The SDR Dictionary

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The Dictionary:

A/B Testing: Using two variations, like email copy, to test the efficacy or another factor over a period of time. (also known as "split testing")

Accelerators: Incentives used to motivate sales reps to go above and beyond their quota. The exact amount to reach accelerators depends on the company.

Account: The terminology used to refer to a company/group that you are trying to get in contact with/manage a relationship with.

Account Executive/AE/Closer: A sales team member in charge of closing deals and converting qualified leads into paying customers.

Account Manager/AM: A sales team member focused on managing and upselling existing clients and accounts.

ACV (Annual Contract Value): The annual amount a customer will pay based on their subscription terms.

Agreement/Contract: Terms and conditions stipulating the products/services offered by two companies in exchange for money.

ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue): The total revenue generated annually from recurring contracts.

B2B: Business to Business. A company that sells to other businesses.

B2C: Business to Consumer. A company that sells directly to consumers.

BANT: Budget-Authority-Need-Timeline. A methodology used to sift out qualified leads worth pursuing based on their budget, authority, need, and timeline.

C-Level: Highest level executives; C stands for Chief.

CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost): The cost of gaining a new customer, calculated by dividing the spend by the number of customers acquired during a specific time period.

Champion: A client that is highly satisfied with your product/service and ready to recommend you to other businesses and teams.

Channel Partner: A person or company that offers services or products on behalf of another company.

Channel Sales: Focusing on different sales channels, such as an in-house sales team, retailers, referrals, dealers, etc.

Churn: When a previous paying customer stops paying for the product/solution.

Clients: Closed opportunities, paying clients, and individuals that account managers should take care of.

Cold Call: Calling someone who is not expecting your call, typically done to book a meeting.

Cold Email: Sending an unsolicited email to someone who is not expecting it, typically done to generate interest or book a meeting.

Commission: The additional amount of money earned on top of the base pay, depending on the attainment of goals.

Comp plan (Compensation Plan): Determines how much money will be earned based on performance, including base salary, commission, bonuses, and benefits.

Contact: An individual listed under an account with whom you have a relationship, such as a point of contact within a company.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management): Platforms that offer services to manage and maintain customer relationships, such as Salesforce and HubSpot.

Cross-selling: Selling additional products to current customers that they aren't currently using.

CS (Customer Success): A strategy and mindset to reduce churn rates, increase customer satisfaction, and predict recurring revenue. Often involves a dedicated team known as Customer Success.

CSM (Customer Success Manager): A role responsible for supporting customers and ensuring successful product usage.

CTA (Call to Action): A text prompt that aims to motivate the target audience to take certain actions in response to a marketing message.

CX (Customer Experience): The interactions a customer has with your company, including the platform, support, and overall experience.

D2C (Direct to Consumer): Selling directly to consumers, bypassing any third-party retailers, wholesalers, or middlemen.

Decelerator: A tactic used to encourage reps who are not hitting their quota to at least get closer by reducing their commission rate. (Also see: Accelerator)

Demand Generation: The marketing process of building awareness about a company's product or service.

Demo Call: A meeting where a client sees a presentation or live demonstration of the software or service.

Discovery Call: An initial meeting with a client to understand their needs and introduce what your company can provide.

Drip Campaign: An automated email campaign consisting of several emails sent over a certain period.

Enterprise: Larger, more formal companies with extensive decision-making processes and bigger deal sizes.

EOD/EOW (End of Day/End of Week): Referring to the end of the workday or workweek.

Fortune 500/F500: A list of the 500 largest companies in the US based on revenue.

ICP (Ideal Customer Profile): The target customer profile based on various factors such as geography, company size, industry, etc.

Inbound: When a prospect initiates contact or shows interest in your product/service.

KPI (Key Performance Indicator): Quantifiable metrics used to track progress and success toward goals.

Lead: The classification of individuals and companies in your database with whom you are trying to establish a relationship or make a sale.

Lead Nurturing: Engaging and building a long-term relationship with existing prospects.

Lead Qualification: The process of identifying and determining if a prospective client aligns with the company's ideal customer profile.

Lead Scoring: The process of ranking leads based on preset criteria to determine their quality.

Legal: The department responsible for legal matters within the organization.

LTV (Customer Lifetime Value): The value a company has accrued from a customer over their lifetime.

Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL): A lead that is likely to become a paying client based on their engagement with the company's marketing activities.

Messaging: Communicating the value proposition and benefits of your company and brand to the target audience.

Metrics: Quantities used to measure business profitability, assess job performance, and predict revenue.

Mid-Market: Larger companies between startups and corporations, usually with designated budgets and slower decision-making processes.

MoM (Month-over-Month): Comparing metrics or performance from one month to the previous month.

MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue): The total revenue generated monthly from recurring contracts.

Negotiation: A discussion between parties with the aim of reaching a mutually beneficial agreement.

OKR (Objectives and Key Results): A goal-setting framework used to define objectives and track progress toward achieving them.

Onboarding: The process of introducing a new client to a service or product, setting up their account, and providing them with a point of contact.

OOO (Out Of Office): Indicating that someone will be unavailable due to vacation, appointments, or other reasons.

Opportunity (Opp/Opptys): Created when a meeting is marked as qualified, indicating further interest in continuing the conversation with a company.

OTE (On Target Earnings): The total amount of earnings (base salary + commissions) if the target is met.

Outbound: The process of identifying and reaching out to prospects to introduce them into the sales funnel.

Pipeline (Sales Pipeline): A visual representation of the full sales cycle, with different stages and processes to move prospects closer to becoming customers.

Point of Contact: A person or department within a company that the client can reach out to with questions or specific requests.

President's Club: An annual award for the highest achievers in the sales organization, often accompanied by an expenses-paid trip.

Prospect: A qualified lead that matches the organization's pre-set criteria and has the potential to become a customer.

Quota: A number of closed deals, leads generated, revenue amount, profit, activity, or a combination of target goals that sales managers and executive leadership determine based on the organization's revenue targets.

Referral: Generating new sales leads through recommendations from third parties.

Revenue: The amount of money generated by a business in a specific time period.

ROI (Return on Investment): The return or gain obtained from an investment.

Round Robin: A method of allocating new leads to different team members in a rotating manner.

SaaS (Software-as-a-Service): A revenue model in which software is sold as a subscription.

Sales Acceleration: The process of speeding up the sales cycle using tools and technologies to boost productivity and efficiency.

Sales Automation: Automating sales workflows using software or online tools to simplify and streamline the sales process.

Sales Cadence/Sequence: A determined sequence of sales activities and the frequency of interactions with leads.

Sales Cycle: The predictable sequences and stages that a company goes through when selling a product or service.

Sales Director: A senior-level executive overseeing the sales team's operations, formulating strategies, and ensuring sales growth.

Sales Enablement: The process of supporting the sales team with tools, information, and content to be more effective and successful in selling products or services.

Sales Funnel: A visual representation of the sales process and stages that potential clients go through before making a purchasing decision.

Sales Manager: A person responsible for managing a sales team, implementing strategies, and ensuring goals are met.

Sales Ops (Sales Operations): The team, activities, and processes that support the sales team by managing administrative and technical tasks. (Also see: sales enablement)

Sales Qualified Lead (SQL): A potential client that has met the necessary criteria and is forwarded to an Account Executive to close the deal.

Scraping: The extraction of large amounts of data from websites.

SDR (Sales Development Representative): Inside sales reps responsible for prospecting, lead qualification, and cold outreach to move leads through the pipeline. An entry-level sales role. (Also see: BDR)

SE (Sales Engineer): A sales team member who answers technical questions about the product or service during sales calls.

Segmentation: The process of dividing a large market or contact list into smaller segments based on specific criteria.

SFDC (Salesforce.com): The most reputable and commonly used CRM provider.

SKO (Sales Kickoff): A meeting at the beginning of the fiscal year to align the sales team on new concepts and motivate them to achieve goals.

SLA (Service Level Agreement): A commitment from a service provider regarding the services to be provided and relevant standards.

SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound. Criteria used for setting goals and objectives.

SMB (Small- and Medium-Sized Businesses): Companies generating under a set amount of revenue with fewer than 500 employees.

SPIN: Situation, Problem, Implication, Need. A framework for uncovering customer needs and pain points.

SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats): An analysis technique used to evaluate an organization's internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats.

TCV (Total Contract Value)

Territory: A geographical region that one sales rep or team is responsible for.

TL;DR: Too long; didn't read. A brief summary of lengthy information.

Top of the Funnel: The initial stage of the sales or marketing funnel where prospects go through a qualification process.

Unicorn: A startup company valued at over $1 billion.

Unique Selling Point/Proposition: The unique features of a business that differentiate it from competitors.

UX (User Experience): The overall experience and satisfaction a user has when interacting with a product or service.

Vertical: A specific segment of the market in which a business targets a particular industry, sector, or niche.

WFH (Work From Home): Referring to remote work arrangements.

White Label: A product or service created by one business and rebranded and sold by other businesses for mutual benefit.

YoY (Year-over-Year): Comparing metrics or performance from one year to the previous year.

YTD (Year-to-Date): Referring to the time period from the beginning of the year to the present.