Can You Explain Common Sales Lingo?

Can You Explain Common Sales Lingo?


The following KB is designed to help you become familiar with key sales terminology. Also make sure to review standard commission terminology.

================ CRM Systems ================
Often, sales activity is tracked in CRM systems such as:
  • HubSpot
  • NetSuite
  • PipeDrive
  • SalesForce
  • <many other systems>

Those CRM systems always have the same built-in entities such as:
  • Contacts
    • Individual customers (ex: "John Doe" at "Acme Corporation").
  • Accounts
    • Customer as an entity (ex: "Acme Corporation"). 
  • Leads
    • Potential opportunities which need more qualifications to convert to opportunities or deals
    • Lead types include
      • SQL = sales qualified lead (ex: the customer has a budget and is qualified)
      • SAO = sales accepted opportunity (ex: a sales person reviewed the lead)
      • Often classified as Cold, Warm, Hot
  • Opportunities (sometimes Deals)
    • Once a lead is qualified, it becomes an opportunity
    • Opportunity statuses include
      • Open = still actively working on it
      • Closed = finalized the opportunity
        • Closed won = the deal was won
        • Closed lost = the deal was lost
      • Often classified as Cold, Warm, Hot  

All CRM systems support customizations, such as creating new custom entities, defining new relationships between them, and customizing views & forms. For example, a medical device manufacturer could create a custom entity called "Surgery Room", and rename the built-in "Contact" entity to "Surgeon" because that makes more sense.

================ Accounting Systems ================
Sometimes, sales activity is tracked in Accounting systems such as:
  • Chargebee
  • NetSuite with accounting extensions
  • QuickBooks
  • SalesForce with accounting extensions (ex: ActSeed)
  • Stripe
  • Xero

Those Accounting systems always have the same built-in entities such as:
  • Contacts
    • Individual customers (ex: John Doe at "Acme Corporation").
  • Accounts
    • Customer as an entity (ex: "Acme Corporation").
  • Invoices
    • Invoices are sent by the company to customers, who then pay those invoices.
      • Invoices typically have a due date, by which the customer should pay.
  • Sales Receipts
    • Sometimes, sales are "instant", so the company does not need to send an invoice (payment is collected immediately).
      • Sales receipts are equivalent to invoices which are always paid (without a due date).
  • Refunds
    • Refunds consist in sending money back to the customer.
  • Credit Memos (sometimes Credit Notes)
    • Instead of giving a refund, many companies prefer to give their customers a credit for future purchases.
      • There are two important events to take into account for commissions.
      • When the credit memo is issued to the customer (so the customer has a credit).
      • When the credit memo is used by the customer (ex: to pay for another invoice).

================ Job Titles ================
Here are some standard job titles.

BDR / SDR = Business / Sales Development Representative
  • Hunters
  • Leverage telemarketing, emails, cold calling, web visits, white paper downloads, etc.
  • Follow up on received sales enquiries (ex: sales ticket)
  • Generate leads
  • Leads need to be qualified
    • Does the customer have a budget?
    • Is the customer a good fit?
  • Who qualifies leads varies
    • Sometimes, leads are qualified by BDR / SDR, sometimes by AEs, sometimes by marketing

AE = Account Executive
  • Most of the sales workforce
  • Close deals, facilitate sales
  • Typically own specific opportunities

AM = Account Managers
  • Post-sale account maintenance
  • Ensure good relationships with existing customers
  • Same as customer success in technical support, but for sales
  • Typically own specific customer accounts

BDM = Business Development Managers
  • Expand strategic relationships
  • Research new markets or segments
  • Grow existing customer accounts
  • Sometimes work on "strategic" accounts

TM / TSM = Territory (Sales) Managers
  • Manage a territory (ex: South-East) or segment (ex: Government)
  • Not necessarily people managers
  • May work in a transversal manner
  • Typically own a territory or segment

Sometimes, there is some type of pairing between roles. For example, a TSM is paired with an AM. Those job definitions are loose, and many variants exist. In one organization, an AE may be equivalent to a BDM in another organization.

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