Glossary of Sales Terms
A
A.I.D.A
Often pronounced as "Ayeeda" (pron - 'Ay-E-Da' ) - this mnemonic stands for - Attention, Interest, Desire, Action'. These are the steps taken in sales and telemarketing to gain a reaction from the recipient. These steps are in a progressive order - so first the aim is gain the prospect's Attention, through to producing a final Action such as an appointment or a sale.
Above the Line
In the world of sales and advertising, the spheres of influence are split in to 2 main categories. The first is called "Above the Line" and is generally what most layman think of when they hear the word 'Advertising'. Above the Line advertising includes - media press, cinema, television, radio, posters and all electronic versions of these.
Acronym
An 'Acronym' is made up of the first letter or letters of several words to make one word, that is easier to remember. For example, in the IT industry they use the term WYSIWYG - which stands for What You See Is What You Get . with the complexity of the modern age, an acronym can often become a common term that is much quicker to write or say than the entire set of words together. Many people now know the term HTML when talking about the Internet, but who bothers saying "Hyper Text Mark-up Language' anymore?
Actual Case Sales
In order to gain a quantifiable idea of product sales - the term 'Actual Case Sales' is made. Regardless of package size - this refers to the number of cases of product actually sold.
Advertorial
It's generally agreed in the world of advertising that Public Relations (PR) is more powerful than placing an advert. PR in print generally means having editorial written about the subject. When advertising and editorial merge - this is known as 'Advertorial'. As PR editorial is generally considered to be about 8X more powerful than an advertisement, this blend can be a cost-effective halfway house between advertising and gaining editorial PR.
Alliteration
Word association often helps people to remember a sales message. 'Alliteration' achieves this by repeating the sound of the initial letter or consonant in two or more words or syllables together. An example would be a sale of "Winter Woollies".
Artwork
They say a picture speaks a thousand words, hence why 'Artwork' can often be so important for marketing materials. 'Artwork' is defined as a photo or illustration intended for reproduction.- this can include posters, advertisements, brochures, in fact all areas where pictures or illustrations are used.
Audio-Visual Aids
When giving a presentation, 'Audio-Visual Aids' means any support materials used for the presentation. 'Audio-Visual Aids' includes everything from MS Powerpoint slides through to handouts and background music - in effect, it includes any tool that helps the presentation.
B
B1G1F
Promotions are short-term methods of boosting sales or awareness of a product. 'B1G1F' also known as 'BOGOF' is an acronym of 'Buy 1 Get 1 Free' - A promotion where if you buy one product, such as a chocolate bar, you are entitled to a second chocolate bar for free. The term 'B1G1F' is more familiar in the 21st Century as 'BOGOF' - with the same meaning, 'Buy One Get One Free'. This derivation reflects the acceptance of cheeky words today, as the term 'BOG OFF' is a colloquial expression meaning 'Go Away'.
B2B
When seeking to sell to prospective customers, marketing people generally segment the market in to selling to businesses and selling to consumers. In other words, if you have a business and you wish to sell to other businesses - this is known as 'Business to Business' or 'B2B'.
B2C
When seeking to sell to prospective customers, marketing people generally segment the market in to selling to businesses and selling to consumers. In other words, if you have a business and you wish to sell to consumers - this is known as 'Business to Consumer' or 'B2C'.
Below the Line
Below the Line
Banner Ad
With the advent of the Internet, advertisers realised that any website could become an advertising platform. Over time, spaces on web sites have become defined in terms of pixel size, providing a set of agreed sizes of Internet advertisements, which have become known as a 'Banner Ad'. These 'Banner Ads' generally use graphics and are sometimes animated (moving images).
Billboard or Poster
In the 21st Century, a 'Billboard or Poster' is still an effective method of advertising by using outdoor signage. Today, these may be electronic or revolving images to fit several revolving advertisements in to one billboard.
Bingo Card
All advertising involves a cost, but one of the less expensive methods of advertising in magazines is the 'Bingo Card'. A 'Bingo Card' is a reader reply card, generally placed near the back of a hard-copy publication. The 'Bingo Card' generally features many numbers relating to products. The numbers can be circled by the reader to pick the products they are interested in - and the card posted back to the publisher to gain further information.
Brand Name
When a company sells products they generally try to build a relationship with their customers, so that their customers can recognise their range of products. In the farming industry, livestock have often been 'branded' with some form of mark to prove who owns them. In the modern world, this has now extended to all forms of products and services, so that customers can easily identify a 'Brand Name'.
Brochure
In selling a product it is necessary to provide the right information, to help steer a prospect towards purchasing. To an extent, websites have now partially taken the role of a 'Brochure'. A 'Brochure' can be defined as any booklet that has at least 4 pages and promotes a product or service. Today, a 'Brochure' may be in either hard-copy or electronic format. Due to environmental concerns over cutting down trees - there is an ever-increasing move to electronic brochures.
Bulk Mailing
When conducting a direct mail campaign, 100s, 1000s or maybe millions of pieces of mail are sent out. 'Bulk Mailing' refers to the sending of identical pieces of mail in large volumes. Delivered en-masse to the Post Office - 'Bulk Mailing' companies can then apply for discounts on mailing rates for sending large quantities of post.
Business Development
'Business Development' is a broad term covering numerous strategies and tactics to create and expand the economic capabiliities of an organisation. 'Business Development', often shortened to 'Biz Dev' is a process of combining the appropriate sales and marketing methods to attain the organisation's overall business objectives. A typical 'Business Development' Director 's role will encompass a broad range of business skills spanning all company departments including administration, finance, legal, marketing and operations. 'Business Development' varies from Sales or Marketing per se and uses an holistic approach utilising the skills and techniques of sales and marketing.
To give an example, marketing may create awareness, promotions may entice new business, and sales may close orders; but 'Business Development' could extend to gaining intelectual property rights (Legal) to protect sales, provide new financial models (e.g. Factoring = Finance) to provide more rapid market penetration, change the way in which customer data is handled (e.g. CRM = Administration) to increase revenue from market data, or further the development of new technologies (Operations) to take promote a technology-based marketing advantage.
To give an example, marketing may create awareness, promotions may entice new business, and sales may close orders; but 'Business Development' could extend to gaining intelectual property rights (Legal) to protect sales, provide new financial models (e.g. Factoring = Finance) to provide more rapid market penetration, change the way in which customer data is handled (e.g. CRM = Administration) to increase revenue from market data, or further the development of new technologies (Operations) to take promote a technology-based marketing advantage.
C
Call Centre
Communications technology has advanced rapidly over the last 50 years. The use of the telephone as a means of communicating with prospects and customers has increased dramatically since the 1950s. Combining many people in a building to answer or make calls has become known as a 'Call Centre'. The 'Call Centre' industry has expanded globally with centres springing up on most continents. In terms of the telemarketing industry, call centres are generally considered to be at the lower to middle end of the quality spectrum. 'Call Centre' staff are often poorly trained and rarely offer professional services such as highly skilled Consultative Telemarketing services. Many 'Call Centres' offer telemarketing as B2C and some have gained notoriety for hiring people with a poor grasp of English, weak selling skills and lack of interpersonal skills.
Call Email Call
A Telemarketing term used by ' Consultative Telemarketing' people. 'Call Email Call' describes the progressive steps for a prospect to buy in to the idea of a meeting a sales representative or to purchase a product.. Formerly known as 'Call Mail Call', due to the expansion of the Internet, the vast majority of 'Consultative Telemarketing' now uses email instead of hard copy post (snailmail).Call 2 Action
Selling uses a set of procedures in sequence that will start with an introduction and end up with banking the payment made on a sale. In order to make sure that an introduction can eventually become a sale it is necessary to maintain a 'Call 2 Action'. Like a series of stepping-stones to cross a river, in sales it is necessary to keep moving from one stone to the next - each time that one is ready to move to the next stone, a 'Call 2 Action' should be made to maintain momentum.
Cold Call
Also known as 'Cold Calling', a 'Cold Call' describes a visit or telephone call to someone who was not expecting to be contacted. This term is most often applied to sales people visiting or making telephone calls. In the telemarketing industry, the vast majority of calls made are 'Cold Calls'.Cold List
When building a list of prospective customers, a 'Cold List' might be used. A 'Cold List' is one where the prospective customers to be targeted may have no prior knowledge of the seller, their product or service.Consultative Telemarketing
'Consultative Telemarketing' can be defined as he professional end of the telemarketing spectrum. Telemarketing covers a broad spectrum of skills and roles. At the lower end are relatively poorly trained staff at Call Centres, whilst at the most skilled end of the spectrum are those that use 'Consultative Telemarketing'. Call Centres often work around the fact that they employ poorly skilled operators by providing them with scripts on a computer monitor - but the message often sounds false - when faced with objections, a poorly skilled call centre person may resort to lies, stupidity or rudeness - hence why they often aim at the consumer market. Consultative telemarketing, on the other hand, is generally aimed at high-level B2B prospects with titles like CEO, MD, FD - as the skilled consultative telemarketing person speaks intelligently at their level.
CRM
'CRM' or Customer Relationship Management, is all about how an organisation applies processes to handle customer data and communications. In the 21st Century, the term 'CRM' is often applied to a computer system from a set of spreadsheets through to some form of database system, providing the ability for all departments within an organisation to access relevant data. For sales and marketing, the 'C' or Customer aspect of 'CRM' is extended to prospects as well as customers, to build a pipeline of prospects as well as accounts held with customers.
Cross Selling
'Cross Selling' is all about utilising a customer's buying history to help sell further products to them. For example, a customer who recently bought a pair of shoes may wish to buy a spare pair of shoelaces, some shoe polish, etc.D
Database
A 'Database' is a set of records about prospects and customers, often stored on some form of computer system. The 'Database' forms the backbone of any sales or marketing campaign, providing the contacts to be targeted. A sales and marketing database may be expanded in its use and called Customer Relationship Management (CRM).Dealer Incentive
If selling through a dealer channel, an effective promotion can be to offer a 'Dealer Incentive'. This is a specific promotion designed to increase sales activity from the Dealer of your product or service.Deduplication
When conducting a bulk mailing of direct mail, a number of databases maybe merged - with the result that some of the addresses maybe duplicated. 'Deduplication' refers to a controlled mailing system that makes sure a specific address is only mailed to once, no matter how many times it has been merged on to the list.Demographics
Sales and Marketing work best when they use a focused approach. Focusing on the most likely market to purchase will always provide a better Return On Investment than blanket marketing to everyone on the planet. 'Demographics' provide a focusing tool, by looking at the socio-economic characteristics of customers and prospects. By identifying characteristics of most likely buyers by their geographical location, profession, title, income, status, age, etc - it is possible to focus sales and marketing efforts to provide the best Return On Investment via 'Demographics'. See also Profile and Target Audience.Differentiation
All humans experience life through 'Differentiation' - from an early age we learn the difference between loud and quiet, rough and smooth, hot and cold, etc. In sales and marketing, 'Differentiation' refers to how a prospect will measure your product against someone else's. 'Differentiation' helps in sales and marketing to define the characteristics of a product that is not available from a competitor - often called a USP or Unique Selling Point. Whilst 'Differentiation' forms the building blocks of any sales offering, it gains increasing importance in a market saturated by competitors.Direct Mail
'Direct Mail' is the dispatching of unsolicited advertising circulars or other printed matter sent directly through the mail to prospective customers. The concept of writing a letter to a person or a organisation in order to strike a business deal has probably been around since the written language began. With the advent of the Internet and email, email marketing has become increasingly popular. Contrary to the popular belief that emails have now superseded hard-copy post, 'Direct Mail' - the sending of messages through the postal system (snailmail) remains one of the most effective tools for sales and marketing in the 21st Century.Direct Marketing
There are many facets of 'Direct Marketing' but the best definition is probably - the marketing and sale of products without the requirement for a retail outlet. Direct Marketing is a sub-division of Marketing, a method of advertising a product, which generally uses below-the-line advertising - which often includes telemarketing, direct mail, and email to reach prospective customers. The 'Direct' part of the term refers to missing out the requirement for a physical shop and also refers to the 'Direct' or fastest route to market. Of all the 'Direct Marketing' approaches, telemarketing is the only rapid route to market that engages people in an immediate 2-Way communication of ideas that could lead to a sale.Direct Response Advertising
'Direct Response Advertising' is all about initiating a call to action - an immediate result from the advertising. An advertisement in many forms of media including - Television, online, in a newspaper or magazine prompts the prospect to respond by email, telephone or post. Rather than simply stating why a product should be bought - 'Direct Response Advertising' tries to initiate the prospect to buy as an immediate action. This is generally achieved via a compelling offer to act straight away.Discount
A 'Discount' is a promotional tool to entice a buyer to purchase via offering a reduction off the quoted or list price of a product. Discounts are often expressed as a percentage. A 'Discount' is generally used as a sales tool for bulk purchases.
E
External Lists
A database will form the backbone of any sales campaign - where data for prospective customers is not available - 'External Lists' supplied by outside sources are often bought in. These lists will be purchased based upon requirements such as - buyers name, buyers title, postal address, telephone number etc. The data within the 'External Lists' depends upon the direct marketing approach - i.e. if used for telemarketing it will require a telephone number for each prospect.F
FPS
'FPS' or the 'Fax Preference Service' offers businesses an opportunity to prevent receiving unsolicited faxes as part of a direct marketing campaign. 'FPS' has become less important in the 21st Century as fewer companies are now using a fax machine in comparison to having an email address. Fax Marketing was a greater phenomenon during the 1980s and 1990s and is still used, but has declined in value compared to email and text marketing which are generally more focused and seen as less-intrusive.Freelance Telemarketing
A definition of 'Freelance Telemarketing' is a person or network of people offering outsourced Telemarketing as opposed to hiring an employee or agency to fulfil this role. The advantagea of using 'Freelance Telemarketing' are low cost compared to an Agency, flexibility (only hired when required), low set up costs, and generally a high-calibre of available personnel. Utilising a Freelance Telemarketing person or network allows a company to punch above its weight when used effectively.Fulfilment
In sales it is necessary to pursue a relentless course of action from start to finish until the sales is made. After an order or enquiry is made, 'Fulfilment' is the process of supply products or information. Effective 'Fulfilment' is a crucial part of the overall sales effort in any campaign.Fulfilment House
In marketing terms, this refers to a business that provides the complete Fulfilment process in terms of response handling. A 'Fulfilment House' provides in-pack, on-pack, with-pack, etc, promotions to the advertising industry or fulfilling information requests or product orders from a client's customer/prospect. 'Fulfilment Houses' are generally used for marketing purposes requiring bulk volumes of prospect / customer interaction such as bulk mailing. As a 'Fulfilment House' may be providing similar services to a number of organisations, the costs involved can be far more effective by outsourcing mass marketing requirements to a 'Fulfilment House'.G
Guerrilla Marketing
'Guerrilla Marketing' is a concept of using unconventional marketing, generally by smaller businesses to achieve cost-effective results. Whilst this concept has been used for many years, the phrase 'Guerrilla Marketing' was coined in the 1980s. Marketing terminology is often saturated with military terms such as 'campaign' and is often seen as a trade alternative to physical warfare. In this scenario a global corporation is seen as a super power and a small business is seen as an insurgency force. The philosophy of 'Guerrilla Marketing' utilises the strengths of the smaller business such as the ability to make rapid change or quality of service to countermand the huge advertising budgets of corporate giants.H
HTML
'HTML' is an acronym of 'Hypertext Mark-up Language', used to create interactive documents that can be read on the World Wide Web or transmitted via email. HTML is important to the 21st century sales and marketing team for direct email campaigns that can reach potential buyers via their PC, laptop or Smartphone.I
Introductory Offer
Overcoming the initial objections of selling a new product or service can often be achieved by using an 'Introductory Offer'. This can be used for launching a new product or to entice a prospect away from a current supplier. The offer is generally used in sales when the product is either unknown to prospective buyers or when it is difficult to lever buyers away from current suppliers.J
K
Key Word
A 'Key Word' is an important element in marketing, especially Internet Marketing. Key Words or Meta Tags generally reflect the main descriptions of a company's product or service. These words are then picked up by search engines such as Google. Building a 'Key Word' list is important in most areas of sales and marketing, from creating a telemarketing pitch to writing hard-copy and electronic marketing collateral. In sales, it's all about communicating a message so that the right audience is likely to buy in to the idea. In Internet Marketing, a 'Key Word' can take on a whole marketing niche by paying for words that may be searched for in what is known as PayPerClick Advertising.L
List Owner
A database forms the backbone of most sales campaigns - built from lists of prospect data such as company name, telephone number, address, etc. Depending upon the nature of a sales campaign, a company may or may not have the necessary lists to target the right prospects. If a company builds it's own list, then that company retains ownership of the list. Building a list will require time and resources, therefore external lists are often either rented or purchased. If rented, ownership of the data on the list resides with the list seller and caveats upon the number of times it may be used are generally made.M
Mailsort
As with any form of bulk buying, sending large volumes of post at the same time is less expensive than sending such items individually. During a direct mail campaign, if sending to several thousand targeted prospects, the Post Office offer a discount on postage called 'Mailsort'.Marketing Collateral
In any sales campaign a prospective customer will require some form of written or possibly pictorial support in regards to the product or service to be purchased - any such items are known as 'Marketing Collateral'. Such items can include a brochure, a website, a constructed email, a set letter, and so on.Marketing Mix
First termed by Harvard Professor Neil Burden - 'Marketing Mix' refers to the overall elements that form what we call a Brand. These elements are often broken down in to the four 'P' words - Product, Place, Price, and Promotion.Marketing Universe
The Marketing Universe, or total available data on to whom a product could be sold to, is an important part of defining and forecasting how many sales could be made.MPS
In every market place there are checks and balances to try and maintain a good standard of service. In the direct mail industry, 'MPS' or Mail Preference Service' was set up to allow those who do not wish to receive direct mail the chance to opt out. In marketing, sending unsolicited post is known as direct mail whilst to some recipients this is termed Junk Mail. 'MPS' has become increasingly important with the growth of environmental concerns over the wasteful use of paper (from trees).Merge
In relation to Direct Marketing, 'Merge' refers to combining two or more lists or parts of those lists to form a new list. These lists may then be used for telemarketing, direct mail, or direct email marketing.Merge And Purge
'Merge and Purge' is the Direct Marketing term for merging two or more lists or parts fo those lists to form a new list - but also to remove duplicates at the same time. These lists may then be used for telemarketing, direct mail, or direct email marketing.Multibrand Promotion
The aim of a standard promotion, generally focuses on one product or brand - for example an IT company promoting one of their desktop computers. A 'Multibrand Promotion' is aimed at promoting more than one brand - for example and IT company promoting a desktop computer, a smartphone, a portable music device and a laptop.N
Navigation
A Website often provides a very valuable piece of marketing collateral - from acting as a shop window for a company through to promoting or selling products. 'Navigation' in this context refers to the method of finding one's way around a website. Generally speaking, the better the navigation - the easier it is for a prospect or customer to find the data they need from a website and possibly make a purchase.O
Opt-In or Opt-out
The aim of the Sales process is to produce the maximum Return On Investment for any given campaign. Generally speaking, it is human nature not to act upon something unless it is a necessity. Therefore it is better from a sales perspective to make sure that a customer must 'Opt-out' of a contract rather than have to 'Opt-in'. This applies to all parts of the direct marketing such as email marketing, direct mailing and telemarketing. It also applies to the sales processes such as sales contracts. It is deemed unethical to tie a customer into a perpetual contract, but the converse is also true - providing unethical customers with an easy 'Opt-out' could adversely affect the seller's cashflow.
P
Penetration
The Marketing Universe, or total available data on a who a product could be sold to is an important part of defining and forecasting how many sales could be made. 'Penetration' in this context refers to the percentage of that Marketing Universe that were sold to for a specific campaign during a specified time period.Profile
It is not possible to sell a product to everyone on the planet, so when planning sales one must try to define those who are most likely to buy. The most cost-effective sales campaigns start by building a 'Profile' of potential buyers such as location, sex, age, net worth, etc. See also Demographics and Target Audience.Promotion
'Promotions' fall in to the category of Advertising. A 'Promotion' is a short-term sales tool with the intention of increasing awareness and/or sales of a product within a given time period. A 'Promotion' is generally used when trying to enter a market or where competition is very strong. There are many forms of promotion, one example is to offer a money back guarantee if not satisfied with the product.Prospect
In sales, the terms Suspect, Prospect and Customer are used to define the current status of whether a person or organisation will purchase one's products. Suspect and Prospect are often rounded up as Prospective Customers or 'Prospects', whilst those who have already bought become Customers.Q
R
Response Rate
In order to ascertain the effectiveness of any marketing campaign, certain formulae are used. A 'Response Rate' is generally referred to as a percentage of those who replied to X number of mailouts posted, a percentage of those who replied to X advertising insertions, or a percentage of those who bought in to x number of telemarketing calls. For large campaigns 'Response Rate is measured in % per thousand replies, for Guerrilla Marketing it is measured as an overall % against the actual figure.Return On Investment
Probably the most important aspect of any business undertaking is the 'ROI' or 'Return On Investment'. 'Return On Investment' is an equation of money invested V profit made. As an example, if one spends £10k on a Telemarketing campaign that results in £100k worth of sales then this provides a very healthy 'Return On Investment'. Conversely in one spends £10k in the same way but little or no profit is made, then this would be a very poor 'Return On Investment'.S
Sales Incentive
In Sales it is common practice to provide reward schemes for sales teams whether internal, external or trade buyers. A 'Sales Incentive' in this context covers all financial and non-financial rewards from cash to awards.T
Target Audience
It is not possible to sell a product to everyone on the planet, so when planning sales one must try to define those who are most likely to buy. The most cost-effective sales campaigns start by defining a 'Target Audience' of potential buyers such as location, sex, age, net worth, etc. See also Demographics and Profile.
Telemarketing
Of all the aspects of marketing, direct marketing probably offers the most interactive and rapid return on investment. As part of the Direct Marketing arsenal, 'Telemarketing' is the most interactive tool available, because unlike post or email it involves verbal communication between prospect and seller. Telemarketing covers a broad spectrum from the irritating offshore B2C Call Centres to highly skilled B2B experts selling to Captains of Industry. The 'Telemarketing' industry has been steadily expanding due to the globalisation of markets and the effectiveness of modern telecommunications. Due to energy market and envirornmental changes, the requirement to reduce travel has also played a part in the increasing importance of 'Telemarketing'. The professional end of the spectrum of 'Telemarketing' use a style of communication known as 'Consultative Telemarketing'.
Telesales
When applied correctly, Telemarketing is probably the most effective sales tool available, providing the potential for rapid Return On Investment. 'Telesales' takes Telemarketing to the extreme, by not only creating interest but actually closing business via telephone. Some of the most important decisions in the history of the 20th and 21st Century have been made by telephone - from averting war between super powers to making deals worth millions or billions of dollars. 'Telesales' is more commonly discussed in terms of selling stocks and shares or selling advertising space, although it can be applied to numerous business activities.
TPS
In every market place there are checks and balances to try and maintain a good standard of service. In the telemarketing industry, 'TPS' or Telephone Preference Service' was set up to allow those who do not wish to receive cold calls the chance to opt out. In marketing, making unsolicited calls is known as Cold Calling whilst to some recipients this is deemed to be an annoyance 'TPS' has become increasingly important with the growth of poorly trained Call Centre staff that harass individuals or businesses.U
Usability in marketing generally refers to a key component of Marketing Collateral - the Website. Although it may sound obvious that prospects and customers visiting a website should be able to easily find what they want, all too often a website substitutes form over function. Many website designers substitute lack of sales knowledge for artistic flair, forgetting that the aim of a business website is about increasing sales not an art gallery for their work. 'Usability' includes many facets, but includes - Navigation to find what is needed, font sizes that are viewable, clarity of screen layout, and so on.
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