90+ Sales Terms Explained: The Ultimate Sales Glossary

If you're in sales, then you know that there are a lot of terms and phrases that get thrown around.

And if you're not in sales, then you've probably heard some of these terms and wondered what they mean.

Whatever your case is, this article will explain over ninety sales terms — so by the time you’re done reading, you'll have a better understanding of what's going on in the world of sales.

90+ Sales Terms Explained

A

A/B Testing

A/B testing is a method of marketing research where you show two different versions of something to two different groups of people (group A vs group B) and then see which version performs better.

For example, you can run these tests with websites, where you might show group A the current website design and group B a new design, to see which one gets more people to sign up or make a purchase.

Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

ABM is a strategy B2B companies use to target and connect with key accounts. And these "accounts" are often specific departments within a company, or an entire company itself.

The end goal of ABM is to create personalized campaigns that will resonate with each account and ultimately increase B2B sales.

Account-Based Selling (ABS) / Account-Based Sales Development (ABSD)

A B2B sales strategy where segmented business accounts are targeted at multiple touchpoints and providing exceptional service in order to generate revenue. We have a post on this matter if you want to learn more.

Account Executive (AE)

An Account Executive is responsible for achieving monthly sales quotas through direct client interaction, prospecting, presentations, and product demonstrations. Usually, an AE must maintain a high level of activity to generate a sufficient pipeline of opportunities to meet quotas.

For example, they might be responsible for making 20 phone calls per day, meeting with 5 prospective clients per week, and so on.

Account Mapping

Account mapping is a visual representation of the decision-makers in a company and how they are connected to each other. It is often used in sales and marketing to help identify buying committees and key influencers within an organization.

Accounts Receivable

Refers to the amount customers owe for goods or services they have received but not yet paid for.

After-Sales Service

After-sales service is the provision of additional services to customers after they have purchased a product.

For example, if a customer purchases a car, the after-sales service would be the servicing and maintenance of the car. And if a customer purchases a computer, the after-sales service could be the warranty and technical support.

AIDA

AIDA means Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. It's a framework businesses use to market and sell a product successfully.

First, you get their attention, then you interest them in what you're offering, then you create a desire for it, and finally, you get them to take action and buy it.

Always Be Closing (ABC)

ABC is a sales strategy that emphasizes the importance of closing deals. The idea behind ABC is to maximize every opportunity presented by a potential customer and ensure that no time or effort is wasted on activities that won’t lead to sales.

Analytical CRM

Analytical CRM (customer relationship management) offers analytical capabilities that help businesses in forecasting, scaling, and improving customer relationships. It also helps companies identify specific customer segments that offer the best business opportunities.

Analytics

Analytics is used in identifying, modeling, understanding and predicting trends and outcomes while aiding management in understanding where salespeople can improve.

Annual Contract Value (ACV)

ACV is the total monetary value of a contract over the course of a year. For example, if a customer pays your business $5000 per month, their ACV would be $60,000.

Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)

ARR is the amount of revenue a company makes on a yearly basis from its recurring customers. Businesses often use this metric to predict future revenue growth and assess the health of their business.

For example, if a company has 5,000 customers and sells its product for $59 per month, its ARR would be 5000 (customers) x $59 x 12 (months) = $3.54 million.

Applicant Tracking System

A human resource software that acts as a database for job applicants and manages the full cycle of hiring from organizing, searching, communicating to a large group of applicants to a final offer.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Intelligence demonstrated by computer systems as opposed to natural intelligence displayed by humans or animals. It can perform tasks that normally require human intelligence like analysis, forecast, data interpretation, and decision making.

Average Contract Value (ACV)

The average monetary value a customer contributes to a company for a designated time period. If calculated over a period of one year, it's called Annual Contract Value.

Average Order Value (AOV)

AOV is a measurement of the average amount of money that your customers spend per order. You can use this number to track customer spending habits and optimize their marketing and sales strategies accordingly.

AOV calculation: Total Revenue / Number of Orders

For example, if your store had $10,000 in sales from 100 orders last month, your AOV would be $100.

Average Revenue per User (ARPU)

ARPU is a measure of the revenue generated by a company per user. There are a few different ways to calculate ARPU, but the most common is Total Revenue / Total Number of Users.

Average Sale / Selling Price (ASP)

The average price of a product or service in a market. It may act as a benchmark for other competitors within the same market to set the price for goods.

B

B2B

B2B means business to business, describing businesses selling to other businesses. A good example of a B2B business is an automobile company that sells its cars to dealerships.

B2C

B2C means business-to-consumer, describing businesses selling directly to consumers. A good example of a B2C company is Amazon—as they sell products directly to consumers through their website and apps.

Bad Leads

A potential customer who is unlikely to convert to a paying customer. These are low qualified prospects and it's important to filter bad leads out early in the sales cycle to avoid wasting time.

BANT

BANT is an acronym for Budget, Authority, Need, and Timing. These represent the factors potential buyers often consider before making a purchase.

Ballpark

Ballpark is a term used to describe the approximate cost, value, or range of something. For example, if you're asked how much you think a new car costs, you might say "it's in the ballpark of $20,000"—meaning that it costs somewhere around that amount.

BASHO Email

A BASHO email is a personalized B2B message commonly addressed to decision-makers and aimed at getting the first phone call or meeting with them. Being a type of cold email, it helps a sales rep get a prospect's attention by showing their understanding of the prospect's needs and pain points.

Below the Line (BTL) Sales Promotion

BTL is a sales promotion technique that involves activities designed to generate consumer interest and awareness about a product or service. Common BTL activities include in-store promotions, point-of-purchase displays, sampling, and coupons.

Big Ticket Items

In sales, big-ticket items are high-priced products or services that have a significant impact on your business. These items are usually large and require a significant investment on the part of the buyer.

Bookings

The net dollar amount of a won, signed, or committed sale.

Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU)

BOFU refers to the final stage in the customer's journey where they are making their purchasing decision. At this stage, they are heavily considering your brand and are either comparing you to your competitors or ready to make a purchase.

Break-even

Break-even is a point when income and expenses are equal. In a business venture scenario, the profits are equal to the costs.

Business Development Representative

A Business Development Representative (BDR) is a sales rep who focuses on generating qualified prospects using cold email, cold calling, social selling, and networking.

Business Intelligence (BI)

Business intelligence is the process of gathering, storing, analyzing, and providing access to data you can use to improve business performance. In other words, BI is all about using data to make better business decisions.

For example, a retail company might use BI to track sales data and customer behavior in order to make decisions about inventory, store layout, marketing campaigns, and more.

Buyer Behavior

Buyer behavior refers to the decision and acts people undertake to buy products or services for individual or group use. It's synonymous with the term “consumer buying behavior,” which often applies to individual customers in contrast to businesses.

Buyer Journey

A buyer journey is the steps your ideal customer takes on their way to becoming a paying customer. It’s basically their buying process.

For example, a customer might first become aware of your product or service through a blog post or social media mention. They might then visit your website to learn more, and eventually decide to make a purchase. That's one example of a buyer journey—but there are many possible variations.

Buyer Persona

A buyer persona is a fictional, generalized representation of the individuals who are involved in purchasing your product. Creating a buyer persona helps you better understand them so that you can market to them more effectively.

For example, if you’re a B2B software company, your buyer persona might look something like this:

Name: Sarah; Title: Marketing Manager

Company: Small- to medium-sized business

Location: San Francisco, CA

Needs/Challenges: Sarah needs to increase the company's website traffic in order to generate more leads.

Buyer’s Remorse

Buyer's remorse is a feeling of regret or anxiety after making a purchase. It usually occurs after a person makes a significant purchase, such as a home or new car, but it can occur after smaller purchases.

Buying Intent

Buying intent is the level of interest and motivation that a consumer has when considering purchasing a product or service. Sales and marketing teams often use it as a metric to gauge how likely a prospect is to convert into a paying customer.

Buying Process / Buying Cycle

The stages that a potential customer goes through from awareness to purchase. The 5 stages which a consumer often goes through when they are considering a purchase: problem or need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase, and post-purchase behavior.

Buying Signal

Buying signals are the actions potential customers take that indicate they're close to making a purchase. It can be verbal or non-verbal. Eg. When the customer continually nods their head up and down the non-verbal signal is positive.

C

Challenger Sales

Challenger Sales is a selling technique developed by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson. The basic idea behind Challenger Sales is that the best salespeople don't just sell products, they challenge their customer's assumptions and help them see reasons why they need to change.

For example, a Challenger Salesperson might say to a customer, "I know you're happy with your current supplier, but have you considered that this other product is 20% cheaper and just as good?" This type of statement challenges the customer's assumption that they are getting the best deal possible and provides an interesting reason to switch to the new product.

Channel Partner

A channel partner is a company that partners with a manufacturer or producer to market and sell the manufacturer's products, services, or technologies. This is usually done through a co-branding relationship. Channel partners may be distributors, vendors, retailers, consultants, systems integrators (SI), technology deployment consultancies, and value-added resellers (VARs) and other such organizations.

Channel Sales

In a channel sales model, a company sells through third-party partners — affiliate partners (who get commission on each purchase), resellers, value-added providers (who typically bundle your product with their own), or another entity that doesn't work for you directly.

Churn

Churn (or churn rate) is the metric used to measure how many customers or subscribers discontinue using a company's products or services during a time period. It's usually expressed as a percentage and calculated by taking the number of lost customers or subscribers, divided by the total number of customers or subscribers:

C-Level or C-Suite

C-level or C-suite refers to a company's most senior executives. The most common C-level titles are the chief executive officer (CEO), chief financial officer (CFO), chief operating officer (COO), chief information officer (CIO), and chief marketing officer (CMO).

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

CTR in digital marketing is the number of clicks that your ad receives divided by the number of times your ad is shown: clicks ÷ impressions = CTR. For example, if you had 5 clicks and 100 impressions, then your CTR would be 5 percent.

Closed-Lost

Closed-lost is a term used to show that a deal has been officially lost.

Closed Opportunities

There are two possible outcomes to a sales opportunity. Closed Won- The sale is secured and a transaction takes place or Closed Lost- The customer chooses not to follow through with the purchase and no revenue is made.

Closed Question

Closed-ended questions are questions to which the customer can answer either “Yes” or “No”. In other words, the term “closed-ended question” means you get a specific answer, rather than an abstract one, which can help you adjust the sales process.

Closed-Won

Closed-won describes the status of a lead or opportunity that has been successfully converted into a sale.

Closing Ratio

Closing ratio is a measure of how successful you are when it comes to converting prospects into customers. It is calculated by dividing the total number of sales closed by the total number of sales opportunities. A high closing ratio signals that a business is effectively turning leads into customers, while a low closing ratio may indicate that the sales process needs to be improved.

Cohorts

Cohorts are a group of customers who signed up for a product or service around the same time frame or took part in the same onboarding group.

Cold Calling

Cold calling is the process of making phone calls to potential customers who do not know you and have not previously expressed an interest in your products or services. And the goal is often to get them to buy your product.

Cold Emailing

Cold emailing is the process of sending emails to people you don’t know to build a relationship or sell them something.

If you are looking to streamline your email outreach, you should try our powerful cold email generator, an AI tool that simplifies the process of crafting effective email templates for your next campaign.

Commission

Commission is the agreed-upon percentage of the value of a sale that a sales associate or sales representative may earn. It is usually the variable component of a total sales compensation package.

Consultative Selling

Consultative selling is a sales technique where a salesperson seeks to understand the customer's needs and provide solutions that address those needs. The goal is to add value, demonstrate expertise, build trust, and put them in a frame of mind that's receptive to your product or service.

Conversion Rate

Conversion rates are calculated by simply taking the number of conversions and dividing that by the number of total ad interactions that can be tracked to a conversion during the same time period. For example, if you had 50 conversions from 1,000 interactions, your conversion rate would be 5 percent.

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) measures the “direct cost” incurred in the production of any goods or services.

Cost Per Click (CPC)

Cost per click (CPC) is a term which denotes the cost an advertiser pays to the publisher for every click on an ad. CPC is also called pay per click (PPC).

CRM

CRM (customer relationship management) is a system for managing a company's interactions with current and future customers. It often involves using CRM software to record and track customer interactions.

SEE HOW A TOP CRM WORKS IRL →

Cross-selling

Cross-selling is the practice of selling additional products or services to an existing customer. For example, a SaaS business might cross-sell professional services such as data migration or workflow setup to customers using their platform.

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

CAC refers to the costs associated with acquiring new customers.

For example, if a company spends $100,000 on marketing and sales efforts in a year and gains 300 new customers as a result, its CAC would be $333.34.

Customer Experience

Customer experience focuses on a customer's perception on every aspect of a company's offerings - all touchpoints, no matter how brief and if it results in a conversion. The two primary factors that create the customer experience are people and products.

Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV)

Customer lifetime value (CLTV or CLV) represents the total value of a customer relationship with a company.

Customer Retention Cost

Customer Retention Cost is the total cost of retaining a customer for as long as possible. This is a critical metric because the cost of acquiring new customers is usually much higher than retaining existing customers.

Customer Retention Rate

Customer retention rate measures the number of customers an organization retains over a given period. The retention rate calculator helps identify key opportunities that hold customers, and can often indicate different paradigms where improvement in customer service is needed.

Customer Success

Customer Success is the business methodology of ensuring customers achieve their desired outcomes while using your product or service. Customer Success is relationship-focused client management, that aligns client and vendor goals for mutually beneficial outcomes.

Covenant

Even after closing, the seller and buyer agree to do or to not do certain things for a specified period of time. These pre- and post-closing agreements between the buyer and the seller are called covenants and are extensively negotiated by the parties involved.

D

Data-Mining

Data mining is the process of finding anomalies, patterns and correlations within large data sets to predict outcomes. Using a broad range of techniques, you can use this information to increase revenues, cut costs, improve customer relationships, reduce risks and more.

Day Sales Outstanding (DSO)

Days sales outstanding (DSO) is a measure of the average number of days that it takes a company to collect payment for a sale.

Deal Closing

The stage of a transaction when final purchase agreements and credit agreements are executed and funds are wired to the respective parties.

Deal-Flow

Deal flow is the rate at which business proposals and investment pitches are being received. Rather than a rigid quantitative measure, the rate of deal flow is somewhat qualitative and is meant to indicate whether business is good or bad.

Decision-Maker

The decision maker is the individual who has final authority over the purchasing decision. During a B2B sale, the decision maker is typically a member of the purchasing company's C-suite who can sign the check or approve the purchase.

Demand

Demand refers to the quantity of a good or service that consumers are willing and able to buy at a given price over a given time frame.

Demand Generation

Demand generation is a data-driven marketing program leveraging the inbound methodology to drive awareness and interest throughout the entire buyer and customer lifecycle.

Delivery

In sales, delivery is the process of transferring ownership of goods or resources from one person or organization to customers.

Demo

A product demo is an interactive marketing or sales presentation where you show your product or service in action to an engaged audience. A demo can take many forms, but often includes a guided tour of the product's features and benefits, and is usually followed by a Q&A session.

Direct Sales

A type of sales that implies direct contact between a seller and a consumer without involving any third parties.

Discovery

Discovery (or a discovery call) is the first stage in the sales process where a sales rep works to understand a customer's needs. This stage is important because it allows the salesperson to determine whether there is a potential fit between the customer's needs and the company's products or services.

Discount

A discount is a reduction in the price of a good or service. Companies often offer discounts to encourage customers to purchase more or to switch to a different product or service. They could also offer them as an incentive for early payment, or to reward customers for their loyalty.

Direct-to-Consumer (D2C)

This is a sales strategy where the brand sells its products and services directly to end consumers, thereby eliminating intermediaries such as third-party retailers or wholesalers.

Drip Campaign

Drip marketing is a strategy employed by many direct marketers where a constant flow of marketing material is sent to customers over a period of time. Drip marketing endeavors to create sales through long-term repeated exposure to its recipients of the goods and services that are advertised.

E

Early Adopter

An early adopter is an individual who is among the first to buy new products or services.

Economic Order Quantity (EOQ)

EOQ is the optimal quantity of inventory a company needs to order at a time. The EOQ model takes into account the fixed costs of ordering and storing inventory, as well as the variable costs of each item.

Elevator Pitch

An elevator pitch is a brief (30-60 seconds) description of a product or business idea that a individual can use to spark interest, especially when given to a prospective investor.

Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is the extent to which employees feel passionate about their jobs, are committed to the organization, and put discretionary effort into their work.

End of Quarter

End of a quarter in business contexts means the end of a three-month period, typically referring to one of the four quarters in a fiscal year.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is defined as the ability to deliver an integrated suite of business applications. ERP tools share a common process and data model, covering broad and deep operational end-to-end processes, such as those found in finance, HR, distribution, manufacturing, service and the supply chain.

F

Field Sales

Field sales is a type of direct sales that involves physically interacting with potential customers in order to promote a product or service.

Firmographic Data

Firmographic data is information about a company you can use to identify and target them as potential customers. This data can include things like the size of the company, its industry, and its location.

For example, let's say you sell a product that is most popular with small businesses in the tech industry. You can use firmographic business data to target small tech companies in your marketing and sales efforts.

Forecasting

Sales forecasting is the process of analyzing past sales data and estimating future sales revenue. Forecasts are normally based on historical data, industry trends and averages, and current pipeline status.

Fortune 500

Fortune 500 refers to a list compiled by Fortune magazine ranking the top 500 U.S. public and privately held companies for their fiscal year end results.

Franchise

A franchise is the right to sell a company's products or services in a particular territory. It's a license that a party (franchisee) acquires from another party (franchisor) to allow them to conduct business under the company's name.

Freemium

The term freemium is a pricing strategy where the end-user is provided with access to basic product features at no cost and charges are applicable for more advanced features and packages.

G

Gatekeeper

A gatekeeper is a person who controls access to a decision-maker. Gatekeepers are often administrative assistants, receptionists, or other support staff.

Go-To-Market Strategy

A good GTM strategy generally identifies a target audience, includes a marketing plan, and outlines a sales strategy. While each product and market will be different, a GTM strategy should identify a market problem and position the product as a solution.

I

Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

ICP is a description of the exact type of customer you are looking for at your business. When you know who your ideal customer is, you can better target your marketing efforts to attract them.

Inbound Sales

Inbound sales is the process of proactively attracting customers to your business, usually through online channels—as opposed to manually reaching out to them. Common inbound sales activities include content marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and social media marketing. Inbound sales leads will indicate interest by filling out a form on your website or providing their contact information in exchange for a resource, at which point the sales team can start working to sell them your product or service. Attracting inbound leads can be helpful whether you’re scaling up your pest control business or finding clients for your freelancing gigs.

InMail Messages

InMail messages are private messages that allow you to contact anyone on LinkedIn without an introduction or contact information. An InMail can be sent from: A member's profile page.

Inside Sales

Inside sales is the process sales representatives use to engage customers and close deals without physically meeting them in person. Inside sales teams, in most B2B companies, use a variety of strategies, tools, and techniques to find and engage customers.

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.

J

Just in Time (JIT)

Just in time is a production strategy that strives to improve productivity and reduce waste by manufacturing products only as they are needed for sale or use.

K

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.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

KPIs are a type of performance metric that is used to measure, track, and compare progress against predetermined goals. Common sales KPIs are opportunities, revenue numbers, sales volume, lead volume, profit margin, website traffic, conversion rates, and email open rates.

GET YOUR KPIs ALIGNED WITH CLOSE →

L

Lead

A lead is a person who has shown interest in your product or service. And you can attract them in many different ways, like through your website, custom landing pages, in-person interactions, or even through word-of-mouth.

Lead Generation (Lead Gen)

Lead generation is the process of getting people to show interest in your product and getting their contact information by filling out your contact form, scheduling a call on your calendar, or requesting a free trial.

Lead Management

Lead management is the strategy that sales teams use to understand which stages of the pipeline their deals are in. This tracking helps sales teams know whether a lead or prospect is on a path to closing.

Lead Nurturing

Lead nurturing is the process of developing relationships with leads that aren't quite ready to buy your product or service. They've likely followed you on social media or subscribed to your newsletter, so you'll just need to keep the conversation going with them until they're ready to make a purchase.

Lead Scoring

Lead scoring is a method used by sales and marketing teams to prioritize potential customers or leads based on how many interactions they've had with your brand and how likely they are to turn into customers.

Lead Velocity Rate

Lead Velocity Rate is a critical metric that estimates the real-time growth of qualified leads that your business gets month over month. It essentially shows a skeletal picture of the company’s pipeline growth and is often considered the best predictor of future revenue.

Letter of Intent (LOI)

A letter of intent is a formal document expressing an intention to do something, especially between two parties. It typically contains provisions regarding the business relationship between the parties involved and is often used as a precursor to a more formal contract.

Loss Aversion

Loss aversion is the observation that human beings experience losses asymmetrically more severely than equivalent gains.

M

Margin

Margin is the money borrowed from a broker to purchase an investment and is the difference between the total value of an investment and the loan amount.

Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)

An MQL is a lead who you've determined to be more likely to become a customer, based on certain behaviors related to your marketing efforts. This could be someone who clicked on an ad, provided their contact information in exchange for a content resource, or regularly engages with your brand on social media.

Middle of the Funnel (MOFU)

MOFU is the stage of the sales funnel where potential customers are becoming aware of your product or service and are likely developing an interest in what you offer.

Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

It is the version of a new product that allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least amount of effort. Check out our post if you want to learn how MVP can be implemented to improve efficiency.

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

MRR is a measure of the sales revenue a business is generating per month. It is a key metric, particularly for subscription-based businesses, as it provides insight into the health of the business and its ability to generate recurring revenue from monthly users.

MRR calculation: product price X the number of monthly customers

N

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

NPS is a customer loyalty metric that measures how likely customers are to recommend your product or service to others.

It's calculated by subtracting the percentage of "detractors" (those who would not recommend your product or service) from the percentage of customers who are "promoters" (those who would recommend your product or service to others).

If the net score shows a positive number, it means that your product or service is doing well and customers are happy with it. A negative score shows that there is room for improvement and customers are less likely to recommend it to others.

O

Omnichannel Sales

Omnichannel sales refers to the coordinated selling of products and services across multiple channels, like email, phone, website chat, social media, and more. With omnichannel sales, these efforts are synchronized across different platforms so the conversation continues seamlessly even as the channels change.

Onboarding

Customer or client onboarding is the process of helping a new customer get started with your product or service after their purchase.

Operational CRM

Operational-CRM refers to services that allow organizations to take good care of their customers. This aspect of CRM provides support for different business processes including sales, service and marketing.

Opportunity

An opportunity in sales describes a potential customer or client who is in contact with your sales team and who's very likely to become a paying customer—because they have a need and have shown an interest in using your product or service to meet that need.

Outbound Sales

Outbound sales (or sales outreach) is the process of actively seeking out and selling to potential customers, rather than waiting for them to reach out to you.

Outside Sales

Unlike inside sales, outside sales occur when a sales personnel physically goes out to the field to meet with prospective customers and clients to provide their products and services in person.

Overcoming Objections

Overcoming objections means making a case where you answer questions before they are thought of. While many people do not like long sales pages, if you artificially cut down the information just to keep it short you are going to find you have more objections dangling than you would like. Click here if you want to learn how to effectively overcome sales objections.

P

Pipeline

A sales pipeline is a visual representation of the sales process from start to finish. It's typically used by sales managers to help them understand where their deals are in the sales process and to identify any potential roadblocks or bottlenecks—so they can take action to keep the pipeline moving.

Product Champion

A product champion is an individual who sees a product as valuable and whose engagement rate is above and beyond in comparison to other users. A champion identifies key features that a product has to offer and aids in development and reviews.

Product-Led Growth

The idea behind a product-led growth strategy is to build on an end user-focused growth model where user acquisition, retention, growth and conversion are all driven mainly by the product itself.

Profit Margin

Profit margin gauges the degree to which a company or a business activity makes money, essentially by dividing income by revenues. Expressed as a percentage, profit margin indicates how many cents of profit has been generated for each dollar of sale.

Prospect

A prospect (or sales prospect) is an individual who'd likely have an interest in your products or services because of certain attributes they have.

Prospecting

Sales prospecting is the process of researching and identifying potential customers (prospects) with the goal of selling to them.

Q

Qualification

In sales, qualification (or lead qualification) is the process of determining whether a prospective customer has the budget, authority, need, and willingness to buy your product or service.

Qualified Lead

A qualified lead is a lead that has been deemed likely to result in business by both marketing and sales teams. A qualified lead typically exhibits certain characteristics like scheduling a call or submitting your contact form.

Qualifying Your Prospect

Qualifying a prospect means to determine whether or not someone who is interested in your services is a good fit as a customer. Qualified sales leads have a higher return on investment and higher close rate.

Quota

A quota is the specific amount of sales a salesperson is expected to achieve in a given period.

R

Referral

A referral is an act of sending business to another person or company, usually in return for a commission—or for free. Referral sales is a strategy that reps may use to generate new sales leads from existing customers.

Request for Information (RFI)

A Request for Information (RFI) is a standard business process used by customers to collect written information regarding the capabilities of various suppliers, which will better inform buying decisions.

Request for Proposal (RFP)

A request for proposal (RFP) is a business document that announces a project, describes it, and solicits bids from qualified contractors to complete it. Most organizations prefer to launch their projects using RFPs, and many governments always use them.

Return on Investment

Return on investment (ROI) is a performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency or profitability of an investment or compare the efficiency of a number of different investments.

S

Sales Automation

Sales automation uses software to eliminate repetitive, manual tasks and automates them to allow you and your sales team to focus more on closing sales and getting paid.

Sales Bundle

Sales bundling is offering several products or services for sale as one combined product or service package. In a bundle pricing, companies sell a package or set of goods or services for a lower price than they would charge if the customer bought all of them separately.

Sales Calls

A sales call is an unsolicited phone call that a salesperson makes to a prospective customer to generate business. Sales calls allow sales reps to convey important information about a good or service that they hope will hook the customer and result in a sale.

Sales Coaching

Sales coaching is the process of developing and mentoring a salesperson through one-on-one relationships with a manager or peer.

Sales Cycle

A sales cycle is the process potential buyers go through before buying from a business. It's also the process the business uses to sell its product or service to customers. And for many (if not most) businesses, a sales lifecycle consists of four main stages: prospecting, outreach, closing, and follow-up.

Sales Dashboard

A sales dashboard is a method of data visualization that portrays your most important sales metrics in a way that is easy to understand. Sales dashboards can be created for a variety of sales department matters, such as performance, conversions, and activities completed.

Sales Demo or Sales Presentation

A sales demo is the process of demonstrating a product or service to a prospective client.

Sales Development Representative (SDR)

A sales development representative generates new leads and meets quotas for their business. They may also be responsible for qualifying leads, managing a sales pipeline, and reporting to a sales manager on their progress.

Sales Enablement

Sales enablement is the practice of providing the tools, templates, information, and support that salespeople need to be more effective and successful in their roles. This can include everything from training and education to technology and data.

Sales Funnel

A sales funnel is a process that businesses use to identify and qualify potential customers, and then guide them through the sales process—with the goal of eventually closing the sale.

Sales Kickoff

A sales kickoff meeting is an event designed around bringing your entire sales team together, sharing best practices, product updates, new sales strategies, and getting everyone re-invigorated to pound the pavement (or inbox) and bring in new sales. If you need sales kickoff meeting ideas, this article has some great suggestions.

Sales Lead

A sales lead is a person or business who may eventually become a client. Sales lead also refers to the data that identifies an entity as a potential buyer of a product or service. Sales leads are usually tracked with the help of software.

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. You can check the best SaaS Sales methodologies here.

Sales Operations

Sales operations describe the processes and resources that are necessary to sell a product or service. The sales operations team in a company normally handles the purchase and implementation of tools, setting up automation workflows, outlining sales territories, building incentive programs, and more.

Sales Pitch

A sales pitch is a short, persuasive speech or message that is typically used to convince an audience to buy a product or service.

Sales Plan Template

A sales plan template provides an outline for a sales plan. It makes it easier to describe your sales objectives, target audience, and specific steps, strategies, and tactics your business will use to hit sales and revenue goals.

Sales Process

A sales process is a system that is used to manage sales interactions with customers and prospects. It usually involves steps like prospecting, contact management, opportunity management, deal management, and activity management.

Sales Productivity

Sales productivity is the ratio of effectiveness (outputs) versus efficiency (inputs). In layman's terms, it means maximizing sales results while minimizing resources expended, such as cost, time, and effort.

Sales Qualified Lead (SQL)

A sales qualified lead is a potential customer who has been vetted by the sales team as being ready to buy. Usually, they've formally asked about the company's products or services and are now looking to make a purchase.

Sales Training

Sales training defined: Sales training is the process of developing the skills and tools of your sales force to create more and better sales opportunities and close higher profit deals.

Sales Territory

A sales territory is the regional, industry, or account type assigned to a specific salesperson or sales team.

Sandler Training

An organization that provides training on sales performance, management, and leadership to professionals worldwide. To delve deeper into this subject, take a look at our post.

Segmentation

Segmentation is the process of dividing an email or contact list into smaller groups so you can send more personalized messages to each group. Common attributes you can use for segmentation include things like geography, age, gender, interests, industry, or past purchase history.

Self-service SaaS Model

The Self-service SaaS Model empowers end users by providing them with resources, guides and other materials that will help them find solutions on their own instead of relying on a salesperson.

Selling Is a Numbers Game

A belief formed from conducting sales-related activities then seeing predictable results based on numbers and statistics.

Selling the Sizzle

The technique of selling the product’s benefits rather than its features.

Sequence

A sales sequence or cadence is a series of touchpoints with a lead over time. The goal—move them through your sales pipeline and convert them into paying customers. This may include touchpoints via email, text message, or phone calls.

Service-Level Agreement

An SLA is a contract between a service provider and its customers that specifies the details of the services to be provided. It often outlines details like the duration of the service, availability, and response time, as well as penalties for failing to meet the agreement.

Small to Medium-Sized Business (SMB)

An SMB is typically a company with a small- to medium-sized workforce. Most people characterize small to medium businesses (SMBs) as organizations with less than 1000 staff members and below $1 billion in annual revenue.

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.

Social Selling

Social selling is the use of social media platforms (like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter) to interact with prospects and customers in order to generate leads and grow sales.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

SaaS is a software distribution model in which applications are hosted by a provider and made available to customers over the Internet. SaaS is typically delivered on a pay-as-you-go basis, or via a subscription.

Solution Selling

Solution selling is a sales technique where you narrow in on a customer's problem and then offer them a solution that your product or service can provide—in a way that's tailored to their specific needs.

SPIN Selling

SPIN selling is a sales methodology developed by Neil Rackham, the author of the best-selling book SPIN Selling. The key idea behind SPIN selling is that there are four important questions to ask for any successful sales interaction:

• Situation questions: to establish the buyer's current situation, needs, and objectives
• Problem questions: to understand the buyer's specific challenges and problems
• Implication questions: to highlight the potential consequences of the buyer's challenges and problems
• Need-payoff questions: to establish the value of solving the buyer's challenges and problems.

Stakeholder

A stakeholder is an individual or group that has an interest in the success or failure of a company's products or services.

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

Talk Track

A talk track is a sales script or series of questions that help to keep a conversation with a prospective customer on track.

Target Account Selling (TAS)

Target account selling is a B2B strategy that zeroes in on prospects by focusing on factors like deal value, ideal customer persona, industry, revenue sources, pain points, buying signals, and budget. And the goal of all that targeting is to generate and close more business with fewer but bigger customer accounts.

Tire-Kicker

A prospect that might be genuinely interested in the product but has no real intention nor the ability to purchase. Tire-kickers love to chat with your sales team, raise objections, or haggle for a better price.

Top of the Funnel (TOFU)

Top of the funnel describes the stage where customers are just becoming aware of a problem they have and are starting to search for solutions.

Total Addressable Market (TAM)

The largest possibility in terms of revenue for a specific company, organization, or business.

Touchpoints

Touchpoints are the points of contact between you and your customers. Every time a customer comes into contact with your business, a touchpoint event is created.

Trade-Shows

Non-sales related activities that negatively impact the time and effort poured for sales related activities.

Triggers

A sales trigger is an event in the world of a potential customer that creates an opportunity for you to contact them as a prospect. An external trigger may include a new round of funding, mergers, or a hiring push. These triggers may make it a better time for outbound sales reps to reach out to the company.

On the other hand, triggers can also be events where a lead shows specific interest in your product—such as clicking on an ad, downloading a resource from your blog, or engaging with a chatbot on your website.

U

Unicorn

Generally, a unicorn is a privately held startup company with a current valuation of US$1 billion or more.

Unique Selling Point / Proposition (USP)

A unique selling proposition (USP) refers to the unique benefit exhibited by a company, service, product or brand that enables it to stand out from competitors. The unique selling proposition must be a feature that highlights product benefits that are meaningful to consumers.

Unit Economics

Unit economics refers to a company's revenues and costs related to an individual unit of production. A unit is simply one separate, quantifiable element that the company can create and sell and that adds value to both customers and the business.

Upselling

Upselling is a sales technique where a seller encourages a buyer to purchase more expensive items, upgrades, or other add-ons in an attempt to make a more profitable sale.

User Experience (UX)

The user experience (UX) is how a user interacts with and experiences a product, system or service. It includes a person's perceptions of utility, ease of use, and efficiency. To understand the importance of user experience in sales, you can check out our post.

User Interaction

User interaction encompasses all aspects of end-users communications with a company, its products and services.

User Interface (UI)

The user interface (UI) is the point at which human users interact with a computer, website or application. The goal of effective UI is to make the user's experience easy and intuitive, requiring minimum effort on the user's part to receive maximum desired outcome.

V

Value Gap

A value gap is a contrariety between the perceived value of a company and the actual market value that the owner expects to sell it for to make gains.

Value Proposition

A unique value proposition is a statement that describes what makes your company or product different from your competitors. It should be clear, specific, and relevant to your target customer.

W

Warm Call

Warm calling is the solicitation of a potential customer with whom a sales representative in particular, or his firm in general, has had prior contact. If you want to learn difference between cold and warm calling, check out this post.

Know Your Sales Terms

The world of sales can be confusing, especially if you're not familiar with all the terminology. So we hope this comprehensive glossary of over 90 sales terms will help you better understand the sales process, and assist you in your career as a sales professional.

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