Glossary

Lead

A lead is a commercial contact that has shown initial interest in a product or service, without their suitability as a potential customer having been verified yet. Leads can come from form submissions, content downloads, social interactions, or event participation. A lead is not yet qualified: it requires a nurturing or verification process before becoming a sales opportunity.

Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)

A Marketing Qualified Lead is a lead that has met the engagement criteria defined by the marketing team - such as a lead scoring threshold, repeated visits to product pages, or participation in a webinar. The MQL signals to the sales team that the contact is warm enough to warrant direct outreach, but their commercial fit has not yet been confirmed.

Sales Qualified Lead (SQL)

A Sales Qualified Lead is an MQL that the commercial team has contacted, evaluated, and confirmed as having a real need, available budget, decision-making authority, and a defined timeline (BANT framework or equivalent). The SQL represents the formal handoff of responsibility from marketing to sales and is converted into an opportunity in the CRM.

Sales Pipeline

The sales pipeline is the visual and structured representation of all active opportunities across the different stages of the commercial process - from initial qualification to contract closure. Each stage corresponds to a specific commercial action and has an associated close probability. The pipeline allows managers to estimate future revenue, identify bottlenecks, and allocate sales team resources.

Customer Lifecycle Stage

Customer lifecycle stages describe a contact's journey from initial acquisition through activation, retention, referral, and advocacy. In CRM systems these stages are tracked to adapt communications, content, and offers to the individual customer's lifecycle moment, maximizing long-term value and reducing churn.

Opportunity

In a CRM, an opportunity is an entity representing a potential sale to a specific account, with an estimated size, expected close date, and success probability. Opportunities are the primary tool for managing active deals and feeding revenue forecasts. An opportunity is created from a confirmed SQL and closed as either "won" or "lost."

Account

An account is the representation of a client organization or company within the CRM. It aggregates all contacts, activities, opportunities, and contracts associated with that entity. In B2B systems the account is the central node of the CRM data model and facilitates a 360-degree view of the commercial relationship.

Contact

A contact is an individual within an account, with name, role, communication information, and interaction history. In a B2B CRM an account can have multiple contacts, each with a different role in the decision-making process: sponsor, decision-maker, end user, gatekeeper. Keeping contacts up to date is fundamental to the effectiveness of nurturing campaigns.

Deal

A deal is a term often used as a synonym for opportunity, especially in platforms oriented toward the SMB segment. It represents a transaction in the course of negotiation with an assigned amount, stage, and owner. The pipeline is composed of the set of open deals; won deals contribute to realized revenue.

Segment

A segment is a group of contacts or accounts that share homogeneous characteristics - such as industry, company size, purchase behavior, or lifecycle stage. Segmentation enables the personalization of communications and offers, increasing message relevance and conversion rates. In a CRM, segments can be static (manual list) or dynamic (automatically updated by rules).

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

Customer Acquisition Cost is the total cost incurred to acquire a new paying customer, obtained by dividing marketing and sales expenses by the number of new customers acquired in the period. CAC is measured separately by channel and campaign to identify the most efficient acquisition channels. It is distinct from CPA (Cost Per Action): CPA measures the cost of a specific action such as a click or a lead, not necessarily a conversion to paying customer.

Customer Lifetime Value (LTV or CLV)

Customer Lifetime Value is the total economic value a customer generates over the entire relationship with the company. It is estimated by multiplying the average order value by the purchase frequency and by the average relationship duration. LTV is the reference metric for calculating how much it is reasonable to spend on acquisition: an LTV:CAC ratio ≥ 3 is generally considered a healthy business indicator.

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

The Net Promoter Score is a customer loyalty metric obtained by asking "On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our company to a friend or colleague?" Respondents are classified as promoters (9-10), passives (7-8), and detractors (0-6). NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. It is widely used as a synthetic customer satisfaction indicator, though it does not replace more granular metrics.

Churn Rate

The churn rate measures the percentage of customers or revenue lost in a defined period. It is calculated by dividing customers lost in the period by total customers at the start of the period. A high churn rate signals problems with product-market fit, customer support, or pricing. Revenue churn (MRR churn) is even more critical because it measures the direct economic impact of cancellations.

Conversion Rate

The conversion rate measures the percentage of subjects who complete a desired action relative to the total number of subjects exposed to the opportunity - for example, the percentage of MQLs converted to SQLs, or SQLs converted to customers. Each pipeline stage has its own conversion rate, and their product determines the end-to-end rate from lead to customer.

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

Monthly Recurring Revenue is the sum of subscription or recurring contract revenues normalized on a monthly basis. It is the fundamental KPI for SaaS and subscription models. It breaks down into New MRR (new contracts), Expansion MRR (upgrades), Contraction MRR (downgrades), and Churn MRR (cancellations). Net MRR growing over time indicates a healthy growth engine.

Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)

Annual Recurring Revenue is the annual equivalent of MRR: MRR × 12 for monthly subscriptions, or the sum of annual contracts. ARR is the primary metric for valuing SaaS companies, as it represents the baseline of predictable revenue on which to build growth and cash flow forecasts.

Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

The Ideal Customer Profile is a detailed description of the type of company (or person, in B2C) that derives the most value from the product and that the company serves optimally in terms of efficiency and satisfaction. The ICP guides lead qualification, campaign targeting, and product development. It is based on historical data from the most successful customers: industry, size, usage, NPS.

Total Addressable Market (TAM)

Total Addressable Market represents the total revenue opportunity available for a product or service if 100% of the target market could be served. It is not the reachable market but the theoretical ceiling. It is used together with SAM (Serviceable Addressable Market) and SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market) to size the business opportunity and communicate it to investors.

Lead Nurturing

Lead nurturing is the process of progressively building a relationship with a lead through relevant and contextual communications - email sequences, targeted content, webinars - to guide them through the funnel until they are ready for commercial contact. The objective is to increase the quality of leads delivered to sales while reducing the time and cost of the commercial cycle.

Sales Funnel (or Marketing Funnel)

The funnel describes the journey of potential customers from initial awareness (top of funnel) through to conversion into a customer (bottom of funnel). Each funnel level has specific metrics and corresponding actions. In modern practice the funnel is no longer a linear structure: it includes retention and advocacy cycles after conversion.

Forecast (Sales Forecast)

The forecast is the estimate of revenue the commercial team expects to realize in a period - usually quarterly - based on opportunities in the pipeline, close probabilities, and historical data. An accurate forecast enables leadership to make decisions on resources, hiring, and investments. Methodologies range from simple (sum × probability) to AI-based predictive forecasting.

Touchpoint

A touchpoint is any interaction between the company and a lead or customer - email, call, meeting, website visit, social interaction, support. The CRM records these touchpoints to build the relationship timeline and allow teams to contextualize each communication. Advanced systems connect touchpoints to attribution, measuring each one's contribution to conversion.

CRM Activity

Activities are actions recorded in the CRM associated with a contact, account, or opportunity: calls, sent emails, notes, meetings, tasks. Tracking activities ensures continuity when the account owner changes and allows managers to monitor commercial activity intensity and adherence to sales processes.

Sales Cadence

A cadence is a planned sequence of commercial touchpoints - calls, emails, LinkedIn messages - to be executed within a defined time frame to qualify or reactivate a prospect. A typical cadence involves 8-12 touchpoints spread over 3-4 weeks. The CRM automates or suggests next steps based on the prospect's response.

Lead Scoring

Lead scoring is the assignment of a numerical score to each lead based on demographic criteria (industry, role, company size) and behavioral criteria (pages visited, emails opened, downloads completed). Leads that exceed a preset threshold are elevated from lead to MQL and forwarded to sales. Advanced models use machine learning to automatically calibrate the weights.

Attribution

The attribution model assigns credit to the marketing interactions that contributed to a conversion. The most common models are: first-touch (all credit to the first touchpoint), last-touch (all to the last), linear (distributed equally), and data-driven (distributed statistically). The choice of model impacts ROAS calculation and marketing budget allocation.

Pipeline Velocity

Pipeline velocity measures how quickly opportunities advance through the funnel and convert into revenue. It is calculated as (Number of opportunities × Average opportunity value × Win rate) / Sales cycle duration. Increasing velocity signals improving commercial efficiency; declining velocity anticipates future revenue problems.

Win Rate

Win rate is the percentage of opportunities (SQLs) that close successfully as customers relative to the total opportunities managed in the same period. A win rate of 20-30% is common in B2B enterprise contexts; higher rates indicate an efficient qualification process or a product with strong market fit.

Sales Cycle Duration

Sales cycle duration is the average time that elapses between the creation of an opportunity and its closure (won or lost). Long cycles increase selling costs and require larger pipelines to meet revenue targets. Reducing cycle duration is a key objective of commercial optimization.

Contraction vs Churned Revenue

Churned revenue indicates the complete loss of a customer (contract cancellation). Contraction revenue indicates a reduction in contract value without cancellation (downgrade). CRM systems track both through MRR churn and contraction metrics. Churned revenue directly reduces the customer base; contraction erodes revenue without reducing customer count.

Customer Health Score

The customer health score is a composite indicator that synthesizes product usage signals, engagement, NPS, and support tickets to predict churn risk or expansion potential. Customer success teams use this score to prioritize proactive interventions. A customer with a declining health score is a candidate for a retention intervention before the contract renewal date.

Account Expansion

Account expansion measures revenue growth generated by existing customers through upsell (purchasing a higher tier), cross-sell (purchasing complementary products), or seat expansion (adding users). In many SaaS models, expansion surpasses revenue from new customers: the ratio between Net Revenue Retention (NRR) and Gross Revenue Retention (GRR) quantifies this dynamic.

Service Level Agreement (SLA) in CRM

In sales and support teams, an SLA defines the maximum response and resolution times guaranteed for each category of request. In the context of the marketing-to-sales handoff, the SLA defines within how many hours an SQL must be contacted by the commercial team. Fast response times correlate strongly with higher conversion rates.

CRM Campaign

A CRM campaign is a coordinated set of planned communications and actions directed at a defined segment of contacts, with measurable objectives such as open rate, click rate, conversion, or reactivation. The CRM tracks each campaign touchpoint response and connects it to generated opportunities, enabling ROI calculation by campaign.

Pipeline Review

A pipeline review is a periodic cadence - usually weekly or monthly - in which the sales manager and their salespeople analyze active opportunities together to verify progress, identify risks, and define actions. It is the primary operational tool for coaching salespeople and updating the forecast.

CRM Mobile

CRM mobile is access to CRM features from mobile devices (iOS/Android apps), essential for field salespeople who need to update opportunities, log activities, and consult customer information in real time. Modern platforms synchronize offline data to ensure use without connectivity.

CRM-ERP Integration

The integration between CRM and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system synchronizes commercial data - orders, invoices, payment status, product availability - with the enterprise management platform. This integration eliminates data duplication and allows sales teams to have real-time visibility on contracts and deliveries directly in the CRM.

Behavioral Trigger

A behavioral trigger is a specific event performed by a lead or customer - for example, visiting the pricing page three times in one week or opening five consecutive emails - that automatically activates an action in the CRM such as notifying a salesperson, advancing the lead score, or sending a personalized follow-up email.

Sales Email Response Rate

The sales email response rate measures the percentage of emails sent by the sales team that receive a reply. It is distinct from open rate (opening) and click rate (link clicks): an active reply indicates genuine interest. Average B2B rates are around 1-5% for cold emails and 10-25% for emails to already-engaged prospects.

CRM Automation

CRM automation is the use of workflow rules, triggers, and sequences to automatically execute repetitive tasks - follow-up email sending, task creation, field updates, team notifications - reducing manual work and ensuring commercial process consistency. Automation does not replace human judgment at key stages but amplifies productivity.

CRM Data Richness

CRM data richness measures the completeness, accuracy, and currency of records. A CRM with incomplete or outdated data produces unreliable forecasts, poorly targeted campaigns, and distorted analyses. Data governance - data entry processes, deduplication, validation, and enrichment from external sources - is fundamental to the operational quality of the system.

Customer 360

The Customer 360 view is the aggregation of all available data about a customer - purchases, interactions, support, digital engagement, NPS - into a single unified view accessible to marketing, sales, and customer success teams. The CRM is the orchestrating system of the Customer 360, which eliminates information silos and enables consistent personalization across all channels.