Buying Cycle

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

Dynamic territories are fluid sales assignments that adjust based on real-time data, ensuring reps can focus on the highest-value accounts.

The buyer's journey maps the path a potential customer takes, from first becoming aware of a problem to making a final purchase decision.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a digital marketing strategy that uses paid tactics to increase a website's visibility in search engine results.

Load testing is a type of performance testing that determines how a system behaves under both normal and anticipated peak load conditions.

Precision targeting is a marketing strategy that uses data to identify and reach a highly specific audience most likely to convert.

Deal closing is the final step in a sales cycle. It's when a prospect signs a contract and officially converts into a paying customer.

User interaction is any action a user takes within a digital interface, like clicking a button, scrolling a page, or filling out a form.

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) is the predictable, recurring income a business expects to receive each month from all active subscriptions.

An Application Programming Interface (API) is a set of rules that lets different software applications talk to each other and share information.

Direct mail is a marketing method where businesses send physical promotional materials directly to potential customers' mailboxes.

Deal flow refers to the stream of business proposals and investment opportunities that a company or investor receives.

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

Data privacy is an individual's right to control their personal information, including how it's collected, processed, stored, and shared.

Data warehousing is the process of storing and managing large sets of data from various sources for business intelligence and reporting purposes.

Sentiment analysis, or opinion mining, automatically determines the emotional tone behind text—whether it's positive, negative, or neutral.

An account is a company or organization that you're targeting for sales. It can be a prospective, current, or even a past customer.

A hybrid sales model blends traditional and digital sales methods to engage customers across multiple channels and buying preferences.

Nurture is the process of building relationships with potential customers, guiding them through the sales funnel with personalized communication.

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.

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

Predictive analytics uses historical data, statistical algorithms, and machine learning to identify the likelihood of future outcomes.

Closed opportunities are potential deals that have concluded. They are categorized as either 'closed-won' (a sale was made) or 'closed-lost'.

A buying committee is a group of stakeholders within an organization who are jointly responsible for making major purchasing decisions.

Marketo is a marketing automation platform used by B2B marketers to manage lead generation, nurturing, email marketing, and analytics.

CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) software is a sales tool for creating accurate, configurable quotes for complex products and services.

Affiliate marketing is a performance-based model where affiliates earn a commission for promoting another company’s products or services.

A Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) is a secure, isolated section of a public cloud. It lets you provision your own logically isolated resources.

A Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) is a prospect vetted by marketing and sales, deemed ready for a direct sales pitch after showing intent to buy.

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

An HTTP request is a message sent by a client, like a web browser, to a server to ask for a resource, such as a web page or an image.

A conversion path is the journey a visitor takes to complete a desired goal, such as making a purchase, filling out a form, or subscribing.

Freemium is a business model offering a product's basic features for free, while charging for advanced or supplemental features.

Persona-based marketing uses fictional customer profiles, or personas, to create targeted messaging for specific audience segments.

CRM data is the information businesses use to manage customer relationships. It covers contact details, purchase history, and communication logs.

A sales strategy is a comprehensive plan that outlines how a business will sell its products or services to achieve its revenue goals.

A value gap is the difference between the value a customer expects from a product and the actual value they receive, often leading to churn.

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

Net 30 is a common payment term where a client has 30 calendar days from the invoice date to pay for goods or services in full.

Learn about batch processing, including benefits of batch processing, best practices for implementation, & common use cases.

A/B testing is a method of comparing two versions of something, like a webpage or email, to determine which one performs better with your audience.

Order management is the end-to-end process of tracking customer orders from placement to fulfillment, ensuring a seamless customer experience.

Lightning Components is a UI framework for building dynamic web apps for mobile and desktop devices on the Salesforce Lightning Platform.

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

Voice search optimization is the process of optimizing your content, SEO, and online listings to appear in and rank for voice-based searches.

Learn about B2B data solutions, including unlocking the power of B2B data, & key components of effective B2B data solutions.

The sales pipeline velocity formula is a key metric that measures how quickly deals move through your pipeline and turn into revenue.

Tokenization is the process of breaking down text into smaller units called tokens, such as words or characters, for AI to process.

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

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a focused B2B strategy where marketing and sales collaborate to target and convert high-value accounts.

Demand capture is the strategy of engaging potential customers who are already actively looking for a solution that your company provides.

A sales demonstration is a presentation showing a prospect how a product or service works and how it can solve their specific problems.

Customer journey mapping is the process of creating a visual story of your customers' interactions with your brand across all touchpoints.

Learn about buyer behavior, including understanding the buyer's journey, influencing factors in buyer behavior, & buyer behavior and marketing strategy.

Cross-selling is a sales tactic of encouraging customers to purchase products or services that are related to what they're already buying.

Net Revenue Retention (NRR) is the percentage of recurring revenue kept from existing customers, including upsells, downgrades, and churn.

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

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

Ramp-up time is the period a new hire takes to get fully up to speed and become a productive member of your go-to-market team.

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

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) uses software bots to mimic human actions and automate repetitive, rules-based tasks on digital systems.

Predictive lead scoring uses AI to analyze data and rank leads by their likelihood to convert, helping sales teams prioritize their efforts.

The purchase stage is when a buyer has decided on a solution and is ready to buy. They're comparing vendors to make a final choice.

Sales enablement provides sales teams with the necessary tools, content, and information to help them sell more effectively and efficiently.

Mid-market companies are businesses larger than small businesses but smaller than large enterprises, often defined by revenue or employee size.

Adobe Analytics is a leading web analytics solution for gaining real-time insights into user activity across websites and mobile applications.

Site retargeting is a marketing strategy that shows ads to people who have previously visited your website but left without converting.

AI marketing uses artificial intelligence to analyze data, automate decisions, and deliver personalized customer experiences at scale.

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

Net new business is revenue from customers who have never purchased from your company before. It’s a crucial indicator of sustainable growth.

A needs assessment is the process of identifying the gap between a company's current state and its desired future state.

A Call for Proposal (CFP) is a document that solicits proposals, often through a bidding process, for a specific project or service.

Learn about B2B buyer intent data, including sources and types of buyer intent data, & key benefits of leveraging buyer intent data.

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

Account-based advertising is a hyper-focused B2B strategy that targets key accounts with personalized ads across multiple channels.

Customer buying signals are the actions, behaviors, or statements a prospect makes that indicate they are moving towards a purchase decision.

A marketing play is a repeatable tactic used to achieve a specific marketing goal, like generating leads or driving engagement.

Shipping solutions are services or software that streamline the logistics of getting products to customers, from label printing to final delivery.

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

Sales territory planning is the process of dividing customers into geographic areas to be assigned to specific sales reps or teams.

Data security protects digital information from unauthorized access, corruption, or theft throughout its entire lifecycle.

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are websites that look and feel like native mobile apps, offering features like offline access and push notifications.

A Proof of Concept (PoC) is a small exercise to test whether a business idea or project is technically feasible and has real-world potential.

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

Sales conversion rate is the percentage of prospects who take a desired action, like making a purchase, turning them into customers.

Video prospecting is the sales technique of sending personalized videos to potential customers to grab their attention and secure more meetings.

Learn about bounce rate, including understanding bounce rate implications, key factors affecting bounce rate, & reducing your bounce rate effectively.

Cold calling is a sales technique where reps contact potential customers who have had no prior interaction with their company or product.

Marketing automation uses software to automate repetitive marketing tasks, such as email marketing, social media posting, and ad campaigns.

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

An on-premise CRM is a system hosted on a company's own servers, offering complete control over data, security, and system maintenance.

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

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

Learn about brand loyalty, including how to build brand loyalty, benefits of brand loyalty, measuring brand loyalty, & strategies for increasing loyalty.

A Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) API is a web service that uses XML to exchange structured information between different applications.

Accessibility testing is a software testing method that verifies an application is usable by people with disabilities, like vision or hearing loss.

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) benchmarks are key metrics used to measure the performance and success of your targeted account strategies.

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

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.

Sales pipeline reporting is the process of analyzing sales data to track progress, identify bottlenecks, and forecast future revenue.