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The Dictionary:
A/B Testing: Using two variations, like email copy, to test the efficacy or another factor over a period of time. (also known as "split testing")
Accelerators: Incentives used to motivate sales reps to go above and beyond their quota. The exact amount to reach accelerators depends on the company.
Account: The terminology used to refer to a company/group that you are trying to get in contact with/manage a relationship with.
Account Executive/AE/Closer: A sales team member in charge of closing deals and converting qualified leads into paying customers.
Account Manager/AM: A sales team member focused on managing and upselling existing clients and accounts.
ACV (Annual Contract Value): The annual amount a customer will pay based on their subscription terms.
Agreement/Contract: Terms and conditions stipulating the products/services offered by two companies in exchange for money.
ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue): The total revenue generated annually from recurring contracts.
B2B: Business to Business. A company that sells to other businesses.
B2C: Business to Consumer. A company that sells directly to consumers.
BANT: Budget-Authority-Need-Timeline. A methodology used to sift out qualified leads worth pursuing based on their budget, authority, need, and timeline.
C-Level: Highest level executives; C stands for Chief.
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost): The cost of gaining a new customer, calculated by dividing the spend by the number of customers acquired during a specific time period.
Champion: A client that is highly satisfied with your product/service and ready to recommend you to other businesses and teams.
Channel Partner: A person or company that offers services or products on behalf of another company.
Channel Sales: Focusing on different sales channels, such as an in-house sales team, retailers, referrals, dealers, etc.
Churn: When a previous paying customer stops paying for the product/solution.
Clients: Closed opportunities, paying clients, and individuals that account managers should take care of.
Cold Call: Calling someone who is not expecting your call, typically done to book a meeting.
Cold Email: Sending an unsolicited email to someone who is not expecting it, typically done to generate interest or book a meeting.
Commission: The additional amount of money earned on top of the base pay, depending on the attainment of goals.
Comp plan (Compensation Plan): Determines how much money will be earned based on performance, including base salary, commission, bonuses, and benefits.
Contact: An individual listed under an account with whom you have a relationship, such as a point of contact within a company.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management): Platforms that offer services to manage and maintain customer relationships, such as Salesforce and HubSpot.
Cross-selling: Selling additional products to current customers that they aren't currently using.
CS (Customer Success): A strategy and mindset to reduce churn rates, increase customer satisfaction, and predict recurring revenue. Often involves a dedicated team known as Customer Success.
CSM (Customer Success Manager): A role responsible for supporting customers and ensuring successful product usage.
CTA (Call to Action): A text prompt that aims to motivate the target audience to take certain actions in response to a marketing message.
CX (Customer Experience): The interactions a customer has with your company, including the platform, support, and overall experience.
D2C (Direct to Consumer): Selling directly to consumers, bypassing any third-party retailers, wholesalers, or middlemen.
Decelerator: A tactic used to encourage reps who are not hitting their quota to at least get closer by reducing their commission rate. (Also see: Accelerator)
Demand Generation: The marketing process of building awareness about a company's product or service.
Demo Call: A meeting where a client sees a presentation or live demonstration of the software or service.
Discovery Call: An initial meeting with a client to understand their needs and introduce what your company can provide.
Drip Campaign: An automated email campaign consisting of several emails sent over a certain period.
Enterprise: Larger, more formal companies with extensive decision-making processes and bigger deal sizes.
EOD/EOW (End of Day/End of Week): Referring to the end of the workday or workweek.
Fortune 500/F500: A list of the 500 largest companies in the US based on revenue.
ICP (Ideal Customer Profile): The target customer profile based on various factors such as geography, company size, industry, etc.
Inbound: When a prospect initiates contact or shows interest in your product/service.
KPI (Key Performance Indicator): Quantifiable metrics used to track progress and success toward goals.
Lead: The classification of individuals and companies in your database with whom you are trying to establish a relationship or make a sale.
Lead Nurturing: Engaging and building a long-term relationship with existing prospects.
Lead Qualification: The process of identifying and determining if a prospective client aligns with the company's ideal customer profile.
Lead Scoring: The process of ranking leads based on preset criteria to determine their quality.
Legal: The department responsible for legal matters within the organization.
LTV (Customer Lifetime Value): The value a company has accrued from a customer over their lifetime.
Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL): A lead that is likely to become a paying client based on their engagement with the company's marketing activities.
Messaging: Communicating the value proposition and benefits of your company and brand to the target audience.
Metrics: Quantities used to measure business profitability, assess job performance, and predict revenue.
Mid-Market: Larger companies between startups and corporations, usually with designated budgets and slower decision-making processes.
MoM (Month-over-Month): Comparing metrics or performance from one month to the previous month.
MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue): The total revenue generated monthly from recurring contracts.
Negotiation: A discussion between parties with the aim of reaching a mutually beneficial agreement.
OKR (Objectives and Key Results): A goal-setting framework used to define objectives and track progress toward achieving them.
Onboarding: The process of introducing a new client to a service or product, setting up their account, and providing them with a point of contact.
OOO (Out Of Office): Indicating that someone will be unavailable due to vacation, appointments, or other reasons.
Opportunity (Opp/Opptys): Created when a meeting is marked as qualified, indicating further interest in continuing the conversation with a company.
OTE (On Target Earnings): The total amount of earnings (base salary + commissions) if the target is met.
Outbound: The process of identifying and reaching out to prospects to introduce them into the sales funnel.
Pipeline (Sales Pipeline): A visual representation of the full sales cycle, with different stages and processes to move prospects closer to becoming customers.
Point of Contact: A person or department within a company that the client can reach out to with questions or specific requests.
President's Club: An annual award for the highest achievers in the sales organization, often accompanied by an expenses-paid trip.
Prospect: A qualified lead that matches the organization's pre-set criteria and has the potential to become a customer.
Quota: A number of closed deals, leads generated, revenue amount, profit, activity, or a combination of target goals that sales managers and executive leadership determine based on the organization's revenue targets.
Referral: Generating new sales leads through recommendations from third parties.
Revenue: The amount of money generated by a business in a specific time period.
ROI (Return on Investment): The return or gain obtained from an investment.
Round Robin: A method of allocating new leads to different team members in a rotating manner.
SaaS (Software-as-a-Service): A revenue model in which software is sold as a subscription.
Sales Acceleration: The process of speeding up the sales cycle using tools and technologies to boost productivity and efficiency.
Sales Automation: Automating sales workflows using software or online tools to simplify and streamline the sales process.
Sales Cadence/Sequence: A determined sequence of sales activities and the frequency of interactions with leads.
Sales Cycle: The predictable sequences and stages that a company goes through when selling a product or service.
Sales Director: A senior-level executive overseeing the sales team's operations, formulating strategies, and ensuring sales growth.
Sales Enablement: The process of supporting the sales team with tools, information, and content to be more effective and successful in selling products or services.
Sales Funnel: A visual representation of the sales process and stages that potential clients go through before making a purchasing decision.
Sales Manager: A person responsible for managing a sales team, implementing strategies, and ensuring goals are met.
Sales Ops (Sales Operations): The team, activities, and processes that support the sales team by managing administrative and technical tasks. (Also see: sales enablement)
Sales Qualified Lead (SQL): A potential client that has met the necessary criteria and is forwarded to an Account Executive to close the deal.
Scraping: The extraction of large amounts of data from websites.
SDR (Sales Development Representative): Inside sales reps responsible for prospecting, lead qualification, and cold outreach to move leads through the pipeline. An entry-level sales role. (Also see: BDR)
SE (Sales Engineer): A sales team member who answers technical questions about the product or service during sales calls.
Segmentation: The process of dividing a large market or contact list into smaller segments based on specific criteria.
SFDC (Salesforce.com): The most reputable and commonly used CRM provider.
SKO (Sales Kickoff): A meeting at the beginning of the fiscal year to align the sales team on new concepts and motivate them to achieve goals.
SLA (Service Level Agreement): A commitment from a service provider regarding the services to be provided and relevant standards.
SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound. Criteria used for setting goals and objectives.
SMB (Small- and Medium-Sized Businesses): Companies generating under a set amount of revenue with fewer than 500 employees.
SPIN: Situation, Problem, Implication, Need. A framework for uncovering customer needs and pain points.
SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats): An analysis technique used to evaluate an organization's internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats.
TCV (Total Contract Value)
Territory: A geographical region that one sales rep or team is responsible for.
TL;DR: Too long; didn't read. A brief summary of lengthy information.
Top of the Funnel: The initial stage of the sales or marketing funnel where prospects go through a qualification process.
Unicorn: A startup company valued at over $1 billion.
Unique Selling Point/Proposition: The unique features of a business that differentiate it from competitors.
UX (User Experience): The overall experience and satisfaction a user has when interacting with a product or service.
Vertical: A specific segment of the market in which a business targets a particular industry, sector, or niche.
WFH (Work From Home): Referring to remote work arrangements.
White Label: A product or service created by one business and rebranded and sold by other businesses for mutual benefit.
YoY (Year-over-Year): Comparing metrics or performance from one year to the previous year.
YTD (Year-to-Date): Referring to the time period from the beginning of the year to the present.