Sales and lead generation terms

Leads, MQLs and SQLs, ideal customer profiles, enrichment, CRMs and local business data. 33 terms, each with what it means, why it matters and what to do about it.

Account-based marketing (ABM)

Account-based marketing targets a short list of high-value companies with tailored campaigns, instead of casting a wide net for any lead.

B2B lead generation

B2B lead generation is finding businesses that could buy your product and the right people inside them to contact, for longer, larger sales.

B2C lead generation

B2C lead generation attracts individual consumers who might buy, usually through content, ads, social media, creators and offers.

Buyer persona

A buyer persona is a short, research-based description of a typical buyer: their role, goals, problems and how they make decisions.

Conversion rate

Conversion rate is the share of people who take a desired action, such as signing up, replying or buying, out of all who could have.

CRM (customer relationship management)

A CRM is software that keeps every lead, customer and conversation in one place, so a team knows who to contact and what was said.

Data enrichment

Data enrichment adds external facts to records you already have, such as company size, location or industry, to make them more useful.

Email finder

An email finder is a tool that looks up a business email address for a person or company, from public sources and known address patterns.

Firmographics

Firmographics are facts about a company, such as industry, size, revenue, location and age, used to segment and qualify B2B leads.

Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile is a business’s free listing on Google Search and Maps, with its address, hours, phone, website, photos and reviews.

Google Maps scrapingGrey hat

Google Maps scraping means extracting business listings from Google Maps in bulk. Using Google’s official Places data is the safer route.

Ideal customer profile (ICP)

An ideal customer profile, ICP, describes the kind of company or person that gets the most value from your product and is best to sell to.

Inbound marketing

Inbound marketing attracts customers who come to you through useful content, search, communities and referrals, rather than cold outreach.

Intent data

Intent data is a signal that a person or company is researching a purchase now, such as searching a topic or asking for recommendations.

Lead

A lead is a person or business that might buy from you: someone who showed interest or fits your ideal customer, with a way to contact them.

Lead enrichment

Lead enrichment adds missing details to a lead, such as a work email, company size, website or role, so it can be qualified and contacted.

Lead generation

Lead generation is finding and attracting potential customers and collecting a way to contact them, so sales can start a conversation.

Lead list

A lead list is a set of potential customers with contact details and notes, built from research or data sources, ready for outreach.

Lead magnet

A lead magnet is something useful offered for free, such as a guide, template, tool or trial, in exchange for a visitor’s email.

Lead nurturing

Lead nurturing keeps in touch with leads who are not ready to buy, sending useful content until they are, so they choose you when the time comes.

Lead scoring

Lead scoring gives each lead points for fit and interest, such as company size or pages viewed, so sales talks to the most promising first.

Local citations

Local citations are mentions of a business’s name, address and phone on other sites, such as directories, maps and review platforms.

Marketing qualified lead (MQL)

A marketing qualified lead, MQL, is a lead whose fit and interest meet marketing’s bar to be handed to sales for follow-up.

NAP (name, address, phone)

NAP stands for name, address and phone number: the core business details that should be identical everywhere a business is listed.

Outbound marketing

Outbound marketing reaches out to people who have not asked to hear from you yet, through cold outreach, ads, events and direct mail.

Outbound sales

Outbound sales is when sellers find and contact prospects first, by email, phone or social messages, instead of waiting for inbound leads.

Prospecting

Prospecting is searching for and qualifying potential customers, then making first contact to start a sales conversation.

Sales development representative (SDR)

A sales development representative, SDR, researches and contacts prospects to book qualified meetings for the people who close deals.

Sales funnel

A sales funnel describes how many people move from first hearing about you to buying, stage by stage, narrowing at each step.

Sales pipeline

A sales pipeline shows every open deal by stage, from first contact to closed, so you can see what is likely to close and what is stuck.

Sales qualified lead (SQL)

A sales qualified lead, SQL, is a lead that sales has checked and confirmed as a real opportunity worth a direct sales conversation.

Technographics

Technographics describe the technology a company uses, such as its website platform, CRM or analytics tools, to target and qualify leads.

Web scrapingGrey hat

Web scraping is extracting data from websites with software. It is legal in many cases but limited by terms of service, copyright and privacy law.