What this B2B sales glossary covers
This B2B sales glossary defines the sales terms a rep, a founder or a marketer meets in B2B sales and marketing: the roles, the stages of the pipeline, the metrics, the qualification frameworks, the outreach vocabulary and the tools.
Each definition below is short enough to read in a few seconds. Where Jeluvi has a full entry or guide on the term, the definition links to it, with the process, examples and templates.
Sales terminology matters because sales and marketing teams use the same words for different things. A "lead" in a marketing report and a "lead" in a sales forecast are often not the same person. Shared definitions keep the handoff, the forecast and the metrics honest.
The terms are listed from A to Z. Use the letters at the top of the page to jump to a letter, or start with the terms that have a full entry above.
Sales terms by category
| Category | Terms defined on this page |
|---|---|
| Sales roles | Account executive, SDR, BDR, customer success, account management, gatekeeper, champion, economic buyer |
| Leads and pipeline | Lead, prospect, MQL, SAL, SQL, PQL, opportunity, pipeline, deal stage, forecast, closed-won and closed-lost |
| Sales metrics | ARR, MRR, ACV, CAC, CLV, NRR, churn, conversion rate, win rate, close rate, sales velocity, quota, pipeline coverage |
| Qualification and selling methods | BANT, MEDDIC, SPIN selling, consultative selling, solution selling, value-based selling, objection handling |
| Prospecting and outreach | Prospecting, cadence, sequence, cold calling, cold email, follow-up, breakup email, personalization, trigger event, social selling |
| Marketing and targeting | ICP, buyer persona, ABM, intent data, lead scoring, lead nurturing, funnel, TOFU, BOFU, buyer's journey |
| Tools and operations | CRM, sales engagement platform, sales intelligence, Sales Navigator, CPQ, data enrichment, RevOps, sales enablement, deal desk |
The sales process ties these categories together. Marketing and targeting decide who the potential customers are, prospecting and outreach start conversations, qualification decides which conversations become opportunities, and the metrics show where the process converts and where it leaks.
A
Account (target account)
A company that sales and marketing have decided to pursue because it fits the ideal customer profile. Account-based teams plan outreach per account rather than per lead.
Account executive (AE)
The salesperson who owns a deal after it is qualified: runs discovery and demos, writes the proposal, negotiates and closes. In many B2B teams, AEs take meetings booked by SDRs.
Account management
The work of keeping and growing existing customers after the first sale, through renewals, upsells and a working relationship with the customer's team.
Account-based marketing (ABM)
A B2B strategy in which marketing and sales choose a named list of high-value accounts and run coordinated campaigns and outreach for each one, instead of generating leads from the whole market. See ABM strategy.
AI guided selling
Software, usually inside the CRM, that analyzes deal and customer data and recommends the next action, the content to send and which deals to prioritize. See AI guided selling.
Annual contract value (ACV)
The average yearly value of a customer contract, excluding one-time fees. It is used in subscription businesses to compare deal sizes across contracts of different lengths.
Annual recurring revenue (ARR)
The yearly value of all active recurring subscriptions. ARR is the headline revenue metric for most software companies because it shows the revenue the business keeps without new sales.
Appointment setting
Booking meetings between qualified prospects and a salesperson. It is often the main output of SDR teams and of outsourced sales development services.
Average deal size
Total revenue from closed-won deals divided by the number of those deals in a period. It shapes how much time and cost each sale can justify.
B
B2B companies
Companies whose main customers are other businesses, such as suppliers, manufacturers, software companies and service firms. See B2B companies.
B2B lead generation
The process of finding businesses that fit what you sell and turning the people inside them into qualified leads for sales. See B2B lead generation.
B2B sales
Business-to-business sales: one company selling products or services to another company rather than to consumers, usually with a group decision and a longer sales cycle. See B2B sales.
BANT
A qualification framework that checks four things about a prospect: Budget, Authority, Need and Timing. It is one of the oldest and most widely used ways to decide whether a lead is worth pursuing.
Bottom of the funnel (BOFU)
The stage where prospects are close to a purchase decision and compare vendors, pricing and proof, such as case studies and demos.
Breakup email
The last email in an outreach sequence, which politely asks whether to close the conversation. It often gets replies from prospects who were interested but busy. See sales follow-up email templates.
Business development
Work that creates long-term growth opportunities, such as new markets, partnerships and new customer segments, often overlapping with outbound sales.
Business development representative (BDR)
A sales role focused on outbound prospecting: finding and contacting new potential customers and booking meetings. Some companies use BDR for outbound and SDR for inbound; others use the titles interchangeably.
Buyer persona
A description of a type of person involved in buying: their role, goals, problems and how they make decisions. The ideal customer profile describes the company; personas describe the people inside it. See ideal customer profile.
Buyer's journey
The stages a customer goes through before a purchase: becoming aware of a problem, considering solutions and deciding which product or service to buy.
Buying committee
The group of people inside a company who influence or make a B2B purchase decision, such as the budget holder, the champion, users, technical evaluators and procurement.
Buying signal
An action or event that suggests a prospect may be ready to buy, such as visiting the pricing page, hiring for a related role, raising funding or asking about implementation.
C
Cadence
The schedule of touches in an outreach sequence: which channel, on which day, in what order. A common B2B cadence runs several touches across email, LinkedIn and phone over two to three weeks. See sales outreach.
Call to action (CTA)
The specific next step a message asks for, such as replying to a question, booking a call or downloading a resource. Good outreach uses one call to action per message.
Champion
A person inside the buying company who wants your solution and argues for it internally. Deals without a champion rarely close in complex B2B sales.
Channel sales
Selling through partners such as resellers, distributors or agencies, rather than directly to the customer.
Churn
The rate at which customers or revenue are lost in a period, through cancellations or non-renewals. It is the opposite of retention.
Close rate
The share of opportunities or qualified leads that become customers in a period. Often used interchangeably with win rate.
Closed-won and closed-lost
The final pipeline stages of a deal. Closed-won means the customer signed or paid; closed-lost means the opportunity ended without a sale.
Cold calling
Calling a prospect who has had no prior contact with the salesperson, with the goal of starting a conversation or booking a meeting. See sales scripts for cold calling and hot call vs cold call.
Cold email
An email to a person with no prior relationship with the sender, written to start a specific conversation. See cold email.
Commission
Variable pay a salesperson earns based on the sales they close, usually a percentage of revenue or a fixed amount per deal.
Configure, price, quote (CPQ)
Software that helps sales teams build accurate quotes for products with many options, prices and discounts.
Connection degree
On LinkedIn, how closely a member is connected to you: first degree for direct connections, second degree for their connections, third degree beyond that. See what 3rd means on LinkedIn.
Consultative selling
A selling approach where the salesperson acts as an advisor: asking questions, understanding the customer's business and recommending the right solution rather than pitching a product.
Conversion rate
The share of people or deals that move from one stage to the next, such as leads to qualified leads or opportunities to closed-won deals.
CRM
Customer relationship management software: the system of record for accounts, contacts, activities, deals and pipeline stages, and the source of most sales reports.
Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
The total sales and marketing cost to win new customers in a period, divided by the number of new customers won. It is compared with customer lifetime value to judge whether growth is profitable.
Customer lifetime value (CLV)
The total revenue a business expects from one customer over the whole relationship. Also written as LTV.
Customer success
The team that helps customers get value from a product after the sale, reducing churn and finding expansion opportunities.
D
Data enrichment
Adding missing information to a lead or account record, such as job title, company size, industry or a verified email, from an external data source. See lead enrichment and data enrichment API.
Deal desk
A team or process that reviews non-standard deals, such as custom pricing or contract terms, before sales can offer them.
Deal stage
A step in the sales pipeline, such as discovery, demo, proposal or negotiation, with a written definition of what must be true for a deal to move to it.
Decision criteria
The requirements a buying company uses to compare options, such as features, price, security, integration and support.
Decision maker
The person with the authority to approve a purchase, often called the economic buyer in complex B2B deals.
Deliverability
Whether sent emails reach the recipient's inbox rather than spam. It depends on domain authentication, sender reputation, list quality and content. See cold email.
Demo
A demonstration of the product for a prospect, usually tailored to the problems uncovered in discovery.
Direct sales
Selling straight to the customer through your own sales team, rather than through partners or retailers.
Discovery call
An early sales conversation where the salesperson asks questions to understand the prospect's situation, problem, priorities and buying process before proposing anything.
E
Economic buyer
The person who controls the budget and gives final approval for a purchase in a B2B deal.
Elevator pitch
A short description of what a company does and for whom, delivered in about the time of an elevator ride.
Email greetings
The opening line of an email that addresses the recipient. In B2B outreach, the greeting sets the tone before the first sentence. See email greetings.
Enterprise sales
Selling large, complex deals to big organizations, with long sales cycles, many stakeholders, security and procurement reviews, and negotiated contracts.
Expansion revenue
Additional revenue from existing customers through upgrades, more seats, add-ons or new products.
F
Field sales
Selling in person by visiting customers, as opposed to inside sales done remotely.
Follow-up
A message sent after an earlier touch got no reply or after a meeting, to continue the conversation. Good follow-ups add something new. See the sales follow-up email template.
Forecast
The expected revenue a sales team will close in a period, based on the pipeline, deal stages and historical win rates.
Freemium
A business model that offers a free version of a product, with paid plans for more features or usage.
Funnel
A model of the stages buyers move through, from awareness to purchase, with fewer people at each stage. See the B2B content marketing funnel.
G
Gatekeeper
A person who controls access to a decision maker, such as an assistant or receptionist, often on cold calls.
Go-to-market (GTM) strategy
The plan for bringing a product to market: the target customers, the positioning, the pricing, the sales and marketing channels, and the goals.
H
Handoff
The moment a lead or account passes from one team to another, such as from marketing to sales or from sales to customer success, ideally with a written definition and a response time.
Hot lead
A lead who fits the profile and has shown strong buying intent, such as requesting a demo or asking about pricing, and should be contacted quickly. See hot leads.
I
Ideal customer profile (ICP)
A description of the type of company that gets the most value from what you sell and is most valuable to you: industry, size, region, needs and buying signals. See ICP in marketing.
Inbound lead generation
Attracting potential customers who come to you through search, content, referrals, events or trials. See inbound lead generation.
InMail
A paid LinkedIn message that can be sent to members outside your network, using credits included in premium plans such as Sales Navigator. See what is InMail on LinkedIn.
Inside sales
Selling remotely by phone, email and video rather than in person. Most B2B sales development and many account executive roles are inside sales roles.
Intent data
Signals that a company is researching a topic or solution, collected from website visits, content consumption or third-party sources, used to decide which accounts to prioritize.
K
Key account
A customer or prospect so valuable to the business that it gets a dedicated account manager and its own plan.
Key performance indicator (KPI)
A metric chosen to track progress toward a goal, such as meetings booked, pipeline created or win rate.
L
Land and expand
A strategy of winning a small first deal with a customer and growing it over time through more users, teams or products.
Lead
A person or company that could become a customer and has either shown interest or been identified as a fit. See business leads.
Lead Gen Forms
LinkedIn ad forms that open inside LinkedIn, pre-filled with a member's profile details, to capture leads without a landing page. See LinkedIn lead generation.
Lead nurturing
Keeping in touch with leads who are not ready to buy, usually through useful email and content, until they are. See B2B lead nurturing.
Lead scoring
Assigning points to leads based on how well they fit the ideal customer profile and how they engage, so sales works the most promising ones first.
Lead source
The channel or event through which a lead first arrived, recorded in the CRM so pipeline can be traced back to what produced it. See lead sources.
The professional networking platform where people list their role and company, used in B2B for prospecting, outreach, content and advertising. See what is LinkedIn.
LinkedIn impressions
The number of times a post or ad was shown on screen to LinkedIn members. See LinkedIn impressions.
LinkedIn carousel
A LinkedIn post made of slides the reader swipes through, uploaded as a document. Used to explain a process or a list one step per slide. See LinkedIn carousel posts.
Looking forward to hearing from you
A closing line that tells the reader a reply is expected. Polite in a reply to an open conversation, but too passive for a cold email. See looking forward to hearing from you.
Looking forward to working with you
A closing line for when a working relationship is agreed or about to start. Sent before a deal is agreed, it reads as presumptuous. See looking forward to working with you.
Lost reason
The recorded reason an opportunity was closed-lost, such as price, timing or a competitor, used to improve the sales process.
M
Marketing qualified lead (MQL)
A lead that fits the profile and has engaged with marketing enough to be worth sales attention. See MQL.
MEDDIC
A qualification framework for complex B2B deals: Metrics, Economic buyer, Decision criteria, Decision process, Identify pain and Champion. Variants add letters for paper process and competition.
Monthly recurring revenue (MRR)
The monthly value of all active recurring subscriptions. MRR multiplied by twelve gives annual recurring revenue.
Multi-threading
Building relationships with several people at the same account, so a deal does not depend on one contact. See multithreading in sales.
N
Negotiation
The stage where buyer and seller agree on price, terms and scope before signing.
Net new
Revenue or customers that are new to the business, as opposed to renewals or expansion from existing customers.
Net revenue retention (NRR)
Recurring revenue kept from a group of existing customers over a period, including expansion and subtracting churn and downgrades, as a percentage of their starting revenue.
O
Objection handling
Responding to a prospect's concerns, such as price, timing or an existing tool, in a way that addresses the concern rather than arguing with it.
On-target earnings (OTE)
The total pay a salesperson earns when they reach their quota: base salary plus expected commission.
Onboarding
The process of getting a new customer set up and using the product successfully after the sale.
Opportunity
A qualified deal in the pipeline with a value, a stage and an expected close date.
Outbound lead generation
Finding and contacting potential customers who fit your profile before they have shown interest. See outbound lead generation.
Outbound sales
Sales activity where the salesperson contacts potential customers first, by cold calling, cold email or social selling. See outbound lead generation.
P
Pain point
A specific problem a prospect has that your product or service can solve.
Personalization
Tailoring a message to a specific prospect using facts about them or their company, rather than only merging a name.
Pipeline
All open sales opportunities, organized by stage, with their values and expected close dates.
Pipeline coverage
The value of the pipeline divided by the sales target for the same period. Teams set the coverage they need based on their own win rates.
Pipeline review
A regular meeting where sales managers and reps go through open opportunities to check stages, risks and next steps.
Pitch (sales pitch)
A short presentation of how a product or service solves a prospect's problem, adapted to the buyer and the situation. See sales pitch examples.
Product qualified lead (PQL)
A user who has reached a meaningful point in a free trial or free product, showing they are likely to buy.
Product-led growth (PLG)
A growth model where the product itself, through free trials or freemium plans, drives customer acquisition and expansion.
Proposal
A document that sets out the solution, scope, pricing and terms for a specific prospect, usually after discovery.
Prospect
A person or company that fits your ideal customer profile and is being targeted by sales, whether or not they have shown interest yet.
Prospecting
Finding, researching and contacting potential customers to start sales conversations. See prospecting and LinkedIn prospecting.
Purchase order
A document a buying company issues to confirm an order, often required by procurement before payment.
Q
Qualification
Deciding whether a lead or opportunity is worth pursuing, based on fit, need, authority, budget and timing, often using a framework such as BANT or MEDDIC.
Quota
The sales target a rep or team must reach in a period, in revenue, deals or meetings.
R
Ramp time
How long a new salesperson takes to reach full productivity and their full quota.
Referral
A lead introduced by a customer, partner or contact. Referrals usually convert better because they arrive with trust.
Renewal
A customer extending a subscription or contract at the end of its term.
Retention
Keeping customers over time. Customer retention and revenue retention are both measured, and both are the opposite of churn.
Return on investment (ROI)
The value a customer gets from a purchase compared with its cost. Buyers often ask sales to show expected ROI before approving a deal.
Revenue
The income a business earns from selling its products or services before expenses. See revenue definition.
Revenue operations (RevOps)
A function that aligns the processes, data and tools of sales, marketing and customer success around revenue.
S
Sales accepted lead (SAL)
A lead that sales has reviewed and accepted as worth working, between an MQL and an SQL.
Sales cycle
The time from first contact or opportunity creation to a closed deal.
Sales development representative (SDR)
A sales role that qualifies inbound leads and runs outbound outreach to book meetings for account executives.
Sales enablement
Giving salespeople the training, content and tools they need to sell effectively.
Sales engagement platform
Software that runs multichannel outreach sequences, logs activity and reports on replies and meetings.
Sales funnel
The stages a potential customer moves through from first contact to purchase, with fewer people at each stage.
Sales Navigator
LinkedIn's paid sales tool with advanced search filters, lead and account lists, alerts and InMail credits. See LinkedIn lead generation.
Sales outreach
Contacting prospects by email, phone, LinkedIn or other channels to start sales conversations. See sales outreach.
Sales outsourcing
Hiring an external company to handle part or all of the sales process, such as prospecting or appointment setting. See sales outsourcing.
Sales playbook
A written guide to how a team sells: the ideal customer profile, personas, process, messaging, objection handling and tools.
Sales process
The repeatable set of steps a sales team follows to turn a prospect into a customer, from prospecting to closing. See the B2B sales process.
Sales qualified lead (SQL)
A lead that sales has confirmed as a real opportunity based on fit, need and timing.
Sales script
A prepared outline for a sales conversation, such as a cold call, that reps adapt rather than read word for word. See sales scripts for cold calling.
Sales tactics
Specific, repeatable moves a salesperson makes in a conversation or sequence to move a prospect toward a decision. See sales tactics.
Sales velocity
How fast a pipeline produces revenue: the number of opportunities multiplied by average deal size and win rate, divided by the length of the sales cycle.
Sequence
A planned series of outreach touches to a prospect, stopped automatically when they reply.
Service level agreement (SLA)
In sales and marketing, a written agreement on how many qualified leads marketing delivers and how quickly sales follows up on them.
Social selling
Using social networks, especially LinkedIn, to research prospects, share useful content and build relationships that lead to sales conversations. See LinkedIn networking.
Solution selling
Selling by diagnosing a customer's problem first and positioning the product as the solution to it, rather than leading with features.
Speed to lead
How quickly a salesperson responds to a new inbound lead. Faster responses reach prospects while their interest is still active.
SPIN selling
A questioning method built around four question types: Situation, Problem, Implication and Need-payoff.
Stakeholder
Anyone inside the buying company who is affected by or involved in a purchase decision.
T
Territory
The set of accounts, regions or segments assigned to a salesperson or team.
Top of the funnel (TOFU)
The stage where potential customers first become aware of a problem or a company, usually through content, search or social media.
Total addressable market (TAM)
The total revenue opportunity if a product won every possible customer in its market.
Touchpoint
Any single interaction with a prospect or customer, such as an email, a call, a LinkedIn message or a website visit.
Transactional sales
Simple, fast sales with low prices and little need for a relationship, often completed online or in one call.
Trial (free trial)
Time-limited free access to a product so a potential customer can test it before buying.
Trigger event
A change at a company, such as a new hire, funding round or expansion, that creates a reason to reach out now.
U
Upsell and cross-sell
Selling an existing customer a higher plan or more of the same product (upsell), or a different, related product (cross-sell).
V
Value proposition
A clear statement of the value a product or service delivers to a specific customer, and why it is better than the alternatives. See value proposition.
Value-based selling
A selling approach focused on the measurable value the customer will get, rather than on product features or price.
Vertical
An industry or market segment a company sells into, such as healthcare, finance or manufacturing.
W
Warm lead
A lead who has had some previous contact or shown some interest, such as downloading content or attending an event, but has not yet asked to buy. See hot call vs cold call.
Win rate
The share of closed opportunities that were won in a period.
Frequently asked questions
What is a B2B sales glossary?
A B2B sales glossary is a list of the terms used in business-to-business sales and marketing, such as MQL, SQL, ICP, pipeline and ARR, each with a short definition. It helps sales and marketing teams use the same words for the same things.
What are the most important sales terms to know?
Lead, prospect, opportunity, pipeline, ideal customer profile, MQL, SQL, qualification, conversion rate, win rate, sales cycle, quota and churn. Together they describe who you sell to, how deals move and how results are measured.
What is the difference between a lead, a prospect and an opportunity?
A lead has shown interest or been identified as a possible customer. A prospect fits your ideal customer profile and is being actively targeted. An opportunity is a qualified deal in the pipeline with a value and an expected close date.
What is the difference between an MQL and an SQL?
A marketing qualified lead fits the profile and has engaged with marketing enough to deserve attention. A sales qualified lead has been confirmed by sales as a real opportunity based on fit, need and timing.
What is the difference between an SDR and a BDR?
Both are early-stage sales roles that book meetings for account executives. Many companies use SDR for reps who qualify inbound leads and BDR for reps who prospect outbound; others use the titles interchangeably.
What do BANT and MEDDIC stand for?
BANT stands for Budget, Authority, Need and Timing. MEDDIC stands for Metrics, Economic buyer, Decision criteria, Decision process, Identify pain and Champion. Both are qualification frameworks, and MEDDIC is used more for complex B2B deals.
What is the difference between ARR and MRR?
Monthly recurring revenue is the monthly value of active subscriptions; annual recurring revenue is the yearly value. For subscriptions billed monthly, ARR is roughly MRR multiplied by twelve.
Why do sales and marketing define the same term differently?
Because they stand at different stages. Marketing calls a lead qualified when it is worth a call; sales calls it qualified when it is worth a deal. Written, shared definitions in the CRM prevent the argument.
Are these definitions the same as the ones in my CRM?
Often not. CRM and marketing platforms ship their own stage labels, and companies rename them. The definitions here describe what the terms usually mean in B2B sales; your own CRM definitions should be written down and agreed by both teams.
How many terms are in the Jeluvi glossary?
The A to Z list on this page defines over a hundred common B2B sales terms. Terms with a full Jeluvi entry link to it, and new entries are published one at a time.
Can I quote a definition from this glossary?
Yes, with a link to the page. Full entries also have a copy definition button that copies the one-sentence version with the source.
What is the difference between the glossary and the guides?
A glossary definition explains what a term means. A full entry or guide explains how to do the work, step by step, with examples and a template to use.
- LinkedIn Sales Solutions, Sales Terms, for sales terminology used on LinkedIn, checked Sep 17, 2026.
- HubSpot, The Ultimate Smarketing Glossary, for sales and marketing terms, checked Sep 17, 2026.
- Zendesk, The ultimate sales glossary, for common sales terms, checked Sep 17, 2026.
- Pipedrive, Essential Sales Terms, for sales lingo definitions, checked Sep 17, 2026.
- Definitions on this page were written for Jeluvi. Framework names such as BANT, MEDDIC and SPIN are described by their published components, without claims about their results.