Sales glossary: the terms reps actually use
Short, plain definitions of 53 sales terms, from the roles on a sales team to the metrics managers track. The longer entries include an example, the math where there is some, and a way to practice the skill behind the word.
Sales terms to know for interviews
Interviewers for SDR, BDR and account executive roles expect you to use these words comfortably. Learn the definition, then practice explaining it with an example.
- SDRSales development representativeAn SDR, or sales development representative, is a rep who contacts and qualifies prospects and books meetings for account executives.
- BDRBusiness development representativeA BDR, or business development representative, is a prospecting rep who creates new pipeline through outbound calls, emails and social outreach.
- Account executiveAEAn account executive (AE) is the salesperson who runs discovery, demos and negotiation, and owns closing the deal.
- Quota attainmentQuota attainment is the percentage of their sales target that a rep or team actually achieves in a given period.
- OTEOn-target earningsOTE, or on-target earnings, is the base salary plus the commission a rep earns in a year if they hit 100% of quota.
- Win rateClose rateWin rate is the share of qualified sales opportunities that end as closed-won deals, measured by count or by value over a period.
- Pipeline coveragePipeline coverage ratioPipeline coverage compares the value of open pipeline with the quota it needs to cover in the same period, usually shown as a multiple.
- Sales cycleThe sales cycle is the series of steps from first contact to a signed deal, and its length is how long that usually takes.
- MQL vs SQLMarketing-qualified lead vs sales-qualified leadAn MQL is a lead marketing judges likely to buy based on interest; an SQL has been vetted by sales and is ready for a sales conversation.
- Ideal customer profileICPAn ideal customer profile (ICP) describes the type of company that gets the most value from your product and is most likely to buy and stay.
- Discovery callA discovery call is an early sales conversation where the seller learns the buyer's situation, problems and buying process before pitching.
- GatekeeperA gatekeeper is the receptionist, assistant or operator who screens calls and decides whether you reach the decision maker.
Preparing for a sales interview? SDR interview questions and account executive interview questions show how these terms come up.
All terms, A to Z
Entries with their own page include an example and a practice drill. The rest link to the guide that already covers them.
A
- Account executive(AE)
- An account executive (AE) is the salesperson who runs discovery, demos and negotiation, and owns closing the deal.
- Assumptive close
- An assumptive close is a closing technique where the seller proceeds as if the buyer has decided, for example by asking which start date works.
- Average deal size(Average deal value)
- Average deal size is the total value of the deals you won in a period divided by the number of deals won.
B
- Battlecard
- A one-page reference that helps reps position against a specific competitor and answer the objections it raises.
- Sales battlecard guide
- BDR(Business development representative)
- A BDR, or business development representative, is a prospecting rep who creates new pipeline through outbound calls, emails and social outreach.
- Buyer persona
- A buyer persona is a profile of a typical person in a buying decision: their role, goals, problems, objections and how they like to buy.
C
- Call disposition(Call outcome code)
- A call disposition is the outcome a rep logs after a call, such as no answer, voicemail, not interested or meeting booked.
- Call reluctance
- Call reluctance is hesitation or avoidance around making prospecting calls, often driven by fear of rejection or of sounding pushy.
- Champion
- A champion is someone inside the buying company who wants your solution to win and actively sells it internally when you're not in the room.
- Churn rate(Customer churn)
- Churn rate is the share of customers who cancel or don't renew in a given period. Losing them is called churn.
- Connect rate(Call-to-connect ratio)
- Connect rate is the share of outbound dials that reach a live person, as opposed to voicemail, a wrong number or no answer.
- Conversation intelligence
- Conversation intelligence is software that records, transcribes and analyzes sales calls to support coaching, deal reviews and forecasting.
D
- Decision criteria(Buying criteria)
- Decision criteria are the standards a buyer uses to compare options and pick one. They're the first D in MEDDPICC.
- Discovery call
- A discovery call is an early sales conversation where the seller learns the buyer's situation, problems and buying process before pitching.
E
- Economic buyer(EB)
- The economic buyer is the person with final authority to approve spending on a purchase. It's the E in MEDDIC and MEDDPICC.
- Elevator pitch
- An elevator pitch is a short spoken summary of who you help, the problem you solve and why it matters, in under a minute.
F
- Feel, felt, found
- An objection response that acknowledges how the buyer feels, notes that others felt the same, and shares what they found.
- The 3 Fs in sales
G
- Gatekeeper
- A gatekeeper is the receptionist, assistant or operator who screens calls and decides whether you reach the decision maker.
I
- Ideal customer profile(ICP)
- An ideal customer profile (ICP) describes the type of company that gets the most value from your product and is most likely to buy and stay.
- Inbound vs outbound sales
- Inbound sales follows up with buyers who reached out first; outbound sales starts the conversation with buyers who haven't.
L
- LAER model(Listen, acknowledge, explore, respond)
- LAER is a four-step objection-handling model: listen to the objection, acknowledge it, explore what's behind it, then respond.
- Lead scoring
- Lead scoring gives leads points for fit and interest, so reps know whom to call first and when a lead is ready for sales.
M
- MQL vs SQL(Marketing-qualified lead vs sales-qualified lead)
- An MQL is a lead marketing judges likely to buy based on interest; an SQL has been vetted by sales and is ready for a sales conversation.
- Multi-threading(Multithreading)
- Multi-threading is building relationships with several people at a buyer, so the deal doesn't rest on one contact.
- Mutual action plan(MAP, close plan)
- A mutual action plan is a shared, dated list of steps that the buyer and seller agree to take together to reach a decision.
O
- Objection handling
- Responding to buyer pushback, such as concerns about price or timing, by understanding the real concern before you answer it.
- Objection library
- OTE(On-target earnings)
- OTE, or on-target earnings, is the base salary plus the commission a rep earns in a year if they hit 100% of quota.
P
- Pain funnel
- A Sandler question sequence that moves from the surface problem a buyer mentions down to its business and personal impact.
- Sandler Selling System guide
- Paper process
- The paper process is the legal, security and procurement steps that turn a buyer's verbal yes into a signed contract.
- Pattern interrupt
- A pattern interrupt is an unexpected opening line or question that breaks a prospect's automatic 'not interested' reaction on a cold call.
- Permission-based opener
- A permission-based opener is a cold call opening that names the interruption and asks for a moment of time before any pitch.
- Pipeline coverage(Pipeline coverage ratio)
- Pipeline coverage compares the value of open pipeline with the quota it needs to cover in the same period, usually shown as a multiple.
Q
- Quota attainment
- Quota attainment is the percentage of their sales target that a rep or team actually achieves in a given period.
S
- Sales cadence(Outreach sequence)
- A sales cadence is a planned sequence of calls, emails and other touches to a prospect over a set period, with a set gap between each one.
- Sales call scorecard
- A checklist of criteria used to review and score sales calls consistently, such as the opener, discovery, objection handling and next steps.
- Free scorecard template
- Sales cycle
- The sales cycle is the series of steps from first contact to a signed deal, and its length is how long that usually takes.
- Sales enablement
- Sales enablement is the work of giving sellers the training, content, tools and coaching they need to have better conversations with buyers.
- Sales pipeline
- A sales pipeline is the set of open deals a rep or team is working on, organized by stage from first meeting to close.
- Sales playbook
- A written guide to how a team sells: who it targets, the stages of the sale, talk tracks, objection responses and what good looks like.
- What to include in a sales playbook
- Sales ramp time(Ramp time)
- Sales ramp time is how long a new rep takes to reach full productivity, usually measured as the time until they consistently hit a full quota.
- Sales roleplay(Sales role play)
- Practicing a sales conversation out loud before it happens for real, with a colleague or an AI playing the buyer.
- What is sales roleplay training?
- Sales velocity(Pipeline velocity)
- Sales velocity measures how fast pipeline turns into revenue, using deal count, win rate, deal size and cycle length.
- SDR(Sales development representative)
- An SDR, or sales development representative, is a rep who contacts and qualifies prospects and books meetings for account executives.
- Sell me this pen
- A classic sales interview exercise: the interviewer hands you an everyday object and asks you to sell it on the spot.
- How to answer "sell me this pen"
- Show rate(Meeting show rate)
- Show rate is the share of booked sales meetings that actually take place. The meetings that are missed are no-shows.
- Social selling
- Social selling is using networks such as LinkedIn to research buyers, share useful ideas and start sales conversations.
T
- Talk-to-listen ratio(Talk ratio)
- The talk-to-listen ratio is the share of a sales call the seller spends talking compared with the time spent listening to the buyer.
- Trial close
- A question that checks how ready a buyer is to move forward, such as 'How does that fit what you need?', before you ask for the sale.
- Trial close questions
U
- Up-front contract(Upfront contract)
- A Sandler technique: agreeing on the purpose, time, agenda and possible outcomes of a meeting at the very start.
- Sandler Selling System guide
- Upselling vs cross-selling
- Upselling moves a customer to a bigger or better version of what they buy; cross-selling adds a different, related product.
V
- Value proposition
- A value proposition is a clear statement of what problem you solve, for whom, and why your solution is worth choosing.
Where these terms come from
Many sales terms belong to a methodology. Each guide explains the method's stages, the questions it asks and how to drill it.
Questions about sales terms
What sales terms should I know for an interview?
Know the roles (SDR, BDR and account executive), the core metrics (quota attainment, win rate and pipeline coverage), how leads are qualified (MQL vs SQL and the ideal customer profile), and the basic call types such as the discovery call. Be ready to explain each one in a sentence and give an example from your own experience.
What is the difference between a sales methodology and a sales term?
A methodology, such as SPIN Selling, MEDDPICC or Sandler, is a complete approach to running a sale. Sales terms are the vocabulary used across all of them. Many terms, like economic buyer or pain funnel, come from a specific methodology, which is why the glossary links to the methodology guides.
How do I get comfortable using these terms on real calls?
Say them out loud in context. Reading a definition helps you recognize a term; practicing the conversation it describes, such as asking for the economic buyer or proposing a mutual action plan, is what makes it usable on a real call.
Turn vocabulary into habits
Practice cold calls, discovery and objection handling against AI buyers, then get every call scored. 250 free credits, no card.