Glossary of Terms
The world of Business Development is full of abbreviations, acronyms and jargon. Here are a few of the most common terms and their meaning.
Appointment Setting – Contacting prospective customers with the objective of arranging sales meetings.
Business Development – A combination of sales and marketing techniques used to identify and cultivate new sales opportunities and revenue channels.
Business Development Strategy - Sets out the approach for developing and cultivating new sales opportunities, either from existing customers or by proactively targeting new potential customers.
Closing Techniques – Actions that sales people take to persuade the customer to make the necessary commitment.
Cold Call – The process of telephoning potential customers with whom you have no existing relationship.
Customer Avatar - A detailed profile of your target customer.
Decision-Maker – The person who makes the decision about whether to purchase your products or services.
Influencer – Influencers are people that affect a sale but are not the ultimate decision-maker.
Networking Groups - Structured meetings where like-minded business people meet regularly with the intention of passing each other referrals.
Points of Difference – Similar to USPs but are not necessarily unique.
Qualifying Questions – Questions used to establish whether a prospect is likely to buy from you. Prospects are often qualified based on the acronym BANT - Budget, Authority, Needs, and Timeline.
Sales Coach – An expert in sales who works on a 1-2-1 basis or with small groups of sales people in order to improve their sales abilities and results.
Sales Training – Training, often in a group setting, focusing on more generic techniques such as how to close a sale.
Social Selling - Utilising social networks such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook as part of the sales process.
SPIN Selling – Questioning technique based on identifying the problem, exploring the impact that the problem causes and then offering a solution. SPIN stands for Situation questions, Problem questions, Implication questions, Need-Payoff questions.
Telemarketing - Outbound telemarketing is the process of telephoning potential customers. Inbound telemarketing is where respondents call you, usually as a response to direct mail or an advertisement.
USP - The defining reasons which provide a competitive advantage over the competition. USP stands for Unique Selling Proposition.
Warm Call - The process of telephoning potential customers with whom you already have some level of relationship, e.g. you have connected to them on LinkedIn.