Glossary
The B2B sales and data glossary
Clear, practical definitions of the terms behind outbound, data, and deliverability. Written for operators, not textbooks.
66 terms
A
- A/B testingOutbound and email
- A/B testing is comparing two versions of a message or step by sending each to a portion of your audience and measuring which performs better.
- Account ExecutiveSales roles
- An account executive, or AE, is a salesperson who owns deals from qualified opportunity through to close, running demos, proposals, and negotiation.
- AEOSEO and GEO
- AEO, or answer engine optimization, is the practice of structuring content so it is chosen as the direct answer by search features and AI assistants.
- AttributionCRM and RevOps
- Attribution is the practice of assigning credit for a deal to the marketing and sales touches that contributed to it, to see what actually drives revenue.
B
- B2B dataData and enrichment
- B2B data is the set of company and contact information that sales and marketing teams use to find, reach, and qualify business buyers.
- BDRSales roles
- A BDR, or business development representative, is a prospecting salesperson, a title often used interchangeably with SDR, sometimes with a focus on outbound or new markets.
- BlocklistDeliverability
- A blocklist is a published list of domains or IP addresses known for spam, which mailbox providers check to decide whether to block or filter incoming mail.
- Bounce rateOutbound and email
- Bounce rate is the share of sent emails that could not be delivered, and a high rate is an early warning of list quality and deliverability problems.
- Buying signalOutbound and email
- A buying signal is an action or event that suggests a prospect is moving toward a purchase, such as visiting pricing pages or researching a category.
C
- CadenceOutbound and email
- A cadence is the schedule and rhythm of outreach touches across channels, defining how often and through which channels you contact a prospect.
- Catch-all domainData and enrichment
- A catch-all domain is an email domain set up to accept mail for any address, which makes it hard to tell whether a specific mailbox actually exists.
- Cold emailOutbound and email
- A cold email is an unsolicited message sent to a prospect you have no prior relationship with, to start a business conversation.
- Conversion rateMetrics
- Conversion rate is the share of people who take a desired next step, such as replying, booking a meeting, or becoming a customer.
- Cost per leadMetrics
- Cost per lead is the average spend required to generate one lead, used to compare the efficiency of different channels and campaigns.
- CRMCRM and RevOps
- A CRM, or customer relationship management system, is the software a company uses to store and manage its contacts, deals, and interactions with customers.
- CRM syncCRM and RevOps
- CRM sync is the automatic flow of contact and activity data between your outreach tools and your CRM, so both stay current without manual entry.
- Customer acquisition cost (CAC)Metrics
- Customer acquisition cost is the total sales and marketing spend needed to win one new customer, a core measure of how efficiently a company grows.
D
- Data decayData and enrichment
- Data decay is the steady loss of accuracy in a contact database as people change jobs, companies close, and details go out of date.
- Data enrichmentData and enrichment
- Data enrichment is the process of adding missing or updated details to a contact or company record so it is complete enough to act on.
- Data hygieneData and enrichment
- Data hygiene is the ongoing practice of keeping a database accurate and consistent by correcting, deduplicating, and removing bad records.
- Data processing agreementCompliance and GDPR
- A data processing agreement, or DPA, is a contract that sets out how a service provider may handle personal data on behalf of the customer that controls it.
- Data providerData and enrichment
- A data provider is a company that supplies B2B contact and company data to sales and marketing teams, usually through a database or an API.
- DKIMDeliverability
- DKIM, or DomainKeys Identified Mail, is an email authentication method that adds a cryptographic signature proving a message was not altered in transit.
- DMARCDeliverability
- DMARC is an email authentication policy that tells receiving servers what to do when a message fails SPF and DKIM, and reports on who is sending as your domain.
- Domain warmupDeliverability
- Domain warmup is the practice of gradually increasing sending volume from a new domain to build a positive reputation before running full outreach.
E
- Email deliverabilityDeliverability
- Email deliverability is the ability of your messages to reach the recipient's inbox rather than being blocked or sent to spam.
- Email sequenceOutbound and email
- An email sequence is a planned series of emails sent to a prospect over time, with each message following the last on a set schedule.
- Email verificationData and enrichment
- Email verification is the process of checking that an email address is valid and able to receive mail before you send to it.
G
- GDPRCompliance and GDPR
- The GDPR is the European Union law that governs how organizations collect, store, and use the personal data of people in the EU.
- GEOSEO and GEO
- GEO, or generative engine optimization, is the practice of shaping content so it is picked up and cited by AI answer engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity.
I
- Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)Data and enrichment
- An Ideal Customer Profile is a clear description of the type of company and buyer that gets the most value from your product and is the best fit to sell to.
- Inbox placementDeliverability
- Inbox placement is the share of your delivered mail that actually lands in the primary inbox rather than the spam or promotions folder.
- Intent dataData and enrichment
- Intent data is information that signals a company may be researching a purchase, based on behaviors like content consumption and search activity.
L
- Lead scoringCRM and RevOps
- Lead scoring is a method of ranking prospects by how likely they are to buy, using fit and behavior signals, so teams focus on the best leads first.
- Legitimate interestCompliance and GDPR
- Legitimate interest is one of the lawful bases under the GDPR that can allow B2B outreach without prior consent, when balanced against the person's rights.
- llms.txtSEO and GEO
- llms.txt is a proposed standard file placed at a site's root that gives AI systems a clean, curated guide to the site's most useful content.
M
- MQLMetrics
- An MQL, or marketing qualified lead, is a lead that marketing judges likely enough to buy, based on fit and engagement, to pass to sales.
- Multichannel outreachOutbound and email
- Multichannel outreach is reaching a prospect across more than one channel, such as email, LinkedIn, and phone, as part of one coordinated sequence.
O
- Open rateOutbound and email
- Open rate is the share of delivered emails that recipients open, used as an early signal of subject-line strength and deliverability.
- Opt-in vs opt-outCompliance and GDPR
- Opt-in means a person actively agrees to be contacted before you reach out, while opt-out means you may contact them until they ask you to stop.
- Outbound salesOutbound and email
- Outbound sales is the practice of starting the conversation with potential buyers who have not contacted you first, usually through email, LinkedIn, and phone.
P
- Personalization at scaleOutbound and email
- Personalization at scale is tailoring outreach to each prospect's context while still sending to many people, rather than choosing between relevant or high-volume.
- PIICompliance and GDPR
- PII, or personally identifiable information, is any data that can identify a specific person, such as a name, work email, or phone number.
- PipelineCRM and RevOps
- Pipeline is the set of active deals a team is working, organized by the stages they move through from first contact to close.
R
- Reply rateOutbound and email
- Reply rate is the share of delivered outreach that gets a response, and it is a truer measure of message quality than opens.
- RevOpsCRM and RevOps
- RevOps, or revenue operations, is the function that aligns sales, marketing, and customer success around shared data, processes, and tools to drive revenue.
- RevOps managerSales roles
- A RevOps manager owns the systems, data, and processes that connect sales, marketing, and customer success so revenue runs on one shared foundation.
S
- Sales engagementOutbound and email
- Sales engagement is the layer of tools and workflow that manages outbound touches across channels, tracking every email, call, and message with a prospect.
- Sales operationsSales roles
- Sales operations is the function that supports a sales team with the tools, data, processes, and analysis it needs to sell efficiently.
- Sales pipeline stagesCRM and RevOps
- Sales pipeline stages are the defined steps a deal moves through, from first contact to closed, each with clear criteria for entering and leaving it.
- Sales triggerOutbound and email
- A sales trigger is an event at a target account, such as a funding round or a new hire, that creates a timely reason to reach out.
- Schema markupSEO and GEO
- Schema markup is structured data added to a page in a standard vocabulary that helps search engines and AI understand what the content means.
- SDRSales roles
- An SDR, or sales development representative, is a salesperson who focuses on outbound prospecting: finding and qualifying new leads to hand to closers.
- Sender reputationDeliverability
- Sender reputation is the score mailbox providers assign to your sending domain and IP, based on your history, that decides whether your mail reaches the inbox.
- SEOSEO and GEO
- SEO, or search engine optimization, is the practice of improving content and pages so they rank higher in search engine results and attract more visitors.
- Spam trapDeliverability
- A spam trap is an email address used by providers and blocklists to catch senders with poor list practices, since it should never receive legitimate mail.
- SPFDeliverability
- SPF, or Sender Policy Framework, is an email authentication record that lists which servers are allowed to send mail for your domain.
- SQLMetrics
- An SQL, or sales qualified lead, is a lead that sales has reviewed and accepted as a real opportunity worth actively pursuing.
- Sub-processorCompliance and GDPR
- A sub-processor is a third party that a service provider uses to help process personal data on behalf of the provider's customer.
T
- Technographic dataData and enrichment
- Technographic data describes the technology a company uses, such as its CRM, cloud platform, or marketing tools, and helps you target accounts by their tech stack.
- Total Addressable Market (TAM)Data and enrichment
- Total Addressable Market is the full set of companies or buyers that could ever use your product, and it sets the ceiling on how much you could sell.
- Two-way syncCRM and RevOps
- Two-way sync is a connection where a change in either the CRM or a connected tool updates the other, keeping both systems consistent in real time.
W
- Waterfall enrichmentData and enrichment
- Waterfall enrichment queries several data providers in sequence and takes the first good result for each field, to raise match rates beyond any single source.
- Win rateMetrics
- Win rate is the share of opportunities that end in a closed sale, a core measure of how effectively a sales team turns pipeline into revenue.
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