Sales Terminology Glossary – 415 Terms & Definitions for You to Know

By Elay Cohen
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A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

It’s pretty much a given that the Sales and Marketing field is competitive. But the biggest mistake you’re making is assuming that you’re ahead of the game. Knowing how to speak sales, understanding sales terminology, and learning the ABCs of sales words – literally – filters you from the noise because you understand how the field evolves. Many reps don’t put in the time to learn sales terminology, which might hinder their performance since the last time they saw sales acronyms was in Marketing 101.

Sales slang is only relevant in your professional circle. Your clients won’t appreciate it, but they will respond to the strategies you implement once you learn what’s behind the science of speaking sales. Sales is more than a couple of steps; it’s an entire field that involves metrics and data that gives you unmatched insight into human behavior.

With this comprehensive sales terminology glossary, you’ll boost your knowledge and act on it once you learn how to speak sales. Remember that what sets successful people apart is the information that they’re armed with and the insight that other people don’t put effort into gaining.

The Ultimate Sales Glossary

A

  1. A/B Testing – An experiment companies perform to determine the approach that attracts more customers. For example, a website publishes two different pages about the same product to test which one generates more leads.
  1. ABC – Always Be Closing. An outdated motivational sales approach popularized in the 1990s, where a rep’s strategy is considered a failure if it doesn’t result in a closing. People are less susceptible to aggressive sales pitches nowadays when information is easily found online.
  1. Account – A record that contains information about a person’s purchase history, behavior, preferences, and contact information.
  1. Account-Based Marketing (ABM) – A strategy where the most profitable customer accounts of a company are targeted with specialized sales strategies and promotions.
  1. Account-Based Selling (ABS) / Account-Based Sales Development (ABSD) – A B2B sales strategy where the most valuable business accounts of a company are segmented into groups and targeted with specialized services, agreements, and deals.
  1. Account Development Representative (ADR) – A person who specializes in the generation of quality leads, client engagement, increasing conversion rates, and enhancing the nurturing process.
  1. Account Executive – A sales executive that’s responsible for building relationships with potential leads for a business. The AE answers challenging questions and represents your product or company in the best light.
  1. Account-Based Everything (ABE) or Account-Based Revenue (ABR) – When different segments of an organization work towards satisfying the needs of and engaging high-value client accounts. This process is incorporated into the lifecycle of the client experience.
  1. Accounts Payable – Refers to any outstanding short-term balance that your company owes another party or vendor
  1. Accounts Receivable – Refers to any outstanding short-term dues that a vendor or entity owe you.
  1. Accredited Investor – A person that has a privileged status with the SEC, who makes $200,000 or more in annual take-home income ($300,000 if they are married) or if they have a total net worth of $1M not including their home’s worth.
  1. Adoption Process – Another term for the process that entails introducing the customer to the product and their final decision regarding it (approval or rejection). The process doesn’t necessarily lead to a sale.
  1. Advantage – The factually positive attributes of a product that do not need to an emotional appeal. For example, a laptop is better than a desktop for a professional who travels frequently and needs a portable device.
  1. AIDA – Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action. These four stages were the main attributes of the original, basic sales funnel. The acronym describes how marketers mapped the initial process.
  1. Amortization – Paying off debt through a scheduled payment plan.
  1. Analytical CRM – CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. It’s a technology system that allows marketers to manage accounts, keep up with leads, track client behavior, and tweak processes based on analytical data.
  1. Analytics – Data that is gathered over time about client behavior, purchases, trends, and actions allowing analysts to find patterns, improve business processes, and plan/forecast opportunities.
  1. Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) – Contractual-based, recurrent revenue that a company makes over a year. It also includes subscriptions.
  1. Applicant Tracking System – Software used by Human Resources departments to manage full-cycle recruitment, from application to the final offer.
  1. Application Program Interface (API) – A framework that lets third-parties access, exchange, and use information. For example, you can use an API to get the basic building block of a website’s format without having to build it from scratch yourself.
  1. Appointments Set – A term used to detail the number of (in-person or phone) appointments that a salesperson has with potential leads.
  1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) – A system or network that mimics human processing intelligence by programming it to analyze, interpret, forecast, and adapt to data input.
  1. Average Contract Value (ACV) – The total value extracted from one customer. If calculated per year, it’s called an Annual Contract Value.
  1. Average Dollar per sale (ADPS) – A formula where marketers divide the total dollar amount of sales over a set period by the number of individual sales.
  1. Average Sale / Selling Price (ASP) – The average price of a product or product group in a market.

B

  1. B2B (Business to Business) – When a company markets and sells to another company.
  1. B2C (Business to Customer) – When a company markets and sells services to customers.
  1. B2C2B (Business to Consumer to Business) – When a company targets an internal influencer (employee) from another company to get that company’s business.
  1. Back-out – When a customer backs out of a sales close / stops the process of buying something.
  1. Bad Leads – A potential customer that isn’t likely to convert to a paying customer. A skilled rep identifies bad leads early-on to avoid wasting time.
  1. BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, and Timeline) – A framework where these four elements must be present to determine the likelihood of a sale. Even one missing element significantly decreases the probability of a sale.
  1. BANT for SaaS Qualification – An adjusted BANT formula for companies that provide online services. Priority substitutes budget, decision-making replaces authority, impact replaces need, and event replaces timeline to determine the probability of a sale.
  1. Base / Base Salary – An agreed-upon, fixed salary paid to an employee without factoring bonuses or commission into the amount.
  1. Baseline – An established minimum standard used to compare something against.
  1. BASHO Email – A B2B email that targets an important decision-maker of a potential high-value account.
  1. Beating Objections – To address the customer’s issues/concerns allowing them to make a purchase decision. This is more commonly referred to as “overcoming rejections”.
  1. Bell-Shaped Curve – A visual representation of how a representative’s effort leads to conversion. To expand the curve, a rep needs to adjust sales tactics and their frequency.
  1. Benefit – The value that a product brings to a consumer that may come with an emotional enhancement
  1. Bluebird – Unexpected sales opportunities that reps stumble upon without actively seeking them.
  1. Bonus – Extra compensation given as a reward or gift in some cases, paid in addition to a base salary.
  1. Bookings – The net dollar amount of new accounts contracted.
  1. Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU) – The point where the customer has been through most of the funnel and all concerns have been addressed. This is the point where the rep starts closing the sale.
  1. Bounce Back Coupon Offer– A coupon that a customer gets after making a purchase that attempts to get the customer to make another purchase in a set period.
  1. Brag Book – A personal record of a sales rep’s accomplishments that includes testimonials and visual evidence used to underscore a rep’s track level of success to prospective customers.
  1. Business Development Representative – A skilled professional hired by companies to attract new business prospects, foster high-value relationships, and generate solid leads.
  1. Business Intelligence – The interpretation of analytics, information, and other data to make forecasts, decisions, and generate ideas.
  1. Buy Line – A line on a virtual map used to gauge the likelihood of converting a lead based on their emotional and intellectual engagement. If a prospect is below the line, they most likely won’t buy what you’re selling.
  1. Buyer – The person or entity making a purchase
  1. Buyer Behavior – The customer’s behavior pattern and preferences when buying.
  1. Buyer Persona – A virtual persona of your buyer that has the characteristics of your target audience based on market research.
  1. Buyer’s Remorse – A feeling of regret or anxiety about a purchase that compels buyers to return or cancel it.
  1. Buying Atmosphere – A deliberate effort by the sales rep to create an ideal experience and environment for a lead to convert.
  1. Buying Criteria – Information about the product that satisfies questions a customer has before considering a purchase.
  1. Buying Intent – The likelihood of making a sale based on a person’s behavior or online activity.
  1. Buying Process / Buying Cycle – The stages that a potential customer goes through from awareness to purchase.
  1. Buying Signal – A sign by the purchaser that he or she is ready to buy. It can be through verbal or nonverbal communication.

C

  1. C-Level / C-Suite – High-ranking executives in a corporation or company such as a CEO, CTO, or CFO.
  1. Call for Proposal – When a business asks companies to sell them their product. Companies usually compete for their business.
  1. Call-Back – A follow-up practice when a salesperson repeatedly contacts a customer after a set period to gauge interest or if a decision has been made
  1. Call-Blocks – The time that spent by representative searching for leads, performing administrative work, and performing follow-ups
  1. Call-In – When a potential client calls to inquire about the company or product.
  1. Calls – The process of contacting a lead. It does not have to be via telephone but can be in-person.
  1. Cancellation Prevention – Taking the necessary precautions to prevent buyer’s remorse.
  1. Cash Collection – The process of establishing how payment will be made on a product or service.
  1. Challenger Sales Model – A disruptive approach where customers are “challenged” out of their comfort zone to buy a product or service they might not necessarily buy otherwise.
  1. Champion / Challenger Test – A method that determines the best marketing strategy to take. The champion is the current approach or product, while the challenger is the new or proposed way to send the product.
  1. Channel Partner – A person or entity that partners with and sells the products of another company through co-branding. Examples of channel partners include distributors and resellers.
  1. Channel Sales – The process of grouping sales personnel that tackle different distribution channels for selling a product or service
  1. Churn – A term used to describe the percentage of clients who back out of a purchase or cancel it in a set timeframe.
  1. Churn Rate – A formula used to determine the annual rate of customers unsubscribing to a service. It is calculated by adding the total number of customers lost in a year and then dividing them by the number of customers that already existed at the beginning of the year.
  1. Claw-back – When money in the form of benefits has already been paid out to a person but is retrieved back. Most claw-back policies are included in contracts and are done for incentive-based pay.
  1. Click-Through Rate (CTR) – In digital marketing, a term that depicts how many times a link was clicked divided by how many times the page was shown.
  1. Client – The person or entity that buys the product or service your business offers.
  1. Close – when a Sales rep guides the client to the final decision of purchasing the product or service
  1. Closed Opportunities – A term used to describe closes that led to both a sale or lack thereof.
  1. Closed Question – A type of question asked by marketers to receive a yes or no response targeted to selling a product
  1. Closed-Won – A term that means a close that led to a successful sale and the successful conversion of a prospect to a customer
  1. Closed-Lost – When the deal is closed, but the customer does not purchase the product
  1. Closing Ratio – The percentage of closed wins that a sales rep accomplishes in a certain period. Usually used to evaluate the performance of new representatives.
  1. Cold Calling – The process of making unsolicited phone calls to cold prospects to inform and gauge interest regarding a particular product or service
  1. Cold Email – Sending emails to called prospects to inform them about a product or service and gauge their level of interest
  1. Collaborative CRM – A CRM program that lets several different entities both within and outside of the company to collaborate to streamline the customer experience
  1. Commission – An agreed-upon percentage taken from sales that a representative successfully closes as an addition to their base salary.
  1. Compensation – Compensation is the total amount of money that a salesperson makes, after base salary, bonuses, commission, and other allowances are factored.
  1. Complex Sale – A B2B purchasing process that involves several people and takes a longer time to finish than a standard sale cycle might.
  1. Compounded Annual Growth Rate – The rate at which the growth of a business is measured over time, starting from the initial investment.
  1. Consumer – The person who will use the product or service you offer.
  1. Contact – The first time that a sales rep and the potential customer communicate. The rep’s goal is to get the prospect to listen to their pitch.
  1. Content – An umbrella term that describes digital and/or printed media like text, images, video, and audio that informs and engages customers.
  1. Conversion – The stage when the potential customer purchases the product/service and becomes a paying customer.
  1. Conversion Path – A deliberate approach used on websites to map a prospect’s path towards a final goal, generating leads that are later marketed to with content.
  1. Conversion Rate – The percentage of people that successfully passed through the conversion path of a website and became paying customers.
  1. Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) – The amount of money that is spent producing a good (can be a product or service).
  1. Cost Per Click (CPC) – A fee that an online advertiser pays for every click their ad generates. The site they are advertising from sets the fee based on the popularity of the keyword in the ad.
  1. Cost Per Impression – The cost that an advertiser charges based on the number of people who have seen your advertisement online.
  1. Covenant – A written declaration or promise that another party will not undertake a particular action. A Non-Disclosure Agreement is an example of a covenant.
  1. Critical Questions – Questions that indicate the likelihood that a prospect will become a customer or if they have hesitations about it.
  1. Cross-Selling – The process of introducing a product to a customer, other than the one being sold, that compliments their current purchase.
  1. Current Customer – A person who has made a purchase within a set period, usually within 12 months.
  1. Current Customer Referrals – The process of determining if the current customer knows other people who might need the service or product that the representative sold them.
  1. Current Customer Upselling – When sales reps call existing customers and introduce them to additional products and services that complement their initial purchase.
  1. Customer – The person or entity who purchases a company’s product or service.
  1. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) – The average amount of money or resources that a company spends to attract a new customer. It is calculated by dividing sales, marketing, and overhead cost with the number of new clients in a given timeframe.
  1. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) – The value that a customer or entity is likely to bring to a company for the duration of their status as a customer.
  1. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – A technological system or practices that are done by a business aimed at managing and tracking data from customers to gauge levels of engagement and measure the success of adjustment measures.
  1. Customer Success – A mindset and strategy adopted within the B2B sphere to retain customers, measure satisfaction levels, and optimize the business relationship between them.
  1. Cycle of Sales – The modern sales process is divided into seven stages: prospecting, preparation, approaching, presenting, handling objections, closing, and following up.

D

  1. Dark – When a customer or entity “goes dark” and is no longer responding or interacting with engagement attempts
  1. Data – Qualitative or numerical information gathered and analyzed by a business to plan and predict future processes.
  1. Data Entry / Processing – Information that’s manually recorded and documented for later use. Nowadays, most of this data is stored in CRMs that streamlines operational processes.
  1. Data-Mining – Exploring a prospective pool of clients in one’s vicinity to get information on potential leads.
  1. Day Sales Outstanding – The duration of time it takes to acquire a client and for the client to make the payment.
  1. Days to Term Sheet – The time it takes from first contacting the client to the time the deal is sealed. The estimated average is a little over a month.
  1. De-Dupe – The process of removing duplicate data through filters or other means to correctly attribute a sale to one channel.
  1. Deal Closing – The stage of the sales process when the sale has been negotiated and the customer makes the purchase.
  1. Deal-Flow – The rate that a team brings in leads, or the average rate of leads in a pipeline.
  1. Decision-Maker – In sales terminology, the person who has the means and makes the final purchasing decision. Not to be confused with the gatekeeper, the person who allows you to speak with the decision-maker.
  1. Definition of Selling – Or simply just selling, it is the process of persuading a potential customer or entity to buy the product/service you’re offering.
  1. Deliverables – Quantifiable products or services promised to the customer after the completion of a task.
  1. Demand Generation – The targeted process of raising awareness and generating interest in a company’s products or services.
  1. Demo – A slang word that’s short for sales demonstration or presentation.
  1. Demo Goals – The goal that a sales rep establishes for the number of sales presentations he/she will give in a set period.
  1. Demo Ratio – A formula to determine the conversion rate of your initial contact with a client. It is derived by dividing the total number of contacts made with the number of people who progressed to seeing your demo.
  1. DevOps – Automated processes that happen based on how a customer reacts. For example, if a customer clicks on an email that’s part of a marketing campaign and interacts with it, another email is sent to them only based on their click.
  1. Dialer – A device or software that automates phone calls.
  1. Direct Mail – A form of marketing where tangible material is sent directly to a customer or prospect’s home address via a post office.
  1. Direct Response Marketing – A marketing technique that directly reaches potential clients to gauge and generate interest.
  1. Direct Sales – When selling to the customer face-to-face at the location of the product.
  1. Discount – A price reduction on a product or service that can be general (storewide sale) or specialized (given to existing customers).
  1. Discovery – The first point of contact with a potential client.
  1. Discovery Call – The initial phone call that gauges interest and whether a person or entity are part of their target client group.
  1. DOA Customer – A client who can’t make a purchase (can be for any reason). The sales pitch was dead on arrival.
  1. Doing Business As – A term used to inform the client that the rep or business is operating under a different brand than the one they are originally known as.
  1. Dollar Per Customer – The average dollar amount spent on a customer in a specific period.
  1. Dollar Per Sale – The average dollar amount of all sales in a given time, divided by the number of individual sales.
  1. Double Trigger – When two events, or triggers, happen during an acquisition that speeds up the process of vesting benefits if an employee is let go without cause.
  1. Drag-Along Rights – When the majority of investors have the power to create a legal change in a business.
  1. Draw – An upfront payment advance against an employee’s salary. It’s usually given to reps when they first start and haven’t made sales yet.
  1. Cap Draw – The maximum threshold that an employee is allowed to borrow against their salary. The limit that they can take as an advance payment.
  1. Draw on Sales Commission – An advance that is determined by the expected commission amount that a sales rep is projected to make.
  1. Drip Campaign – A digital email marketing campaign that steadily sends follow up and communication-based on the interest level of the prospect.
  1. Drive-By – Stopping by unannounced to speak with a lead or prospective customer.

E

  1. E-Commerce – Commercial transactions occurring electronically via the internet where the process of buying, selling, and displaying merchandise takes place.
  1. EBITDA – A term for the accounting standard used by large companies which stands for Earnings Before Interest Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization.
  1. Emotional Sale – The technique of arousing either positive or negative emotions in the buyer to generate a desire to get the product or service being offered. The goal is to put the prospect in a state of becoming emotionally invested, either by excitement or showing interest, in the product or service being offered.
  1. Employee Engagement – The level, process, or state of making an employee committed to the company and striving for improving the company’s image, well-being, and profitability.
  1. Engagement – The state or process of convincing an audience of continuous investment in a brand or company by marketing its relevance and benefits.
  1. Enrichment – The act or process of inducing target beneficiaries to have a better experience or relevance to a product or function via improvement or upgrades.
  1. Enterprise – In the context of sales, refers to the relatively large organization comprised of multiple levels, location, and departments needing multi-layer software systems for collaboration.
  1. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) – A term for the software used for centralizing HR, inventory, product planning, purchasing, shipment and fulfillment, and many more other functions.
  1. Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) – The event where a venture capital firm hires an already successfully exited founder to deal with diligence or flow.
  1. EOM – An acronym that stands for End of Month.
  1. EOQ – An acronym that stands for End of Quarter.
  1. EOY – An acronym that stands for End of Year.
  1. Equity – A term referring to common stock, preferred share, or security in other forms which represent the company’s ownership interest.

F

  1. FAB – An acronym that stands for features, advantages, and benefits, which are used by the sales representatives to communicate product or service value to their customers.
  1. Fair Market Value (FMV) – The price that a reasonably interested customer is willing to pay for an asset or service. Difficult to compute but used as company value basis.
  1. Field Day – The term for when a candidate is made to ride along with an experienced sales representative assigned to the position they are being interviewed for.
  1. Field Sales Rep – The salespersons who pitch products and services in person by visiting potential customers. Not necessary unless the company sells expensive products with lengthy sales cycles.
  1. Firmographic – The set of attributes that describe prospective organizational customers that could then be used to classify firms into applicable or relevant market segments.
  1. Fiscal Year – One year of financial accounting period used by businesses and governments for budget planning, performance assessment, strategy formulation, taxation, and others. In 2020, the fiscal year starts October 1, 2019, and ends on September 30, 2020.
  1. Forecasting – The act of estimating predicted sales performance for a forecast period using historical data, which is used for task planning and setting of standards.It is the act of estimating the occurrence of a future event based on extensive research on qualitative and quantitative data and historical events as well as connected factors.
  1. Footprint – The steps any normal order should go through from acquisition to delivery
  1. Fortune 500 – It is a coveted list of the 500 most successful companies based on revenue as compiled and published annually in Fortune Magazine.
  1. Forward Revenue – A recurring flow of income estimated to continue for the next 12 months. Public SAAS and COOS are based on this specific data. 5.0 X is the current median point for forward revenue.
  1. Four Stages of Learning – These refer to the four levels of learning that the person has to go through when trying to acquire new skills or knowledge.

G

  1. Gatekeeper – Someone who allows or prevents data from getting to another individual in the company. This title can apply to a receptionist or personal assistant. This can also be a person, an object or an entity that controls general access to another person or application with the designated attribute such as additional premium features in the case of a software program. It can also be the ability to make executive decisions on behalf of the company.
  1. General Manager – A general manager is someone in a position of varying importance in the company. He has different responsibilities depending on the nature of the company he works for. In general, he is the one who leads his apartment and is responsible for providing sound output for the company CEO.
  1. Global Business Unit – It is a semi-autonomous unit of a mega-corporation that focuses on a specific vertical market or a specific set of products, services, and functions in a global operation.
  1. Go-To-Market Strategy – It is a plan, a roadmap, or a set of actions that a company develops to optimize marketing and sales resources to promote a new (or re-branded) product or service. This allows the company to gain a competitive advantage over its competitors by using advertising, distribution, pricing strategy, social media engagement, and direct sales.
  1. Goal Card – A piece of paper or an electronic card that is designed to track demos, calls, and sales reports.
  1. Goal-D Card Incentive Program – This is a specific sales incentive program developed by Cycle of Sales. It is designed to encourage and motivate both small and large sales teams to provide positive results.
  1. GPCTBA / C&I – This acronym stands for Goals, Plans, Challenges, Budget, Authority, Consequences and Implications. This acronym applies to anything and everything about modern sales and product marketing.
  1. Gross Margin – The total sales less the cost of goods sold (COGS). The average for SaaS costs is 71%; however, it may vary in SassS. You need to be very clear about gross margin If you are running a transaction revenue business.

H

  1. Historic CLV – The sum of all profits from various customers past purchases within the store. The information is based on existing customer data and a specific time frame.
  1. Horizontal – A specific offering and sole market opportunity for a company.

I

  1. Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) – The kind of customer that possesses all the positive attributes that you might want in a client: their age, gender, location, physical appearance, social status or income and other related factors.
  1. Inbound – Interest driven by sales or marketing coming from outside the company into your network. It could be in the form of emails, forms submitted via your website, press inquiries, and many others.
  1. Inbound Sales – The process or method of getting market sales as a result of customers’ direct approach, engagement, and brand recognition. This can be achieved by focusing on your consumers’ needs and strategically offering your solution.
  1. Independent Software Vendor (ISV) – This is an association that practices exclusively in the development, marketing, and distribution of software programming, intended for mass or specialty markets.
  1. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) – It is a type of cloud computing that gives online computerized assets like pay-as-you-go storage, networking, and virtualization. It’s one of the three types of cloud services (SaaS and PaaS).
  1. Initial Public Offering – The selling of stock given by exclusively owned businesses and offered to the general society for the first time.
  1. InMail Messages – InMail Messages are a premium LinkedIn messaging feature that enables you to forward private emails to other LinkedIn users you’re presently not connected to.
  1. Inside Sales Rep – A salesperson directs the majority of their business online and via telephone. An inside sales rep ordinarily handles minor records than field reps and is one of the first sales jobs SaaS organizations employ when extending their team.
  1. Intellectual Sale – Unlike emotional deals, intellectual sales try to address a prospect’s rationale, and their requirement for a fast, cheap answer to an issue. They are more “business” than individualistic. Your Prospect equitably “requiring” your goods or administration. Your Prospect has a genuine need that your goods or services may fulfill. Check Emotional Deal likewise.
  1. IVR Systems – It is a technological system that enables PCs to interact with people over DMTF tones inputted via smart keypads interactive voice recording systems.

J

N/A

K

  1. Key Accounts – These are whale spenders or elite clients organized by agents and client achievement; stir from these customers would be harmful to the company’s income.
  1. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the most relevant quantifiable values that help show whether an association or individual has accomplished targets or a set degree of execution.
  1. Kickers – Kickers are financial rewards or additional commissions offered to persuade sales reps to surpass their quota, exhibit a particular service or goods, or focus on a specific market section.

L

  1. Land and Expand – To “land” a sale refers to the first close when you initially sign onboard a new client. To “expand” signifies producing significantly more income from the account by upselling or expanding the extent of the service you’re giving. Agents need to land and expand to create the most profit from a given prospect.
  1. Law of Averages – Your statistical means measured from getting a sale from calls to demos. An individual can design their outcomes with a decent share of precision if they know their measurements and altogether accepts and adheres to the theory of probability.
  1. Law of Compensation – This is also known as the Law of Reaping and Sowing. If you assist several people get what they need, you thus will get what you need.
  1. Lead – An individual or organization that’s demonstrated enthusiasm for an item or service in one way or another (a completed survey, subscription to a blog, or disclosed contact info in return for a coupon). Producing leads is a vital part of a prospect’s excursion to becoming a client. Lead alludes to a prospect or potential client (individual or association) that shows interest in your service or goods; or any extra info about such entities.
  1. Lead Generation – A Lead Generation is a group of exercises planned for creating enthusiasm around an item or service via strategies like:
    • Content promoting (blogging, digital recordings, free downloads);
    • Ads (PPC, banners, Business repository, event funding);
    • Referrals (proposals from existing clients);
    • Outbound broadcasting (cold email, cold pitching), and
    • Associations (joint endeavors, subsidiary advertising)

This process includes Investigating the “most plausible clients” to sell to in your area or sales territory. This is the rundown of “leads” or contacts you will get in touch with. Lead Generation is sometimes called “prospecting,” albeit prospecting has an alternate definition (see prospecting).

  1. Lead Nurturing – This is the way of connecting with and assembling long-term associations with forthcoming clients through various advertising methods that build up their inclination for your goods and services.
  1. Lead Qualification – It’s a process of organizing a marketing lead or qualified sales as customers that have had experience with your marketing team or sales. It is produced when the sales and marketing team work together to predict whether a prospect will make a purchase or not.
  1. Lead Scoring – It is a method in ranking prospects against a scale that stands for the perceived value to characterize by every lead to the organization.
  1. Lifetime Value (LTV) – To predict the received full net worth when affiliating with a particular customer. It measures the entire worth of a business in the whole course of a relationship with a specific customer.
  1. Loss Aversion – It describes the instances when people would rather avoid losses than obtaining equivalent gains.
  1. Loss Leader – It is a strategy for pricing where product prices are lower than its regular market cost to encourage the sales of more profitable products.
  1. LTV: CAC (Lifetime Value vs Customer Acquisition) – It is a ratio that measures the costs to acquire a customer and business’ lifetime value relationship with that customer.

M

  1. Machine Learning – It is the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to provide systems that do not need manual programming for improvement in experience.
  1. Margin – The collateral that counterparty and a financial instrument’s holder needs to deposit for coverage of credit risks.
  1. Mark-up – It is the business’s added value to increase the selling price of a product for additional profit.
  1. Marketing – It is the strategies that a company uses for promotion of a product’s buying or selling needs. The process where services and goods move from ideas to the customer.
  1. Marketing Qualified Lead – It is the lead that showed the most interest in a brand’s product or services based on marketing efforts. It’s the lead most possible for conversion than the other lead based on their visited web pages, downloaded content, and engagement.
  1. Master Services Agreement – It is the agreement or contract between two organizations where one agrees to handle particular marketing activities for the other party. These activities include building the other party’s online presence, formulating a market plan or creating an advertising campaign for a new line of products.
  1. Messaging – Messaging is the means of communicating the value position of your brand, along with the benefits that you aim to provide.
  1. Metrics – Metrics are quantitative assessment measures for tracking production or performance, comparing and assessing a particular business process’s status.
  1. Mid-market – It is a business in the average range between large and small companies that mostly have only fifty to a thousand employees.
  1. Middle of the Funnel – The assets grasping for leads already in your information system and interacting with your brand.
  1. Minimum Viable Product (MVP) – A development framework wherein a new product or website is made with enough basic features to satisfy early adopters and verify product-market fit and demand.
  1. Mirroring – Subtly adopting a sales prospect’s body language and speech patterns to build rapport.
  1. Monday Morning Meeting – A practice of conducting sales meetings at the start of each week, usually on Monday mornings, which discusses and communicates essential work information.
  1. Monthly Recurring Revenue – The expected regular and predictable income a company receives every month that is commonly used in rental and subscription-based businesses. It is what a subscription-based business receives with inclusions such as MRR obtained by new accounts, gained from up-sells, and lost from down-sells and cancellations. It also provides comprehensive knowledge about your business’ performance trajectory when understood well.
  1. Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) – It signifies the prospects that have shown enough interest to be determined as possible customers by the marketing department.

N

  1. Name Based Rapport – Effective utilization of “3rd Person Selling” to create interest and guide your prospect to be open-minded with your ideas.
  1. Name Dropping – The unreasonable practice of naming and mentioning names that may lead to the annoyance of your prospect.
  1. Natural Language Processing (NLP) – The crossroads of artificial intelligence and computational linguistics, where human language from contextual definitions is learned by machines to act and obey commands.
  1. Needs Assessment – The process of analyzing a person, system, or organization to determine the entity’s inadequacy and specific needs, resulting in a desired state or outcome.
  1. Negotiation – A process of bargaining or discussion between two or more entities to attain an acceptable mutual agreement.
  1. Net Asset Value (NAV) – Denotes the value of a mutual fund through deducting the liabilities from all market value shares then dividing by the number of issued shares.
  1. Net New Business – A new paying customer or an old dormant existing account that re-engages and reactivates as a revenue-generating account.
  1. Net Promoter Score (NPS) – A rating scale that permits you to measure your customers’ satisfaction, address their concerns, and identify brand advocates willing to give referrals. It is a survey administered on a scale of 1-10, with 9-10 considered as promoters, 6-8 as passives, and 1-6 as detractors to gauge the firm’s customer relationships.
  1. Net X – An indicator that payment is to be delivered in X days, typically Net 30 or Net 60.
  1. New Customer – A customer with no past transactions or who has never placed an order before.
  1. Non-Sales-Related-Activities (NSAs) – Unnecessary actions that are irrelevant to sales-related-activities, such as surfing the web and excessive email or voicemail checking. These activities are any actions that don’t directly result in sales, such as administrative tasks and paperwork, making personal calls, and surfing the Internet.

O

  1. Objection – A natural part of the sales process wherein a prospect refuses or rejects the benefits of a product or service depending on budget, need, and timing. It is a prospect’s statement or view that indicates disagreement or reservation about the specific company aspects or the entirety of the sales pitch that can hinder the sale’s closing process.
  1. Off-Schedule – A salesperson who does not abide by the agreed necessary tasks to accomplish their quota or obligation.
  1. On Track Earnings/On Target Earnings (OTE) – A standard sales pay structure that comprises a base salary with an additional amount of commission if quotas are met.
  1. Onboarding
    • A method that introduces a new customer to the product or service
    • A process that assimilates a recently hired employee or new customer into the workforce.
  1. Open Accounts – Any accounts that require additional work or attention to close and complete delivery or are ready to be re-sold.
  1. Operational CRM – The most common type of CRM system that helps a business manage its day-to-day marketing, sales, and customer service operations.
  1. Opportunity – A condition wherein the sales of the company are working a qualified lead. Also known as Sales Qualified Lead is a prospective customer or lead that has a higher likelihood of choosing and making a purchase according to a set of criteria.
  1. Optimization – The method or process of altering a system to attain full functionality or efficiency and generate maximum output or benefit.
  1. Org Structure – A definite formation or system that describes the hierarchy, lines of authority, and interrelationship aspects in an organization.
  1. Organization – An interrelated group of people exclusively bounded by a shared identity and collaborates with a common purpose and set of values.
  1. Outbound Sales – A procedure wherein a seller aims to close a deal down the line by directly initiating contact with the prospective customer.
  1. Overcoming Objections – To address the customer’s issues / concerns allowing them to make a decision to purchase. Referred to above as “overcoming rejections”.

P

  1. Package Sale – A process or an act of offering and selling multiple products or services at one presentation.
  1. Pain Point – An essential point that a sales representative must identify in the selling process to determine the prospect’s needs and provide concrete resolutions.
  1. Past Customer – A customer who has not made any additional purchases or transactions for a year or over.
  1. Payment – An act or process where the seller and customer discuss money matters and mutually agree on particular terms for the sales transaction.
  1. Performance Plan – A plan made when a sales rep doesn’t reach their particular quota in a given period and aims to set concise performance goals, develop sales skills, and provide a means for feedback.
  1. Pipe-Line – A line of your possible candidates that are more presumably to purchase within a given time frame. It is a step-by-step process to convert a prospect into a customer that sales reps need to go through or a visual presentation of the sales process where there is an arrangement of open opportunities based on their sales stage.
  1. Pitch – Also known as pitching your product, it is the act of marketing your goods or services.
  1. Platform as a Service (PaaS) – An act of marketing or selling a lightweight product with a large number of integrations or apps, or just the marketplace.
  1. Plays – Any agreed-upon selling approach or engagement strategy created to be repeatable and customized, which delivers the highest likelihood of closing a deal with a particular group of prospects during a period.
  1. Point of Contact – A unit or person representing an entity usually ordered to facilitate decision-making and coordinate the flow of information.
  1. Positioning Statement – The statements and questions that many sales reps utilize to start every sales call and engage the prospect in the conversation around their pain points.
  1. Predictive Analysis – A field or tool that formulates an informed forecast regarding the future performance, growth, or feasibility of a business using the historical data, statistical models, and emerging trends.
  1. Predictive CLV – A considered accurate method that businesses use to project and assess a customer’s total lifetime value.
  1. Presentation – The act of presenting actual sales, also called demos, which aims to create an emotional and intellectual deal.
  1. Presidents Club – An often coveted sales organization prestigious award that involves generous prizes and is given to elite performers due to their exemplary achievements.
  1. Pressure Sales Words – Any words or statements that cause some stress or concern on your prospective customers.
  1. Price-Build-Up – An act of making a relativity point to discuss the price of the products or services properly.
  1. Pricing / Price – The amount of money the client needs in order to obtain a service or get a product.
  1. Primary Influences – Composed of groups of people classified as customers, employers, lenders, stockholders, and vendors
  1. Pro-Rata – The proportional allocation of expenses, income, and other quantities to components based on the original total amount share of that component.
  1. Pro-Rata Rights – The right of first refusal for investors allowing buying of equivalent equity amounts when dilutions of their initial investments occur.
  1. Procrastination Objection – A term for those who hold the company stocks.
  1. Procurement – The process involves demand assessment, bid reviews, approval requests, and transaction logging to find and acquire goods and services.
  1. Product – A (usually) priced idea, item, service, process, or information needed or desired that is offered in the market.
  1. Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) – The collection of processes involving ideation, design, development, deployment, and termination/disposal in managing a service/product.
  1. Product Purchase Cycle – The term describing the situation wherein one is put-off by a prospect and leaves without a yes or no.
  1. Product Qualified Lead (PQL) – A customer with a relatively higher likelihood of purchasing, having met predefined criteria, and having used benchmark products.
  1. Professional Employer Organization (PEO) – A firm offering business/administrative services like employee benefits, payroll, workers’ compensation, risk/safety management, training and development, to employers.
  1. Profile – The action wherein sales or demonstrations are attempted via contacting leads.
  1. Profit Margin – The ratio of profitability presented as either net income over revenues or net profit over sales that measures a company’s earnings.
  1. Profitability – A term describing the ability, degree, metric, potential, or relative efficiency of a business to gain financially after deduction of relevant expenses.
  1. Proof of Concept (PoC) – The demonstration, prototype, or study that attempts to prove the feasibility and potential success of a business idea.
  1. Prospect A – A term for the length of time measuring the ordering habits of a customer.
  1. Prospecting – The action of prospectors wherein they search and find potential buyers that they can move through the sales cycle. It is the term for leads or decision-makers showing interest in the product or service being offered.
  1. Protected Territory – The information like first and last name, background, possible needs, and common name researched for building rapport with lead/prospect.
  1. Puppy Dog Close – A term for no-obligation customer usage of a product while they make their decision of purchasing or obtaining.
  1. Purchase Order (PO) – The document issued by a buyer indicating services/products and corresponding cost intended to be purchased from the seller.
  1. Push Counter – A dashboard tracker utilized in Customer Relationship Management that observes and checks how frequent closing an opportunity is pushed or postponed.

Q

  1. Qualified Lead – A contact person who communicates with the company and gains knowledge about the products or services that leads to an increase in their engagement.
  1. Qualifying Your Prospect – An act of striving to receive a verbal affirmation from your prospect that they are willing and able to make a purchase decision.
  1. Quarter – A fixed three-month period in a company’s financial calendar wherein comparing performance analysis, reporting earnings, paying dividends, and forecasting is made.
  1. Quota – The predetermined amount of sales a sales representative must reach over a given period, typically within a month or quarter. It is a set specification that indicates the sales goal of a sales rep within a given time frame and usually measures the success, performance, and eligibility for rewards.

R

  1. Ramp Up – The condition wherein a salesperson or team has achieved full productivity, the effort to accomplish that state, and the period at which quota is reached.
  1. Rapport – The usual things (such as names) between a salesperson and a prospect.
  1. Recruiter – An agency or person whose particular objective is to find, evaluate, hire, and integrate the organization’s members or employees.
  1. Referral – The method, process, or technique to which a third party shares information about a new prospect to produce sales leads. It is the act of attaining additional information from a prospect, current customer, or associate about other potential opportunities.
  1. Referral Appreciation Gesture – The act of giving a thank you note or token to acknowledge your appreciation for obtaining a referral from a current customer or prospect.
  1. Relationship Business Management (RBM) – A method or process wherein customer interactions from a transaction-based paradigm are transitioned to a long-term subscription.
  1. Request for Information (RFI) – A standard business process or document that seeks to collect text-based information regarding the capabilities of vendors or business entities.
  1. Request for Proposal (RFP) – A business document that solicits the proposal or bid of vendors or service providers to submit during procurement.
  1. Request for Quotation (RFQ) – A business document that asks comprehensive quotes and pricing for the procurement of an item or the completion of a particular task from suppliers or service providers.
  1. Request for Tender (RFT) – A process wherein suppliers or service providers are formally invited to present a proposal for the purchase of a commodity, item, or service.
  1. Retention Rate – A term that signifies the rate of repeat customers or the client’s retention percentage.
  1. Return on Investment – A metric or percentage calculated by dividing the benefit or return by the cost of investment, specifying the profitability of an acquisition.
  1. Revenue – A term that is otherwise known as sales, which refers to the amount of money that is generated for a specific period by a business.
  1. Ride-Along – The percentage of clients that are repeat customers or are retained by the company.
  1. Right of First Refusal (ROFR or RFR) – The term for the contractual right granted to a holder allowing the performance of specific business transactions before they are offered to third parties.
  1. Rule of Reciprocity – The sociological rule that encourages a person to act positively towards another with the expectation of being treated likewise in return.

S

  1. SaaS – An acronym that stands for Software as a Service.
  1. Sales Acceleration – The act or practice of using tools and technologies to speed up sales processes by improving the productivity and efficiency of sales professionals.
  1. Sales Automation – The act or practice of simplifying, speeding up, or streamlining entire or components of the sales process using software.
  1. Sales Bundle – The term for when a sales representative rides with or observes another in their territory in the hopes of improving the former’s sales skills.
  1. Sales Calls – The term for articles usually includes contracts, payment arrangements, artwork, or job specifications of sales that are to be submitted properly to customer service.
  1. Sales Champion – A prospect that is deeply invested in a product and has the influence and authority to advocate its adoption and success.
  1. Sales Coaching – The process largely uses behavioral changes and new skills development to help sales professionals improve their performance, efficiency, and impact.
  1. Sales Cycle – A repeating process a company undergoes characterized by predictable sequences of stages of selling products and services to customers. It is one of the vital sales stats involving phone or in-person contacts to find prospects, setting an appointment, or conducting a phone demo or sales presentation.
  1. Sales Demo – An act or process aiming to lead an audience towards purchase by showing functions, benefits, and value of a product or service being marketed.
  1. Sales Development Rep – The first point of contact for a prospect assigned to identify opportunities for the team by setting as many qualified meetings and demos as possible. Also known as Business Development Representative (BDR) who is a sales specialist tasked to find new prospects, establish foundational relationships, and refresh sales pipelines.
  1. Sales Director – A senior-level executive assigned to oversee the sales operations by leading strategy, plans, and policy formulation and execution, budgeting, supervising, and ensuring continuous sales growth.
  1. Sales Enablement – A strategic part of the sales process focused on the alignment of people, processes, and priorities using relevant learning, coaching, and communications to align sales and marketing correlating to superior sales performance. Learn more about sales enablement.
  1. Sales Engineer – Otherwise known as solution architects and pre-sale engineers, they translate technical terms to layman to answer technical questions and conduct product demos for qualified leads.
  1. Sales Funnel – The visualization that defines the stages where prospective customers are being led by sales representatives to a purchasing decision.
  1. Sales Kickoff – A major annual event celebrating the previous year’s key achievements and setting of company goals for continued high performance for the coming year.
  1. Sales Lead – A prospect for a product or service that has shown interest and given their contact information to the company.
  1. Sales Manager – An executive tasked to set goals, meet targets, formulate plans and policies, designate tasks, and develop salespeople. Leader of a sales unit, team, or department.
  1. Sales Methodology – The hows of skill set selling as defined by John Kenney of Sales Benchmark Index, which sales leaders use to teach and motivate their team.
  1. Sales Operations – A collection aimed at achieving organizational goals, particularly in sales revenue, market coverage, and growth through aligned business practices, strategic implementations, and other activities.
  1. Sales Partnerships – A formal collaboration aiming to bolster the sales performance of a product or service between individuals and organizations for mutual benefit.
  1. Sales Pipeline – A visual approach that consists of six stages, namely initial contact, qualification, meeting/demoing, proposal/negotiation, and closing, that reveal the number of ongoing opportunities. It describes the status of the sales prospect in terms of their current stage in the customer life cycle or sales process.
  1. Sales Pipeline Coverage – A metric assessing whether current businesses present meet foreseeable goals. The ratio of Pipeline Forecast / Sales Forecast = (Average Sales Days / 90 Days) * (1 / Close Rate).
  1. Sales Presentation (or Sales Demo) – The individual is tasked to do training or motivating as well as managing/accounting a sales team’s results.
  1. Sales Prevention Department – A term for non-affection used to describe the company’s legal department responsible for multiple rounds of back-and-forth contracts, service legal agreements, immovability, and legal issues.
  1. Sales Process – The strategic steps for the alignment of market insights, methodologies, personnel, relevant business units, and technology to drive sales growth.
  1. Sales Productivity – A metric based on sales volume, payroll expenses, personnel activity level, and others, indicating a sales unit’s efficiency at closing sales and generating revenue.
  1. Sales Prospect – A prospect with the buying authority, financial capacity, and willingness to purchase that are sufficient enough to be upgraded in the sales funnel.
  1. Sales Prospecting – The process of using networking, cold calling, advertising, and other engagement methods to find, build, and qualify a pool of potential buyers or clients.
  1. Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) – The prospects forwarded to quota-driven Account Executives for closing-level engagements after meeting the MQL criteria and showing a higher likelihood of making a purchase. It is a prospective customer vetted by marketing and sales teams and have met lead qualification criteria. Ready to be handed-off to a quota-carrying sales rep.
  1. Sales Related Activities – One of the vital sales stats wherein a demonstration of service or product for a client is done, with the objective of making a sale.
  1. Sales Roles – The representatives consist of Inside Sales Rep, Sales Development Rep, Sales Engineer, etc. that create solutions and ensure a smooth sales process to customers.
  1. Sales Sequence – A particular order of activities and the frequency guided by data analytics upon which the sales team attracts a prospect or an account.
  1. Sales Territory – The area of focus or domain of a salesperson wherein they are to gain sales.
  1. Sales Training – A process of enhancing the skills, mindset, and behavior of sales professionals to increase the efficiency of their selling performance.
  1. Sandler Training – An organization that provides training on sales performance, management, and leadership to professionals worldwide.
  1. Schedules and Habits – A sales professional’s regular schedules and habits that indicate the number of demos and sales made.
  1. Scraping – Data scraping or data harvesting is a procedure for extracting vast amounts of data and valuable information from websites.
  1. Sealing-Off Objections – A method used to restrain an endless stream of objections and carry the prospect to the point of decision.
  1. Segmentation – A process of separating large markets into different divisions according to demographics and other factors to generate respective strategies and engage consumers in each segment.
  1. Selling is a Numbers Game – A belief formed from conducting sales-related activities then seeing predictable results based on numbers and statistics.
  1. Selling the Sizzle – The technique of selling the product’s benefits rather than its features.
  1. Selling, General, And Administrative (SG&A) – The expenses not associated with the production of products or services, which are often listed in a company’s income statement under operating costs.
  1. Sender Policy Framework (SPF)/Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKIM) – An online security process that verifies and prevents email fraud, phishing, impersonation, spam, spoofing, and other harmful online undertakings.
  1. Service Level Agreement (SLA) – An agreement between the company’s sales and marketing teams regarding their expectations to integrate both departments properly. This agreement requires particular requirements such as quality, availability, and other aspects.
  1. Serviceable Available Market (SAM) – A part of the Total Addressable Market (TAM) targeted by a business based upon its current capabilities, realistic reach, or prior track record.
  1. Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM) – A segment of the Serviceable Available Market (SAM) that a business can realistically capture or achieve in the short term.
  1. Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) – SPA, also known as Share Sale Agreement, is a legal contract between the company, its shareholders, and investors that finalize the terms for the purchase and sale of shares.
  1. Shareholders’ Agreement (SHA) – A definitive contract among the company’s shareholders that authorizes the standards for the company’s operations and specifies the rights and obligations of shareholders.
  1. Side Selling – An act of marketing or selling complementary products or services to a prospective customer who uses a competitor for your main product. A method of selling additional complementary products to a prospect when they are already utilizing a competitor for your lead product.
  1. Signaling – A process wherein a consumer shows willingness to sign up, participate in events and ask about your solutions to convey their readiness to purchase your product or service.
  1. Signup Conversion Rate – A percentage of website visitors that turn to registered users, computed by dividing the number of landing page visitors by the number of service registrants.
  1. Signup-to-Paying Conversion Rate – A percentage of consumers that become paying customers who converted their accounts into a premium or paying account.
  1. Siloed – A term used to describe an organization run and managed separately, which makes their units or departments lack coordination, synergy, or collaboration.
  1. Single Sign-On (SSO) – A technique or method considered safer in both cybersecurity and enterprise permissions because it permits access to multiple but independent software systems using a single ID and password.
  1. Smarketing – A practice of aligning the Sales and Marketing efforts for coordinated communication to impact the bottom line with their best. It is a process that closely aligns the business’ sales and marketing operations to increase revenues through an integrated shared strategy.
  1. Smile and Dial – The act of cold-calling with a positive and bright tone of voice and a smile that communicates warmth and trustworthiness over the phone.
  1. Social Selling – The sales reps act of using social media to provide value by answering the prospect’s questions and offering helpful content until they buy.
  1. Software as a Service (SaaS) – A software distribution model accessed on the Internet using cloud and browser technologies, which customers can use under a subscription agreement.
  1. Software Capitalization – An accounting technique or method that considers software-related procurement or development as fixed assets.
  1. Solution – A set of useful ideas, processes, strategies, technologies, and services, which effectively helps an organization reach its goals amidst challenges.
  1. Solution Selling – A commonly adopted sales approach in a B2B environment wherein a salesperson analyzes the customer’s problems and proposes a solution using the company’s products or services.
  1. Sound Bite – The set of words or phrases utilized by sales reps to respond and overcome customer’s objections.
  1. Spiff – An immediate financial bonus, paid vacation, or non-cash prize for reaching a milestone, which is a quickly awarded incentive.
  1. SPIN Selling – The acronym for Situation, Problem, Implication, and Need-payoff, which are the four types of questions a sales professional must ask a prospect to form a customer-centric paradigm and increase closing rate.
  1. SQLs – A Sales Qualified Lead comes from being Marketing Qualified Lead that is an excellent customer fit for meeting the organization’s lead qualification criteria.
  1. Stage – A portion of the sales pipeline that represents every step in the sales process.
  1. Stakeholder – A person or an entity who shows interest in a company, product, or process and usually concerned about its welfare.
  1. Statement of Work (SOW) – A project management document to which all the parameters of work made by a vendor for a client, such as nature, scope, activities, schedule, and costs are contained.
  1. Straight-Commission – The act of working only on a commission basis.
  1. Strategic Investment/Smart Money/Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) – A form of investments made by corporations, angel investors, and venture capitalists in businesses and startups, which they consider favorable.
  1. Structured Data – A highly organized information added into, managed and searched for in a database effortlessly.
  1. Subject Matter Expert (SME) – A person with authority or an expert in a specific field, topic, or domain.
  1. System of Record (SOR) – A management system and information storage that serves as an authoritative source for particular data items in systems where multiple sources of the same things exist to secure data integrity.

T

  1. Target – A subset of potential consumers or a particular group in which a company plans to market its products or services. It is the prospects or group of people to which a company sets and gives their marketing effort to convert them into customers.
  1. Technical Definition of Selling – Selling is the process of conveying information and marketing products or services to a prospect that leads to an emotional and intellectual desire to purchase.
  1. Temperature Questions – The set of questions asked by a salesperson to determine the prospective customer’s position in the buy-line.
  1. Tenor – The amount of time left to fully pay a loan before the expiration of the financial contract defining its terms and conditions.
  1. Territory – The term for questions that are asked to gauge the level of the prospect in consideration of the buy-line.
  1. Territory Management – A term for the area which the sales representative is assigned to focus on to get buyers. Often organized by geographical boundaries or zip codes.
  1. Time Bandits – The geographical area that is properly worked on by an assigned sales representative with the goal of maximizing monetary profit from that location.
  1. Time Kills All Deals – A phrase describing how the sales deal should be made within the shortest time possible as it is less likely to happen as time passes.
  1. Tire-Kicker – A prospect that might be genuinely interested in the product but has no real intention nor the ability to purchase.
  1. Top-Level Domain (TDL) – The term for the domains in the Domain Name System of the Internet (DNSI) that are among the highest-ranking domain types.
  1. Top of the Funnel (TOFU) – The first stage in the buying process where leads identify a problem and researches for information, probing marketers to offer helpful content and further steps. It is the term used for the screening of prospects until the identification of those inclined to purchase. May also refer to raw leads showing initial interest in the product.
  1. Total Addressable Market (TAM) – The largest possibility in terms of revenue for a specific company, organization, or business.
  1. Total Available Market – The potential total revenue of a specific product or service while also considering its market input in the future.
  1. Total Value to Paid In (TVPI) – A term that measures fund performance by calculating the ratio of distributed and undistributed investments to the amount of invested capital.
  1. Touches – The term for milestones unit or the contact points measuring the marketing effort needed to make a viable and qualified lead from a prospect.
  1. Trade-Shows – Non-sales related activities that negatively impact the time and effort poured for sales related activities.
  1. Training Period – Marketed events that lead go to in order to gain information about their occupation or industry. These are usually sponsored by vendors to gain exposure.
  1. Tranches – Slices or portions of debt released consecutively within a specific time frame.
  1. Triggers – These are a set of signals or symbols that signify the chance to make the proper sale.
  1. Turn-Over Rate – The amount of time that is given to a new sales agent before they are expected to make profits.

U

  1. Unicorn – Unicorns are startup companies valued at over one billion dollars or more.
  1. Unique Selling Point / Proposition (USP) – The term points to a specific concept in marketing that has to do with certain product advantages, whether price, quality, services, or features.
  1. Unit Economics – The application of economic principles as they impact one business entity.
  1. Up and to the Right – Applies when one can make a good sales pitch or business move and proposal.
  1. Upsell – How many times a sales position becomes vacant. For example, if the average salesperson keeps his job for six months, that position will experience a 6-month turnover rate. Sales are proven to have higher turnover rates compared to other positions.
  1. UpSelling – To make a sale more profitable by selling a better version of the products that the customer initially bought. For example, if a salesperson upgrades your mobile phone plan to a much faster one than the original, this is called up-selling.
  1. User – The person who consumes a product or service, whether online or off.
  1. User Experience (UX) – UX pertains to everything that covers the customers’ interaction with any product, service, or company. The word can also refer to anything that affects the customer’s emotions.
  1. User Interface (UI) – Anything that helps the customer access digital products such as gadgets, phones, computers, or websites.

V

  1. Value Proposition – Also called Value Prop. It is an advantage that makes the product sure of is far more attractive to customers. This idea is what makes a product or service stand out against the competition – a state of the company’s message that will explain why people should prioritize or get any of the company’s new releases.
  1. Value Statement – A statement from the company that informs customers of the establishment’s initial plans and priorities for its market.
  1. Value Triangle – A marketing ploy that has to do with three main factors: Concept, quality, and speed. It helps determine the value of any company product before it is released.
  1. Vertical – A marketing strategy where the company only targets a specific group of customers or a niche. It can also apply to a particular sector in society or a group of people based on their career paths.
  1. Virtual Machine (VM) – A software-driven solution that copies a complete and conventional computing environment for businesses. It is equipped with an operating system and dedicated hardware.
  1. Vital Sales Stats – These are among the most critical sales numbers to track for you to be deemed successful as a sales executive. Sales calls and appointments also play a role.

W

  1. Warm Call – When a representative visits a customer with whom he or she has had prior contact with. It could have been at a party or any company event.
  1. Warm E-Mail – When a sales executive starts emailing a potential client that he or she has had contact with before sending the first e-mail.
  1. Warrant – The right of the titleholder to get shares from the issuing company within a specific time frame. The sale has a designated fixed price.
  1. Weighted Pipeline – A more detailed version of a sales pipeline. Here, each point within the sales stage has a value. It depends on which stage they already are in the sales process.
  1. Whale (or White Whale) – A business prospect that can bring more considerable revenue to the company. The literary character of Moby Dick inspired the concept.
  1. White Hat – Excellent or lawful behavior. It can also pertain to any illegal activity that has been sanctioned by the government for legal or protective purposes. Such activities include hacking, for example.
  1. White Label – Any products or services that can be purchased and legally marketed by any company.
  1. Wireframes – Rough representations of any service or product for market sales. For web development, this refers to one of three significant types of website modeling.

X

N/A

Y

N/A

Z

  1. Zeroed Out – This concept occurs when any sales representative earns enough commissions to turn their draw balance to zero; it means that they have zeroed-out their account. They will be able to earn commissions again from the top.

Now that you know these terms, what next?

Learning the right sales words and acronyms isn’t enough; you need to act on the terminology that you’ve read. A smart marketer and salesperson knows how to use systems, processes software, and how to apply strategies learned in this sales glossary to generate leads, learn about human behavior, and make additional income.

With this sales glossary and your existing sales knowledge, you can tweak your image and strategy to target and retain the clients you want. The best salespeople have an innate ability to charm, but they also have the foresight to apply what they’ve learned and evolve their strategy to stay ahead.

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