A field guide to the words of B2B prospecting

A/B testing is a method of comparing two versions of a marketing asset to determine which performs better in achieving a specific goal.

A strategic approach that concentrates sales and marketing resources on a defined set of high-value target accounts.

The annualized value of recurring subscription revenue, used to measure the scale and growth trajectory of subscription businesses.

A tool that identifies and extracts author information from articles and blog posts, helping you connect with content creators and journalists.

The mean revenue value of closed deals over a specific period, used to forecast revenue and evaluate sales performance.

A structured collection of business contact and company information used for sales prospecting and marketing outreach.

The percentage of sent emails that could not be delivered to the recipient's inbox.

The final email in an outreach sequence that signals you will stop contacting the prospect unless they respond.

The process of verifying large lists of email addresses simultaneously to identify invalid, risky, or undeliverable contacts.

Automated processes that handle large-scale data operations simultaneously, such as finding, verifying, or enriching thousands of email addresses at once.

A sales professional responsible for generating new business opportunities through outbound and inbound lead qualification.

A semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on research and data about your existing customers.

A clear instruction in an email or landing page that tells the recipient exactly what step to take next.

A United States law that sets rules for commercial email, establishes requirements for commercial messages, and gives recipients the right to opt out.

A mail server configuration that accepts all emails sent to any address at a domain, regardless of whether the specific mailbox exists.

The California Consumer Privacy Act, a state-level data privacy law giving California residents rights over their personal information.

The percentage of customers or subscribers who stop using a product or service during a given time period.

The ratio of clicks on a specific link to the number of total users who view a page. Find out how to calculate CTR.

A measure of your sales team's efficiency showing the proportion of closed sales to the number of all sales efforts. Find out ways to improve closing ratio.

The practice of making unsolicited phone calls to potential customers who have not previously expressed interest in your offering.

An unsolicited email sent to a prospect with no prior relationship to initiate a business conversation.

The process of contacting potential customers who haven't interacted with your business before through email, phone, or social media.

The process of augmenting company records with firmographic data such as industry, employee count, revenue, and technology stack.

The process of adding detailed personal and professional information to a contact record, such as job title, phone number, and social profiles.

The formula for determining the ratio of sales or conversions per visitor. It can also refer to any action made by visitors.

A web marketing method used to draw target traffic to web pages. Find out how to calculate CPC and its types in this guide.

Cost per impression (CPM) is the cost one will pay for each thousand ad impressions. Find out how to calculate CPM.

A software platform that manages all interactions and data related to prospects and customers throughout the sales process.

The total cost of acquiring a new customer, including all sales and marketing expenses divided by the number of customers acquired.

The total revenue a business can expect from a single customer account over the entire duration of their relationship.

The gradual degradation of data accuracy over time as contact information, job titles, and company details become outdated.

The process of enhancing raw data with additional context and attributes from external sources to improve its accuracy and usefulness.

The ongoing process of maintaining clean, accurate, and up-to-date information in your databases and CRM systems.

A temporary email address created for short-term use, often to avoid sharing a real email address.

An email authentication method that uses cryptographic signatures to verify that a message has not been altered in transit.

An email authentication policy that tells receiving servers how to handle messages that fail SPF and DKIM checks.

A score assigned to your sending domain by email providers that determines whether your emails reach the inbox or get filtered.

A prospecting technique that discovers all known email addresses associated with a specific company domain name.

A two-step email subscription process where users confirm their signup by clicking a verification link sent to their email address.

An automated email sequence that sends pre-written messages to prospects at scheduled intervals to nurture them through the sales funnel.

A programming interface that allows applications to send, receive, or manage email functionality programmatically.

A set of protocols that verify the identity of an email sender to prevent spoofing and improve deliverability.

A real-time database of IP addresses or domains identified as sources of spam, used by email providers to block unwanted messages.

The adherence to laws, regulations, and best practices governing the sending of commercial email communications.

The ability of an email to successfully reach the recipient's inbox without being blocked or filtered as spam.

The process of enhancing basic email data with additional information such as name, job title, company, and social profiles.

A tool that discovers professional email addresses for specific individuals or companies using name, domain, and other identifying information.

The bottom section of an email that typically contains contact information, unsubscribe links, legal disclaimers, and company details.

The technical metadata at the top of an email message containing routing information, sender details, and authentication records.

The process of collecting and compiling email addresses of potential customers for marketing and sales outreach purposes.

The standard format a company uses to construct employee email addresses, such as first.last@company.com.

The practice of tailoring email content to individual recipients based on their specific attributes, behavior, and context.

The practice of dividing an email list into smaller, targeted groups based on shared characteristics to deliver more relevant messaging.

A series of pre-written, automated emails sent to a prospect over time to nurture engagement and drive a response.

A pre-written email structure that can be customized and reused across multiple prospects to streamline outreach.

Technology that monitors recipient interactions with emails, including opens, clicks, and replies, to measure engagement.

The process of verifying that an email address is correctly formatted, exists, and is capable of receiving messages.

A tool that checks whether an email address is valid, active, and capable of receiving messages before you send to it.

The gradual process of increasing email sending volume from a new or dormant domain to establish a positive sender reputation.

A list of approved senders whose emails are trusted and allowed to bypass spam filters to reach the recipient's inbox.

Descriptive attributes of a company such as industry, size, revenue, and location used to segment and target business prospects.

An email sent after an initial outreach message to re-engage a prospect who has not yet responded.

The European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, a comprehensive data privacy law that governs how organizations collect, process, and store personal data.

A detailed description of the type of company that would benefit most from your product and is most likely to become a long-term customer.

A sales methodology where reps engage with prospects who have already shown interest by interacting with your content or brand.

Behavioral signals that indicate a prospect or company is actively researching or considering a purchase in your product category.

The process of identifying and attracting potential customers who have shown interest in your product or service.

The process of developing relationships with prospects through targeted content and communication until they are ready to buy.

A methodology for ranking prospects based on their perceived value and likelihood to convert into paying customers.

The practice of using LinkedIn to connect with and engage potential customers through direct messages and content interaction.

The process of confirming that a specific email mailbox exists, is active, and can accept incoming messages.

A lead that has demonstrated enough interest through marketing engagement to be considered a potential sales opportunity.

The predictable total revenue a subscription business expects to earn each month from all active subscribers.

A DNS record that specifies the mail server responsible for receiving email on behalf of a domain.

A customer loyalty metric that measures how likely customers are to recommend your product or service to others on a scale of 0 to 10.

The process of addressing a prospect's concerns or hesitations during a sales conversation to move the deal forward.

The percentage of recipients who open a delivered email, used to gauge the effectiveness of subject lines and sender reputation.

The process by which a person actively agrees to receive email communications from a business or organization.

A proactive sales approach where reps initiate contact with potential customers through cold outreach and targeted prospecting.

A specific problem or challenge that a prospect experiences which your product or service can address.

A metric that measures the speed at which deals move through the sales pipeline and generate revenue.

A method of tracking email opens by embedding a tiny invisible image in an email that sends a signal when loaded by the recipient.

The process of identifying and reaching out to potential customers who may be interested in your product or service.

A specific revenue or activity target assigned to a salesperson or team within a defined time period.

The percentage of recipients who reply to an outreach email, indicating the effectiveness of the message and targeting.

A financial metric that measures the profitability of an investment by comparing the gain to the cost.

A business function that aligns sales, marketing, and customer success operations to drive predictable revenue growth.

The process of finding information about a person or organization by searching with their email address as the starting point.

An email address associated with a function or department rather than a specific individual, such as info@ or sales@.

The use of software to automate repetitive sales tasks such as email outreach, follow-ups, data entry, and lead routing.

A structured sequence of multi-channel touchpoints used to engage prospects over a defined period.

The complete process and timeline from first contact with a prospect to closing the deal.

A sales team member focused on outbound prospecting and qualifying leads before passing them to account executives.

The strategic process of providing sales teams with the tools, content, and training they need to effectively engage buyers and close deals.

A model representing the stages a prospect passes through from initial awareness to becoming a paying customer.

A visual representation of where prospects are in the sales process, from initial contact to closed deal.

A prospect that has been vetted by both marketing and sales and is deemed ready for direct sales engagement.

A defined geographic area, industry segment, or account group assigned to a specific salesperson or team for prospecting and selling.

A score assigned to an email sender by internet service providers that determines whether messages are delivered to the inbox or filtered as spam.

A numerical rating that reflects the trustworthiness of an email sender's IP address or domain, influencing inbox placement.

A verification method that communicates with a mail server to confirm whether a specific email address exists and can receive messages.

A sales methodology that uses social media platforms to find, engage, and nurture relationships with prospective buyers.

An automated system that detects and blocks unsolicited or malicious emails before they reach the recipient's inbox.

A DNS record that specifies which mail servers are authorized to send email on behalf of a domain.

The text displayed in the recipient's inbox preview that determines whether an email gets opened or ignored.

Data about the technology stack and software tools that a company uses, used to target prospects based on their technology choices.

The total revenue opportunity available for a product or service if it achieved 100% market share within its target segment.

An automated email sent in response to a specific action or event performed by a user or prospect.

A clickable link included in email communications that allows recipients to opt out of receiving future messages from the sender.

The percentage of email recipients who opt out of receiving future communications after opening an email.

A clear statement that explains how your product solves a customer's problem, delivers benefits, and why they should choose you over competitors.

An outreach email sent to a prospect who has some prior awareness of or interaction with your brand.

An automated HTTP callback that sends real-time data from one application to another when a specific event occurs.

The percentage of sales opportunities that result in a closed deal, measuring the effectiveness of the sales process.