Dictionary

B2B terms, clearly explained.

General business-to-business concepts.

B2B

100 of 166 terms, listed alphabetically

A

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Account Management

The ongoing work of maintaining a customer relationship, coordinating service, and finding ways to help the account achieve its goals.

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Account Mapping

A view of the people, roles, relationships, and decision paths inside a target customer organization.

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Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

A go-to-market approach that coordinates marketing and sales around a defined set of high-value business accounts.

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Accounts Payable (AP)

The money a business owes suppliers for goods or services it has received.

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Accounts Receivable (AR)

The money customers owe a business for goods or services already supplied.

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Acquisition Cost

The total sales and marketing expense required to win a new customer, commonly measured as customer acquisition cost.

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Annual Contract Value (ACV)

The normalized yearly value of a customer contract, often excluding one-time fees.

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Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)

The annualized value of recurring subscription revenue at a point in time.

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Application Programming Interface (API)

A defined way for software systems to exchange data or request each other’s capabilities.

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B

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Billing Cycle

The recurring interval at which a supplier invoices a customer for products, services, or subscription access.

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Business-to-Business (B2B)

The sale of products or services by one business to another business or organization.

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Business-to-Business-to-Consumer (B2B2C)

A business model in which one company reaches end consumers through a business partner or intermediary.

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Business-to-Consumer (B2C)

The sale of products or services directly from a business to individual consumers.

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Buyer Persona

A research-based profile describing a type of buyer, including their goals, responsibilities, challenges, and buying behavior.

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Buying Committee

The group of stakeholders who influence, evaluate, approve, or use a business purchase.

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Buying Cycle

The stages an organization moves through from recognizing a need to evaluating, approving, and purchasing a solution.

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Buying Group

The set of individuals involved in a specific purchase, often spanning users, approvers, finance, procurement, and executives.

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Buying Signal

An observable action or change that suggests a business may be preparing to evaluate or purchase a solution.

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C

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Channel Partner

An external organization that helps a supplier market, sell, implement, or support its products.

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Channel Sales

Revenue generated through third parties such as resellers, distributors, agents, or referral partners.

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Churn Rate

The percentage of customers or recurring revenue lost during a specified period.

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Closed-Lost

A sales opportunity that has ended without a purchase, typically recorded with a reason for future analysis.

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Closed-Won

A sales opportunity that resulted in an accepted purchase or signed agreement.

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Co-op Marketing

A joint marketing program in which a supplier and a channel partner share campaign planning, execution, or costs.

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Cold Calling

Outbound prospecting that begins with an unsolicited phone call to a potential customer.

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Competitive Analysis

A structured comparison of alternatives in a market, including their positioning, capabilities, pricing, and strengths.

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Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM)

The processes and tools used to create, negotiate, approve, store, renew, and analyze contracts.

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Conversion Rate

The share of visitors, leads, or prospects who complete a defined desired action.

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Cross-Selling

Recommending or selling complementary products or services to an existing or prospective customer.

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Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

The sales and marketing cost associated with acquiring one new customer over a defined period.

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Customer Data Platform (CDP)

A system that combines customer data from multiple sources into unified profiles for analysis and activation.

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Customer Experience (CX)

The customer’s overall perception of interactions with a company across channels and throughout the relationship.

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Customer Journey

The sequence of stages and interactions a buyer experiences while researching, purchasing, receiving, and using an offering.

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Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

An estimate of the revenue or profit a business expects to earn from a customer over the relationship.

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B2BCRM

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

A system and operating practice for managing customer records, interactions, sales opportunities, and relationships.

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Customer Retention

A company’s ability to keep customers active and purchasing over time.

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Customer Segmentation

The grouping of customers by shared characteristics so a business can tailor service, pricing, and marketing.

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Customer Success

A proactive practice of helping customers achieve intended outcomes and realize value from a product or service.

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D

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Data Enrichment

The process of adding useful attributes to existing records using internal or external data sources.

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Days Sales Outstanding (DSO)

The average number of days a company takes to collect payment after making a credit sale.

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Deal Desk

A cross-functional team or process that reviews nonstandard deals, pricing, approvals, and contract terms.

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Decision Maker

A person with authority to make or approve a purchase decision, though other stakeholders may influence it.

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Demand Generation

Marketing activity designed to create awareness, interest, and qualified demand for a company’s offerings.

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Direct-to-Consumer (D2C)

A model in which a brand sells directly to end consumers rather than relying exclusively on retail intermediaries.

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E

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Economic Buyer

The person who controls or authorizes the budget for a purchase, whether or not they use the solution.

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Enterprise Sales

The sale of complex products or services to large organizations, typically involving longer cycles and multiple stakeholders.

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Evaluation Criteria

The requirements a buying organization uses to compare solutions and determine whether an option is suitable.

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Extended Payment Terms

An agreed period that gives a buyer additional time to pay an invoice after it is issued.

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F

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Forecasting

The practice of estimating future sales, demand, revenue, or inventory needs from historical data and current signals.

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Gatekeeper

A person who controls access to a decision maker or buying process, such as an assistant or initial evaluator.

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Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy

A coordinated plan for reaching target customers, positioning an offering, selling it, and delivering value.

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Gross Margin

Revenue remaining after subtracting the direct costs of goods or services sold, commonly expressed as a percentage of revenue.

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I

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Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

A description of the type of organization most likely to benefit from, buy, and remain successful with an offering.

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Inbound Sales

Sales activity responding to prospects who initiate contact or demonstrate interest through marketing and other channels.

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Inside Sales

Sales conducted remotely through phone, email, video, and digital tools rather than primarily through in-person visits.

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Integration

A connection between systems that allows them to exchange data or coordinate business processes.

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K

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Key Account Management

A strategic approach to serving a company’s most important customers through coordinated relationships and growth plans.

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L

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Lead

A person or organization that may become a customer and has been identified for further qualification or engagement.

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Lead Generation

Activities that identify and attract potential customers for a company’s sales and marketing process.

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Lead Nurturing

Relevant, ongoing communication that helps a potential buyer learn and progress toward a purchase decision.

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Lead Qualification

The evaluation of a lead’s fit, needs, authority, timing, and likelihood to become a customer.

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Lifetime Value (LTV)

An estimate of the total economic value a customer contributes over the duration of the relationship.

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M

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Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)

A prospect that meets marketing-defined engagement or fit criteria and is ready for further sales review.

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Master Services Agreement (MSA)

A contract establishing general terms that govern future statements of work, orders, or projects between parties.

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Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

The normalized monthly value of recurring subscription revenue.

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N

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Net Revenue Retention (NRR)

A measure of recurring revenue retained from existing customers after expansion, contraction, and churn.

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O

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Onboarding

The process of setting up a new customer, account, or user so they can begin using a product or service successfully.

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Outbound Sales

Sales activity initiated by a seller through outreach to selected prospects or existing accounts.

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P

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Pipeline

The set of active sales opportunities organized by stage and used to understand potential future revenue.

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Q

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Quarterly Business Review (QBR)

A recurring meeting where a supplier and customer review outcomes, performance, priorities, and plans.

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Quote-to-Cash (Q2C)

The connected processes for creating a quote, agreeing terms, fulfilling the sale, invoicing, and collecting payment.

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R

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Request for Information (RFI)

A document used to gather background information about potential suppliers, solutions, or market capabilities.

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Request for Proposal (RFP)

A formal document inviting suppliers to propose solutions, delivery approaches, and commercial terms for a defined need.

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Request for Quotation (RFQ)

A request asking suppliers to provide pricing and terms for specified products, quantities, or services.

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Reseller

A business that purchases products or services and sells them to its own customers, sometimes with added services.

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Retention Rate

The percentage of customers or revenue that remains over a defined period, based on a stated calculation.

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Revenue Operations (RevOps)

The alignment of sales, marketing, customer success, data, and systems around predictable revenue processes.

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S

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Sales Cycle

The time and sequence of activities from initial sales engagement to a purchase decision.

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Sales Development Representative (SDR)

A sales professional focused on prospecting, initial qualification, and creating opportunities for account executives.

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Sales Enablement

The content, training, tools, and processes that help sales teams engage buyers and perform effectively.

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Sales Funnel

A model of the stages prospects move through as they progress from awareness to purchase.

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Sales Operations (Sales Ops)

The processes, systems, analytics, and planning that help a sales organization operate efficiently.

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Sales Qualified Lead (SQL)

A prospect that sales has reviewed and considers sufficiently qualified for direct sales engagement.

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Salesforce Automation

Software-supported workflows for sales tasks such as lead assignment, activity tracking, follow-up, and opportunity management.

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Service Level Agreement (SLA)

An agreement that defines measurable service expectations, responsibilities, and sometimes remedies.

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Single Sign-On (SSO)

An authentication method that allows a user to access multiple authorized applications through one identity provider session.

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Solution Selling

A sales approach that connects a customer’s business needs to a tailored combination of products, services, and outcomes.

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Stakeholder

A person or group that can affect, is affected by, or has an interest in a business decision or project.

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Statement of Work (SOW)

A document describing the scope, deliverables, schedule, responsibilities, and commercial details of a project or service.

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System of Record

The authoritative system designated to maintain a particular type of business data.

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T

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Territory Management

The assignment and organization of markets, accounts, or regions among sales representatives or teams.

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Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

The full cost of acquiring, operating, maintaining, and eventually replacing a product or system over time.

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U

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Unit Economics

The revenue and costs associated with one defined unit, such as a customer, order, product, or transaction.

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Upselling

Encouraging a customer to choose a higher-value version, larger quantity, or expanded package.

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V

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Value Proposition

A clear explanation of the value an offering provides to a particular customer and why it is relevant.

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Value-Based Pricing

A pricing approach that considers the value an offering creates for the customer rather than relying only on cost or competitor prices.

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Vendor Management

The processes for selecting, coordinating, monitoring, and maintaining relationships with external suppliers.

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W

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White Label

A product or service made by one company and branded or sold by another company as its own.

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Working Capital

The short-term financial resources available to fund a company’s day-to-day operations.

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Z

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Zero-Based Budgeting

A budgeting method in which each period’s expenses must be justified from a zero base rather than inherited from prior budgets.

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