GLOSSARY
A
Account-Based Marketing (ABM): A strategic approach to business marketing where an organisation considers and communicates with individual prospect or customer accounts as markets of one.
Account Executive (AE): A sales professional responsible for managing relationships with specific customers and closing sales deals.
Account Manager (AM): A salesperson who maintains client relationships and works to ensure their satisfaction and retention.
Activity Metrics: Quantitative measures used to track the amount and type of sales activities performed (e.g., calls made, emails sent).
Addressable Market: The complete pool of potential customers or market demand that a company can theoretically serve with its offerings.
Available Market: The segment of the Addressable Market that a company can realistically target and serve,
Average Deal Size: The average revenue generated from closed deals within a specific period.
B
B2B (Business-to-Business): Transactions or interactions conducted between two businesses.
B2C (Business-to-Consumer): Transactions conducted between a business and individual consumers.
B2G (Business-to-Government): Transactions conducted between a business and a Government department.
Backlog: Orders received but not yet fulfilled or billed.
BANT: A sales qualification framework that stands for Budget, Authority, Need, and Timing.
BDD: Business Development Director
BDE: Business Development Executive
BDM: Business Development Manager
C
Churn Rate: The percentage of customers who stop doing business with a company during a given time period.
Client Relationship Management (CRM): A strategy and set of practices, technologies, and tools that organisations use to manage and analyse customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle.
Closing Ratio: The percentage of sales pitches or proposals that result in a sale.
Cold Call: An unsolicited call made by a salesperson to a potential customer.
Consultative Selling: A sales approach that prioritises understanding and addressing the specific needs and problems of the customer through a collaborative and advisory relationship.
Conversion Rate: The percentage of prospects who take a desired action (e.g., make a purchase, sign up for a demo).
Customer Relationship Management (CRM): A strategy and set of practices, technologies, and tools that organisations use to manage and analyse customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): The total cost of acquiring a new customer, including marketing and sales expenses.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV): The total revenue a business can reasonably expect from a single customer account throughout the business relationship.
D
Decision Maker: The person within a company who has the authority to make purchase decisions.
Discovery Call: An initial conversation between a salesperson and a prospect to identify the prospect's needs and determine whether they are a good fit for the product or service.
Discount Rate: The reduction from the standard price of a product or service.
E
Engagement: The level of interaction and interest shown by a prospect or customer towards a company’s marketing efforts or sales outreach.
Enterprise Sales: Selling products or services to large organizations, typically involving complex sales cycles and higher deal values.
F
Forecast: The projected sales revenue for a specific future period.
Follow-Up: The process of contacting prospects or customers after an initial meeting or interaction to maintain engagement and advance the sales process.
G
Gatekeeper: An individual (such as a receptionist or assistant) who controls access to decision-makers.
Gross Margin: The difference between revenue and cost of goods sold, often expressed as a percentage of revenue.
H
Hot Lead: A prospect who has shown strong interest in your product or service and is likely to make a purchase soon.
Inside Sales: Sales conducted remotely, typically via phone, email, or online methods, rather than through face-to-face meetings.
Inbound Sales: The process of attracting potential customers to your business through content marketing, social media, and SEO.
I
Ideal Customer Profile (ICP): Is a comprehensive description of the perfect customer for a company's product or service.
Individual Contributor (IC): A sales professional who focuses solely on personal sales targets and performance metrics without managerial responsibilities for a team.
J
Joint Venture (JV): A business arrangement where two or more parties agree to pool their resources for a specific task or business activity.
K
Key Performance Indicator (KPI): A measurable value that indicates how effectively a company is achieving its key business objectives.
Key Account: A large, significant customer that contributes a substantial portion of a company's revenue.
L
Lead: A potential customer who has expressed interest in a company's products or services.
Lead Generation: The process of attracting and converting strangers and prospects into someone who has indicated interest in your company's product or service.
Lead Nurturing: The process of developing relationships with buyers at every stage of the sales funnel and throughout the buyer's journey.
M
Market Penetration: The extent to which a product is recognized and bought by customers in a particular market.
Miller Heiman: A renowned sales training and consulting firm known for its strategic sales methodologies and frameworks designed to help organizations improve their sales performance. Named after its founders, Robert Miller and Stephen Heiman.
MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead): A lead judged more likely to become a customer compared to other leads based on marketing efforts.
Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR): The predictable and recurring revenue components of your subscription business.
N
Net Promoter Score (NPS): A metric used to measure customer loyalty and satisfaction by asking how likely they are to recommend your company to others.
Negotiation: The process by which parties reach an agreement on the terms of a sale.
O
Objection Handling: The process of responding to and overcoming potential customers' objections or concerns.
Opportunity: A potential sales deal that has been qualified and is actively being pursued.
P
Pipeline: A visual representation of where prospects are in the sales process.
Prospecting: The process of identifying potential customers and generating interest in your product or service.
Purchase Order (PO): A document issued by a buyer to a seller indicating types, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services.
Q
Quota: The sales target set for a salesperson or sales team over a specific period.
Qualification: The process of determining whether a lead meets the criteria to be a potential customer.
R
Referral: A recommendation from a satisfied customer to a potential new customer.
Return on Investment (ROI): A measure of the profitability of an investment, calculated by dividing net profit by the cost of the investment.
S
Sales Cycle: The series of predictable phases required to sell a product or service.
Sales Enablement: The process of providing sales teams with the tools, content, and information they need to sell more effectively.
Sales Force Automation (SFA): Software that automates the business tasks of sales, such as order processing, contact management, inventory monitoring, and sales forecast analysis.
Sales Funnel: The stages a prospect goes through from initial awareness to final purchase.
Sales Operations: A set of business activities and processes that help a sales organisation run effectively, efficiently and in support of business strategies and objectives.
Sales Stack: A collection of tools, technologies, and software applications that a sales team uses to streamline, enhance, and automate various aspects of the sales process.
S.P.I.N. Selling: A sales technique that involves asking four types of questions—Situation, Problem, Implication, and Need-Payoff—to understand a customer's needs and effectively demonstrate the value of a solution.
Stretch Targets: Ambitious, high-reaching goals set beyond standard objectives to motivate and challenge the sales team to achieve exceptional performance and drive significant growth.
T
Target Market: A specific group of potential customers at whom a company’s products and marketing efforts are aimed.
Touchpoint: Any interaction between a customer and your brand, whether it be online or offline.
U
Upselling: The practice of encouraging customers to purchase a more expensive item or add-ons to increase the sale value.
Unique Selling Proposition (USP): The factor or consideration presented by a seller as the reason that their product or service is different from and better than that of the competition.
V
Value Proposition: A statement that explains how your product solves a customer problem, delivers specific benefits, and tells the ideal customer why they should buy from you and not the competition.
Vertical Market: A market in which vendors offer goods and services specific to an industry, trade, profession, or other group of customers with specialised needs.
W
Warm Lead: A prospect who has shown some level of interest or engagement with your product or service.
X
Cross-Selling: The practice of selling an additional product or service to an existing customer.
Y
Yield Management: A pricing strategy that involves adjusting prices based on demand to maximize revenue.
Z
Zig Ziglar: American Author, Salesperson and Motivational Speaker who coined the phrase; "Everyone is in Sales"
Zone Selling: A sales strategy that assigns sales reps to specific geographic areas or zones to maximize coverage and efficiency