GLOSSARY
Sales Glossary
75 Terms Every Sales Rep
Should Know
Fully Automated. Fully Integrated.
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Table of Contents
Why a Sales Glossary?
3
Account | Active Listening | Appointment | B2B
4
B2C | Benefit | Business Development | Buyer
5
Buying Signal | Canvassing | Closed Question | Closing
6
Cold Call | Cold Lead | Collaborative Selling | Consultative Selling
7
Consumer | Contact | CRM | Customer
8
Deal | Decision Maker | Demographics | Demonstration
9
Differentiator | Elevator Speech | Feature | Gatekeeper
10
Influencer | Introduction | Lead | Lead Conversion
11
Lead Funnel | Lead Generation | Lead Grading | Lead Management
12
Lead Qualification | Lead Scoring | Lead Time | Major Account
13
Mark Up | Market Segment | Marketing | Mirroring
14
Need Based Selling | Networking | Opportunity | Opportunity Pipeline
15
Partnership Selling | Pipeline Management | Positioning | Presentation
16
Product | Profit Margin | Proposal | Quota
17
Referral | Retention | Sales Cycle | Sales Force Automation
18
Sales Forecast | Sales Gamification | Sales Manager | Sales Playbook
19
Sales Process | Smarketing | Solution Selling | SPAM
20
Targeting | Telemarketing | Territory | Unique Selling Proposition
21
Warm Lead | Whale | Win Rates
22
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Why a Sales Glossary?
Words are powerful.
Ryan Fedell
Business Development Manager
[email protected]
Ryan is a Business Development
Manager at Torrent Consulting.
He's responsible for new business
development, revenue growth,
and account management. For
close to a decade, he’s been
helping companies win with the
right sales people, process, and
technology solutions to
accelerate growth for their
business.
As a sales
Here at Torrent we’re on a mission to help
professional, words are the greatest tool
more companies and sales people
you have at your disposal to
maximize their selling potential. We think
communicate value to your customers.
one of the most important first steps is
When you increase your sales vocabulary,
teaching the lingo. That’s what this Sales
a new world of success opens up to you.
Glossary is all about.
Like any profession, sales has key terms
!
that when used properly, can increase
Wherever you are in your sales career we
your credibility and give you a major
hope these 75 terms give you the
competitive advantage. If you’re an
language and the confidence you need to
account executive, this means being able
better articulate your value, leverage your
to close bigger deals faster.
sales efforts, and win more business.
If you’re a
sales manager, you can transform the
performance and output of your entire
team.
!
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ACCOUNT
ACTIVE LISTENING
Typically in Business to Business sales relationships,
an account is the customer. Accounts can be
categorized based on business size, revenue, or size
of account.
A type of listening that employs several types of
communication in order to understand how a
customer feels and what business issues they have
that need addressing. Active listening incorporates
both verbal and nonverbal forms of
communication such as stance, mirroring, and
body language. A key to active listening is asking
questions that will ensure clarity and full
understanding of the customer’s needs.
APPOINTMENT
B2B
A visit to a customer by a sales representative.
Appointments are typically scheduled through a
phone call or email.
Business to business selling. B2B is commonly
referred to as wholesale because of the typically
large quantities of items involved. This type of
selling can also occur when a business has a
product or service that they feel could help another
business’ process.
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B2C
BENEFIT
Business to consumer selling. B2C commonly falls
into the retailer bracket. However, companies that
tend to deal in the B2C also fall into the B2B
category as the purchaser.
The positive gain, either tangible or intangible, that
the prospect or client will accrue by purchasing and
implementing a product or service.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
BUYER
The growing of a business through marketing and
sales processes, as well as analysis. Business
development includes brand positioning, market
expansion, and new user acquisitions.
The professional in charge of purchasing in a
business. “Buyer” can also be used to describe the
private consumer in a B2C scenario. Buyers are not
commonly major decision makers and are generally
held within specific constraints that have been
conveyed to them by the organization for which
they work.
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BUYING SIGNAL
CANVASSING
Hints or subtle clues that indicate your prospect is
considering purchasing your product or service.
Buying signals can be questions or comments such
as “How much does it cost?” or “That’s a fair price.”
Commonly thought of as door-to-door sales,
however, it has become synonymous to cold
calling. Canvassing implies an unscheduled
solicitation to a business or home in order to
arrange an appointment, gather information, or
pitch an offering.
CLOSED QUESTION
CLOSING
A question that prompts a yes or no response. It
can also be intended to receive a different short
response, but generally limits the responder to two
options.
When a lead has made its way through your
business’ sales process (Marketing, Lead Funnel,
Opportunity Pipeline) and has decided to work
with your company.
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COLD CALL
COLD LEAD
The initial attempt to contact a lead via phone. This
is often one of the first touchpoints a lead will have
with an organization. With the recent boom of
social media and the constant improvements in
communication methods, many consider cold
calling to be an archaic way to initiate business.
A cold lead is a newly generated lead that has not
been contacted by a company before. Cold leads
generally have no knowledge of the business at
hand or its practices. Cold leads are generally the
hardest and most time consuming to convert into a
prospect.
COLLABORATIVE SELLING
CONSULTATIVE SELLING
A selling approach with a partnership mentality
b e t w e e n c u s t o m e r a n d s u p p l i e r. B o t h
organizations realize that their long term success is
predicated on both of them staying in business.
A selling technique that involves increased
collaboration and input between the buyer and
seller. This process is aimed at gaining more
information from the buyer in order to fully meet
their needs.
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CONSUMER
CONTACT
An individual who uses a product or service (may or
may not be the buyer).
A meeting, communication, or relationship with
someone. In business, contacts are what define
your network. The more contacts and relationships
you grow, the easier it is to grow leads and leverage
your contacts into potential customers and
revenue.
CRM
CUSTOMER
(Customer Relationship Management). The
management of the entire sales process of a
department or business. Computerized CRM
systems have become a necessity for modern
organizations as they allow companies of any size
to effectively plan and automate their sales
strategies through the management of prospects
and customer details, contacts, sales history, and
account development.
A person or organization that buys goods or
services from a store or business.
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DEAL
DECISION MAKER
A common term for a business transaction.
A person in an organization who has the power and
budgetary authority to agree to a sales proposal.
DEMOGRAPHICS
DEMONSTRATION
The study of, or information about a target
population’s lifestyle, habits, location, spending,
age, social grade, employment, etc..
A presentation by a salesperson to the prospect to
show how a product works.
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DIFFERENTIATOR
ELEVATOR SPEECH
A differentiator is similar to a unique selling
proposition. It is a feature of a product or brand
that sets your company apart from the competitor’s
products or brands.
A brief 30 second explanation or description of an
organization, or its services or products offered.
FEATURE
GATEKEEPER
An attribute of a product or service.
The person responsible for vetting sales calls or
pitches for the decision maker, or keeping the
decision maker free from the bother of irrelevant
inquiries.
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INFLUENCER
INTRODUCTION
A person in an organization who has the power to
persuade and influence a decision maker.
Influencers may also be a decision maker
themselves for low value sales.
The first stage of a sales call.
LEAD
LEAD CONVERSION
A prospective customer who is interested in a
product or the services of an organization and
provides contact information.
Lead conversion is a product of lead generation
and lead scoring. When a lead is pursued by the
marketing team through a campaign or strategy,
once the marketing team has solicited a response
or has observed enough activity by the lead to
assign them a good lead score, a sales
representative will reach out to the lead. Once a
meeting time has been achieved, the lead will be
converted from the lead funnel to the opportunity
pipeline.
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LEAD FUNNEL
LEAD GENERATION
The process of diagramming the stages a lead goes
through by defining different levels that qualify
one lead over another. The Sales and Marketing
departments must work together to define their
perfect lead and then create a funnel comprised of
qualified leads. Most lead funnels will be comprised
of 4 or 5 tiers of differently qualified leads.
Methods or strategy used to gain interest or inquiry
from the consumer for the service or product
offered by an organization.
LEAD GRADING
LEAD MANAGEMENT
Lead grading is the practice of assigning a lead a
grade based on predetermined characteristics. To
begin assigning grades to leads, first the company’s
target market of business must be defined. This
could be, for example, small businesses of 20-100
employees. When a lead matches this qualify, it will
be assigned an “A” in business size. The grading
scale can be narrowed down based on specific
target industries, location, size, and so forth.
A B2B marketing strategy focused on generating
revenue that begins when a Salesperson has
identified an initial interest from a prospect. Once
this interest has been identified, the focus shifts to
growing the relationship and knowledge of the
lead through things like Webinars, White Pages, and
marketing automation to keep the relationship
relevant.
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LEAD QUALIFICATION
LEAD SCORING
A method or strategy in which leads are evaluated
for likeliness of conversion based on a set of predetermined criteria. In order to qualify a lead,
employment and organizational information is
needed.
A method of assigning a number score to a lead
based on a lead’s behaviors. Each task completed
or conversion that occurs is assigned a score. For
example, a marketing department sends out a
mass email and scores are assigned based on if the
lead opened the email, clicks on the link within the
email, etc. Lead scoring can be simple or complex
and should generally be based around an
organization’s definition of a perfect lead.
LEAD TIME
MAJOR ACCOUNT
The period of time between ordering and delivery
of a product or service.
A large and complex prospect or customer. Major
accounts usually require the most experienced and
senior salespeople.
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MARK UP
MARKET SEGMENT
The amount of money added to the price of a
product or service that covers overhead and profit.
A group of people or companies that share one or
more characteristic. Each market segment is unique
and may require a different sales approach.
MARKETING
MIRRORING
A set of activities that assist in driving sales or
promoting a product, service, or brand.
A technique used in sales to build rapport and
comfortability with a client by mirroring their
physical and verbal behaviors.
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NEED BASED SELLING
NETWORKING
A strategy that requires only selling people the
items they need to make their lives more
convenient. This involves getting to know the
customer well before offering a product or service.
Creating and maintaining relationships with others
in order to exchange ideas or advice and gain a
mutually beneficial relationship. Social media has
changed the way people network. Websites like
LinkedIn and Facebook have completely revamped
how people network. Networks should be based on
the question “how can I help you?” and not “what
can I get?”
OPPORTUNITY
OPPORTUNITY PIPELINE
The stage in which a lead has expressed a need or
interest in your product or service. If there is no real
or perceived problem with their current system or
product, then there is no opportunity.
An effective way to manage, organize, and track
your business opportunities. The pipeline can also
predict future sales revenues and win/loss ratios
through past data.
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PARTNERSHIP SELLING
PIPELINE MANAGEMENT
An approach to selling, where the seller truly
collaborates with the buyer and buying
organization to help the buyer come up with the
best solution. (Also see collaboration selling).
This pertains to the sales pipeline or opportunity
pipeline of a business. Pipeline management is a
useful tool that shows the number of deals in a
pipeline, the average size of the deals, and the
average number of deals that successfully make it
through the pipeline (lead to customer conversion
rate). This gives businesses the ability and
knowledge to project revenues for future quarters
based on averages and ratios of past opportunities.
POSITIONING
PRESENTATION
Identifying and attempting to occupy a market
niche for a brand, product or service. Positioning
involves creating an image in the customers mind
that’s distinguishable from the competitor.
The process by which a salesperson explains the
product or service to the customer. Presentations
can be verbal only, but more often include visuals
such as PowerPoint slides.
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PRODUCT
PROFIT MARGIN
A physical item or a service offered by a company
or person.
The measure of how much out of every dollar of
sales a company actually keeps in earnings.
PROPOSAL
QUOTA
Usually a written offer that specifies the product or
service to be delivered, pricing, and other terms
and conditions.
A target set by the corporation to determine how
much the sales team is expected to sell in the given
time period. (Week, Month, Quarter, Year)
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REFERRAL
RETENTION
A prospect or lead provided to the salesperson by a
third party who is familiar with the potential
customer.
Keeping a customer and not losing them to a
competitor. In most cases, it is much more
expensive to get new customers versus retaining
current customers.
SALES CYCLE
SALES FORCE AUTOMATION
A cycle that begins at the first contact with a
customer and ends when the sale occurs. Sales
Cycle times can vary greatly based on the size of
the deal, the company, effectiveness and efficiency
of sales process, and many other variables.
(SFA) Automating the sales activities within an
organization. A comprehensive SFA software
solution provides functions such as contact and
account management, workflow and approval
processes, sales lead and opportunity tracking
capabilities, note and information sharing, quick
proposal and presentation generation, calendars,
to-do lists and reporting capabilities.
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SALES FORECAST
SALES GAMIFICATION
A prediction of expected output of the sales
department based on analysis of sales data from
past periods or quarters. Utilizing your opportunity
pipeline is a very useful way to gain an accurate
sales forecast.
A tool to motivate your sales team and improve
sales efforts by creating a competitive scenario or
contest for the sales department. Sales members or
teams are rewarded for meeting goals or achieving
the top sales for specified periods.
SALES MANAGER
SALES PLAYBOOK
A person in charge of a team of sales
representatives typically tasked with overseeing
and focusing their efforts in order to meet set
quotas and facilitate growth.
A step-by-step guide for sales representatives to
follow throughout the sales process. These guides
are developed and then tweaked as sales
representatives find things that do and do not
work. A playbook can help deliver an interactive
experience with automated guidance and
information. They are tailored to individual selling
situations in order to simplify and expedite the
selling process.
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SALES PROCESS
SMARKETING
A series of well understood basic steps that are
utilized in the selling process. A sales process is a
measurable process that can always be added to
and improved upon.
A high level of communication, strategic alignment,
and collaborative efforts between the sales and
marketing teams that is mutually beneficial in
improving the efficacy and success of each
department. Since sales and marketing are often
interrelated departments, they experience higher
levels of success when they have a common
strategy and vision.
SOLUTION SELLING
SPAM
A sales methodology where a sales professional
sells (or tries to sell) a product or service that
satisfies a customer need.
Emails usually sent out in bulk as part of a mass
mailing campaign that are not requested by the
recipient. Spam emails have been growing in
popularity as a sales and marketing tool.
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TARGETING
TELEMARKETING
To select a demographic or other group of people
to which to sell. (see Market Segment and
Demographics).
The marketing of a product or service directly to
the potential customer over the phone. This may
involve sales or research.
TERRITORY
UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION
The geographical area of responsibility of a
salesperson or organization.
A unique characteristic of your product or service
that sets your company apar t from the
competition.
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WARM LEAD
WHALE
A lead that has expressed an interest in your
business by clicking through your website or
downloading information. Warm leads are normally
generated through marketing campaigns. It is most
effective and beneficial to contact the lead as soon
as the information has been downloaded or
information has been requested.
A sales prospect at least ten times the size of your
average sale.
WIN RATES
The ratio of accounts won to accounts lost in your
opportunity pipeline. Understanding and being
able to calculate your win rates will enable you to
create a more accurate opportunity pipeline, giving
you a more accurate view on potential revenue and
ROI.
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Thank you for reading!
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businesses grow through sales, service, and marketing solutions. Torrent has
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GLOSSARY © 2014 by TORRENT CONSULTING