Sales and marketing glossary

The terms you meet in outbound sales, defined in plain English. Each one links to a guide that goes deeper.

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Account-based marketing (ABM)Treating a short list of target companies as markets of one, with outreach tailored to each account.

BANTA qualification checklist: Budget, Authority, Need and Timeline. Bounce rateThe share of sent emails that could not be delivered. Buyer personaA description of the person who buys: their role, goals, daily problems and how they evaluate tools.

CadenceThe schedule of touches you send a lead over time, across one or more channels. Cold emailA first email to someone who has had no prior contact with you or your company.

Decision makerThe person who can say yes to a purchase, or block it. DKIMAn email signature that proves a message came from your domain and was not changed on the way. DMARCA DNS policy telling inboxes what to do with mail that fails SPF or DKIM checks.

Email warm-upGradually increasing sending volume on a new domain so inboxes learn to trust it. EnrichmentAdding missing data to a lead, such as industry, size, contacts or channels, from public sources.

FirmographicsCompany-level facts used for targeting: industry, size, location, revenue and tech stack.

Ideal customer profile (ICP)A description of the type of company that gets the most value from your product and is most likely to buy. Intent dataSignals that a company is actively looking for a solution like yours right now.

LeadA company or person who might become a customer but has not been qualified yet. Lead scoringRanking leads by how well they fit your ICP and how likely they are to respond.

MQLMarketing qualified lead: a lead that has shown enough interest to hand over to sales.

Reply rateReplies divided by people contacted. The most honest early metric for outbound.

SDRSales development representative: the person who researches leads and books first meetings. Sender reputationHow much inbox providers trust your domain, based on bounces, complaints and engagement. SequenceA set of pre-planned messages sent to a lead in order until they reply or the sequence ends. SPFA DNS record listing which servers are allowed to send email for your domain. SQLSales qualified lead: a lead sales has confirmed as a real opportunity. Suppression listContacts who must never be contacted again, such as people who opted out or bounced.

Total addressable market (TAM)Every company that could, in theory, buy what you sell.