Verkaufs-Glossar

An inside sales rep is responsible for using inside sales methods to reach out to prospects and close deals. They identify potential clients, understand their needs, and offer tailored solutions without the need for in-person meetings. Instead, inside sales reps leverage technology to build relationships and close deals.

Just in time is a production strategy that strives to improve productivity and reduce waste by manufacturing products only as they are needed for sale or use.

Key accounts are big spenders or elite clients as defined by the amount they spend or their brand recognition and size. Essentially, it is a category of prospects or current customers that have a larger impact on a businesses’ bottom line. Companies often spend extra time and resources to increase conversion rates and reduce churn.

Leistungskennzahlen (KPIs) sind eine Art von Leistungskennzahlen, die dazu dienen, Fortschritte im Hinblick auf vorab festgelegte Ziele zu messen, zu verfolgen und zu vergleichen. Zu den gängigen Vertriebs-KPIs zählen Verkaufschancen, Umsatzzahlen, Verkaufsvolumen, Lead-Volumen, Gewinnmarge, Website-Traffic, Konversionsraten und E-Mail-Öffnungsraten.

A lead is a person or company who has shown interest in your product or service. Leads may be attracted through your website, custom landing pages, in-person interactions, or even through word-of-mouth.

Lead generation (lead gen) is the process of getting people to show interest in your product and gathering their contact information by encouraging them to fill out a form, schedule a call on your calendar, or request a free trial.

Lead management is a strategy sales teams use to understand which stage of the pipeline their deals are in. This tracking helps sales teams know whether a lead or prospect is on a path to closing.

Lead nurturing is the process of developing relationships with leads that aren't quite ready to buy your product or service. They've likely followed you on social media or subscribed to your newsletter, but they aren’t quite ready to make a purchase.

Lead scoring is a method used by sales and marketing teams to prioritize potential customers or leads based on the number and type of interactions they've had with your brand and how likely they are to turn into customers.

Lead Velocity Rate (LVR) is a critical metric that estimates the real-time growth of qualified leads that your business gets month over month. It essentially shows a 1,000 foot view of the company’s pipeline growth and is often considered the best predictor of future revenue.

A letter of intent (LOI) is a formal document expressing an intention to do something, especially between two parties. It typically contains provisions regarding the business relationship between the parties involved and is often used as a precursor to a more formal contract.

Loss aversion is the observation that human beings experience losses asymmetrically more severely than equivalent gains. It signifies the emotional asymmetry experienced when comparing losses to gains of similar value. In simpler terms, the distress of losing something is stronger than the happiness of gaining something of the same value.

A Leading Performance Indicator (LPI) is a metric that predicts future outcomes or performance, offering insights before results are fully realized. Unlike lagging indicators, which reflect past results, LPIs provide an early indication of future performance.

Margin is the money borrowed from a broker to purchase an investment and is the difference between the total value of an investment and the loan amount. It is often expressed as a percentage to show the proportion of profit relative to the selling price.

Ein Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) ist ein Lead, bei dem Sie aufgrund bestimmter Verhaltensweisen im Zusammenhang mit Ihren Marketingmaßnahmen davon ausgehen, dass er mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit zum Kunden wird. Dabei kann es sich um jemanden handeln, der auf eine Anzeige geklickt hat, seine Kontaktdaten im Austausch für einen Inhalt angegeben hat oder regelmäßig mit Ihrer Marke in den sozialen Medien interagiert.

Der mittlere Trichterbereich (MOFU) ist die Phase des Verkaufstrichters, in der potenzielle Kunden auf Ihr Produkt oder Ihre Dienstleistung aufmerksam werden und wahrscheinlich Interesse an Ihrem Angebot entwickeln.

A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is the version of a new product that allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least amount of effort. It contains only essential features to address the core problem it aims to solve, enabling rapid market entry and learning.

Monthly recurring revenue, often shortened to MRR, is basically the total amount of money a subscription-based business can expect to receive every month from its customers.

NPS is a customer loyalty metric that measures how likely customers are to recommend your product or service to others.

Omnichannel sales refers to the coordinated selling of products and services across multiple channels, like email, phone, website chat, social media, and more. With omnichannel sales, these efforts are synchronized across different platforms so the conversation continues seamlessly even as the channels change.

Customer or client onboarding is the process of helping a new customer get started with your product or service after their purchase.

Operational CRM refers to services that allow organizations to take good care of their customers. This aspect of customer relationship management provides support for different business processes including sales, service and marketing.

An opportunity in sales describes a potential customer or client who is in contact with your sales team and who's very likely to become a paying customer—because they have a need and have shown an interest in using your product or service to meet that need.

Outbound sales (or sales outreach) is the process of actively seeking out and selling to potential customers, rather than waiting for them to reach out to you.

Outside sales involves sales representatives meeting potential clients in person, outside of the office environment, to sell products or services. These professionals travel to various locations, such as the client’s place of business, to engage in face-to-face interactions, presentations, and negotiations.

Overcoming objections is a key skill for sales reps. It involves responding to a customer objection in a way that continues to move the deal forward. The right objection handling techniques let you address the prospect's concerns successfully, no matter where they come in the sales process.

A sales pipeline is a visual representation of the sales process from start to finish. It's typically used by sales managers to help them understand where their deals are in the sales process and to identify any potential roadblocks or bottlenecks—so they can take action to keep the pipeline moving.

Ein Produkt-Champion ist eine Person, die ein Produkt als wertvoll erachtet und deren Engagement im Vergleich zu anderen Nutzern überdurchschnittlich hoch ist. Ein Champion erkennt die wichtigsten Funktionen eines Produkts und unterstützt dessen Entwicklung und Bewertung.

Product-Led Growth (PLG) is a business strategy where the product serves as the main vehicle for growth and customer acquisition. In PLG, companies focus on creating a highly valuable and user-friendly product, often offering freemium models or free trials to attract users.

Die Gewinnmarge gibt an, in welchem Umfang ein Unternehmen oder eine Geschäftstätigkeit Gewinne erzielt; sie ergibt sich im Wesentlichen aus der Division des Gewinns durch den Umsatz. Ausgedrückt in Prozent gibt die Gewinnmarge an, wie viele Cent Gewinn pro Dollar Umsatz erzielt wurden.

A prospect (or sales prospect) is an individual who'd likely have an interest in your products or services because of certain attributes they have.

Sales prospecting is the process of researching and identifying potential customers (prospects) with the goal of selling to them.

In sales, qualification (or lead qualification) is the process of determining whether a prospective customer has the budget, authority, need, and willingness to buy your product or service.

A qualified lead is a lead that has been deemed likely to result in business by both marketing and sales teams. A qualified lead typically exhibits certain characteristics like scheduling a call or submitting your contact form.

Qualifying a prospect means to determine whether or not someone who is interested in your services is a good fit as a customer. Qualified sales leads have a higher return on investment and higher close rate.

A quota is the specific amount of sales a salesperson is expected to achieve in a given period.

A referral is an act of sending business to another person or company, usually in return for a commission—or for free. Referral sales is a strategy that reps may use to generate new sales leads from existing customers.

A Request for Information (RFI) is a standard business process used by customers to collect written information regarding the capabilities of various suppliers to better inform buying decisions.

A request for proposal (RFP) is a business document that announces a project, describes it, and solicits bids from qualified contractors to complete it. Most organizations prefer to launch their projects using RFPs, and government agencies nearly always use them.

Return on investment (ROI) is a performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency or profitability of an investment or compare the efficiency of a number of different investments.

Sales automation uses software to eliminate repetitive, manual tasks and automates them to allow you and your sales team to focus more on closing sales and getting paid.

Unter Produktbündelung versteht man das Angebot mehrerer Produkte oder Dienstleistungen als ein kombiniertes Produkt- oder Dienstleistungspaket. Bei der Bündelpreisgestaltung verkaufen Unternehmen ein Paket oder eine Reihe von Waren oder Dienstleistungen zu einem niedrigeren Preis, als sie verlangen würden, wenn der Kunde alle diese Produkte oder Dienstleistungen einzeln erwerben würde.

A sales call is an unsolicited phone call that a salesperson makes to a prospective customer to generate business. Sales calls allow sales reps to convey important information about a good or service that they hope will hook the customer and result in a sale.

Sales coaching is the process of developing and mentoring a salesperson through one-on-one relationships with a manager or peer.

A sales cycle is the process potential buyers go through before buying from a business. It's also the process the business uses to sell its product or service to customers. For many (if not most) businesses, a sales lifecycle consists of four main stages: prospecting, outreach, closing, and follow-up.

A sales dashboard is a data visualization tool that portrays your most important sales metrics in a way that is easy to understand. Sales dashboards can be created for a variety of sales department matters, such as performance, conversions, and activities completed.

A sales development representative (SDR) is a professional that generates new leads and meets quotas for their business. They may also be responsible for qualifying leads, managing a sales pipeline, and reporting their progress to a sales manager.

A sales dialer is a specialized software or application used in sales to automate the process of dialing prospective clients’ phone numbers. It increases the efficiency of sales representatives by automatically dialing numbers, filtering out unanswered calls, voicemails, and busy signals, and connecting reps to live respondents quickly.

Sales enablement is the practice of providing the tools, templates, information, and support that salespeople need to be more effective and successful in their roles. This can include everything from training and education to technology and data.

A sales funnel is a customer-focused model that businesses use to guide prospects through the sales process—with the goal of eventually closing the sale. Its physical representation looks like a funnel, with the top of the funnel representing less qualified prospects and the bottom of the funnel representing more qualified prospects that are likely to convert.

A sales kickoff meeting is an event designed to bring your sales team together to share best practices, product updates, new sales strategies, and get everyone re-invigorated to work hard and bring in new sales.

A sales lead is a person or business who may eventually become a client. Sales lead also refers to the data that identifies an entity as a potential buyer of a product or service.

Eine Vertriebsmethodik ist ein systematischer, wiederholbarer Ansatz, den Vertriebsteams anwenden, um einen Interessenten durch die Vertriebspipeline zu führen und ihn schließlich als Kunden zu gewinnen. Sie beschreibt die Grundsätze, Vorgehensweisen und Prozesse, die für eine effektive Interaktion mit potenziellen Kunden zum Einsatz kommen.

Sales objections are expressions or responses from prospective buyers indicating hesitancy or refusal to purchase a product or service. They are barriers to sales that arise due to various concerns such as price, product functionality, or timing.

Sales operations describe the processes and resources that are necessary to sell a product or service. The sales operations team in a company normally handles the purchase and implementation of tools, setting up automation workflows, outlining sales territories, building incentive programs, and more.

A sales pitch is a short, persuasive speech or message that is typically used to convince an audience to buy a product or service.

A sales plan template provides an outline for a sales plan. It makes it easier to describe your sales objectives, target audience, and specific steps, strategies, and tactics your business will use to hit sales and revenue goals.

Eine Verkaufspräsentation ist eine formelle Kommunikationsmethode, bei der ein Verkäufer einem potenziellen Käufer ein Produkt oder eine Dienstleistung vorstellt, um einen Verkauf abzuschließen. Die Präsentation ist darauf zugeschnitten, die Eigenschaften und Vorteile des Produkts hervorzuheben und dabei auf die spezifischen Bedürfnisse und Probleme des potenziellen Kunden einzugehen. Sie zielt darauf ab, den Interessenten davon zu überzeugen, dass die angebotene Lösung die beste Option ist, um sein Problem zu lösen oder seinen Bedarf zu decken.

Ein Vertriebsprozess ist ein System, mit dem die Interaktionen mit Kunden und Interessenten verwaltet und diese durch den Verkaufstrichter geführt werden. Er beschreibt jeden Schritt von der Akquise bis zum Geschäftsabschluss. Zu den üblichen Schritten im Vertriebsprozess gehören die Akquise, das Kontaktmanagement, das Opportunity-Management, das Deal-Management und das Aktivitätsmanagement.

Die Vertriebsproduktivität ist das Verhältnis von Effektivität (Ergebnissen) zu Effizienz (Einsatz). Einfach ausgedrückt bedeutet dies, die Vertriebsergebnisse zu maximieren und gleichzeitig den Ressourceneinsatz – wie Kosten, Zeit und Aufwand – zu minimieren.

A sales qualified lead (SQL) is a potential customer who has been vetted by the sales team as being ready to buy. Usually, they've formally asked about the company's products or services and are now looking to make a purchase.

Ein Vertriebsgebiet ist ein geografisches Gebiet, eine Branche oder eine Kundengruppe, die einem bestimmten Vertriebsmitarbeiter oder Vertriebsteam zugewiesen ist.

Sales training is the process of developing the skills of your sales force to create more and better sales opportunities and close higher profit deals.

Sandler training is a sales training methodology developed by David Sandler in the late 1960s. It focuses on a consultative selling approach that emphasizes the importance of building relationships, qualifying leads effectively, and closing deals in an efficient manner.

Segmentation is the process of dividing an email or contact list into smaller groups so you can send more personalized messages to each group. Common attributes used for segmentation include things like geography, age, gender, interests, industry, or past purchase history.

The Self-Service SaaS Model empowers end users by providing them with resources, guides and other materials to help them find solutions on their own instead of relying on a salesperson.

"Selling is a Numbers Game" refers to the principle that the outcome of sales efforts is largely determined by the quantity of sales activities. It underscores the idea that the more outreach activities—such as calls, emails, and meetings—a salesperson engages in, the higher the likelihood of securing more sales. This term highlights the importance of both volume and persistence in achieving sales success, although quality interactions remain essential.

„Selling the Sizzle“ ist eine Verkaufstechnik, bei der nicht die Produktmerkmale, sondern die Vorteile des Produkts im Vordergrund stehen. Bei diesem Ansatz zielen die Vertriebs- und Marketingmaßnahmen darauf ab, den emotionalen Nutzen hervorzuheben und zu zeigen, wie das Produkt den Lebensstil des Käufers verbessern, ein Problem lösen oder ein bestimmtes Gefühl vermitteln kann, anstatt lediglich eine Liste von Merkmalen aufzulisten.

A sales sequence or cadence is a series of touchpoints with a lead over time. The goal of a sequence is to move prospects through your sales pipeline and convert them into paying customers. This may include touchpoints via email, text message, or phone calls.

Ein Service Level Agreement (SLA) ist ein Vertrag zwischen einem Dienstleister und seinen Kunden, in dem die Einzelheiten der zu erbringenden Dienstleistungen festgelegt sind. Darin werden häufig Details wie die Dauer der Dienstleistung, die Verfügbarkeit, die Reaktionszeit und die Sanktionen bei Nichteinhaltung der Vereinbarung geregelt.

A Small to medium-sized business (SMB) is typically a company with a small- to medium-sized workforce. Most people characterize small to medium businesses as organizations with less than 1000 staff members and below $1 billion in annual revenue.

“Smile and Dial” is the act of cold-calling with a positive and bright tone of voice and a smile that communicates warmth and trustworthiness over the phone.

Social selling is the use of social media platforms (like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter) to interact with prospects and customers to generate leads, nurture relationships, and grow sales.

Software as a Service (SaaS) is a software distribution model in which applications are hosted by a provider and made available to customers over the Internet. SaaS is typically delivered on a pay-as-you-go basis, or via a monthly or annual subscription.

Solution selling is a sales strategy that focuses on understanding a customer's specific challenges and then offering tailored solutions or products to address those needs, emphasizing the benefits of the solution rather than just the features of a product. It aims to provide comprehensive, customer-centric solutions that solve specific problems.

SPIN selling is a sales methodology developed by Neil Rackham, the author of the best-selling book SPIN Selling.

A System of Record (SOR) is the official record where important information is stored in an organization. It's the go-to place where you can find accurate and up-to-date data about things like customer names, product prices, employee salaries, or inventory quantities.

A talk track is a sales script or series of questions that help to keep a conversation with a prospective customer on track.

Target account selling is a B2B strategy that zeroes in on the most valuable prospects by focusing on factors like deal value, ideal customer persona, industry, revenue sources, pain points, buying signals, and budget. The goal of all that targeting is to generate more revenue with fewer but bigger customer accounts.

A "tire-kicker" is a term used in business to describe a potential customer who shows interest in a product or service but rarely commits to a purchase. They consume time and resources by asking questions and engaging in discussions without buying.

„Top of the Funnel“ (TOFU) bezeichnet die erste Phase der Customer Journey, in der potenzielle Kunden auf eine Marke aufmerksam werden und nach Informationen suchen, um ein Problem oder einen Bedarf zu lösen. In dieser Phase liegt der Schwerpunkt darauf, informative Inhalte bereitzustellen, die diesen Personen helfen, ihre Herausforderungen und Optionen zu verstehen, anstatt für ein bestimmtes Produkt oder eine bestimmte Dienstleistung zu werben.

Der Total Addressable Market (TAM) bezeichnet das größte Umsatzpotenzial für ein bestimmtes Unternehmen, eine bestimmte Organisation oder ein bestimmtes Geschäft.

Touchpoints are the points of contact between you and your customers. Every time a customer comes into contact with your business, a touchpoint event is created.

Trade shows are events where businesses from a specific industry showcase their products or services to a targeted audience, typically consisting of potential customers, partners, and industry professionals.

A sales trigger is an event in the world of a potential customer that creates an opportunity for you to contact them as a prospect. An external trigger may include a new round of funding, mergers, or a hiring push. These triggers may make it a better time for outbound sales reps to reach out to the company.

Generally, a unicorn is a privately held startup company with a current valuation of US$1 billion or more. It denotes a company that has achieved significant growth, innovation, and market presence, leading to its high valuation.

A unique selling proposition (USP) refers to the unique benefit exhibited by a company, service, product or brand that enables it to stand out from competitors. The unique selling proposition must be a feature that highlights product benefits that are meaningful to consumers.

Unter „Unit Economics“ versteht man die Einnahmen und Kosten eines Unternehmens im Zusammenhang mit einer einzelnen Produktionseinheit. Eine Einheit ist dabei einfach ein eigenständiges, quantifizierbares Element, das das Unternehmen herstellen und verkaufen kann und das sowohl für die Kunden als auch für das Unternehmen einen Mehrwert schafft.

Upselling is a sales technique where a seller encourages a buyer to purchase more expensive items, upgrades, or other add-ons in an attempt to make a more profitable sale.

The user experience (UX) is how a user interacts with and experiences a product, system or service. It includes a person's perceptions of utility, ease of use, and efficiency.

User Interaction refers to the communication between a user and a digital system, such as a website, app, or software. It encompasses all aspects of end-users communications with a company, its products and services.

The user interface (UI) is the point at which human users interact with a computer, website or application. The goal of effective UI is to make the user's experience easy and intuitive, requiring minimum effort on the user's part to receive the maximum desired outcome.

A value gap occurs when there is a difference between the perceived value of a company or product and the actual market value the owner expects to sell it for to make gains.

A value proposition is a statement that describes what makes your company or product different from your competitors. It should be clear, specific, and relevant to your target customer.

Warm calling is the solicitation of a potential customer with whom a sales representative or the company has had some prior contact.

X-Selling, auch Cross-Selling genannt, ist eine Vertriebsstrategie, bei der Unternehmen bestehenden Kunden zusätzliche, ergänzende Produkte oder Dienstleistungen anbieten. Ziel ist es, den Nutzen zu steigern, den Kunden aus einer Geschäftsbeziehung ziehen, und so ihr Gesamterlebnis und ihre Zufriedenheit zu verbessern.

Yield management, also known as revenue management, is a pricing strategy used by businesses to optimize their revenue by adjusting prices for goods or services based on demand and other factors.

Zero-based budgeting (ZBB) is a financial management approach that involves creating budgets from scratch for each budgeting period, rather than using the previous period's budget as a baseline.