According to the DMA Response survey, telemarketing still ranks highest with a 5.78% response rate. 

Trailing behind are:

• dimensional mail (2.3%), and
• catalogs (2.18%). 

Direct Mail lags even further back at 1.88% and tied are:

• coupons (1.12%)
• e-mail (also 1.12%) 

But surprisingly e-mail  comes in second, only to telemarketing, in the ROI category.  ROI (return on investment) takes into account the actual cost verses the response.  Here, telemarketing has 18.2 index points vs. email with 16 index points.

So, the percentages are still with telemarketing as an excellent marketing tool for your business.  I think that’s because it is still the only media that allows immediate interactive communication between the seller and the buyer.  Being able to talk person-to-person still gets the best results.