Abstract
Telemarketing represents a substantial cost to firms which use it as a business-to-business marketing tool. One aspect of the cost is the ongoing communication with prospects who never buy the product or service being marketed. If this outcome could be determined earlier in the process, effort could be redirected toward prospects who might buy, making the process more efficient. In this study, ten variables which might be useful in determining the eventual outcome are examined. Either because they are not available early enough in the process or because of their weak correlations with eventual outcome, all but one of these variables is eliminated. Two promising techniques, discriminant analysis and logistic regression, are used to fit a model which predicts the eventual outcome of the process. The assumptions necessary for each model and the use of such a model to increase the efficiency of a telemarketing operation are discussed.