of time. By the second week, some of the trainees already wanted out. Somehow, the adjustment of reporting to the office at 2:00 a.m. for training felt awkward. I didn't like the idea of quitting. I continued the training and after 8 months I got promoted to a team leader.

Personal change takes time, and the impulse to quit or change direction should not always be an immediate option. Coincidentally, I have seen this parallel relationship to people who work in call centers, but the sole difference lies in the level of commitment. A huge number of agents tend to resign from the company after six or seven short months. If ever they stayed beyond that, the drive to continue working begins to wear thin. Without a doubt, there are valid reasons why this occurs; some are affected by the physical strain, while some agents simply get bored.

There are no shortcuts to success and I believe that. You just expand the confidence that's already inside you, because this will ultimately reflect on how you perform in the workplace, should you decide to choose the career of a telemarketer or a call center agent.

There can never be a perfect job in terms of doing things at your pace, unless it's your own business. Then again, running your own business is twice as hard as being an employee. So I think working for a call center will give us our fair share of pressure, and will also require us to put in the effort. Now it's up to us to sustain that effort and continually understand how our long term goals are connected to it.

If you are a salesperson or a business owner, then finding new business is an essential part of your job. And deep down you probably know that finding new business involves getting on the phone and calling complete strangers. If you are not making unsolicited calls to potential prospects in your target market and your competitors are, then you will put yourself at a significant disadvantage. Cold calling does work, because it is the only form of marketing that guarantees you some sort of response from the individuals in your target market.

Some people are phone shy, they feel that calling is boring, they hate the phone, they can't take rejection. Cold calling is not for everybody - there are a few - that is where and why I exist.