THE COMPLETE SALES MASTER GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Search through our broad glossary of sales terms that every sales leader needs to know!
Using AI-enabled tools to automate research, gather, and interpret data at scale for identifying potential clients.
A strategic approach focusing on targeting and engaging key accounts individually, rather than through broad-based marketing.
The process of identifying actions or touchpoints contributing to a sale or conversion, used for understanding the effectiveness of different marketing channels.
The use of technology to perform tasks without human intervention, commonly used in sales and marketing to increase efficiency.
The systematic computational analysis of data or statistics, used extensively in B2B sales for decision making and strategy planning.
Business-to-business sales, involving transactions between businesses rather than between a business and individual consumers.
Semi-fictional representations of an ideal customer based on market research and real data about existing customers.
Behavioral cues that indicate a potential customer’s readiness or interest in purchasing a product or service.
The value and strength of a brand’s position in the market, which can influence customer behavior and sales.
The process of comparing one's business processes and performance metrics to industry bests or best practices from other companies.
A technology for managing a company’s relationships and interactions with current and potential customers.
A marketing strategy focused on creating, publishing, and distributing content for a targeted audience online.
The percentage of visitors to a website who take action to go beyond a casual content view or website visit, as a result of marketing activities.
The practice of sending unsolicited emails to potential customers without prior contact.
The percentage of customers or subscribers who cut ties with a service or company within a given time period.
The practice of examining large databases to generate new information and find hidden patterns for B2B sales strategies.
The focus on targeted marketing programs to drive awareness and interest in a company's products or services.
Marketing efforts that use an electronic device or the internet to drive direct sales, leads, and engagement.
The practice of varying the price for a product or service based on current market demands.
The final process in the sales cycle, culminating in the agreement between buyer and seller and the exchange of goods or services for payment.
The process of gradually increasing the volume of mail sent with a new email account to establish a good sender reputation.
A metric used to measure the level of engagement that a piece of created content is receiving from an audience.
Buying and selling goods or services using the internet, and the transfer of money and data to execute these transactions.
The direct or indirect sale of products or services to large organizations or governmental bodies.
The practice of designing products, processes, services, events, and environments with a focus placed on the quality of the user experience and culturally relevant solutions.
A strategic plan to sell one's investment in a company or to end a business operation.
The process of fine-tuning the sales funnel stages to improve conversion rates and sales outcomes.
The use of historical data and analysis to make informed estimates about future trends in sales.
The collection of attributes or capabilities that a product offers to its users.
A process in which the outputs of a system are circled back and used as inputs, commonly used in continuous improvement of products and services.
The process of taking an order and executing it by making the product or service ready for delivery to the purchaser.
Strategies focused solely on growth, used by companies to rapidly expand their user base or sales.
A plan that specifies how a company will target customers and achieve competitive advantage.
The practice of delivering content or advertisements to a user based on their geographic locations.
The application of game-design elements and game principles in non-game contexts, like sales, to motivate participation, engagement, and loyalty.
A company's total sales revenue minus its cost of goods sold, divided by the total sales revenue, expressed as a percentage.
The practice of using data to deliver more personalized and relevant advertising or content to specific groups.
A sales model that requires a significant amount of interaction between a salesperson and a customer, typically involving customized presentations and extensive post-sale support.
The process of a company increasing production of goods or services at the same part of the supply chain.
The minimum rate of return on a project or investment required by a manager or investor.
A sales approach that combines both direct and indirect sales channels to reach customers in the most efficient way possible.
The use of market signals to identify companies and individuals as prospects with a high propensity to buy, crafting personalized outreach to engage them.
A strategy that focuses on attracting customers through content and interactions that are relevant and helpful, not interruptive.
The process of linking together different computing systems and software applications physically or functionally, to act as a coordinated whole.
A form of social media marketing involving endorsements and product placements from influencers, people and organizations with a purported expert level of knowledge or social influence in their field.
The supervision of non-capitalized assets, or inventory, and stock items.
A business arrangement where two or more parties agree to pool their resources for the purpose of accomplishing a specific task, often seen in B2B partnerships.
The process of creating a visual representation of the process a customer goes through to achieve a goal with your company, highlighting key interactions and touchpoints.
An inventory management strategy that aligns raw-material orders from suppliers directly with production schedules, reducing inventory costs.
In B2B sales and marketing, the practice of customizing outreach and content for specific job roles within target organizations.
A method of encoding Linked Data using JSON, important for structuring data on websites for better SEO.
A measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives.
An online repository of information, FAQs, and resources for customers to help themselves.
The process of researching, analyzing, and selecting the best keywords to target to drive qualified traffic from search engines to your website.
Predefined criteria used in sales and procurement to disqualify proposals that do not meet minimum specified requirements.
A visual workflow management method used to visualize work, limit work-in-progress, and maximize efficiency (or flow).
The initiation of consumer interest or inquiry into products or services of a business, crucial in B2B sales strategies.
The process of enhancing elements on a website to increase conversions.
The predicted net profit attributed to the entire future relationship with a customer.
A methodology used to rank prospects against a scale that represents the perceived value each lead represents to the organization.
The process of developing relationships with buyers at every stage of the sales funnel and through every step of the buyer's journey.
The process of dividing a target market into smaller, more defined categories.
The practice of interacting with customers using a combination of indirect and direct communication channels.
The software platforms and technologies designed for marketing departments and organizations to more effectively market on multiple channels online and automate repetitive tasks.
The version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.
The difference between the cost of goods sold and the sale price, expressed as a percentage of the sale price.
A management tool that can be used to gauge the loyalty of a firm's customer relationships.
A type of advertising, usually online, that matches the form and function of the platform upon which it appears.
Concentrating all marketing efforts on a small but specific and well defined segment of the population.
A dialogue between two or more people or parties, intended to reach a beneficial outcome over one or more issues.
The effect described in economics and business that an additional user of a good or service has on the value of that product to others.
The traditional form of marketing where a company initiates the conversation and sends its message out to an audience.
The process of integrating a new customer or client into your service and getting them to a point where they can successfully use it.
The search results of a search engine that cannot be influenced by paid advertising.
In marketing, an offer is what a company proposes to sell to potential customers in the form of products or services.
Components of CRM that deal with the direct interaction with customers, through any medium of communication, for the purpose of customer support, sales, and marketing.
In sales, a potential customer who has been identified as fitting a target market, but has not yet been qualified as a lead.
The action of designing or producing something to meet someone's individual requirements, in marketing, this often refers to personalized content or offers.
A sales pipeline is a visual representation of where prospects are in the sales process.
A model of internet marketing in which advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked.
The process of establishing the image or identity of a brand or product so that consumers perceive it in a certain way.
The process in sales of determining whether a potential customer meets the criteria to be moved further along the sales process.
Prospects who have been identified as having a high probability of becoming customers.
A sales goal; a fixed amount of selling that a salesperson is expected to meet over a given time frame.
The process of using mathematical and statistical modeling, measurement, and research to understand behavior. In marketing, it's used to understand and predict the performance of sales activities.
In the context of search engines, a query is the actual word or string of words that a user enters into the search box.
A performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or compare the efficiency of a number of different investments.
Online advertising that targets users who have previously visited a website with banner ads on display networks across the web.
The act of recommending a product or service to a potential customer.
A form of marketing developed from direct response marketing campaigns which emphasizes customer retention and satisfaction.
An approach to web page creation that makes use of flexible layouts, flexible images and cascading style sheet media queries.
The process of increasing the quality and quantity of website traffic by increasing the visibility of a website or a web page to users of a web search engine.
Additional domains that point to portions of your website or to specific content, used for marketing, campaign tracking, or alternative branding.
The process of dividing a broad consumer or business market, normally consisting of existing and potential customers, into sub-groups of consumers based on some type of shared characteristics.
A model that represents the journey from the initial engagement with a potential customer to the final sale.
A sales stack is a set of software tools and technologies used by sales teams to streamline and optimize their sales processes, from lead generation to customer relationship management. Usually a sales org uses multiple softwares to support pre-sale, through-out the sales cycle, as well as post-sale.
A psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behavior for a given situation.
A group of customers within the business's serviceable available market at which a business aims its marketing efforts and resources.
Any time a potential customer or customer comes in contact with your brand—before, during, or after they purchase something from you.
A sales strategy that focuses on making quick sales without a significant attempt to form a long-term customer relationship.
An individual or firm that is recognized as an authority in a specialized field and whose expertise is sought and often rewarded.
A graphic with dimensions of 1x1 pixels that is loaded when a user visits a webpage or opens an email and is used to track certain user activities.
Trigger-based selling is a sales strategy that involves identifying specific triggers or events that signal a potential buying opportunity for a product or service. The goal of trigger-based selling is to proactively reach out to potential customers when these triggers occur to capitalize on the opportunity.
The overall experience of a person using a product such as a website or computer application, especially in terms of how easy or pleasing it is to use.
A sales technique where a seller induces the customer to purchase more expensive items, upgrades, or other add-ons in an attempt to make a more profitable sale.
The factor presented by a seller as the reason that one product or service is different from and better than that of the competition.
In a professional services context, the ratio of billable time to working time, a measure of productivity and efficiency.
The means by which the user and a computer system interact, in particular the use of input devices and software.
A promise of value to be delivered and a belief from the customer that value will be experienced.
A business strategy that uses existing social networks to promote a product mainly through various forms of digital marketing.
A form of on-demand printing in which elements such as text, graphics, and images may be changed from one printed piece to the next, using information from a database.
A term used in business to describe the in-depth process of capturing a customer's expectations, preferences, and aversions.
A company that adds features or services to an existing product, then resells it (usually to end-users) as an integrated product or complete 'turn-key' solution.
A seminar conducted over the internet, often used for educational or marketing purposes to reach a wider audience.
The design, execution, and automation of processes based on workflow rules where human tasks, data, or files are routed between people or systems based on pre-defined business rules.
An authoritative report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter.
The process of re-engaging former customers to return to your service or product.
A form of unpaid promotion in which satisfied customers tell other people how much they like a business, product, or service.
The effectiveness with which a given set of inputs are used to produce outputs. In sales, it can relate to the efficiency of the sales process itself.
A way for webmasters to tell search engines about the pages on their websites that are available for crawling.
Similar to cross-selling, it involves selling additional products or services to an existing customer.
An variable in a given situation that could have the most significant impact on the outcome; a noteworthy special talent or quality in sales and marketing strategies.
A variable pricing strategy, based on understanding, anticipating, and influencing consumer behavior in order to maximize revenue or profits from a fixed, perishable resource.
A method of evaluating two or more measured events to compare the results at one time period with those from another time period, on an annual basis.
A term used in the marketing and advertising industry to describe activities to communicate with young people, typically in the age range of 13 to 30.
In sales, it refers to the percentage of inquiries which turn into leads or sales.
In marketing, to suddenly remove or withdraw a product from the market or halt a marketing campaign.
A budgeting method where all expenses must be justified and approved for each new period.
The defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time. In marketing, understanding this can help tailor campaigns that resonate with the current cultural climate.
A pricing strategy in which the price of a product varies depending on the area or zone in which the buyer is located.
A detailed analysis focusing closely on a specific segment of a market or part of a product feature.
A strategy in sales and marketing that involves constantly changing tactics and strategies to find what works best in real-time conditions.