Staying on top of the latest sales terminology might not seem like a big deal.
But if you work with B2B businesses, it’s your job to arm yourself with all the knowledge you need to succeed.
Especially if you want to make a sale!
And that means being aware of all the buzzwords in your industry.
We’ve put together a glossary of 100 key business terms and definitions to ensure you’re speaking the right language when prospecting.
Scroll to see all 70 business terms for B2B sales 👇 or use the menu to find a specific word in the glossary.
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1. A/B testing
A/B testing is a lead gen tactic that tests how your audience responds to marketing, web pages, emails, etc. Running an A/B test can help you determine if your customer likes a certain type of messaging, subject line, or graphic over another.
2. ABC
ABC stands for ‘always be closing.’ It’s a popular sales slang rooted in the idea that every rep’s action should have one purpose - closing the deal.
3. Account-based marketing (ABM)
Account-based marketing (ABM) is a growth tactic in which sales and marketing align to create engaging customer experiences for high-value accounts through personalised campaigns.
4. Account-based selling
Account-based selling is a hyper-targeted view of the sales process. The sales team understands exactly why people buy their product, and they use this information to draw up a list of ideal customers. They then focus on selling to these target accounts.
5. Affiliate marketing
Promoting another business’s product or service across your lead source channels is considered affiliate marketing. The business promoting the product will earn a commission for each sale made and tracked via a personalised link.
6. AI-guided selling
AI-guided selling is the use of artificial intelligence to analyse buyer behaviour, sales data and market trends in real time to help sales professionals make smarter decisions.
It provides reps with dynamic recommendations (like which leads to prioritise, what messaging to use, or when to follow up) based on predictive insights and historical data.
7. AI lead finder
An AI lead finder is a tool that uses artificial intelligence to identify and recommend high-potential leads based on predefined criteria, real-time intent signals, and historical customer data.
It automatically scans vast data sources (like websites, social media, and company databases) to surface prospects that match your ideal customer profile (ICP).
Cognism is an example of an AI lead finder.
8. AI sales agent
An AI sales agent is an artificial intelligence-powered assistant that can autonomously handle parts of the sales process, such as prospecting, qualifying leads, sending emails, booking meetings, or even conducting initial conversations via chat or voice.
It uses natural language processing (NLP), machine learning, and sales data to replicate the actions of a human sales rep.
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9. B2B compliance
B2B compliance is one of the top sales terms to know, especially if you work with B2B data.
There are many laws in place to ensure that contact data is kept safe and doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. By following these laws, you’re ensuring your company is GDPR compliant, and other businesses will be happier to work with you.
10. B2B contact database
A B2B contact database is exactly what it sounds like - a database of contacts collected by a company. This database can include contact information for employees, customers, suppliers, and more.
11. B2B leads
B2B leads are sales prospects entering the buying process. They’re normally cold leads who have shown a slight interest in your product or service and need to be warmed up by a sales representative.
12. B2B prospecting
Lead generation starts with an important sales term - B2B prospecting. This is how sales reps identify potential customers and outreach to them.
13. BANT
BANT is a lead qualification framework that stands for Budget, Authority, Need, and Timing. It helps sales teams assess whether a prospect is a good fit by evaluating four key factors:
- Budget – Can the prospect afford your solution?
- Authority – Is the prospect the decision-maker or an influencer?
- Need – Does the prospect have a clear pain point your solution can solve?
- Timing – Is there urgency or a defined timeline to make a purchase?
14. BOFU
BOFU is an acronym for bottom of the funnel. It’s sales jargon used when a potential customer has reached the end of the sales process and is ready to make a purchasing decision.
15. Bounce rate
Bounce rate is a business term for the percentage of visitors who leave a page on your website without taking action, such as filling out a form, moving to another page, or clicking a link.
16. Business-to-business (B2B)
A popular business term, B2B is an acronym for business-to-business. Businesses sell products or services to one another rather than directly to consumers. This is usually a solution that can help solve the company’s pain points.
17. Business-to-customer (B2C)
B2C is a business acronym for business-to-customer, where companies sell products directly to consumers.
18. Buyer journey
When a prospect enters the sales funnel, they follow a buyer journey that begins with awareness, progresses to evaluation, and ends with a purchase.
19. Buyer retention
Keeping customers engaged and loyal is vital to a business’s success, both long-term and short-term. This is usually measured by the customer retention rate.
The higher the rate, the lower the customer churn. For many organisations, tracking customer retention/churn is an important performance goal.
20. Buying signal
When prospects are close to making a buying decision, they take certain actions known in B2B sales as buying signals.
21. Brand awareness
Brand awareness helps B2B businesses create customer recognition and generate leads from that recognition.
Not only is it a fantastic sales term to know, but it’s also an excellent tactic to use if you want your product to stand out from your competitors.
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22. Cadence
A sales cadence is a key business term for a sequence of cold calls and emails sent to prospects at specific points of their buyer journey. It’s designed to encourage conversions.
23. Churn rate
Customer churn rate is a measure of the number of customers who leave your service within a certain period, like a month or year.
You can calculate churn using this formula:
Churn = ( total number of churned customers over a period) / (number of customers at the start of the period)
24. Closed-lost
You can’t learn business terminology without discovering what closed-lost means. It describes opportunities that had the potential to become sales but weren’t successful.
25. Closed-won
Closed-won is sales lingo for successful sales completed by a sales development representative.
26. Cold calling
Cold calling is a method of B2B sales where a rep contacts customers with whom they’ve had no prior interaction. This typically occurs over the phone, but also sometimes in person.
27. Cold email
A cold email is an unsolicited message sent to a prospect who hasn’t interacted with your business before.
Its goal is to start a conversation, generate interest, or book a meeting by offering value and addressing a potential pain point, typically as part of an outbound sales or lead generation strategy.
28. Contact data
Contact data refers to the information that identifies and enables communication with a prospect or customer.
This typically includes details like full name, job title, email address, phone number, company name, location, and LinkedIn profile, often enriched with firmographic or intent data for deeper context.
Cognism is an ideal tool for contact data cleansing.
29. Content marketing
In B2B, a marketing department will create valuable and relevant marketing materials. Content marketers distribute this content to attract potential buyers and retain current customers.
30. Conversion rate
A basic terminology in sales. Conversions are the number of leads you convert into customers. Your conversion rate will be based on the percentage of customers you convert over a period of time.
31. Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
You’ll hear the business term CAC often in B2B sales.
Calculating your customer acquisition cost can help you deduce the value of a prospective customer to your organisation.
You can calculate it via the following formula:
CAC = (total amount spent for all lead generation efforts) / (total number of new customers acquired through these efforts)
32. CRM
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. It’s a term used in sales to describe a system that manages customer data to improve prospecting efficiency.
33. Cross-selling
Cross-selling is the practice of selling additional items to an existing customer and can be fuelled by marketing efforts.
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34. Data enrichment
The process of cleaning, sorting, and enhancing the data you’ve collected. Added information adds value to your original collection.
35. Data quality
Data quality refers to the accuracy, completeness, consistency, and relevance of data used in sales and marketing. High-quality data is up-to-date, correctly formatted, free of duplicates or errors, and aligned with your ideal customer profile (ICP).
36. Decision maker
The person (or people) in charge of important decisions at a company. This person or group in a business is known as the decision-maker.
37. Diamond Data®
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38. Discovery call
A discovery call is sales terminology for the first conversation with a prospect who has shown interest in a business’s product or service. The call aims to discover if the prospect has a problem the business can solve.
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39. Enterprise leads
The big fish of leads. Enterprise leads is a key sales term that generates significant revenue, provides social proof, and boosts brand awareness.
Attracting and converting these large businesses requires a very special strategy compared to what you’d use for SMB or startup leads.
40. Evergreen
Evergreen is a business term used in conjunction with content. A marketing team creates content that remains universally and continually relevant to bring in more marketing-qualified leads for sales to convert.
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41. Free leads
Free leads are prospect contacts (such as email addresses, phone numbers, or company details) acquired at no cost.
These can come from sources like lead generation tools with free tiers, website sign-ups, content downloads, events, or publicly available databases.
42. Firmographic data
Firmographic data refers to descriptive information about companies, such as industry, company size, revenue, location, number of employees, and tech stack.
It’s the business equivalent of demographic data and is used to segment, qualify, and target accounts more effectively.
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43. Go-to-market strategy
A go-to-market (GTM) strategy is a plan to define your ideal customers, coordinate your messaging, and position your product for launch.
44. GTM intelligence
GTM (go-to-market) intelligence is the strategic use of data and insights to inform how a company approaches its target market.
It combines firmographics, technographics, intent signals, buying behaviour, and historical performance to help teams identify the right accounts, craft relevant messaging, and time outreach effectively.
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45. Hot lead
A hot lead is a customer who knows what you’re selling and is interested in making a purchase.
They’re much warmer than warm leads just entering nurtures and have identified your product as the best solution to fulfil their needs.
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46. Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
An ICP is a buyer persona your organisation develops to determine who you want to target with your products or services.
Your ideal customer profile will consist of businesses that best fit what you sell and often have the shortest buying cycles.
47. Inbound sales
Inbound leads result from a lead generation strategy in which prospects come to you. If they stay engaged with your business’s content, they’ll convert into customers.
Content marketing, SEO, and social media marketing are effective ways of generating targeted leads through inbound sales.
48. Intent data
Intent data is information that shows what prospective customers are interested in and helps indicate if someone might buy your product or service.
This makes it an important part of leveraging data to guide sales strategies and encourage a buying decision.
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49. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
KPIs, also called sales metrics, are important sales terms that organisations use to measure performance over a set period of time. You will first establish a target and then work towards meeting that target before the end of the specified time.
Check out Cognism’s list of the best B2B sales KPIs.
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50. Landing page
A landing page is a standalone web page designed with a single, focused objective - to capture a visitor’s information through a form or drive a specific action (like booking a demo or downloading content).
It’s typically used in paid campaigns, email sequences, or outbound efforts to convert traffic into leads.
Check out Cognism’s guide to ABM landing pages.
51. Lead generation
A list of sales terminology wouldn’t be complete without lead generation. It’s the process of generating interest in a product or service and converting that interest into a sale.
Use lead generation tools to collect contact information about prospects and generate B2B leads.
52. Lead routing
Lead routing is the process of automatically assigning incoming leads to the right sales rep or team based on predefined rules, such as geography, company size, industry, deal value, or rep availability.
It ensures leads are distributed quickly and fairly for timely follow-up.
53. Lead scoring
Lead scoring is the process of ranking prospects based on their likelihood to convert, using a point-based system.
Scores are typically assigned based on criteria like job title, company size, website activity, email engagement, or intent signals, helping teams prioritise high-value leads.
54. Low-hanging fruit
Low-hanging fruit is a popular buzzword in sales and marketing that refers to an easily achievable set of goals or tasks. Taking advantage of low-hanging fruit results in quick wins for you and your company.
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55. Marketing qualified lead (MQL)
A Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) is a prospect who has shown enough interest or engagement (such as downloading content, attending a webinar, or visiting key web pages) to be considered more likely to become a customer.
They meet predefined criteria set by the marketing team and are ready to be passed to sales for lead qualification.
56. MEDDIC
MEDDIC is a sales qualification framework that helps reps evaluate and close complex deals by focusing on six key areas:
- Metrics – What is the measurable ROI or impact of your solution?
- Economic Buyer – Who controls the budget and has final sign-off?
- Decision Criteria – What factors will influence the purchase decision?
- Decision Process – What steps and stakeholders are involved in the buying journey?
- Identify Pain – What core business problem is the prospect trying to solve?
- Champion – Who inside the organisation will advocate for your solution?
57. Metrics
Like KPIs, sales metrics measure performance through B2B data analytics. Each department measures specific metrics to gauge, improve, and optimise performance.
Check out Cognism’s list of the must-track lead generation metrics.
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58. Objection
A sales objection occurs when a potential buyer gives an excuse for not purchasing a product or service.
While many sales reps see this as a rejection, it’s best to look at it as an opportunity to get to know your customer better and create lasting buyer retention.
59. Outbound sales
Outbound sales is the proactive process of reaching out to potential customers who haven’t expressed prior interest.
It typically involves sales calls, cold emails, LinkedIn outreach, and targeted ads, often guided by ideal customer profiles (ICPs) and intent data.
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60. Pain points
In business lingo, a pain point is a challenge that current or potential customers face in the marketplace. It can be any hindrance encountered by someone on their journey.
61. Performance review
Each department in an organisation should have a team lead who initiates an annual performance review process for their team. The performance review will look at KPIs to determine how well the employee has worked. They can also provide feedback for improvement.
62. Predictable revenue
Predictable revenue is a sales growth strategy and business outcome where revenue generation becomes consistent, forecastable, and scalable over time.
The term was popularised by the book “Predictable Revenue” by Aaron Ross, which advocates for building specialised outbound teams, creating repeatable processes, and using data to drive pipeline growth.
63. Prospecting list
B2B sales teams use prospecting lists, which contain the names and contact info of prospects who fit their ideal customer profile, to reach out to potential customers.
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64. Qualification
Qualification is the process of determining whether a lead or prospect meets the criteria to become a potential customer. It typically involves assessing factors like budget, authority, need, timing (BANT), or fit with your ideal customer profile (ICP).
Check out Cognism’s list of the best qualification questions.
65. Quota
In business terminology, a sales quota, also known as a performance goal or target, is a requirement that sellers must meet to earn their desired incentive pay or commission.
This provides motivation to sellers who may face varying opportunities by region.
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66. Revenue generation
Revenue generation refers to the strategies and activities a business uses to earn income through the sales of products or services.
In B2B, this typically includes inbound and outbound sales, marketing campaigns, upselling, cross-selling, and customer retention efforts.
67. RevOps
Revenue operations (RevOps) is a concept that companies are fast adopting to help improve their internal processes, align teams and maximise their incoming sales revenue.
68. Return on investment (ROI)
ROI is another performance indicator. However, this one is revenue-focused. It is a way for companies to establish their net profit after investing.
You can calculate it via the following formula:
ROI = (net profit / investment cost) x 100%
69. ROAS
ROAS stands for Return on Ad Spend. It’s a metric that measures the revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising. It’s calculated by dividing total revenue from ads by total ad spend.
For example, a ROAS of 5:1 means you earn £5 for every £1 spent.
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70. SaaS
SaaS stands for Software as a Service and is a business term used by technological companies that sell software to other businesses. To sell SaaS well, you’ll need a great SaaS sales strategy.
71. Sales acceleration
Sales acceleration is a business term that describes the process of achieving faster results in B2B sales so that teams can close more deals with less effort. It incorporates several practices, such as outbound sales and the use of sales technology.
Check out Cognism’s list of the best sales acceleration software for enterprises.
72. Sales automation
Sales automation is the use of software and technology to streamline repetitive, manual tasks in the sales process, such as lead enrichment, email outreach, follow-ups, CRM updates, and pipeline tracking.
It helps reps stay efficient and focused on high-value activities like closing deals.
73. Sales data
Sales data refers to the information collected from sales activities, interactions, and outcomes. It includes metrics like lead velocity rates, deal sizes, win/loss reasons, rep performance, customer engagement, and revenue generated.
It’s often stored in a CRM or sales intelligence platform.
74. Sales Development Representative (SDR)
A Sales Development Representative (SDR) is responsible for finding and converting B2B leads to grow the sales pipeline.
75. Sales enablement
Sales enablement assists sales professionals in engaging prospects and closing deals by providing them with the appropriate resources, data, and tech solutions.
Check out Cognism’s list of the best sales enablement tools.
76. Sales forecasting
Sales forecasting is a type of sales methodology that predicts future sales revenue and which deals will close.
It plays a key role in decision-making regarding spend and which customer accounts are the most significant.
77. Sales funnel
The sales funnel is the journey that buyers follow when they’ve shown interest in a product or service.
It’s a funnel made up of steps that help sales teams turn prospects into customers, a process also referred to as prospecting.
78. Sales goal
Companies set sales goals to help their sales teams reach performance targets. For example, a business might aim to lower customer churn by 5% over a quarter or raise conversion rates by 10%.
These objectives are based on the business’s goals and desired output and growth.
79. Sales intelligence
What is sales intelligence? It’s a sales term for a range of technological solutions that help sales and marketing teams prospect and convert potential customers.
80. Sales outreach
Sales outreach is the process of proactively contacting potential customers to start a sales conversation.
It includes channels like cold emails, cold calls, LinkedIn messages, and social selling and is often guided by ICPs, buyer intent data, and automation tools.
Check out Cognism’s list of the best sales outreach tools.
81. Sales pipeline
A common sales buzzword is the pipeline. Discussions may focus on getting potential customers into the “sales pipeline,” increasing its size, and filling it with quality leads.
The pipeline is not to be underestimated, especially if you want to boost your annual revenue.
82. Sales pitch
A sales pitch is a concise, persuasive message that communicates the value of your product or service to a potential customer.
It highlights the prospect’s pain points, how your solution solves them, and the benefits they can expect. It is often tailored to the prospect’s role, industry, or business needs.
83. Sales process
Sales terminology for a set of steps a sales team follows in a sales cycle.
By adopting a sales process, teams can guide potential buyers to make purchasing decisions that meet their business’s needs.
84. Sales-qualified lead (SQL)
A sales-qualified lead (or an SQL) is a prospective customer who has been nurtured by your marketing team and is considered ready to speak to the sales reps because they’ve shown an intent to buy. For example, they booked a demo or are interested in your pricing.
85. Sales revenue
Direct sales from customer accounts are considered sales revenue for B2B companies.
86. Sales script
Sales scripts are used to help sales reps cold call effectively. Cold calling scripts help reps overcome the anxiety and fear of making a call and being met with objections, as most scenarios and responses are covered in the scripts.
87. Sales strategy
A sales strategy is an essential part of any business’s success, detailing which customers to target and how to do it. This method helps B2B sales teams meet their goals and refine selling activities.
88. Sales trigger
A sales trigger is an event or signal that indicates a potential buyer might be ready for outreach or more likely to purchase.
Examples include funding announcements, leadership changes, job postings, product launches, or intent signals like visiting your website or engaging with your content.
89. SEO
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. It’s an important strategy for bringing customers to your website and generating B2B leads. It helps you grow traffic, which you can use to convert leads into clients.
90. Smarketing
Smarketing is a business strategy that unites the sales and marketing departments. It aims to create a strong partnership between them based on a common set of objectives and an integrated approach.
91. Social selling
Through social selling, sales professionals can engage with prospective customers on social media networks to generate leads.
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92. Target account list (TAL)
A target account list (TAL) is a curated group of high-value companies that a sales or marketing team wants to pursue. It’s typically based on firmographic data, ideal customer profile (ICP) fit, intent signals, and revenue potential.
It’s a core element of account-based marketing (ABM) and strategic outbound sales.
93. Target audience
A target audience is a group of individuals who share characteristics such as age, location, and socioeconomic status that make them likely customers of a business.
Identifying this type of audience can help craft better marketing campaigns for your business.
94. Technographic data
Technographic data refers to information about the technologies a company uses, such as CRM systems, marketing automation platforms, cloud providers, or cybersecurity tools.
It reveals a company’s tech stack, buying behaviour, and digital maturity.
95. Tech stack
A tech stack is the collection of technologies, software, and tools a company uses to run its operations, manage data, and deliver products or services.
In B2B, this often includes CRMs, marketing automation, data analytics, cloud infrastructure, and sales enablement platforms.
Check out Cognism’s guide to the ultimate sales tech stack.
96. Total Addressable Market (TAM)
Your total addressable market (TAM) is the total revenue you can expect to get from your target audience. You can calculate it using the following formula:
TAM = (annual contract value) x (number of possible accounts)
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97. Value-add
A value-add is a common sales and business term for a special service, improvement, or feature that makes your product or service more desirable and easier to use than your competitors.
98. Video prospecting
Video prospecting is a sales outreach technique in which reps use short, personalised videos to engage prospects.
These videos are typically sent via email, LinkedIn, or embedded on landing pages and tailored to the individual’s role, company, or pain points.
99. Voicemail script
A voicemail script is a pre-written message that sales reps use when leaving voicemails for prospects.
It’s designed to be concise, clear, and compelling, typically including the rep’s name, company, reason for calling, a value proposition, and a call-to-action.
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100. Whitepaper
A whitepaper is an informative report or guide aimed at potential buyers that addresses and resolves a dilemma or issue. The aim is to demonstrate why your offering is the ideal solution.
