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100+ Sales and Marketing Terminologies You Should Know

Just as quickly as the tech world has been evolving over the last 10 years, so too has the world of sales and marketing. For anyone coming into the business and even persons that have been in sales and marketing for some time, it can be a bit hard to keep up with all of the sales jargon, terminologies, techniques, etc.
 
It's with that thought we decided to create this glossary for the sales and marketing community.
 
You might want to bookmark this one! 😀

 

A

1. ABC – "Always Be Closing." Or “Always Be Connecting.” The former being the original ABCs of selling. In an era of social selling the latter is preferred.  https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

2. A/B Testing (Split Testing) – Testing two versions of a webpage, email subject line, landing page, CTA, etc. to see which one performs better. https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

3. Account – refers to a record of primary and background information about an individual or corporate customer, including contact data, preferred services, and transactions with your company. https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 
4. Account executive – a sales specialist who has primary responsibility for one or more customer accounts (called a portfolio), commonly tasked not only to nurture and grow the company’s relationships with said accounts but sometimes also to convert qualified leads into paying customers. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

5. Analytics – Tracking data and creating meaningful patterns from it that inform future marketing endeavours. The data can come from website traffic, conversions, social media, etc. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 
6. AIDA – An acronym used in Sales that stands for Attention/Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action. It describes the four steps wherein customers travel from awareness to purchase. Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary
 

B

 
 
7. B2B – an acronym for Business-to-Business, a model for selling, relationship-building or engagement.  Resource:  https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A
 
 
8. B2C – an acronym for Business-to-Consumer, a model for selling, relationship-building or engagement.  Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A
 
 
9. Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU) The very first stage of the buying process. Leads at this stage are identifying a problem they have and are looking for more information. At this point, marketers create helpful content that aids leads in identifying this problem and providing next steps toward a solution.
 
 
10. Bounce Rate – The number of people who land on a page of your website and leave without clicking on anything before moving on to another page on your site.
 
 
11. Brand – Anything that brings about awareness of a specific product, service or business while separating it from other establishments.

Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know


 
12. Buyer Behaviour – The ways a consumer identifies, considers, and chooses products and services. Buyer behaviour is often influenced by the consumer's needs, desires, aspirations, inhibitions, role, social and cultural environment.

 
13. Buyer Persona – A semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers. It helps inbound marketers define their target audience, and sales reps qualify leads.
 
 
14. Buying Criteria – All the information a consumer needs to make a buying decision. It can be written or unwritten, and often answers questions like, "what is it? "why should I buy it?"; "what is the price?"; "why do I need it?" and so on. Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary
 
 
15. Buyer’s Journey – The buyer's journey is the process buyers go through to become aware of, consider and evaluate, and decide to purchase a new product or service. 
The journey consists of a three-step process:
1. Awareness Stage: The buyer realises they have a problem.
2. Consideration Stage: The buyer defines their problem and researches options to solve it.
3. Decision Stage: The buyer chooses a solution. 
 
 
16. Buying Process/Cycle – The process potential buyers go through before deciding whether to make a purchase. Although it's been broken it down into many sub-stages to align with different business models, it can universally be boiled down to these three lifecycle stages:
1. Leads have either become aware of your product or service, or they have become aware that they have a need that must be fulfilled.
2. Leads are aware that your product or service could fulfill their need, and they are trying to determine whether you are the best fit.
3. Leads are ready to make a purchase. 
 
 
17. Buying Signal – A communication from a prospect indicating they are ready to make a purchase, either verbal or non-verbal. An example would be them asking the sales rep, "When can it be delivered?" Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary
 
C

18. Churn Rate – A metric that measures how many customers you retain and at what value. To calculate churn rate, take the number of customers you lost during a certain time frame, and divide that by the total number of customers you had at the very beginning of that time frame. (Don't include any new sales from that time frame.) For example, if a company had 500 customers at the beginning of October and only 450 customers at the end of October (discounting any customers that were closed in October), their customer churn rate would be: (500-450)/500 = 50/500 = 10%. Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

19. ClickThrough Rate (CTR) – This number shows the people that move through your website or marketing campaigns. It’s actually the “clicks” or actions prospects take, divided by the total number of actions people could take. Hence, the name “clickthrough rate.” Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

20. Cold Calling – Approaching prospective clients by phone or face-to-face without having ever had any interaction with them before. Resource https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

21. Content Management System (CMS) – A program that manages all of the aspects of creating content. These may include editing, indexing, navigational elements, etc. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 
22. Conversion Path – The path, or course of actions, a prospect will go through to eventually become a lead. These events can include a call to action, lead form, thank you page, downloadable content, etc. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

23. Conversion Rate – Percentage of people who take a desired action, such as filling out a form, registering, signing up for a newsletter, or any activity other than just browsing a web page. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 
24. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)Software that helps you organise all of your marketing and sales activities, including storing contact information, tracking emails, storing deals, and more. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know
 
 
25. Cost Per lead (CPL) – The total cost marketing pays to acquire a lead. It is an important metric to keep track of and it influences your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

26. Cost-Based Pricing – A strategic form of pricing intended to cover the expenses of running your business. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

27. Customer Acquisition Cost – A measurement that allows you to assess the cost of scaling up your business. It can be calculated by dividing the time and money spent on customer acquisition for a specific period of time by the number of new customers gained. (Money + Time Spent)/Number of New Customers. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know
 

28. Customer Loyalty – When a consumer is a repeat buyer of a product, service or brand. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

29. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – Software that helps you organize all of your marketing and sales activities, including storing contact information, tracking emails, storing deals, and more. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

D

30. Demographics – A specific profiling aspect that takes into consideration age, gender, income, family life, social class, etc. It’s often used in segmentation or for focal points in marketing and advertising strategies. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

31. Decision-Maker – The person who, or role that, makes the final decision of a sale. They are often "guarded" by a gatekeeper. Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

32. Digital Marketing (Online Marketing) – Marketing to a target audience solely via the internet. Could be email marketing, content marketing, etc. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

33. Direct Competition – Competitors that provide the exact same services as your establishment or firm. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

34. Direct Mail – A means of advertising communication that reaches a consumer where they live or their place of business, through the mail, often based on demographics and/or geographical location. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

35. Discovery Call – The first call a sales rep makes to a prospect, with the goal of asking them questions and qualifying them for the next step. Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

E

36. Ebook – Also referred to as a lead magnet, ebooks are generally a piece of longer content designed to generate leads. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

37. E-Commerce – The means of selling products digitally on the internet. Resource:

https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

38. Email – A digital message you can send through the internet to contacts, leads and prospects. Marketing through email takes businesses directly into a consumer’s inbox and provides the ability to create a connection and build trust. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

39. Engagement Rate – A measurement of likes, shares, comments or other interaction a particular piece of content receives. Resource:  https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

40. Evergreen Content – Content that is valuable to a reader today, in 5 years and in 10 years. This “evergreen” content is timeless, offers the highest-quality information and offers huge SEO benefits. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

F

41. Forecasting – A prediction of marketing and sales trends that are likely to occur in the future. This forecast is based on historical, quantitative, and qualitative data. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

42. Friction – Any aspect of your website that is hard to understand, distracting or causes visitors to move on from your page. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

G

43. Gatekeeper – A person who, or role that, enables or prevents the information from getting to another person(s) in a company. For example, a receptionist or personal assistant. Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

44. GPCTBA/C&I – Goals, Plans, Challenges, Timeline, Budget, Authority, Negative Consequences, Positive Implications. The lead qualification criteria sales reps should use to qualify prospects -- it's a better tool than BANT to help sales reps and sales leaders to determine whether their prospects have the goals, plans, challenges, and right timeline to buy what they sell.

 

G = Goals: Determines the quantifiable goals your prospect wants or needs to hit. An opportunity for sales reps to establish themselves as an advisor by beginning to help prospects reset or quantify their goals.

P = Plans: Determines the prospect's current plans that they'll implement in order to achieve those goals.

C = Challenges: Determines whether the sales rep can help a prospect overcome their and their company's challenges; ones they're dealing with and ones they (or the sales rep) anticipate.

T = Timeline: Determines the time frame for implementation of their goals and plans, and when they need to eliminate their challenges.

B = Budget: Determines how much money a prospect has to spend.

A = Authority: Determines who in the organization will help champion and/or decide to make a purchase.

C = Negative Consequences: Discusses the negative things that'll happen if a prospect doesn't meet their goal.

I = Positive Implications: Discusses the positive outcomes that'll happen if a prospect meets their goal. Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

H

45. Hashtag – A keyword phrase, written without spaces, with a # in front of it. It allows you and your audience to interact and converse about specific topics on social media. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

46. Horizontal – refers to a specific offering or market opportunity (e.g. buying all the other medical CRMs so you’re the only medical CRM provider). Resource:  https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

I

47. Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) – refers to a type or class of customer who possesses all the desirable attributes (such as gender, age, location, financial capacity, lifestyle, brand affinity, etc.) that increase the possibility of an opt-in or a purchase, (your perfect type of client). Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

48. Inbound – refers to interest (could be sales or marketing driven) that comes in – e.g. cold emails to you, submitted forms on your website, press inquiries, etc. Resource:  https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

49. Inbound Marketing – Advertising your company via content marketing, podcasts, video, eBooks, email broadcast, SEO, Social Marketing, etc., rather than paid advertising. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

50. Inbound Sales – is a process, method or transaction wherein purchases occur as a result of customers directly approaching, engaging and embracing your brand, achieved by focusing on their needs and strategically leading them to your solution. Resource:  https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

51. Infographic – A type of content that is visual in nature, making complex information easy to understand and digest. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

52. Internal Marketing – Efforts to offer a marketing plan to individuals and executives within your own firm to gain their approval and/or support. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

K

53. Key Accounts – are whale spenders or VIP customers prioritized by sales reps and customer success; churn from these clients would be a detrimental loss to the company’s revenue. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

54. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – are the most relevant measurable values that help indicate whether an organization or individual has succeeded at achieving targets or a desired level of performance. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

55. Kickers – are monetary bonuses or extra commissions offered to motivate sales professionals to exceed quota, showcase a specific service or product, or target a particular market segment. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

L

56. Lead – refers to a prospect or potential customer (who can be an individual or organization) that exhibits interest in your service or product; or any additional information about such entity. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

57. Lead Generation – is a set of activities aimed at generating interest around a product or service through methods such as 1. content marketing (blogging, podcasts, free downloads); 2. advertising 

(PPC, banner ads, Yellow Pages, sponsoring an event); 3. referrals (recommendations from existing customers and other people); 4. outbound marketing (cold email, cold calling), and 5. partnerships (joint ventures, affiliate marketing). Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

58. Lead Nurturing – refers to the process of engaging and building long-term relationships with prospective customers through different marketing techniques that develop their preference for your product and services. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

59. Lead Qualification – is the process of determining whether a potential customer has the characteristics of your company’s ideal client (such as sufficient purchasing ability and a higher likelihood of buying your product). Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

60. Lead Scoring – is the process of assigning a relative value to each lead based on different criteria, with the aim of ranking leads in terms of engagement priority. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

61. Lifetime Value (LTV) – is the total value of a customer from a business perspective or in terms of revenue before they churn. MRR/churn % Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

62. Loss Aversion is a psychological effect whereby people feel more strongly (negatively) about losing a sum of money than they do (positively) from gaining the same amount. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

63. Low-Hanging Fruit refers to a class of prospective consumers or a market segment that requires the least level of effort to turn into paying customers. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

M

64. Marketing –  is the field, set of actions, or practice of making a product or service desirable to a target consumer segment, with the ultimate aim of effecting a purchase. Resource:  https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

65. Marketing Automation – This is the tool that lets you “automate” your marketing campaigns. Through lead nurturing, behavior-based strategies and more, you can use marketing automation to send the right marketing messages to the right people at the right time. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

66. Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) – A lead that is ready to be handed over to the sales team. An MQL has had some sort of positive interaction with the company, such as a discussion, downloading marketing products, etc., that deems them worthy to move to the next level of the sales funnel. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

67. Market-Based Pricing – Similar to competitive based pricing in the sense that this type of pricing is based off of the streamlined/current pricing for a specific product or service within the same industry. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

68. Market Development – The act of taking an existing product or service to a new market. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

69. Market Penetration – A strategy used to sell more of an existing product within the current markets it is being sold. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

70. Market Research – High-intelligence research and development of a specific industry for the betterment of sound business decisions. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

71. Metrics are quantities that are measured and used to:

  • Assess a set of attributes such as a company’s profitability.
  • Determine cost efficiency or an individual’s job performance.
  • Implement corrections or remedial actions.
  • Make accurate revenue forecasts.

 

72. Mid-Market –  is a classification of business organizations in terms of scale (revenue, number of employees, etc.), occupying the segment between the small companies and large multinational enterprises serving the same market. Resource:  https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

73. Minimum Viable Product (MVP) –  is a development framework by which a new product or website is built with bare minimum / basic features; just enough to satisfy early adopters. The point is to validate product-market fit and demand. This is usually a fast, crappy product thrown together to see if anyone will buy it. Speed of execution is the goal. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

74. Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) –  is the amount of reasonably regular and predictable income a company expects to receive every month, typically used in rental and subscription-based businesses. The formula for calculating MRR = ARR divided by 12. Resource. https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

N

75. Needs Assessment –  A process for analyzing a system, person, function or organization with the aim of determining what the entity lacks to achieve a desired state or outcome, usually involving the identification and classification of specific needs according to their level of importance. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

76. Negotiation –  A strategic dialogue, discussion, or bargaining process between two or more parties with the goal of reaching a mutually acceptable agreement. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

77. Net New Business – A prospect that you have newly converted into a paying customer or an existing account that has been dormant for a long period but has been re-engaged and reactivated as a revenue-generating account. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

78. New Product Development  The creation of a new product that involves research, development, product testing and launching. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

79. Niche Market/Business – A very specific segment of a market in which you are trying to meet the needs of that market. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

O

80. Objection – A prospect's challenge to or rejection of a product or service's benefits, and a natural part of the sales process. Common objections often have to do with budget, authority, need, and timing (see BANT). How sales reps handle objections plays a big role in determining whether a prospect will buy. Learn how to tackle common B2B sales objections here. Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

81. Offer – This is an asset that you’ll offer prospects on a landing page. The offer is designed to help you generate leads, and they can include everything from a webinar, ebook, checklist, template, demo and more. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

82. Onboarding – The process or act of introducing a new customer to your product or service; or integrating a newly hired employee into your workforce or team. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

83. Opportunity – Though every company has different processes for defining what criteria make someone an opportunity, it's basically when a qualified lead is being worked by Sales. See Qualified Lead for more information. Resource:  https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

84. Optimization – The process or act of altering a system, design, or procedure such that it 1) attains full functionality or efficiency, or 2) generates maximum output, benefit, or impact. Resource  https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

85. Outbound Sales –  a process where the seller directly initiates contact with a prospect customer with the aim of closing a deal down the line using methods such as cold calling, cold emails and direct outreach on social media. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

P

86. Pain Point – A prospect's pain point, or need, is the most important thing for a sales rep to identify in the selling process. Without knowing a prospect's pain points, they can't possibly offer benefits to help resolve those pain points. Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

87. Performance Plan – Also "Performance Improvement Plan" or "PIP." A sales rep is put on a performance plan if s/he doesn't make a certain percentage of quota over a certain period of time. Performance plans vary from company to company, but it usually starts with a written warning and further disciplinary action, including termination if necessary. The purpose of performance plans is to set clear and specific performance goals, provide a means for feedback, and develop sales skills. Resource:

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

88. Pipeline – The step-by-step process sales reps go through to convert a prospect into a customer. The sales pipeline is often divided into stages for each step in the sales process, and the sales rep is responsible for moving opportunities through the stages. It can also refer to a visual representation of the sales process, where every open opportunity is arranged based on the sales stage they're in. Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

89. Positioning Statement – Statements and questions that sales reps use when opening a sales call to engage the prospect in conversation around their pain points. Many sales reps are trained to start off every sales call with these statements. Here's an example of positioning statements on a sales call from Advanced Marketing Concepts:

Sales Rep: I help marketing leaders who are frustrated with the inability of the sales team to differentiate their products in a crowded market.

Buyer: Yes, that's always been a problem. (If you've done your job well and targeted the buyer effectively with that first positioning statement, then you'll get an engaging signal like this one.)

Sales Rep: I talk to a lot of marketing leaders, and lately I'm hearing the two biggest problems are weak sales pipeline and an inability to differentiate from competitors. Do these problems sound familiar? Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

90. Profit Margin – A ratio of profitability that measures how much money a company actually keeps in earnings. It's calculated either as a) net income divided by revenues, or b) net profits divided by sales. Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

91. Prospecting – The process of searching for and finding potential buyers. Sales reps (or "prospectors") seek out qualified prospects and move them through the sales cycle. Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

92. Plays –  This is an engagement strategy, set of actions, series of tactical steps, or an agreed upon selling approach developed to be repeatable and customized to deliver the highest likelihood of closing a deal with a specific group of prospective customers during a set period. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

93. Product –  Refers to anything (an idea, item, service, process or information) that meets a need or a desire and offered to a market, usually but not always at a price. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

94. Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) –  This is the process of managing a service or product across its entire lifecycle — ideation, design, development, deployment, termination/disposal. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

95. Product Qualified Lead (PQL) –  This is a potential customer who meets a set of predefined criteria and have used a benchmark product(s), indicating a relatively higher likelihood of making a purchase. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

96. Profitability – is the potential, degree, metric, ability or relative efficiency of a business to yield financial gain (i.e., profits) after all relevant expenses and costs have been deducted. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

97. Proof of Concept (PoC) –  This is a study, prototype, or demonstration attempting to prove that a business idea is feasible and has the potential to be successful. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

98. Proposition – According to Dictionary.com, a proposition plan, deal or scheme proposed or it can be the act of offering or suggesting something to be considered, accepted, adopted, or done

 

99. Push Counter – This is a dashboard tracker used in some CRM’s such as Salesforce to monitor the frequency at which closing an opportunity is being pushed/postponed from period to period. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

Q

100. Qualified Lead –  A lead that is qualified meets your company’s criteria, or buyer persona attributes, and is more likely to buy. A marketing qualified lead meets marketing objectives, while a sales qualified lead meets sales objectives. Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

101. Quarter –  This is a three-month period in a company’s fiscal year commonly used to make comparative performance analyses, detect or forecast business trends, report earnings, and pay shareholder dividends. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

102. Quota – This is a predefined benchmark indicating the amount of sales a selling unit such as a sales rep or a regional sales team should achieve within a given period, often used as a measure of success, performance and eligibility for commissions and other rewards. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

R

103. Research and Development – The process of discovering and developing new products and services. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

104. Responsive Design – A website that changes based on the device the consumer uses. Mobile, laptop, and desktop devices offer different views of a website, and responsive design accommodate for each view, without having to build separate websites for each one. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

105. Revenue  is the amount of money a business generates during a specific period such as a year or a quarter; also called sales. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

106. Return On Investment (ROI) –  A way to measure the profitability of the investment you make in marketing, sales, etc. If the ROI on an investment is negative, it generally means you’re losing money on that endeavor. 

 

107. Referral – A prospect or lead generated from someone who may be interested in what the salesperson is selling.

 


108. Relationship Marketing – Establishing relationships with the intent of developing a long term association with a prospect or potential customer. This strategy is much less expensive than gaining new customers.

 

S

109. Sales Methodology – "The 'how' of selling as a skill set," according to John Kenney of Sales Benchmark Index. There are many sales methodologies out there, a few of which are particularly popular, and sales leaders often choose one and use it to teach and motivate his or her team. Popular sales methodologies include SPIN selling, Conceptual Selling, SNAP Selling, The Challenger Sale, Sandler Sales, and Customer Centric Selling. Read more about these sales methodologies here. Resource:

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

110. Service Level Agreement (SLA) – For salespeople, an SLA is an agreement between a company's sales and marketing teams that defines the expectations Sales has for Marketing and vice versa. The Sales SLA defines the expectations Marketing has for Sales on how deeply and frequently Sales will pursue each qualified lead, while the Marketing SLA defines expectations Sales has for Marketing with regards to lead quantity and lead quality. Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

SLAs exist to align Sales and Marketing. For companies to achieve growth and become leaders in their industries, it is critical that these two groups be properly integrated. Learn how to create an SLA here.

 

111. SMarketing – Used to refer to the practice of aligning Sales and Marketing efforts. In a perfect world, marketing would pass off tons of fully qualified leads to the sales team, who would then subsequently work every one of those leads enough times to close them 100% of the time. But since this isn't always how the cookie crumbles, it’s important for Marketing and Sales to align efforts to impact the bottom line the best they can through coordinated communication. Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

112. Social Selling – When sales reps use social media to interact directly with their prospects. They provide value by answering prospects' questions and offering thoughtful content until the prospect is ready to buy. Learn more about social selling here. Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

113. Sound Bite – A series of words or phrases sales reps use to respond to and overcome a customer objection. Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

114. Stage – Parts of the sales pipeline representing each step in the sales process. It's the sales rep's responsibility for moving opportunities from stage to stage. Different companies define their sales stages differently, but each one has behind it a set of requirements that need to be completed in order for an opportunity to move from one stage to the next. Names for sales stages are usually things like "Prospect," "Qualified Lead," "Demo," "Proposal," "Closed." Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

115. Sales Champion – is a prospect with influence and authority who also deeply understands and likes your product to the point of advocating for its adoption and success. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

116. Sales Coaching – is the process of helping sales professionals improve their performance, efficiency, and impact largely through behavioral changes and the development of new skills. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

117. Sales Cycle –  is a repeating process characterized by a predictable sequence of stages that a company undergoes as it sells its products and services to customers. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

118. Sales Demo –  is the act or process of showing the functions, benefits and value of a product or service as it relates to a particular audience, with the aim of leading the audience towards a purchase. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

119. Sales Development Representative (SDR) or Business Development Representative (BDR) –  is a sales specialist focusing on finding new prospects, establishing foundational relationships, and refreshing the sales pipeline with new leads for account executives. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

120. Sales Enablement –  is a strategic process that provides a company’s sales professionals with tools, technology, training and other resources that improve their performance at customer engagement and at generating value for all stakeholders in the sales process. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

121. Sales Funnel –  is a visualization of the sales process that defines the stages through which prospective customers go through as they are led by sales professionals towards a purchasing decision. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

122. Sales Kickoff –  is a major annual event for sales organisations, often held as a celebratory gathering where key achievements in the prior year are recalled, new revenue and organisational targets are set, and inspirational talks/strategy presentations/keynote speeches are given by guest dignitaries and top executives to galvanise the salesforce to deliver high performance in the coming year. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

123. Sales Lead –  is a potential consumer of your company’s product or service who have 1) expressed interest about your offerings, and 2) shared contact information. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

124. Sales Manager –  is an executive who leads a sales unit, team or department by setting goals and meeting targets, formulating plans and policies, designating tasks, and developing salespeople. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

125. Sales Operations –  is a collection of aligned business processes, strategic implementations and other activities aimed at achieving organisational goals, specially in the areas of sales revenue, market coverage and growth. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

126. Sales Partnerships –  is a formal collaboration between individuals or organisations aimed at bolstering the sales performance of a product or service for mutual benefit. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

127. Sales Pipeline –  is a type of visualisation showing the status of each sales prospect in the customer life cycle or sales process.  Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

128. Sales Process –  is a series of strategic steps or a set of activities aimed at driving sales growth through the alignment of personnel, market insight, methodologies, relevant business units, and technology. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

129. Sales Productivity –  is a metric that indicates how efficient a sales unit is at closing sales and generating revenue for the company, based on sales volume, payroll expenses, level of personnel activity and other factors. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

130. Sales Prospect – is a potential consumer of your product or service who meets a given set of benchmarks; typically a sales lead whose financial capacity, buying authority and willingness to purchase are found sufficient enough to qualify and be upgraded in the sales funnel as a prospect. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

131. Sales Prospecting –  is the process of finding, building and qualifying a pool of potential buyers or clients through networking, cold calling, advertising and other engagement methods. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

132. Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) –  is a potential customer that has already met the criteria for MQL and has further shown a higher likelihood of opting in or making a purchase. SQLs are flagged by sales development representatives and forwarded to quota-driven Account Executives (AE) for closing-level engagements. Resources: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

133. Sales Training –  is the process of improving the skills, behaviour and mindset of sales professionals to upgrade their selling performance. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

134. Salesforce Administrator –  refers to an individual — usually a team leader or manager — tasked to maintain high employee productivity and engagement through technology, process improvements and other methods; also a person tasked to operate and maintain the Salesforce CRM. Resource:  https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

135. Segmentation –  is the process of subdividing a large market into distinct partitions (or segments) based on demographics and other factors, with the aim of formulating and implementing separate strategies to better engage the consumers in each segment. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

136. Service Level Agreement (SLA) –  is a contract between a service provider and a consumer that specifies the quality, availability, restrictions, and other aspects of the service. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

137. Serviceable Available Market (SAM) –  is the portion of the Total Addressable Market (TAM) that can be reached by a business based on its current capabilities or prior track record (i.e., how much of the market you could realistically reach). Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

138. Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM) –  is the portion of your Serviceable Available Market (SAM) that you can reasonably capture in the short term. This is the smallest of the three market scales (TAM, SOM, SAM). Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

T

139. Target Marketing – A group of customers toward which a business has decided to aim its marketing efforts and merchandise. Resource:  https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

140. Top of the Funnel (TOFU) – Whereas Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU) prospects are in the ready-to-buy stage, TOFU customers are at the initial stages of the buying process. They are looking for answers to a problem they just realized they are having. Marketers create TOFU content that help prospects identify the problem and leads them to solutions. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

141. Total Addressable Market (TAM) –  refers to the largest possible revenue opportunity for a specific business. Resource:  https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

142. Total Available Market (TAM) –  refers to the total revenue potential for a specific product or service, including its future market imprint. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

143. Touches –  are units of milestones or points of contact used to measure the marketing effort it takes to transform a prospect into a viable, qualified lead. Also called touchpoints. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A


144. Triggers – are a set of signals or occurrences that meet certain criteria to be considered an opportunity to make a sale. Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

U

145. Unique Selling Point/Proposition (USP) – is a marketing concept that refers to the distinct advantage (lowest price, highest quality, different component materials, or new service features, etc.) a business has over other businesses catering to the same market or audience. Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

146. Up-Selling –  When a sales rep sells an existing customer a higher-end version of the product that customer originally bought. For example, if you bought a cell phone plan and a sales rep successfully persuaded you to upgrade to a plan with more minutes or data, then that's an up-sell. Resource: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

147. User Experience –  The experience a user has with your brand/website, from the moment they discover you, through the purchase and beyond  – where customers become advocates. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

V

148. Value Proposition – is a statement or message that encapsulates the reasons — such as benefits and unique attributes — consumers would want to patronize a brand or purchase a product. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

149. Value statement – is an official declaration that informs the customers and staff of an organisation about the company’s top priorities and its core beliefs. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

150. Value Triangle – is a concept in sales and marketing that describes the interrelationships of three factors: cost, quality and speed in the determining the value of a product or service. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

151. Vertical – refers to a market where a business targets only a small subset of customers such as a specific industry, sector, profession, or niche. For example, manufacturers of jet plane engines cater only to companies that produce or maintain jet planes. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

152. Viral Marketing – A method of product promotion that relies on getting customers to market an idea, product or service on their own. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know

 

W

153. Warm Call  is the process or act of calling or visiting a sales prospect with whom the sales professional has had a prior contact such as during an event or via a referral. Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

154. Warm Email – is the process or act of emailing a sales prospect with whom the sales professional has had a prior contact such as during an event or via a referral.  Resource: https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

155. Weighted Pipeline –  A more detailed version of a sales pipeline, in which each opportunity is given a specific value based on which stage they're in in the sales process. For example, potential buyers in the prospecting stage could be assigned a 10% chance of closing the deal, demo stage buyers 60%, closed-won 100%, and so on. A sales rep could say that, instead of having 10 prospects in her pipeline, she has 10 opportunities at 50% or greater likelihood of closing with a weighted pipeline value of $50,000. Resource:  https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/sales-terms-glossary

 

156. White Label is a term describing a product or service that can be purchased by a business entity and legally re-sold, marketed, and distributed under the entity’s own brand or trademark. Most of these products are turnkey and lightweight. Resource:  https://www.saleshacker.com/sales-terms-glossary/#A

 

157. Workflow A series of emails designed to nurture leads. A powerful marketing asset, you can use workflows to engage leads, learn more about prospects, segment lists, and much more. Resource: https://blog.flightmedia.co/83-marketing-sales-terms-every-entrepreneur-know 

 

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Develop, Serve, Inspire - these words succinctly define my purpose and what I am tasked with doing with my time here on earth. Skilled in Open Houses, Sales, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Presentation Skills, and Building Strong Relationships.

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