Sales Glossary

Sales Glossary

ABC sales acronym... always be closing... historic and present day sales tip.
AIDA sales process acronym... attention, interest, decision, action... "get the prospect's attention, gain their interest, get them to make a decision and encourage them to act by moving forward with the purchase."
advocate revenue sales influenced by word-of-mouth advertising.
agent a person who acts on behalf of a company or individual to sell its products or services... an agent is typically compensated on a commission only basis
ambush marketing the act of marketing a product or service in conjunction with an event or other brand without paying for the right... typically used when an official sponsorship opportunity is available but a company doesn't wish to pay the fee for the sponsorship or another company has already purchased the sponsorship.
ASP acronym... application service provider... a software solution used by the customer where the solution itself is developed, hosted and managed by an outside company... generally implies a lower implementation cost.
assumptive close old school closing approach where the salesperson assumes the prospect is buying and moves directly to a request for a signed contract and/ or payment.
barter a non-monetary exchange... an exchange of products and/ or services for other products and/ or services... sometimes used to minimize cash outlays or to maximize the value of sunk costs.
base salary or "base" the guaranteed portion of a salesperson's monetary compensation... not always a part of a salesperson's compensation.
benefit the value experienced by the customer.
Black Friday a retail sales term used to describe the Friday after Thanksgiving... traditionally a big selling day for the retail world... originated as a description of the day in the year when a retailer begins to profit or "be in the black".
broker a person who acts on behalf of a company to sell its products or services... a broker is typically compensated on a commission only basis.
budget the amount of money available for use to a salesperson or purchasing agent for a particular time period or a particular project... can also be used to describe a sales target (in revenue and/ or units) for a specified time period... also referred to as a quota, goal or forecast.
buying signal a communication from a prospect or customer that indicates s/he is or is strongly considering making a purchase... typically delivered in the form of a question (i.e., can i have it delivered before the end of the month?)
CRM acronym... customer relationship management... term generally used to describe a comprehensive software solution that helps companies manage their relationships with their prospects and customers.
canvas another word for the activity of prospecting... typically used when referring to prospecting that involves prospecting that's done in person rather than over the phone.
channel the means used by companies to make their products and services available to their target market... examples include direct channel (sold by the company's sales force), distributors, retail stores, reps and value added resellers.
close part of the sales process..
as a noun... the point at which the prospect makes a commitment to purchase a particular product or service.
as a verb... the point at which the salesperson asks or encourages the prospect to make a commitment to purchase a particular product or service.
cold call a sales call where the salesperson doesn't personally know the company and/ or contact s/he is calling on and/ or a sales call where no known need, by the prospect or salesperson, exists.
comfort zone challenge an activity in which one engages in order to push one’s envelope where one has relatively little experience and/ or comfort.
commission compensation paid to a salesperson following the successful completion of a sale to a customer... typically a percentage of the gross sales revenue but can be linked to units or margin as well.
contact manager a method or system for managing contact information, priorities and checklists... typically used to describe a software solution that partially automates contact management functions.
cross sell to sell a prospect/ customer a product or service that complements or adds value to another purchase... can also be used to refer to selling an existing customer another product or service (regardless of its connection with another purchase)
differentiate to communicate specific and valuable benefits of a product or service that a prospect or customer cannot experience elsewhere.
distributor an organization or individual that sells a product made by someone else... sometimes used interchangeably with the words "wholesaler", "reseller", and "VAR"
disqualifyto determine the purchasing potential of a prospect or customer as unlikely and therefore a poor use of sales time (see qualify)
draw a form of monetary compensation paid in advance of commissions earned and then applied against the balance of future commissions earned-- can be recoverable or non-recoverable... generally used to guarantee personal cash flow to an individual who does not earn a salary.
e-commerce the activity of buying and selling over an electronic data interchange... typically referred to when describing the activity of buying and selling over the Internet and a web interface...
elephant sales slang... used to refer to a prospect who, if brought in as a customer, would have a tremendously positive impact on revenue generated. (see also-- whale)
farmer a sales professional responsible for growing sales from existing accounts.
forecast a predicted amount of revenue generation for a particular time period and/ or area of geography and/ or industry... can also be used to describe a sales target (in revenue and/ or units) for a specified time period... also referred to as a quota, budget or goal.
GBS sales acronym... general benefit statement... an opening statement of the benefit(s) a customer will receive by purchasing a product or service.
gatekeeper an individual within an organization who is responsible for evaluating the potential value of a salesperson's product or service for a particular decision maker and taking action accordingly (e.g., passing them along to the appropriate person, asking them to send something in the mail, etc.)... also called a screener.
goal a sales target (in revenue and/ or units) for a specified time period... also referred to as a quota, budget or forecast.
hunter a front line sales professional responsible for finding and bringing in new business.
ISO sales acronym... independent sales organization... term used to describe field sales forces that are not employees of the companies which provide the products or services they sell.
inbound inquiry an inquiry about your product or service that's initiated (usually by phone, email or in person) by a prospect or customer... no prospecting needed... a gift from the sales angels...
inside sales usually refers to those who sell by phone and/ or do not leave the premises physically
lead a person or organization that has shown an interest in a particular product or service... can also be used to describe a person or organization that sales or marketing staff feel may have a need for a particular product or service.
lock-out revenue the dollars generated from a customer over time because of the customer's perceived hassles associated with switching to a competitor.
manufacturers' rep independent sales representatives that are not employed by the companies which provide the products and services they sell... manufacturers' reps typically represent multiple manufacturers in complementary industries and sometimes represent competing lines within industries.
margin the difference between the selling price of a product or service and the cost of producing, delivering or acquiring the product or service.
marketing a set of activities that assist in driving sales of a product and/ or service
money hours the hours in a sales professional's day where s/he can talk with prospects and/ or customers... the most valuable hours of a salesperson's day.
non-recoverable draw a draw that cannot be recovered or retrieved by an employer regardless of employment status of the individual who received the draw and whether or not the draw paid exceeds commissions earned.
OEM acronym... original equipment manufacturer... an acronym that originally defined a manufacturer who produced a product to be sold under other company's brands... now used in the sales world to describe when a company makes a product and sells it to other companies so that they can sell it under their label.
objection a statement of challenge or rejection by a prospect or customer of a feature, benefit, product or service... can be helpful to the sales process in that it can indicate about what a prospect or customer is concerned-- allowing for a stronger sales discussion... objections can include a lack of perceived value in a product or service offering, a perception of an inferiority to a competitive offering, a lack of perceived urgency in purchasing the offering, an unknown internal political issue between departments, an unknown corporate initiative with an external party, a lack of funds to purchase the offering, an unknown personal issue with the decision maker(s) and an "it's safer to do nothing" perception by the prospect or customer... see also smoke screen objections
open-ended questions questions that cannot be answered with a "yes" or a "no", generally begin with the words, what, how or why and usually encourage a prospect or customer to expand on a response ... as a result, open-ended questions usually help the salesperson learn much more about the prospect or customer than a close-ended question.
outside sales usually refers to those who sell by visiting others in-person
permission-based failure a negative result that occurs because one does not fully attempt to achieve an outcome because of a message sent by influential individuals that is perceived as a "permission to fail" or implied acceptance of the reduced attempt... common statements prompting implied acceptance include-- "What happens… happens." or "The important thing is that you tried."
prospect as a noun... an individual or organization with a need for a particular product or service, the potential for or existence of an understanding of that need and the potential to ultimately purchase the product or service... sometimes confused with a suspect.
as a verb... to proactively seek out potential buyers of a product or service and approach them through personal contact (in person, over the phone, one-to-one email or fax) with the intent to sell should a need exist.
quota a sales target (in revenue and/ or units) for a specified time period... also referred to as a goal, budget or forecast.
qualify to determine the purchasing potential of a suspect, prospect or customer.
ROI sales proposal acronym... return on investment... a term used in the financial world and by management to define the monetary value created or expected to be gained by an investment of capital... typically used as a hard value measurement during the decision making process of the sales process or to measure the success of a purchase after implementation and use.
recoverable draw a draw that can be recovered or retrieved by an employer regardless of employment status of the individual who received the draw... the recoverable amount is equal to any draw paid to the individual that exceeds commissions earned.
referral the strongest form of advertising and/ or one of the best forms of a lead... used to describe a prospect that is given to a salesperson by a current customer or prospect... requests for referrals are often forgotten by even the best salespeople.
reseller an organization or individual that sells a product made (and sometimes serviced) by someone else... sometimes used interchangeably with the words "distributor" and "VAR"
SFA sales acronym... sales force automation... term generally used to describe a software solution that assists an organization in managing the sales process... also see CRM.
SLA sales contract acronym... service level agreement... a sales contract's clause that defines a guaranteed level of service and any penalties or adjustments should the level of guaranteed service not be met by the providing organization... generally used to make the customer more confident about the purchase.
SME Small to Mid-Sized Enterprise
sales the top line of the income statement and the driving force of all organizations, ideas and progress... also used to describe the greatest profession in history and greatest skill one can ever have... (did you expect something less?)
screener an individual within an organization who is responsible for evaluating the potential value of a salesperson's product or service to a particular decision maker and taking action accordingly (i.e., passing them along to the appropriate person, asking them to send something in the mail, etc.)... also called a gatekeeper.
smoke screen (objection) an objection given by a prospect or customer that's not the primary objection to moving forward... it's usually given to divert the salesperson from addressing the primary objection of the prospect or customer and/ or simply because the prospect or customer feels they must object at least once or twice to strengthen their position in a negotiation or sales process... (primary objections can include a lack of perceived value in a product or service offering, a perception of an inferiority to a competitive offering, a lack of perceived urgency in purchasing the offering, an unknown internal political issue between departments, an unknown corporate initiative with an external party, a lack of funds to purchase the offering, an unknown personal issue with the decision maker(s) and an "it's safer to do nothing" perception by the prospect or customer)...
suspect an individual or organization with the potential of need for a particular product or service... sometimes confused with a prospect.
trial close a closing effort typically made early in the sales process... commonly used to qualify interest or attempt to close after a buying signal is given by the prospect.
USP sales acronym... unique selling proposition... your product's and/ or service's differentiating factor(s) within the competitive environment.
up-sell to sell a prospect/ customer a product or service of higher value
VAR sales acronym... value added reseller... term generally used to describe an organization that sells another organization's product after adding features to it.
value proposition the specific and definitive offer of value from one organization to another.
viral marketing the act of marketing a product or service using tactics that encourage individuals to pass along a marketing message to other individuals in order to have the message delivered at an exponential rate and at very little to no cost to the marketer... a successful viral marketing campaign encourages prospects and customers to market a product or service for the marketing company or individual.
WIIFM or WIIFem sales factor acronym... what's in it for me or what's in it for them... used to describe what should be the focus of any communication with a prospect or customer... a sales manager might say, "make sure you focus on the WIIFM factor" or "make sure you WIIFem".
weight-out a legal practice used to maintain the price points of consumer goods (typically, packaged foods or beverages)... the size or weight of a package is lowered in order to maintain the company's margin on that particular product without raising the price and potentially affecting sales levels for "price" sensitive consumers.
whale sales slang... used to refer to a prospect who, if brought in as a customer, would have a tremendously positive impact on revenue generated. (see also-- elephant)
wholesaler an organization or individual that sells a product made by someone else... usually refers to one who sells to others for resale (e.g., wholesaler to retailer)
windscreen time the amount of time in the car driving between accounts
yes the favorite sales word of all-time (when used in conjunction with a paying prospect who can make a decision... and does)