Sales Glossary

Anything that slows a potential customer in their buying journey, whether through ineffective marketing or sales channels.

An individual who acts as a barrier between a sales representative, for example, from another company, and a key decision-maker in the targeted company, often a Secretary or Personal Assistant.

An approach for nurturing long-term relationships with major global customers to create new business opportunities and generate greater revenue, requiring global coordination, culturally sensitive approaches, and a global account team aligned with clients' organizational structures.

A plan detailing how an organization engages with customers to persuade them to buy their product or service and gain a competitive advantage, covering pricing, sales channels, the buying journey, new product launches, rebranding, or entering new markets.

The sum of all a customer’s previous purchases from a company to date, representing the current total or ‘customer lifetime value’.

A product or service useful to many different buyers across various industries, rather than only to a niche group of buyers, opposite of Vertical Market.

A potential customer or sales prospect highly likely to buy a product or service within the next few months, typically within three months.

An outline of factors describing companies most likely to benefit from a company's product or service, guiding marketing efforts.

A metric measuring the number of appearances of a web page, website, or blog in a search engine, used to calculate the click-through rate (CTR).

Calls originating from a prospect to a sales rep.

Sales characterized by prospects initiating a relationship with a seller, often through provided content, followed by the salesperson contacting the prospect to determine lead qualification.

Also known as Substitutes, businesses targeting the same audience and addressing similar problems but offering different products.

A visual representation of data or information, effective for illustrating research findings on social media platforms.

Sales transactions made remotely, often via telephone, distinct from telemarketing and involving lead-based, unscripted calls handled by skilled reps.

Processes or software components streamlined to work well together, aiming for optimal outcomes and increased efficiency of sales pipelines or marketing.

The process of planning and managing a mutually beneficial partnership between an organization and its most important customers, vital for long-term growth and requiring significant investment in time and resources.

A category of business accounts managed by a supplier company, generating substantial profits through years of repeat business.

Metrics indicating if individuals, teams, or a company are reaching set targets over time, aiding data-driven decision-making and informing sales processes.

Factors influencing a customer's decision to buy from a company, each with varying importance.

A sales strategy where a small deal is closed with a company, followed by more sales deals throughout more departments in the same company, often through referrals or with the help of a champion.

A web page with a form for visitors to sign up, aiming to convert visitors into sales leads.

The process of researching a potential customer to improve communication and build relationships, either manually or with technology.

The process of qualifying potential customers, often converting leads into customers through a separate sales funnel.

Creating interest in a company’s product or service to identify prospective customers, often by collecting contact information (leads) for follow-up.

The process of identifying, capturing, tracking, qualifying, and engaging potential customers until they are sales-ready, then passing them to the sales team.

Building positive relationships with people interested in a company’s products or services across the buying journey, increasing the likelihood of sales.

Categorizing potential customers in B2B sales to assess their position in the buying cycle, often ranking them by their likelihood to purchase at a specific point based on interest, sales-readiness, and needs.

Evaluating the quality of sales leads by ranking them relative to others based on buyer profile fit and behavior criteria.

The duration between identifying a lead and qualifying it as an opportunity.

Compares the expected revenue from a customer in a lifetime with the cost of acquiring that customer, to assess if relationships will be profitable.

The email address associated with an outreach instance.

The status of an email in the outbox: delivered, opened, clicked, replied, scheduled, bounced, or unsubscribed.

The process of composing and sending emails, including one-off, bulk, and sequence emails.

A customer who makes significant purchases, typically infrequently, such as every few years.

Customized emails sent manually, often as part of a specific step in a prospect's journey, with tasks appearing in the tasks tab until completion.

The matching of data fields between outreach and a CRM like Salesforce.

Expanding sales opportunities by marketing to wider groups or new locations, rather than seeking new markets.

The division of a market into distinct segments over time, potentially impacting the effectiveness of mass marketing.

The percentage of customers in a target market who have purchased a product or service, indicating marketing success.

Gathering customer preferences and needs through interviews and research, used to gauge the potential success of products or services.

Dividing a target market into distinct groups based on factors like location, age, or industry to inform marketing strategies.

Promoting products or services, utilizing strategies such as 'Push Marketing' to introduce a brand and 'Pull Marketing' to attract customers.

A lead showing interest in a product or service due to marketing efforts, meeting criteria for transfer to the sales team.

The percentage of contacted prospects invited to a meeting.

The total number of calendar invites sent to external guests, regardless of acceptance.

Quantitative measurements assessing activity performance, such as website click-through rates and campaign conversion rates.

The central stage in a sales funnel, nurturing leads who have engaged with the company, aiming to identify high-quality prospects.

A sales technique involving copying a prospect's actions to build rapport and increase sales likelihood.

A sales model tailored to informed buyers, focusing on relationship-building and consumer education for repeat business.

A collaborative plan between parties to identify resources and milestones, streamlining deal closure by removing guesswork.

A systematic gathering of sales lead information, including data, KPIs, and pain points, to determine appropriate solutions.

Discussions between buyer and seller to reach agreement on sale aspects, like cost.

A customer loyalty metric, calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors (0-6) from promoters (9-10), indicating overall satisfaction.

A sales lead disqualified by a company due to no intention of purchasing, whether short or long term.

Activities not directly related to making sales, such as producing reports or printing documents, but still essential for business operations.

An email flagged with negative sentiment by outreach's machine learning, indicating potential hurdles in communication with prospects.

Addressing prospect concerns in B2B sales by finding solutions to objections raised, facilitating a smoother path to potential sales.

Projected earnings for a salesperson upon meeting or surpassing targets, comprising base salary and variable compensation, providing a goal to strive for.

Tasks in outreach Engage not linked to sequences, offering flexibility in managing specific activities outside the regular workflow.

Potential sales opportunities not yet lost or won, requiring ongoing effort to nurture and advance them through the sales cycle.

Percentage of opened emails out of the total sent, providing insights into the effectiveness of email marketing campaigns and engagement levels.

Creating qualified prospects likely to become paying customers through strategic sales and marketing efforts, laying the foundation for business growth.

Organizational strategy for pursuing future sales by effectively managing sales opportunities and maximizing conversion rates.

Natural search engine optimization method, improving webpage ranking through backlinks and content relevance, enhancing visibility without paid advertising.

Feature in Amplemarket identifying out-of-office emails, pausing sequences until return dates, extracting new contact info, and notifying reps, optimizing email outreach efficiency and response management.

Sales model where the company initiates contact with prospects through methods like cold calls or email marketing, proactively seeking potential customers.

Calls initiated by sales reps to prospects, enabling direct communication and relationship-building in sales processes.

Task passed its completion deadline, requiring attention to avoid delays and maintain workflow efficiency.

Problems faced by sales leads, guiding further communication and solutions to address customer needs effectively.

Classification of prospects based on similar attributes to aid effective communication and targeted marketing strategies, enhancing engagement and conversion rates.

Visual representation of sales stages, providing a structured overview of the sales process and prospects' journey toward conversion.

Tasks related to sourcing new revenue opportunities, including prospecting, lead management, and customer expansion, fueling business growth and sustainability.

Speed at which qualified leads progress through a sales pipeline, indicating efficiency in sales processes and revenue generation.

Integration adding data functionality to a system or platform, enhancing its capabilities and usability for users.

Team leader facilitating platform adoption and sharing best practices, driving efficiency and innovation within the team.

Tool using past data to forecast future marketing outcomes, leveraging statistics, data, algorithms, and machine learning for strategic decision-making.

Corporate function governing purchasing decisions for a company, encompassing activities like vendor evaluation, bidding, and contract negotiation, optimizing costs and maximizing value for the organization.

Sales lead with prior product experience, having interacted with the target product, such as through a demo, indicating higher conversion potential.

Project managers and consultants configuring outreach post-sale, ensuring seamless integration and tailored solutions for clients, enhancing user experience and satisfaction.

Measure of profit generation, calculated by subtracting business costs from total revenue and expressing the result as a percentage, indicating financial health and efficiency of business operations.

Demonstration of a product's suitability and business case, showcasing its functionality and benefits to potential customers, laying the groundwork for future sales and adoption.

Potential business partner, encompassing leads and contacts, representing opportunities for sales and growth for the company.

Initial sales step, identifying and contacting potential customers, aiming to create a database of qualified leads for further engagement and conversion.

Reviewing sales opportunities against criteria for viability, ensuring alignment with sales objectives and resource allocation, maximizing efficiency and effectiveness in the sales process.

Sales opportunity meeting specific criteria for conversion, indicating higher potential for successful sales interactions and closing deals.

Sales process to determine lead viability, involving communication to establish if leads meet criteria for high-quality engagement, guiding resource allocation and sales strategy for optimal results.

Sales target within a defined period, serving as a performance metric for sales teams and individuals, driving motivation and accountability in achieving sales objectives.

Preliminary document for vendor information comparison, facilitating vendor evaluation and selection process, ensuring alignment with business requirements and objectives for effective procurement decisions.

Detailed proposal document for business solutions, providing comprehensive information on problems, goals, solutions, and costs, guiding vendors in crafting tailored proposals to meet client needs and objectives effectively.

Detailed quotation document for client specifications, ensuring accurate pricing and product/service specifications, facilitating vendor selection and procurement process based on client requirements and budget considerations.

Time for a sales rep to become fully productive post-training, transitioning from learning to contributing to sales targets, optimizing onboarding efficiency and sales performance.

Customer recommendation of a company's services, leveraging satisfied customers to expand the customer base through word-of-mouth marketing, fostering trust and credibility in the marketplace.

Percentage of prospects clicking email links within 14 days, indicating engagement levels and effectiveness of email communication, guiding adjustments to email content and outreach strategies for improved response rates.

Median time for user response to prospect interactions, reflecting responsiveness and efficiency in handling prospect inquiries and requests, enhancing customer experience and relationship-building in sales processes.

Professional identifying revenue function gaps and driving transformation, driving innovation and efficiency across revenue functions, contributing to organizational growth and success.

Departmental alignment to streamline sales processes, optimizing collaboration and efficiency across sales, marketing, and customer success functions, maximizing revenue generation and customer satisfaction.

Meetings distributed evenly among a team but can be reassigned as needed, with links associated with the team rather than specific users, providing flexibility in scheduling.

Meetings evenly assigned among a team without the option for users to change the host, with links tied to the team rather than individual users, ensuring equitable distribution of meetings within the team.

A methodical approach to reaching, selling, and transacting within a target market or segment to drive revenue and profit, typically involving commercial incentives and strategic planning.

The monetary value generated from customer purchases within a specific period, often measured to evaluate company or sales representatives' performance.

Comprehensive talent development programs combining training sessions, skill application, and coaching to measure and certify long-term behavior change, promoting a holistic approach to learning aligned with business objectives and sales performance.

Speeding up the sales cycle through methods like automation or data visualization to reduce the time from lead to customer conversion.

Sales opportunity generated by someone other than the account owner, accepted by the account owner, typically created by individuals aiming to create sales opportunities, such as SDRs/BDRs and CSMs.

Using data to predict sales outcomes, find opportunities, and identify trends, often facilitated by various software and programs.

Automating certain sales processes using software, such as sending outreach emails across multiple channels to multiple recipients simultaneously.

The method through which a B2B sales organization goes to market, either directly or indirectly, to sell products or solutions to end customers.

Dynamic interactions between a sales manager and their direct reports to evaluate, correct, or reinforce specific behaviors, tailored to individual sellers' learning styles and needs.

Payment to salespeople based on their performance against predetermined targets, including salary, commission, incentives, or a combination thereof.

Written material by copywriters for marketing purposes, aimed at increasing awareness of a company's products/services and closing deals, available in various formats such as short-form, long-form, or white papers.

Stages starting from a seller's initial contact with a prospect and ending with a closed deal, representing the process of converting a lead into a customer.

Tools providing graphical interfaces to evaluate sales data, track key performance indicators, and metrics relevant to sales organizations, aiding in decision-making and performance monitoring.

Introducing sales prospects to a software/product by demonstrating its features and benefits, aiming to increase the likelihood of a sale.

Specialists in identifying prospective buyers through outreach to new prospects and qualifying incoming leads.

Any interaction between sales reps and prospects/customers, measured by the number of touchpoints, essential for building relationships and moving prospects through the sales funnel.

Projection of future sales revenue and predictions of deals moving through the sales cycle, driving short-term spending decisions and impacting decisions on key deals.

Visual representation of the customer's journey from discovery to purchase, divided into segments like TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU, guiding sales strategies and actions at each stage.

Information used by salespeople to make informed decisions during the selling cycle, encompassing tools, techniques, and practices facilitating data collection, tracking, and analysis to provide insights into customer prospects and leads.

Metrics helping sales teams measure effectiveness and efficiency to improve methodologies and processes for driving sales.

Premier event where organizations communicate commercial strategy and motivate frontline salespeople, typically held at the beginning of an organization's fiscal year.

Contact in the sales funnel not yet qualified as a sales prospect, differentiated into hot leads, warm leads, or non-leads, representing opportunities for potential sales.

Guiding the strategic direction of the sales function and managing the sales organization to achieve commercial objectives.

Planning, implementing, and controlling sales programs to achieve organizational goals, including recruitment, training, and motivation of the sales force.

Guiding principles for sales engagement, processes, and skills development enabling effective customer engagement and sales performance.

Data points representing individual, team, or organizational sales performance and potential, used to measure progress toward goals, identify weaknesses, and prepare for future growth.

Strategic function supporting, enabling, and driving effective sales objectives, strategies, and programs.

Highly qualified sales prospects likely to become customers, targeted with sales and marketing efforts to close deals.

Tool for converting leads into sales, providing a visual representation of different stages of the sales process and guiding follow-ups with leads.

Strategic document outlining objectives, goals, tactics, and action plans for the sales team to achieve revenue targets, providing a roadmap with clear timelines, budget, and resources allocation.

Standardized series of steps followed by sales teams in converting a prospect into a customer, ensuring preparedness, effectiveness, and consistent customer experience.

Potential customer meeting specific criteria indicating an ability and likelihood to make a purchase.

Evaluating leads to determine their likelihood to make a purchase, ensuring alignment with sales objectives and strategies.

Leads likely to convert to customers based on qualifying criteria, indicating a higher potential for successful sales interactions.

Performance expectation sellers must achieve during a set time period to earn target incentive pay, driving motivation and goal attainment.

Collection of metrics, quantitative data, and qualitative inputs evaluating sales performance within teams, regions, or organizations.

Series of automated actions at specified times in converting sales leads to customers, such as emails and calls, guiding the sales pipeline and deal closure.

List of technologies used in sales departments, including CRM and automation software, enhancing sales capabilities and efficiency.

Detailed plan to drive sales performance, innovation, and growth by penetrating markets and increasing market share, aligned with business objectives and commercial strategies.

Role, department, or set of tools and resources helping offload administrative tasks from frontline sellers and managers to improve productivity.

Configurations of employees in various sales roles across geographies, products, and account tiers, organized to go to market effectively.

Tools and applications supporting sales representatives, focused on improving sales execution, automation, and effectiveness, driving productivity and engagement.

Process of training frontline commercial staff to drive engagement, effectiveness, and ongoing development, enhancing sales skills and capabilities.

Percentage of sellers leaving an organization during a defined period, impacting team stability and performance.

Prospects qualified as potential customers ready for sales engagement, moving toward closing deals.

Increasing company inputs and outputs proportionally to boost profits, particularly during the high-growth phase known as "scaleup."

Prospect's perceived attitude or view toward a situation or event, influencing their decision-making process.

Series of touchpoints designed to deepen engagement with prospects, guiding sales activities and communications to build the sales pipeline and close deals.

Images or text used to craft emails quickly, speeding up workflow, typically short and informative, such as bulleted lists.

Selling method involving generating leads by engaging with prospects on social media platforms, leveraging connections and shared content to initiate sales conversations.

Sales technique focusing on identifying and addressing leads' pain points with appropriate solutions, enhancing the likelihood of closing deals.

Activity titles for syncing into CRM, configured on contact and lead objects separately, streamlining CRM integration and data management.

Early-stage company offering products or services and often financed by its founders, characterized by rapid growth potential and innovation.

Customer crucial for retention, often due to their significant impact on revenue or strategic importance to the company.

Transparent plans within the revenue intelligence platform Outreach Guide, aiding sales teams in managing complex deals efficiently and staying aligned with buyers, accelerating deal cycles and enhancing collaboration.

Analysis of the Total Addressable Market, determining the revenue potential for a product or service within a specific market segment, guiding market entry and expansion strategies.

Prioritizing and managing customer and prospect groups, typically segmented by factors like geography or industry, to optimize sales efforts and resource allocation.

Open windows of availability for prospects to book meetings, customizable within the user's calendar settings, facilitating scheduling and outreach activities.

First stage in the sales funnel where leads become familiar with a company through marketing efforts, essential for qualifying or disqualifying potential customers.

Sales process targeting individuals in higher roles within a company, leveraging their authority in decision-making for B2B sales.

Prospect actions in response to marketing initiatives, prompting specific follow-up actions, such as targeted ads.

Sales technique suggesting higher-end products or additional products to customers during a sale to increase spending, often incentivized through commission-based compensation structures.

Collaborative approach in selling focused on demonstrating the value of a product or service in the context of the customer's specific needs and goals, fostering trust and partnership.

Promise made by an organization to meet customer needs and objectives, used in sales pitches to persuade potential customers by highlighting the value provided.

Selling method emphasizing the benefits of a solution to address lead pain points and close deals, often demonstrated through product demos.

Sales transactions conducted remotely without face-to-face interactions, leveraging communication channels like social media, email, and video conferencing.

Pre-recorded messages automatically left for prospects during unanswered outbound calls, enhancing outreach efficiency and consistency.

Sales outreach to leads already aware of the product or service, indicating interest, such as referrals or form submissions, contrasting with cold calls.

Measure of the number of visitors to a website over a specific period, essential for lead generation and assessing marketing effectiveness.

Utilization of historical win rates to predict likely revenue from pipeline deals, providing insights into future revenue projections.

Comprehensive written material exploring a problem and potential solutions, showcasing industry expertise to attract leads and increase sales.

Slang for a high-value sales lead capable of significantly increasing company revenue, representing lucrative sales opportunities.

Organized and repeatable activity patterns tailored to users' roles or functions, improving efficiency and productivity in various tasks.