B2B Sales Glossary
30 essential terms every B2B sales and lead generation professional should know.
A
ABM
Account-Based Marketing — A focused B2B strategy that targets specific high-value accounts with personalized campaigns.
B
BDR
Business Development Representative — A sales professional focused on generating new business opportunities through outbound outreach.
Bounce Rate
The percentage of sent emails that were not successfully delivered to the recipient's inbox, either due to invalid addresses (hard bounce) or temporary issues (soft bounce).
C
Cadence
A structured sequence of outreach touchpoints (emails, calls, LinkedIn messages) spread over a defined period to engage prospects.
Cold Calling
Making unsolicited phone calls to potential customers who haven't expressed prior interest in your product or service.
Cold Email
Sending unsolicited emails to prospects with whom you have no prior relationship, typically for B2B lead generation.
Connection Rate
The percentage of LinkedIn connection requests that are accepted by prospects.
CRM
Customer Relationship Management — Software for managing interactions with prospects and customers throughout the sales cycle (e.g., HubSpot, Salesforce).
D
DKIM
DomainKeys Identified Mail — An email authentication method that uses cryptographic signatures to verify that an email was sent by the domain it claims to be from.
DMARC
Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance — An email authentication protocol that protects domains from unauthorized use.
Domain Warm-Up
The process of gradually increasing email sending volume on a new domain to build sender reputation with email providers.
E
Email Deliverability
The ability of your emails to reach recipients' inboxes rather than being filtered to spam or rejected.
I
ICP
Ideal Customer Profile — A detailed description of the type of company that would benefit most from your product or service, including industry, size, location, and other attributes.
Intent Data
Behavioral data that indicates a prospect's likelihood to purchase, based on their online research and engagement patterns.
L
Lead Magnet
A valuable piece of content (e.g., ebook, template, tool) offered in exchange for a prospect's contact information.
Lead Scoring
A methodology for ranking leads based on their likelihood to convert, using criteria like engagement, demographics, and behavior.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
LinkedIn's premium sales tool that provides advanced search, lead recommendations, and CRM integrations for sales professionals.
M
MQL
Marketing Qualified Lead — A prospect who has shown interest through marketing channels (downloads, webinar attendance) but hasn't been vetted by sales yet.
Multi-Channel Outreach
Engaging prospects through multiple communication channels (email, LinkedIn, phone, ads) simultaneously to increase response rates.
O
Open Rate
The percentage of delivered emails that were opened by recipients. A key metric for measuring email campaign effectiveness.
Outbound Sales
A proactive sales approach where sales reps initiate contact with potential customers rather than waiting for inbound inquiries.
P
Pipeline
The visual representation of where prospects are in your sales process, from initial contact to closed deal.
R
Reply Rate
The percentage of outreach messages (email, LinkedIn) that receive a response from the prospect.
ROI
Return on Investment — The ratio of net profit to the cost of the investment, expressed as a percentage. In lead gen: revenue generated vs. campaign cost.
S
SDR
Sales Development Representative — A sales team member focused on outbound prospecting, qualifying leads, and booking meetings for account executives.
Sequence
An automated series of outreach steps (emails, LinkedIn actions, calls) triggered in order with defined time delays between steps.
SPF
Sender Policy Framework — An email authentication method that specifies which mail servers are authorized to send email for your domain.
SQL
Sales Qualified Lead — A prospect that has been vetted by the sales team and confirmed as a genuine opportunity with buying intent, budget, and authority.
T
TAM
Total Addressable Market — The total revenue opportunity available for a product or service if 100% market share was achieved.
W
Warm-Up
See Domain Warm-Up. Also refers to gradually increasing outreach volume on a new LinkedIn account to avoid restrictions.
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