One of the great disappointments conventional managers and business owners face when they first use telemarketers is the amazing amount of employee turnover.

By comparison, if you want to hire someone to do customer service, especially if theyre experienced, you can expect them to be stable. Theyll probably last six months or a year or two, at minimum.

Hire somebody on Monday for telemarketing, and if theyre still aboard by Friday, throw a party! You just may have someone who will last a month, or wow, even two!

Am I exaggerating?

Sadly, Im not.

Why is there such turnover?

(1) The economy is strong, unemployment is low, and telemarketing jobs are plentiful. This is a perfect storm for recruiters. There arent many people available who arent already in the labor force. The ones who are available may be returning after a long absence, or are marginal workers, at best, without drive and discipline and with few skills.

(2) Telemarketing is a grind. To be productive, you have to keep your nose to the grindstone, and for this reason, I suggest shifts be shorter than eight hours. Four to five hours can even be a burnout.

(3) Telemarketing is harder than most people think. Think about the people you know. How many of them would rise to the top in sales, on the phones or off? Frighteningly few, I can tell you.

(4) Telemarketing requires a bigger investment than management ever expected. Like a war gone badly, where men and materiel are consumed at an unimaginable pace, telemarketing units chew up resources quickly, as well. Especially daunting, are the ongoing costs for recruiting and training. Ads in newspapers and online cost a lot, and you have to constantly rewrite them, so your jobs will sound fresh and attractive.

(5) Telemarketing, unless its being done for a radio or TV station or for a glamorous company or industry, isnt a high status job. People arent going to confess to doing it, unless it can be packaged attractively; i.e. I do market research for CSB News Radio, in Los Angeles.

Consider these factors before you leap into doing telemarketing or invest in this area.

And get some professional help, from a telemarketing consultant or tele-sales coach who knows the ropes, from the very start!