Telemarketing vs. Telesales: What’s the difference?

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Years ago, the word ‘Telemarketing’ described all outbound calling activities, ranging from prospecting to closing sales to account support & management. 

In the late 80s, the word ‘Telesales’ became the buzzword for selling via phone and ‘Telemarketing’ was relegated to describing prospecting and lead qualification. 
‘Telemarketing’ was marketing and promotion.  ‘Telesales’ was the process of closing the sale over the phone.

These days, the words ‘Telemarketing’ and ‘Telesales’ are often used interchangeably.  If you look these words up in two different dictionaries, you will likely find the same definition used for both words (see ‘telemarketing’ in the American Heritage Dictionary and ‘telesales’ in the Cambridge Advanced Learner Dictionary).

Either term is acceptable, how you and your company use the words is the important part.