Glossary of B2B Sales Terms
Each entry starts with a one-sentence definition, then answers the questions people ask about the term and shows how it compares with working named accounts.
Terms, A to Z
Account penetration
Account penetration is how far you have got inside a named account: how many of the people who matter are engaged, and whether those conversations are moving towards pipeline.
Read the definition →Account tiering
Account tiering is splitting a target account list into groups, usually three, by how well each company fits and how ready it looks, so the best accounts get the deepest work.
Read the definition →Account-based marketing
Account-based marketing (ABM) is marketing aimed at a named list of companies chosen in advance, built around the people inside each one, instead of marketing aimed at whoever responds.
Read the definition →Account-based selling
Account-based selling is a sales method where effort is organised around a short list of named companies, with several people worked inside each one, rather than around individual leads.
Read the definition →Appointment setting
Appointment setting is the work of contacting potential buyers and booking a first sales call or meeting between them and a salesperson.
Read the definition →Buying committee
A buying committee is the set of people inside a company who take part in a purchase decision: the one who decides, the one who pays, the evaluators, the users and the functions that can stop it.
Read the definition →ICP (ideal customer profile)
An ICP (ideal customer profile) is a written description of the companies a business serves best and wins most often: their industry, size, geography and the problem it solves for them.
Read the definition →Inroad
An inroad is a position inside a target account that survives the loss of any one person: more than one person in conversation, a problem they have named and a next step that adds someone new.
Read the definition →Lead generation
Lead generation is the work of finding people who might buy from you and capturing their details, so that sales has someone worth contacting.
Read the definition →Multithreading
Multithreading in sales is building relationships with several people inside the same buying company at the same time, so the deal does not depend on one contact.
Read the definition →Outbound sales
Outbound sales is selling that the seller starts: you choose who should hear from you and contact them by email, phone and LinkedIn before they have asked.
Read the definition →Pay per meeting
Pay per meeting is a pricing model where a buyer pays an outside provider a fixed fee for each sales meeting booked, instead of a monthly retainer for the work.
Read the definition →Pipeline coverage
Pipeline coverage is the value of open sales pipeline divided by the revenue still to be closed in the period, a check on whether enough is in play to reach the target.
Read the definition →Qualified meeting
A qualified meeting is a booked sales meeting that meets criteria agreed in advance: the right kind of company, a person with a part in the decision and a problem the seller can solve.
Read the definition →Retainer
A retainer in sales is a fixed monthly fee paid to an outside provider for ongoing sales work such as research, list building, outreach and meeting booking, whatever any single month produces.
Read the definition →SDR
An SDR (sales development representative) is a salesperson who finds and contacts potential buyers and books qualified first conversations for the people who close deals.
Read the definition →SDR as a service
SDR as a service is an outsourcing model where a provider supplies trained sales development representatives, with their management, data and tools, to run outbound prospecting for your company for a monthly fee.
Read the definition →Target account list
A target account list is the agreed, named set of companies a sales team has chosen to pursue, selected against written criteria and sized to the team's capacity.
Read the definition →Trigger event
A trigger event is a change at a target company, such as a new executive, a new site, a funding round or a new rule, that makes a need for your product more likely or more urgent than it was last month.
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