As a proactive sales representative, confidence plays a pivotal role in your success. Mastering the intricacies of sales terminology is essential for navigating your industry and engaging clients effectively.
Explore this comprehensive sales glossary to enhance your understanding of the field, empowering you to stay informed and in control of your daily workflow.
1. Account-Based Marketing (ABM)
This strategy involves exclusively targeting high-value accounts, selecting prospects based on their propensity to make a purchase.
2. Adoption Process
Refers to the journey a potential customer undergoes, from learning about a product or service to deciding on a purchase.
3. AIDA
An acronym for Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action, representing key stages in the sales process.
4. B2B
Stands for Business to Business, indicating sales and marketing directed at other businesses rather than individual consumers.
5. B2C
Denotes Business to Customer, representing marketing to individual consumers on the mass market.
6. Buying Intent
Predicts the likelihood of a potential customer making a purchase based on web browsing behavior, demographics, and previous purchases.
7. Closed-Lost
Describes a situation where a sales rep completes the process but fails to secure a purchase from the potential customer.
8. Closed-Won
Contrary to Closed-Lost, indicates successfully converting a lead into a paying customer.
9. Conversion Path
Describes the structure of a seller company’s website guiding visitors into signing up or making a purchase.
10. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
Assesses the potential lifetime value/profitability with a specific customer.
11. Data Entry
Process of locating and storing information for future sales, including customer emails, market analytics, and CRM data.
12. Decision-Maker
Identifies a specific individual at a target company making the final decision about completing a sale.
13. Demand Generation
Drumming up market interest in a product or service through web campaigns, print advertising, SEO, and more.
14. Doing-Business As (DBA)
Denotes that the name a business is using currently differs from its actual, legal name.
15. Engagement
Encompasses sales and marketing activities to keep a specific audience interested in a product or service.
16. Enrichment
Describes any activity improving the quality of a product or service to heighten customer affinity.
17. Field Sales Rep
A traveling salesperson who markets goods and services directly to customers, aiming to close a sale.
18. Forecasting
Predicts the future success of a company and sales volume by analyzing market trends, company-specific data, and consumer trends.
19. Forward Revenue
Recurring sales revenue predicted to accrue over a specific period, usually the next 12 months.
20. GPCTBA
An acronym for “Goals, Plans, Challenges, Timeline, Budget, Authority,” aiding sales reps in identifying what’s needed to complete a sale.
21. Leads
Individuals, clients, or companies showing interest in a product or service.
22. Lead Generation
Activities designed to attract leads, including social media campaigns and website optimization.
23. Lead Nurturing
Targets leads, building lasting relationships with the goal of converting them into regular customers.
24. Lead Qualification
Analyzing leads to assess whether they fit the profile of potential buyers.
25. Lifetime Value (LTV)
Mathematical calculation of the entire net profit expected from a specific customer over the business lifetime.
26. Loss Leader
Pricing a product or service very low to encourage customers to buy other products or services.
27. Loss Aversion
A psychological term describing the tendency to feel more negatively about losing money than gaining the same amount.
28. Low-Hanging Fruit
Easy customers requiring minimal effort to close a sale due to their significant interest.
29. Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)
A lead interested in a product or service based on interactions with marketing materials.
30. Middle of the Funnel (MOFU)
Describes the buying process stage where the potential customer identifies their problem and researches solutions.
31. Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
Developing a basic product to test market demand, with plans to enhance it later.
32. Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)
Company’s realistic calculation of expected monthly revenue for the following year.
33. Net New Business
Describes a returning former customer or a lead converting into a paying customer for the first time.
34. Net Promoter Score (NPS)
A 1-10 ranking based on customer satisfaction surveys to identify areas of improvement and strengths.
35. Objection
The part of the sales process where a customer typically objects to a product or service.
36. Onboarding
The process of introducing a confirmed customer to a product or service for the first time, often in software sales.
37. On-Track Earnings (OTE)
An estimation of a sales rep’s total take-home pay, considering project sales, commission, and overtime.
38. Pain Point
The ‘pain’ or ‘need’ a potential customer has that can be resolved by a product or service, crucial for effective selling.
39. Point of Contact
The intermediary between you and your customer, facilitating information flow and aiding in sales decisions.
40. Pipeline
The step-by-step process every sales rep undergoes to convert a lead into a paying customer.
41. Positioning Statement
Specific phrases or topics a sales rep should use to identify a lead’s pain points during contact.
42. Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
The entire lifecycle of a product or service, from concept to disposal.
43. Qualified Lead
A lead assessed by the sales team as ‘most likely’ to become a customer.
44. Relationship Business Management (RBM)
Converting a one-time paying customer into a loyal customer who regularly buys from you.
45. Sales Qualified Lead (SQL)
A potential customer meeting the criteria of a qualified lead with further potential to make a purchase.
46. Service Level Agreement
An agreement between the sales and marketing arms of a business to ensure mutual beneficial work.
47. Top of the Funnel (TOFU)
The initial stage of a customer’s buying process when identifying their ‘need’ or pain point.
48. Upselling
Convincing a paying customer to opt for a more expensive product or service than originally intended.
49. Value Proposition
The mission of your company, providing a brief definition of what gives it ‘value’ to potential customers.
Now you know the sales vocabulary to build a winning strategy with your entire sales team, ensuring preparedness for every step of a successful sales process.