Master the Language of
Modern Sales in Plain English
60+ sales and marketing terms defined clearly and concisely. Whether you're onboarding new reps, aligning marketing and sales, or just brushing up — this is your go-to reference.
Free resource · 60+ terms · Updated 2025
Browse All Sales Terms
Organised by category for quick reference. Definitions are written for sales practitioners — no buzzword-heavy filler.
Lead Types
MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead)
A lead that marketing has determined is likely to become a customer based on engagement with marketing content — e.g., downloading a guide, attending a webinar, or reaching a certain lead score. MQLs are passed to sales for further qualification.
SQL (Sales Qualified Lead)
A lead that the sales team has vetted and confirmed meets the criteria for a real sales opportunity. SQLs have budget, authority, need, and timing that make them worth pursuing actively.
PQL (Product Qualified Lead)
A lead that has experienced meaningful value from your product through a free trial or freemium tier — and therefore signals high purchase intent. Common in SaaS businesses.
SAL (Sales Accepted Lead)
The stage between MQL and SQL where the sales team formally accepts the lead from marketing and agrees to work it. SAL rate is a key alignment metric between marketing and sales.
Cold Lead
A prospect who has had no prior contact with your brand and has not expressed any interest. Cold leads require significant nurturing before they become sales-ready.
Warm Lead
A prospect who has shown some level of interest — visited your website, downloaded content, or engaged with an ad — but has not yet requested a direct sales conversation.
Hot Lead
A prospect with strong, immediate purchase intent who has taken a high-intent action — requesting a demo, asking for pricing, or filling in a contact form. Hot leads should be contacted within minutes. LimeCall automates this in 28 seconds.
Pipeline Stages
Prospect
The first stage of the sales pipeline — identifying potential customers who match your ideal customer profile. Prospecting includes cold outreach, inbound lead capture, and referral programmes.
Qualify
The stage where reps determine whether a prospect is a good fit for your product, has budget and authority, and has a genuine need. Common frameworks include BANT, MEDDIC, and SPIN.
Demo / Discovery
A call or meeting where the rep demonstrates the product and uncovers the prospect's specific needs and pain points. Discovery questions should dominate a good demo — listen more than you talk.
Propose
The stage where a formal proposal, quote, or SOW is presented to the prospect. Proposals should be tailored to the specific needs uncovered during discovery, not generic templates.
Close
The stage where negotiation concludes and the deal is won (or lost). Effective closing is not about pressure — it's about removing the last objections and making the decision easy for the buyer.
Revenue Metrics
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)
The total cost to acquire one new customer, including marketing and sales expenses divided by the number of new customers. Best-practice CAC-to-LTV ratio is 1:3 or better.
CLV / LTV (Customer Lifetime Value)
The total revenue expected from a customer over their entire relationship with your business. Higher LTV justifies higher CAC. LTV = Average Revenue Per Account × Gross Margin × Average Customer Lifespan.
ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue)
The annualised value of all active subscription contracts. ARR is the north star metric for SaaS and subscription businesses. ARR growth rate above 20% is generally considered strong.
NRR (Net Revenue Retention)
The percentage of recurring revenue retained from existing customers including expansion, contraction, and churn. NRR above 100% means existing customers are growing faster than you are losing them — a sign of strong product-market fit.
Win Rate
The percentage of qualified opportunities that become closed-won deals. Average B2B win rates are 20–30%. Teams that improve speed-to-lead often see significant win rate improvements because they reach prospects before competitors.
Churn Rate
The percentage of customers or revenue lost in a given period. Monthly churn above 2% for SaaS is a warning sign. Proactive callback campaigns to at-risk customers are one of the most effective churn reduction strategies.
Sales Methodologies
SPIN Selling
A consultative selling methodology based on asking four types of questions: Situation (current state), Problem (pain points), Implication (consequences of the problem), and Need-Payoff (value of a solution). Developed by Neil Rackham.
MEDDIC
An enterprise sales qualification framework: Metrics (quantified business impact), Economic Buyer (who controls budget), Decision Criteria (how they'll choose), Decision Process (steps to close), Identify Pain (core problem), Champion (internal advocate). Used widely in complex B2B sales.
Challenger Sale
A sales methodology where reps teach prospects something new about their business, tailor the message to specific personas, and take control of the sales conversation. Based on CEB research showing Challenger reps outperform Relationship Builders.
BANT
A basic qualification framework assessing Budget (can they afford it?), Authority (are they the decision maker?), Need (do they have the problem you solve?), and Timeline (when will they buy?). Simple but still widely used for initial qualification.
Sales Technology
CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
Software for managing customer data, tracking deals, and automating follow-up. Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, and Zoho are the most common. LimeCall integrates natively with all four, automatically logging calls and contact data.
CDP (Customer Data Platform)
A platform that unifies customer data from multiple sources — website, CRM, ads, email — into a single customer profile. CDPs power personalisation and lead scoring at scale.
SEP (Sales Engagement Platform)
Software that automates and orchestrates multi-channel sales outreach — email sequences, call tasks, and LinkedIn touchpoints. Common SEPs include Outreach, SalesLoft, and Apollo.
Dialer
Software that automates outbound dialling to improve rep efficiency. Types include predictive dialers (dials ahead), power dialers (one call at a time, auto-dials next), and click-to-call dialers. LimeCall's callback function acts as an inbound dialer.
Top Sales Terminology Questions
What is the difference between MQL and SQL?
What is a good win rate in sales?
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