Sales & Negotiation Glossary from A to Z — Sales & Negotiation

Sales & Negotiation Glossary — 139 definitions

All the terms defined in the 29 sections of the guide, listed in alphabetical order.
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“I'll think about it”: A frequent reply reflecting indecision or an unspoken blocker, rather than a real no.
After-sales support: Help provided to the customer to use the offer well and resolve any issues.
Partial agreement: A technique that acknowledges the customer's point before answering (“I understand, and that's exactly why…”), so as not to put them on the defensive.
Hook (cold call): An opening line that grabs attention within seconds to avoid being hung up on.
Opening (sales meeting): The first exchanges that spark interest and build rapport, avoiding an abrupt start.
Welcoming objections: A calm, open attitude toward an objection (listening, taking it seriously) without getting defensive.
Ambassador (customer): A satisfied customer who actively speaks well of you and recommends you.
Team animation: Team life (meetings, sharing best practices, team spirit) that sustains momentum.
Anticipating objections: Preparing answers to likely objections before the appointment.
Call to action (CTA): A simple, precise invitation to reply or act (a question, a proposed time slot).
Invitation to tender: A formal competitive bidding procedure (terms of reference, proposal, selection criteria).
Sales pitch: Presenting the offer in connection with the discovered need, focused on the benefits for the customer.
Confidence (stating the price): A confident, hesitation-free attitude when announcing the price, which reassures the customer.
Sales automation: Automatic handling of repetitive tasks (follow-ups, email sequences, data entry).
Competitive advantage: What sets your offer apart from competitors and justifies choosing you.
Review / Testimonial: Positive feedback from a customer (online or quoted) that reassures future prospects (social proof).
B2B: Business to Business: selling to companies (often long cycle, rational decision, several decision-makers).
B2C: Business to Consumer: selling to individuals (often short cycle, more emotional and individual decision).
Gatekeeper: A filter (assistant, switchboard) to get past courteously to reach the decision-maker.
BATNA: Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement (the best fallback if the negotiation fails; MESORE in French); a source of power.
Benefit: What the offer concretely brings the customer given their need (what convinces, more than the feature).
Word-of-mouth: Informal spread of opinions (positive or negative) about an offer, highly influential because based on trust.
CAB: The Feature → Advantage → Benefit method: turning an objective fact into a concrete benefit for this customer.
Framing the meeting: Restating the goal, duration and proposed flow, which reassures and structures the conversation.
Targeting: Defining the ideal customer profile to approach, to focus efforts on the best chances.
Decision-making unit: All the players involved in a buying decision (user, prescriber, buyer, decision-maker).
Target customer: The type of customer the offer primarily addresses; know them to adapt your pitch.
Closing: The concluding step that turns the prospect's interest into a commitment (purchase).
Direct close: A technique that simply proposes concluding (“shall we go with this solution?”).
Coaching: Individual support for salespeople (field work, debriefs) to develop their skills.
Cold emailing: Email prospecting aimed at contacts who don't know you yet.
Salesperson: A professional who helps a customer identify and solve a need with a suitable offer, while creating value.
Augmented salesperson: A salesperson whose effectiveness is multiplied by digital tools and AI, without humans being replaced.
Non-verbal communication: What posture, gaze, smile and tone convey — often as much as words.
Concession for a trade-off: The principle of only granting a discount in exchange for a customer commitment (volume, duration, payment…).
Confidence (attitude): Serene assurance (neither arrogance nor submission) that reassures the customer and makes them want to buy.
Content: Useful posts aimed at your target audience that make you visible and credible as an expert in your field.
Trade-off: What you obtain in exchange for a concession (volume, duration, fast payment, testimonial).
Acquisition vs retention cost: Winning a new customer costs far more than keeping an existing one.
Cost of the unsolved problem: What it costs the customer to do nothing; a powerful argument to justify the price.
Creating value: Bringing the customer a real benefit (saving time or money, peace of mind) that justifies the purchase.
Digging deeper: Getting the objection clarified with questions to understand its true nature before answering.
CRM: Customer Relationship Management: the tool centralizing contacts, history, pipeline, follow-ups and sales indicators.
Cross-sell: Offering products/services complementary to the main purchase.
Sales cycle: The sequence of sales steps: prospecting → discovery → proposal → closing → loyalty.
Sales cycle (length): The time elapsed between first contact and the closed sale.
Needs discovery: The key step where you deeply understand the customer's situation, needs and motivations through questioning.
Defending your margin: Protecting your price and profitability without reflexively giving in to discount requests.
Sales digitalization: The digital transformation of the sales profession (CRM, prospecting, AI, automation) to gain effectiveness.
Sales discipline: Consistency and rigor in prospecting and follow-up, a driver of lasting success.
CRM discipline: Rigor in logging interactions and keeping the pipeline up to date, a condition for the tool's usefulness.
Give before you receive: The social selling principle: bring value and build connection before trying to sell.
Listening: A core skill of a good salesperson: understanding the real need comes before talking.
Active listening: Truly listening to the customer to understand their need before proposing (the basis of the advisory stance).
Expand the pie: Seeking creative solutions across several variables to bring value to both parties.
Empathy: The ability to put yourself in the customer's shoes, understanding their viewpoint and constraints.
Funnel / Sales pipeline: A representation of prospect volume at each step, shrinking down to the customers who buy.
Pressure/support balance: The mix of demanding results and providing support, key to lasting sales management.
Surfacing the real blocker: Questioning to understand what is really blocking behind the hesitation, so you can address it.
Prospect list: An organized list of contacts to approach, with useful information (contact details, company, role, context).
Customer loyalty: All the actions that nurture the relationship so a customer stays, buys again and recommends you.
Guiding thread: A flexible throughline guiding the meeting without freezing it, so no step is skipped or rushed.
Customer history: A record of all interactions with a contact (exchanges, proposals, purchases) centralized in the CRM.
AI in sales: Using artificial intelligence: writing assistance, prospect scoring, analysis, meeting preparation.
Myth (sales): A false cliché about selling (manipulation, smooth talk, innate gift) that modern selling disproves.
Interests vs positions: Distinguishing the stated demand (position) from the real need behind it (interest), which can often be satisfied differently.
Sales KPI: A key indicator measuring sales performance (conversion rate, average basket, cycle, etc.).
Walk-away point: The threshold below which you refuse the deal (e.g. floor price); know it so you don't give in under pressure.
Sales manager: A leader who makes a sales team succeed (goals, motivation, coaching, animation) rather than selling themselves.
Market: The sales context: trends, players, competition, in which the offer fits.
Connecting (outreach): Connecting with relevant prospects, ideally via a personalized message (not an empty invitation).
Buying motive: The psychological driver that pushes a customer to buy; identify it to adapt your pitch.
Negotiation: Seeking an agreement between parties with partly diverging interests (price, volume, terms).
Distributive negotiation: A “win-lose” approach where a fixed pie is shared in a power struggle.
Win-win (integrative) negotiation: An approach that seeks to create value for both parties and an agreement satisfying each side.
Activity goal: A goal set on the controllable action (number of calls/emails) rather than on the result alone.
Negotiation goal: What you aim for; distinguish the ideal goal (aimed at) from the realistic one (reasonably expected).
Meeting goal: A clear, realistic goal for this appointment (understand, present, obtain agreement or a next step).
Sales targets: Quantified targets set for the team and each member (revenue, number of sales, margin), clear and motivating.
Objection: A reservation or blocker expressed by the customer; most often a sign of interest, not rejection.
Price objection: The “it's too expensive” objection, the most frequent; address it by reinforcing value, not by giving in.
Genuine objection: A real blocker based on a genuine concern, to be lifted with information or reassurance.
Pretext objection: An objection hiding the real reason (stalling, polite refusal), to be surfaced by digging deeper.
Subject line (email): An email's title, which decides whether it is opened; short, benefit-led, never clickbait.
Offer: The product or service sold, its features and above all its concrete benefits for the customer.
Daring to ask for the sale: Clearly inviting the customer to commit at the right moment, confidently and without pressure.
Average basket: The average value of a sale; what additional sales aim to increase.
Referral program: A program rewarding customers who recommend new customers.
Persona: A typical portrait of the ideal customer (profile, sector, problems, decision criteria) guiding the approach.
Personalization: Adapting the email to the specific prospect (company, challenge); a condition for effectiveness.
Relevance (additional sales): Only offering what brings real value to the customer, at the right moment (service, not pressure).
Pipeline (in the CRM): Visualizing ongoing deals by funnel step, to track each sale's progress.
Prospecting time block: A regular, protected slot dedicated to prospecting, to be kept no matter what.
Advisory stance: The attitude of a salesperson who supports and advises rather than forcing the sale.
First impression: The immediate image given to the customer (punctuality, presentation, attitude), hard to fix afterwards.
Meeting preparation: Upstream work: the meeting's goal, research on the customer, materials, anticipated objections.
Presenting the price: The moment you state the price; do it confidently and after establishing value.
Proof: A concrete element (testimonial, figure, guarantee, trial) backing up the answer to an objection.
Sales forecast: Estimating upcoming sales from the pipeline and conversion rates.
First contact: The first minutes of the meeting, aimed at building trust before getting to the point.
Booking a meeting: The call's goal: obtaining a slot to continue the sale (often face-to-face or by video).
Next step: A precise commitment agreed for what follows (callback date, deadline) so the sale doesn't evaporate.
Optimized profile: A professional LinkedIn profile, clear on the value provided (customer-oriented), inspiring trust.
Sales proposal: A structured, clear offer (inclusions, options, terms) highlighting value and easing the decision.
Value proposition: What you bring the prospect, stated clearly from their point of view.
Prospect: An identified potential customer not yet turned into a customer.
Prospecting: Seeking out and contacting potential customers to feed the sales cycle.
Cold calling: Phone canvassing generally aimed at booking an appointment (not selling directly).
Qualification: Checking that a prospect matches the target and has real potential (need, budget, decision power).
Alternative-choice question: Offering a choice that assumes agreement (“delivery Tuesday or Thursday?”) to ease the decision.
Closed question: A question calling for a brief answer (yes/no, a figure) that clarifies a point.
Open question: A question inviting elaboration (“how…?”, “why…?”), which gets people talking and reveals substance.
Referral: A satisfied customer recommending you to others, bringing new customers with a high level of trust.
Restating: Saying back in your own words what you understood, to check and show you listened (“if I understand correctly…”).
Consistency (prospecting): The discipline of prospecting constantly (fixed slots) rather than in bursts; the key to stable results.
Follow-up: Recontacting after a first exchange with no outcome; a large share of sales happens after several follow-ups.
Scheduled follow-up: A recontact task scheduled in the CRM so you don't forget to track a deal.
Follow-up vs harassment: The line between professional follow-up (useful, spaced out, value-oriented) and pushiness that annoys.
Long-term relationship: An approach aiming for a lasting, profitable relationship rather than a one-off transaction.
Putting the price in perspective: Bringing the price back to a meaningful unit (per day, per user) or comparing it to the cost of the problem.
Resilience: The ability to take rejections without getting discouraged or taking them personally.
GDPR (prospecting): The regulation governing the use of personal data in prospecting (consent, information); varies by country.
Scoring: Prioritizing prospects by their likelihood to convert, often assisted by AI.
Call script: A prepared call structure (hook, value proposition, meeting request), delivered naturally.
Buying signal: A sign showing the customer is ready (questions about practicalities, imagining themselves using it, positive tone).
Social selling: Using professional social networks (LinkedIn) to prospect through presence, relationships and credibility.
SONCAS: The buying-motives grid: Security, Pride (Orgueil), Novelty, Comfort, Money (Argent), Sympathy — French acronym kept.
Customer follow-up: Supporting the customer after the sale (keeping commitments, satisfaction, solving problems).
Conversion rate: The share of prospects moving from one step to the next (a key pipeline indicator).
Close rate: The share of prospects/opportunities that become sales; reveals sales effectiveness.
Handling objections: A method for lifting a blocker: dig deeper, restate, answer, check.
Meeting framework: A typical sales-meeting structure: contact → discovery → pitch → price → objections → closing.
Upsell: Offering a higher, more complete or higher-performing version of what the customer was going to buy.
Value (before price): The offer's benefits to argue before stating the price, so it feels justified.
Perceived value: What the customer feels they get for their money; often at stake when “it's too expensive”.
Checking resolution: Verifying the objection is truly lifted before moving on (“does that address your concern?”).
Additional sales: Increasing a sale's value with extra products/services (cross-sell, upsell).
Complex sale: A sale involving several decision-makers, a long cycle and high stakes (common in B2B).
True nature of the objection: The real motive behind the stated objection, often different from the words used.