Purely in commercial terms, telemarketing works because it is incredibly cost-effective. The dialing is done by a bank of computers that wait until a person has answered before switching the call to an operator. The technology makes 30 percent more connections than straight dialing. And it accounts for the annoying delay you sometimes hear with sales calls, although they say it doesn't happen here. None of this would be economical without inexpensive labor.
Unskilled workers are in tight supply nationwide, so call centers seek out pockets of unemployment.
The company has added medical and other benefits for full-time workers to help control costly turnover, and a number of employees have been with the firm five years or longer. But turnover still totals about 60 percent to 70 percent a year. Often, it's much worse than that. During my visit here, each operator was expected to complete two sales in eight hours of roughly 160 calls. You've just got to deal with it.