B2B Sales Process

The consideration buying stage is where potential customers have defined their problem and are now actively researching and evaluating solutions.

The awareness stage is the first step in the buyer's journey, where a potential customer realizes they have a problem or an opportunity to explore.

Sales automation uses software to streamline and automate repetitive, manual sales tasks, freeing up reps to focus on selling.

Buying criteria are the specific requirements and standards a customer uses to evaluate products or services before making a decision.

Product recommendations are a marketing strategy that uses customer data to suggest relevant products, boosting sales and customer engagement.

A persona is a semi-fictional profile of your ideal customer, based on market research and real data about your existing customers.

An API (Application Programming Interface) is a software intermediary that allows two applications to talk to each other and exchange information.

A lead generation funnel is a systematic process that guides potential customers from initial awareness of your brand to becoming qualified leads.

Git is a distributed version control system that tracks changes in code, allowing developers to collaborate and manage project history effectively.

A Quarterly Business Review (QBR) is a recurring meeting to assess performance against goals and align on strategy for the next quarter.

Event tracking is the method of collecting data on specific user actions, or 'events,' on a website or app, such as clicks or downloads.

Inside sales is a remote sales process where reps sell products or services via phone, email, and other digital tools instead of in person.

Docker is a tool that packages applications and their dependencies into isolated environments called containers for easy deployment and scaling.

Consumer Relationship Management (CRM) is a strategy for managing all of a company's relationships and interactions with its customers.

Personalization in sales means tailoring outreach to a prospect's specific needs, interests, and context to make communication more relevant.

Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) measures the mean annual growth of an investment over a specified period of time longer than one year.

Time on site, or session duration, is a key web metric that tracks the total time a visitor spends on your website during a single visit.

Private labeling is when a company rebrands a product made by a third-party manufacturer and sells it as their own.

A positioning statement is a concise description of your target market and how your product or service uniquely fills their needs.

Learn about B2B marketing attribution, including challenges in B2B marketing attribution, & key metrics for effective attribution.

Lead generation tactics are the strategies and methods used to attract potential customers and convert them into leads for your sales team.

Application Performance Management (APM) monitors and manages an application's performance, availability, and the experience of its end-users.

Predictive lead generation uses data and AI to find prospects most likely to buy, helping teams focus their efforts on high-value leads.

Geo-fencing creates a virtual boundary around a real-world location. It triggers actions on a device when it enters or exits this area.

Gated content is premium online material, like an ebook or webinar, that users can only access after providing their contact information.

Customer centricity is a business approach that puts the customer at the heart of every decision, aiming to build loyalty and long-term value.

Employee engagement is the emotional commitment an employee has to their organization, motivating them to contribute to the company's success.

Cold calling is a sales tactic where reps contact potential customers by phone who haven't previously expressed interest in their product or service.

Average Revenue per Account (ARPA) is the average revenue generated from each customer account, usually measured on a monthly or annual basis.

Marketing analytics involves measuring and analyzing marketing data to understand campaign performance and improve return on investment (ROI).

Objection handling in sales is the process of responding to a prospect's concerns about a product or service to move the deal forward.

A vertical market is a niche where businesses cater to a specific industry or group of customers with specialized needs, not the mass market.

Key accounts are a company's most valuable customers, vital due to their significant revenue contribution and strategic importance for growth.

Logo retention is a key B2B metric that measures a company's ability to retain its customers, or 'logos,' over a specific period.

A lead magnet is a free incentive offered to potential customers in exchange for their contact details, like an email, to generate sales leads.

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the total cost a business spends to gain a new customer. It includes all sales and marketing expenses.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a system of integrated software that businesses use to manage and automate their core day-to-day processes.

Employee advocacy is the promotion of an organization by its staff members, who share positive messages and content through their personal networks.

A Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is the page displayed by a search engine after a user enters a query, listing results ranked by relevance.

Think of a trademark as a brand's unique signature—a word, symbol, or phrase that legally protects its identity and sets it apart from the rest.

Microservices is an architecture where apps are built as a collection of small, independent services that communicate with each other over APIs.

A marketing budget breakdown is a detailed plan that allocates your total marketing funds across various channels, campaigns, and activities.

Funnel analysis is a method for understanding the steps users take to complete a goal, revealing where they drop off in the conversion process.

A sales pitch is a persuasive presentation of a product or service, aimed at convincing a potential customer to make a purchase.

A Master Service Agreement (MSA) is a foundational contract that sets the general terms for an ongoing business relationship between two parties.

Sales partnerships are strategic alliances where two companies co-sell products to expand their reach, generate new leads, and increase revenue.

Scalability is a company's ability to handle increased workloads or market demands without a drop in performance or a spike in costs.

Learn about BANT framework, including implementing BANT in sales strategy, advantages of the BANT methodology, & BANT vs. other qualification models.

Rapport building is the process of establishing a connection and mutual understanding with someone, creating a foundation of trust and affinity.

A sales enablement platform centralizes content, training, and analytics to help sales teams engage buyers and effectively close deals.

Learn about ballpark, including estimating with ballpark figures, understanding ballpark estimates in sales, & ballpark estimates vs. precise quotes.

Click-through rate (CTR) is a metric that measures the percentage of people who click on a specific link, ad, or call-to-action.

Channel partners are third-party firms that help market and sell a company's products or services, acting as an indirect sales force.

GPCTBA/C&I is a sales qualification framework for understanding a prospect's goals, plans, challenges, timeline, budget, and authority.

Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) is the ideal order quantity a company should purchase to minimize its total inventory-related costs.

Sales performance metrics are key data points that measure a sales team's effectiveness in achieving its goals and driving revenue.

Forecasting uses historical data to make informed predictions about future trends, helping businesses anticipate outcomes and plan accordingly.

An Account Executive (AE) is a sales professional responsible for closing new business deals and managing existing client relationships to drive revenue.

Objection handling is the process of responding to a prospect's concerns or hesitations about a product or service to move a deal forward.

Demand forecasting is the process of predicting future customer demand for a product or service based on historical data and market trends.

Customer Retention Rate (CRR) is the metric that measures the percentage of customers a company has kept over a specific period of time.

Sales rep training is the process of equipping your sales team with the skills, knowledge, and tools to effectively sell and hit their targets.

Lead enrichment tools are platforms that automatically add missing data to your leads, like contact info, firmographics, and buying signals.

Feature flags let you remotely control features in your app without new code. This enables safe testing, gradual rollouts, and quick rollbacks.

A sales champion is your internal advocate at a target company. They believe in your product and help you push the deal forward to close.

Sales workflows are a set of automated actions that streamline the sales process, helping teams engage leads consistently and close deals faster.

A performance plan is a formal document outlining an employee's goals, expectations, and metrics for success over a specific period.

No Cold Calls is a sales strategy that replaces unsolicited calls with warm outreach to prospects who have already demonstrated interest.

Learn about buyer, including identifying your ideal buyer, understanding buyer's journey, & evaluating buyer decision processes.

A marketing automation platform is software that automates marketing actions. It helps manage tasks like email campaigns and lead nurturing.

A sales bundle groups multiple products or services into a single offering, often at a discounted price to provide greater value to customers.

Compliance testing ensures a product or system adheres to specific regulations, standards, or policies set by governing bodies or organizations.

No Forms is a method for capturing lead data directly from your website visitors' profiles without requiring them to fill out any forms.

Learn about B2B2C, including benefits of B2B2C model, key strategies for B2B2C success, & B2B2C vs. B2C vs. B2B: understanding the differences.

Dark social is the sharing of content through private channels like messaging apps or email. This traffic is hard to track as it lacks referral data.

Affiliate networks are platforms that act as intermediaries between publishers (affiliates) and merchant affiliate programs.

The Target Buying Stage identifies a prospect's position in the buying journey, from initial awareness to the final decision to purchase.

A Marketing Qualified Opportunity (MQO) is a lead vetted by marketing as a genuine sales opportunity, ready for direct sales follow-up.

Email personalization uses subscriber data—like their name, interests, or past behavior—to create highly relevant and targeted email campaigns.

Hadoop is an open-source framework designed for the distributed storage and processing of extremely large data sets across clusters of computers.

A hard sell is an aggressive sales technique that uses high-pressure tactics to push a customer into making an immediate purchase decision.

Customer Data Management (CDM) is the process of collecting, organizing, and analyzing customer data to create a unified view of your audience.

A sales pipeline is a visual representation of where prospects are in the sales process, from the first contact to the final sale.

Outbound leads are potential customers a business proactively contacts through outreach like cold calls, emails, or social media.

Pay-per-click (PPC) is an internet advertising model where businesses pay a fee each time one of their online ads is clicked by a user.

Day Sales Outstanding (DSO) is a financial ratio that shows the average number of days it takes for a company to receive payment for a sale.

An Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is a detailed description of the perfect, hypothetical company that would get the most value from your product.

Email engagement measures how your audience interacts with your emails. It includes key actions like opens, clicks, replies, and forwards.

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is a tool that centralizes customer data to help manage interactions and nurture relationships.

Demand is the economic principle describing a consumer's desire and willingness to purchase a specific good or service at a particular price.

On-Target Earnings (OTE) is a salesperson's total potential pay, combining base salary and commission for hitting their sales quota.

Learn about bulk API, including how it works, the advantages of using it, common use cases, and tips for optimizing it.

Customer Success is a business strategy focused on proactively helping customers achieve their goals with your product or service.

A drip campaign is a series of automated messages sent to prospects or customers over time to nurture leads and drive engagement.

Contact discovery is the process of finding accurate contact details for potential leads, including names, emails, phone numbers, and job titles.

Digital analytics is the analysis of data from digital channels to understand user behavior and optimize online experiences for business goals.

Lookalike audiences are groups of potential customers who share similar characteristics and behaviors with your existing, high-value customers.

A Target Account List (TAL) is a focused list of high-value companies that a business specifically aims to convert into customers.

SFDC stands for Salesforce Dot Com, a popular cloud-based CRM platform that helps companies manage their customer interactions and data.

Average Order Value (AOV) tracks the average dollar amount spent each time a customer places an order on your website or mobile app.