The ultimate sales glossary: 100 sales terms to know

A few basic sales terms

Account

Customer accounts, also called customer profiles, are created the first time a customer buys a product or service from your business. These accounts contain important information about the customer, including purchases, interactions, contact information, and preferences.

Business-to-business (B2B)

Business-to-business (B2B) refers to sales that happen between one business and another. These transactions can be with partners, distributors, suppliers, or clients. Many B2B companies sell to individual customers, too, but they often have separate departments for both, as B2B sales are more complex with a longer sales process.

Business to customer (B2C)

Business-to-customer (B2C) refers to sales that happen between businesses and individual consumers. B2C sales include your typical purchases from various stores—clothing, furniture, groceries, and everyday essentials. Compared to B2B sales, B2C sales are usually more spontaneous and generate a lower profit per sale.

Lead

A lead is any potential customer who expresses interest in your company’s products or services. Leads can be inbound (the customer reaches out to you) or outbound (you reach out to them). Most companies focus their efforts on outbound leads through marketing strategies, social sales, and ad campaigns.

Prospect

A prospect is a lead that has interacted with someone in your company. This distinction allows your sales team to identify who needs initial outreach and who is officially at the beginning of the sales pipeline. If you need help remembering, think of a prospect as a prospective buyer: someone in the store looking at products. Leads are outside the window thinking about coming in.

Sales strategy sales terms

ABC

ABC stands for “always be closing.” It’s a sales strategy that reminds reps that every step they take in the sales process is one step closer to closing the deal. Though it’s not a universally accepted strategy (different customers react differently to tactics and every rep needs to adjust accordingly), it is a nice reminder of the end game when things feel frustrating.

Account-based selling

Account-based selling is a sales strategy where the entire company focuses on converting a few high-value leads rather than casting a broad net. This isn’t a long-term strategy, but it can be extremely useful if a company wants to use a high-profile client as a marketing pull for lower-profile customers.

BANT framework

The BANT framework is a checklist used during lead qualification.

B = Budget: Can the lead afford the product?
A = Authority: Is the lead a decision-maker with the authority to buy the product?
N = Need: Does the lead or their business need the product?
T = Time: Is this lead likely to purchase the product in the next sales cycle?

Leads that check all four boxes are extremely qualified and should be nurtured.

Benefits

Benefits refer to how a product solves a prospect’s problems. Benefits should not be confused with features; benefits are the positive outcomes of features. For instance, time saved is a benefit, while automation is the feature that causes that benefit. When selling, reps highlight benefits, then describe how the product results in those benefits down the line.

Cold calling

Cold calling is the process of making an unsolicited phone call to a qualified lead in the hopes of turning them into a prospect. Cold calling is universally acknowledged as a difficult strategy, but it can produce results. It’s also a fast and personal way to contact numerous leads in a short amount of time.

Cross-selling

Cross-selling is the act of selling an additional product or service to a customer. It occurs when a sales rep discovers that a prospect or client can benefit from more than one solution. For example, a rep for a mattress company can persuade a prospect to buy new pillows with their new mattress. In this case, the rep can potentially increase the value of the sale by directing the prospect to a different product within the same company.

Direct sales

Direct sales are sales that don’t require a middleman. The products are sold directly to the consumer from the seller. Direct sales has become synonymous with multi-level marketing, but they’re not the same. Multi-level marketing is direct sales through distributors who work as independent contractors for a larger company.

Discovery call

A discovery call is an initial conversation a lead (soon-to-be prospect) has with a sales rep. This can be a cold call or a scheduled call based on an information request. The discovery call is crucial in determining the prospect’s pain points and setting a positive tone for the relationship.

Feature

A feature is an aspect of a product that directly benefits a customer. For instance, mass email automation is a key feature of most marketing and sales software that helps the customer by simplifying large-scale marketing campaigns and saving time on outreach. It’s important to remember that the feature is not the benefit—it simply causes the benefit.

Hard sell

A hard sell is an aggressive sales tactic in which the rep directly challenges the prospect’s objections. This is largely an outdated selling style, but in certain circles, it still pulls in large amounts of revenue. However, most companies now prefer a softer approach.

Markup

A markup refers to a price increase for a product or service. It’s usually done to compensate for expensive production costs or dips in revenue and profit. Mark-ups can be risky because they can deter current customers, but they can also save a struggling company from a bad month or quarter.

Objection

Objections are any concerns raised by prospects during a sales conversation. Common objections are about the price of a product or the necessity of a product. Many reps use sales scripts to address these objections while still acknowledging the concerns.

Pain point

A pain point is a specific problem for a lead—a problem that can hopefully be fixed by a product or service from your company. Being able to understand and identify customer pain points is a key sales skill for reps. If a customer’s biggest need is ecommerce software and you’re trying to sell them customer service software, you’re unlikely to make the sale.

Positioning statement

A positioning statement is a semi-prepared statement used by sales reps to start conversations with potential customers. A strong positioning statement lets the customer know who the sales rep is, who they work for, and what solutions they offer.

Prospecting

Sales prospecting is the never-ending process of identifying and contacting potential buyers. Many companies have departments dedicated to this task because a strong sales pipeline requires constant movement and new leads. Prospecting tools can greatly help with this process.

Sales enablement

Sales enablement describes the process of providing your sales team with the tools, training, skills, or resources they need to succeed. This includes everything from sales software and mobile access to social media sales training and individual sales coaching.

Sales script

Sales scripts are written dialogues or guidelines used by sales reps while they’re interacting with prospects. These scripts can be extremely detailed and word-for-word, or they can simply be key points for a sales rep to touch on. Sales scripts help keep company branding and sales strategy consistent.

Smarketing

Smarketing is a newer term referring to the alignment of the sales and marketing departments for smoother workflows and consistent branding.

Social selling

Social selling is a sales strategy in which reps and companies use social media as a way to interact with prospects and existing customers. With social selling, social media is typically not where sales take place, but rather a means of communication and lead nurturing.

Soft sell

A soft sell is a strategy in which sales reps take time to build trust with the prospect and work with them to find the ideal solution. Soft sales are extremely popular in the consumer market right now and are used by many sales reps.

Sound bite

Sound bites are small phrases that sales reps use to communicate simple matters to prospects. Usually, sound bites are answers to commonly asked questions or objections that make the rep’s life easier.

Upselling

Upselling is a tactic in which a rep tries to increase the value of a sale by encouraging a prospect to buy a higher-end version of the initial product they were interested in. Depending on the type of company, upsells may include additional features, more expensive products, or subscription upgrades.

Value proposition

A value proposition is a breakdown of all the benefits provided by a product or service. Sales reps may choose to emphasize or omit certain benefits from this list depending on the prospect.

Sales customer sales terms

Bottom of the funnel (BOFU)

Bottom-of-the-funnel (BOFU) prospects are very close to making a purchase decision. They have all the facts they need, they’ve connected with the company, and they’re ready to buy.

Buyer behavior

Buyer behavior refers to the choices consumers make when they’re moving through the sales funnel. Buyer behavior is never consistent and can be influenced by internal factors (needs, mood, etc.) and external factors (economic environment, market prices, etc.).

Buying criteria

Buying criteria are pieces of information a customer requests to see before they make a purchase. These criteria include factual information (such as pricing) and persuasive information (why your company is a better choice than your competitor).

Buying signal

Buying signals are indicators that a customer is ready to buy. Sales reps use these cues to figure out when it’s time to push for a close. Some buying signals include signing up for demos or asking specific contract questions.

Buying intent

Buying intent refers to the odds of a prospective customer making a purchase. Many companies use tracking analytics to keep tabs on leads who research their products and target those with the highest buyer intent.

Consumer

A consumer is anyone who uses your product or service. It’s important to distinguish between consumer and customer. A customer is someone who gives you money in exchange for the product, while a consumer is someone who uses it. A parent purchasing baby clothes is a customer, but the infant is the consumer.

Customer success

Customer success is the process of making sure customers get the most value out of their purchase from a business. Some companies have departments in charge of this process, which includes everything from customer relations to tech support.

Decision-maker

The decision-maker is the person who can sign off on a sale. When you’re reviewing a lead’s authority qualification in B2B sales, you’re often looking to see if they are the decision-maker or if they have direct contact with the decision-maker.

Middle of the funnel (MOFU)

Middle-of-the-funnel (MOFU) prospects are in the middle of the sales funnel. At this stage, the prospect has a relationship with the sales rep and is learning more about the products and solutions.

Opportunity

An opportunity is largely interchangeable with a qualified lead. It refers to a prospect that’s completed the qualification process and shows promise as a customer.

Top of the funnel (TOFU)

Top-of-the-funnel (TOFU) prospects are at the beginning of the sales funnel. They may have expressed interest or contacted sales, but they’re not completely sure what their pain points are or what features they need from a product or service.

Sales pipeline and sales funnel sales terms

Bad leads

Bad leads are leads that are low-qualified and unlikely to make a purchase. These leads should not be pursued—no matter how few leads the sales team has—because it will probably be a waste of time.

Buyer persona

A buyer persona is a detailed description or fictional representation of the perfect customer. Most companies have multiple buyer personas, depending on their target demographics. Buyer personas help marketing and sales teams shape their tactics to best fit the ideal customer.

Buying process

The buying process is a three-step journey every buyer takes to go from the beginning to the end of the sales funnel. The three steps are awareness (TOFU), consideration (MOFU), and decision (BOFU). Knowing where a prospect is in the buying process lets reps know which sales techniques to use.

Closed opportunities

Closed opportunities are buyer journeys that come to an end, whether positively or negatively. It doesn’t matter if a sale is made or if the prospect decides not to buy—the opportunity is considered closed.

Closed-won

Closed-won refers to closed opportunities that end in a sale.

Closed-lost

Closed-lost refers to closed opportunities that did not end in a sale. But it also includes opportunities that simply require follow-up in a few months (for instance, the prospect can’t invest in your solution while they’re under a contract with another company, but they’re still interested).

Conversion path

The conversion path is the process a potential customer goes through to become a lead. This includes customer actions (such as signing up for a newsletter) and marketing actions (like creating enticing calls to action).

Demand generation

Demand generation is the marketing process of creating brand awareness and interest in a company. This includes activities like nurturing programs, content creation, and SEO (search engine optimization).

Gatekeeper

A gatekeeper is anyone who allows or prevents a sales rep from contacting a decision-maker. This term is used in B2B and B2C sales and includes everyone from assistants protecting bosses to children answering calls they shouldn’t.

Lead generation

Lead generation refers to the process of attracting people to the company so they can become prospects. Common tactics to generate leads include social media sales, email marketing, and optimized web content.

Lead qualification

Lead qualification is the process of evaluating a lead to see if it’s worth pursuing. Every business uses specific criteria to determine if a lead is qualified before passing their information to the sales team.

Marketing-qualified lead (MQL)

A marketing-qualified lead (MQL) is a lead that ticks the qualification boxes for marketing but not necessarily for sales. MQLs are qualified based on engagement with marketing materials, but sales-qualified leads (SQLs) also have to check the boxes for financial stability and decision-making.

Pipeline management

Pipeline management refers to any activities that go into managing the sales team and the sales pipeline. Pipeline management is frequently handled by sales managers and includes delegation, metrics management, and training.

Qualified lead

A qualified lead is a lead that has a high probability of converting into a customer. This means they meet certain requirements that indicate they’re a good fit for a product or service, and the sales team should plan on reaching out to them.

Sales funnel

The sales funnel illustrates the steps of the customer journey. It runs parallel to the sales pipeline (which outlines the sales rep’s journey). The sales funnel is typically broken down into five stages: awareness, interest, evaluation, engagement, and purchase. You can track these stages via a sales funnel platform within your CRM.

Sales process

The sales process is an umbrella term that covers the processes of the sales pipeline, the sales funnel, and the buyer’s journey. Essentially, it is all the steps that turn a lead into a paying customer.

Sales pipeline

The sales pipeline covers the steps each sales rep takes as they guide a prospect through the stages of the buying process. The sales pipeline runs parallel to the sales funnel and should be a repeatable process, no matter what tactics the sales rep uses.

Weighted sales pipeline

The weighted sales pipeline is a sales pipeline broken down by opportunity value. This helps sales reps determine where to direct their focus. A high-value prospect in the TOFU stage might be worth more attention than a low-value prospect in the MOFU stage, even though the second prospect is farther along in the process.