I think that buying contact or “call” lists for telemarketing can benefit your sales enormously because the right prospects can be targeted.  No need to call someone who isn’t likely to need your product. 

This is why List Brokers have become an industry that provides these lists.  A good call list is “like gold”.  And the key is a GOOD list.  Unfortunately, even this industry has its less reputable or unreliable providers.

Several problems can arise with your list if you don’t take the necessary precautions.  For example, contact information can be out of date, the phone numbers may be disconnected, and sometimes the same information is repeated again and again.  Because you pay for each listing, this misinformation can cost you extra money.

First, use List Brokers who you can verify, the same way you would with anyone you do business with:  get references.   Who has used their service?  Call and ask them how it worked for them.  How long have they been in business?  Do they have professional relationships established (i.e. Better Business Bureau membership)?  But most importantly, discuss ahead of time how they will handle large numbers of bad contact information.  Most lists should be valid within the last 6 months.  Will the List Broker give you a refund for bad contacts?  Or will they replace them?

Make sure you avoid problems by asking lots of questions up front, and by including in your agreement the terms for handling erroneous listings.