81 Crucial Sales Terms: The Only Sales Glossary You Need

Many words and phrases are employed in the sales arena, and even the most seasoned salespeople make mistakes. It’s a difficult task, but if you want to be understood by your colleagues in the sales department, you’ll need to know every sales term.

The common sales phrases

You may use this glossary to brush up on your sales terminology, whether you’re a new rep, a marketer working with sales, or a seasoned seller seeking to brush up on your vocabulary.

1. AIDA: AIDA stands for “interest, desire, and action.” It’s a typical concept used in marketing and advertising to depict the processes or stages between a consumer seeing an advertisement and taking action.
2. ABC: The ABC model is a framework for understanding the factors that influence consumer behavior. It includes three components: Affect (how a consumer feels), Behavior (what a consumer does), and Cognition (what a consumer thinks).
3. Account-Based Marketing (ABM): ABM is a sort of B2B marketing that targets important accounts rather than a larger audience. ABM aims to generate tailored campaigns that appeal to each account’s demands and interests.
4. Ad hoc: Ad hoc is a Latin term that means “for this purpose.” In the context of sales, it refers to a spontaneous or unplanned decision or action.
5. Alternate site: An alternate location is where a customer can purchase your product or service. Businesses often use alternate sites to reach new markets or increase market share.
6. Ancillary products: An ancillary product is a product that complements your primary offering. Ancillary products are often used to increase the perceived value of the main product.
7. Acquisition: Acquisition is the process of acquiring new customers or users. This can be done through various means, such as advertising, Referral programs, or providing incentives.
8. Activation: Activation is getting a customer or user to take their first step in using your product or service. This is usually done by providing a free trial or a discount for signing up.
9. Advocacy: Advocacy is supporting or recommending a product or service. This can be done through word-of-mouth, social media, or writing reviews.
10. Annual recurring revenue (ARR): ARR measures a company’s regular payment for a given year. This metric is often used to assess the health of a company’s subscription business model.
11. Average ticket size: The average ticket size is the average amount of money spent per transaction. This metric is often used to assess the health of a company’s sales.
12. BANT: BANT is an acronym for “budget, authority, need, timeline.” It’s a set of criteria used by salespeople to qualify prospects. To advance a sale, reps must determine that their candidate has the budget to make a purchase, the authority to make decisions within their organization, a defined need for the product or service being offered, and a timeline for making a decision.
13. Brand awareness: Brand awareness is how consumers are familiar with a brand. It is often measured by the percentage of people who recognize the brand.
14. Brand equity: Brand equity is the value of a brand. Consumers often measure the number of money they are willing to pay for a product or service with the brand name.
15. Brand loyalty: Brand loyalty is how consumers are loyal to a brand. It is often measured by the percentage of people who continue to purchase a product or service from the same brand.
16. Business-to-business (B2B): B2B is a business relationship in which one company sells products or services to another company.
17. Business-to-consumer (B2C): B2C is a business relationship in which one company sells products or services to individual consumers.
18. Calls to Action: A call to action (CTA) is an instruction to the reader or viewer of an advertisement that urges them to take some immediate action, such as “Call now!” or “Visit our website.”
19. Click-through rate (CTR): The click-through rate is the percentage of people who click on an ad or link. CTR is often used to measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign.
20. Cohort analysis: Cohort analysis is a type of data analysis that looks at how groups of customers or users change over time. This can be used to measure customer retention or to identify trends.
21. Customer acquisition costs (CAC): CAC is the amount of money a company spends on marketing and sales to acquire new customers.
22. Customer lifetime value (CLV): The customer lifetime value is the total amount of money that a customer is expected to spend with a company throughout their relationship.
23. Customer churn: Customer churn is the process of losing customers. This can be due to various reasons, such as poor customer service, high prices, or a lack of features.
24. Customer lifetime value (CLV): The customer lifetime value is the total amount of money that a customer is expected to spend with a company throughout their relationship.
25. Customer segmentation: Customer segmentation is dividing customers into groups based on shared characteristics. This can be done using various methods, such as demographic data, psychographic data, or behavioral data.
26. Close Rate: The relative rate is the percentage of sales opportunities that are successfully converted into sales. For example, if you have a 10% close rate, that means for every 100 sales opportunities, ten are closed.
27. C-Suite: The C-suite is a term used to refer to a company’s highest-ranking executives collectively. The “C” stands for chief, as in chief executive officer (CEO), chief financial officer (CFO), and so on. 
28. Closing: Closing is the final stage of the sales process, in which the salesperson asks the prospect to make a purchasing decision.
29. Commission: A commission is a fee paid to salespeople based on their performance. This can be a percentage of the total value of the products or services they sell or a flat rate for each sale they make.
30. Consultative Selling: Consultative selling is a type of selling. The salesperson takes a consultative or advisory role with the prospect, rather than simply trying to sell them a product or service. In this approach, the salesperson strives to understand the prospect’s needs and challenges and then makes recommendations based on that understanding.
31. Customer Relationship Management (CRM): CRM is software that helps sales teams manage their interactions with current and potential customers. CRM software provides a centralized database for customer information, and it often includes features such as contact management, opportunity tracking, and lead nurturing.
32. Demo: A demo is a live demonstration of a product or service. Salespeople often give prospects demos to show them how the product works and what it can do.
33. Drip Campaign: A drip campaign is a type of marketing campaign in which emails or other forms of communication are sent to prospects at regular intervals. Drip campaigns are often used to nurture leads until they’re ready to be contacted by a salesperson.
34. Dark social: Dark social is social media activity that cannot be tracked. This includes things like private messages, emails, and forum posts.
35. Engagement: Engagement is the level of interaction that a customer has with a brand. This can be measured through website traffic, social media interactions, or open email rates.
36. Event-triggered marketing: Event-triggered marketing is a type of marketing that is triggered by a specific event, such as a holiday, a sale, or a new product launch.
37. Forecasting: Forecasting is predicting future sales based on past performance. Sales teams use forecasting to set goals and budgets for upcoming quarters or years.
38. Gross Margin: Gross margin is the difference between the selling price and the cost of manufacturing it. This number can be expressed as a percentage, and it’s often used to assess the profitability of individual products or product lines.
39. Gatekeeper: A gatekeeper is a person who controls access to someone else. In sales, this term is often used to refer to the assistant of a decision-maker who can screen calls and schedule meetings.
40. Gamification: Gamification is the use of game-like elements in non-game contexts. This can be used to increase engagement or motivation.
41. Growth hacking: Growth hacking uses creative and unconventional methods to grow a company. This often includes using social media to generate word-of-mouth marketing or offering incentives to customers for referrals.
42. Inbound marketing: Inbound marketing is a type of marketing that focuses on attracting customers through content rather than going out and finding them. This can be done through blog posts, ebooks, and webinars.
43. Key Performance Indicator (KPI): A key performance indicator is a metric that is used to assess the performance of a company, department, or individual.
44. Lead: A lead is a person or company interested in your product or service. This can be through subscribing to your email list, downloading a white paper, or attending a webinar.
45. Lead generation: Lead generation is the process of generating leads. This can be done through various marketing activities, such as website optimization, content marketing, or search engine marketing.
46. Lead nurturing: Lead nurturing is developing relationships with leads over time. This can be done through drip campaigns, email marketing, or social media interactions.
47. Lift: Lift is the increase in sales attributable to a specific marketing campaign. For example, you can attribute that lift to the drive if you see a 10% increase in sales after running a billboard ad campaign.
48. Long-term customer value: Long-term customer value is the total revenue that a customer will generate for their relationship with a company.
49. Marketing automation: Marketing automation uses software to automate marketing tasks. This can include email marketing, social media interactions, or lead nurturing.
50. Marketing qualified lead (MQL): A qualified marketing lead is a lead that has been deemed ready to be contacted by a salesperson. This usually means that they have engaged with your brand, such as subscribing to your email list or downloading a white paper.
51. Middle of the Funnel (MOFU): The center of the funnel is the stage of the sales funnel where leads are being nurtured and qualified.
52. Monthly recurring revenue (MRR): Monthly recurring revenue is the revenue that a company can expect to receive each month from traditional sources, such as subscriptions.
53. Net Promoter Score (NPS): The Net Promoter Score measures customer satisfaction. It’s calculated by asking customers how likely they are to recommend a product or service on a scale from 0 to 10.
54. Outbound marketing: Outbound marketing is a type of marketing that focuses on finding customers rather than waiting for them to see you. This can be done through cold calling, direct mail, or trade shows.
55. Pipeline: The pipeline is the process that salespeople use to move prospects from leads to customers. This includes activities like Qualifying, Nurturing, and Closing.
56. Price elasticity: Price elasticity measures how sensitive consumers are to changes in price. If demand for a product decreases when the price increases, then the product is price elastic.
57. Prospect: A prospect is a person or company that has been identified as a potential customer.
58. Pain point: A pain point is a problem that a customer faces that your product or service can solve.
59. Product marketing: Product marketing is the process of marketing a product. This includes activities like market research, product development, and product launch.
60. Price: Price is the amount of money a customer pays for a product or service. Sales teams often use price as a lever to increase profitability by either charging more for their products or services or by finding ways to reduce the cost of manufacturing them. 
61. Proposal: A proposal is a document salespeople send to prospects to win their business. Recommendations typically include information about the product or service being sold and pricing and terms. 
62. Qualifying: Qualifying is determining whether or not a prospect is a good fit for your product or service. This is typically done through a series of questions that help to identify needs and budgets.
63. Qualified Lead: A qualified lead is a leader who has been vetted by the sales team and is determined to be a good fit for the company’s products or services.
64. Quota: A quota is a number that represents the minimum amount of sales that a salesperson is expected to achieve in a given period. Sales managers typically set quotas, and they’re used to measure sales performance. 
65. Retention: Retention is the process of keeping customers. This can be done through customer loyalty programs, retention emails, or post-purchase follow-ups.
66. Sales: Sales is convincing someone to buy a product or service. The term can also refer to the revenue generated by sales. 
67. Sales Cycle: The sales cycle is the process salespeople use to close deals with customers. The typical sales cycle has four stages: prospecting, qualification, negotiation, and close. 
68. Sales Enablement: Sales enablement is the process of equipping salespeople with the resources and training they need to be successful. Sales enablement activities can include creating sales collateral, conducting sales training, and developing sales processes. 
69. Sales Funnel: The sales funnel a visual representation of the stages that prospects go through on their way to becoming customers. The typical sales funnel has four stages: awareness, consideration, decision, and purchase. 
70. Sales Pipeline: The sales pipeline visually represents the sales process from beginning to end. Prospects enter the channel at the top, and they move through various stages (such as “contact made” or “proposal sent”) until they reach the bottom of the pipeline and become customers. 
71. Sound bite: A sound bite is a short, memorable phrase that salespeople can describe their product or service. Sound bites are often used in marketing materials, such as website copy or product brochures.
72. SMarketing: Smarketing is the alignment of sales and marketing teams. This can be done through shared goals, common KPIs, and regular communication.
73. Territory: A territory is a geographic area assigned to a particular salesperson or team. Sales territories are often created to optimize the sales process and ensure that each salesperson is responsible for a manageable number of prospects. 
74. Upselling: Upselling is selling a more expensive product or service to a customer. This can be done by identifying needs and presenting a more expensive option that meets those needs.
75. User acquisition: User acquisition is getting new users for your product or service. This can be done through marketing or other growth hacking activities.
76. Viral marketing: Viral marketing is a type of marketing that relies on word-of-mouth to spread. This can be done by offering incentives for referrals or creating shareable content on social media.
77. Value proposition: A value proposition is a statement that salespeople use to describe the benefits of their product or service. It should be clear, concise, and persuasive.
78. Website optimization: Website optimization is making sure your website is designed to convert visitors into leads and customers. This can be done through A/B testing, landing pages, or lead capture forms.
79. Weighted sales pipeline: The weighted sales pipeline is a variation of the sales pipeline that considers the likelihood of a deal closing. This is typically done by assigning a probability to each pipeline stage.
80. Win Rate: The win rate is the percentage of deals that a salesperson or team closes successfully. Win rates are typically used to measure sales performance, and they can help set quotas and goals.
81. Yield: Yield is how much revenue a company generates from each customer. This is typically calculated by dividing total income by the number of customers.

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