Revenue engineering glossary
The vocabulary of people who build and run sales machines. Each entry starts with a plain definition and then explains what it means in the day-to-day of a sales operation.
Sales operations terms
- What is a sales machineA sales machine is a sales operation built as a predictable system: known inputs, a defined process and measurable revenue output. Here's what that means.
- What is RevOps (Revenue Operations)RevOps is the function that aligns marketing, sales and customer success under one revenue operation, with integrated processes, data and tools.
- Predictable revenue (revenue predictability)Predictable revenue means estimating future revenue with a known margin of error, based on your pipeline, conversion rates and sales cycle. Here's how.
- What is a sales pipelineA sales pipeline is a view of all open opportunities spread across the stages of your sales process, each with an associated value and probability.
- What is conversion rateConversion rate is the percentage of opportunities that move from one stage to the next. How to calculate it by stage and why the overall rate hides the bottleneck.
- What is CAC (customer acquisition cost)CAC is the total cost of winning a new customer: marketing plus sales spend divided by the number of new customers in the period. How to calculate and read it.
- What is attributionAttribution is the process of identifying which channels and campaigns generated each sale. Models, where attribution breaks and how to preserve the source.
- What is sales enablementSales enablement gives your sales team the content, process and tools to sell better. Learn what it is, what it isn't and how to measure the results.
- What is inside salesInside sales is selling remotely, with no in-person visits. Learn what it is, how it differs from telemarketing and field sales, and when the model makes sense.
- What is B2B prospectingActively reaching companies with the right profile before they come looking for you. Learn about inbound, outbound, ICP and why the list beats the script.
- What is a sales commission planSales commission is how your team gets paid for results. Learn the common models, the side effects of each one and why the plan needs to be simple.
- What is a sales funnelThe stages between first contact and close. Learn what a sales funnel is for, why it narrows and how to use it to forecast revenue.
- What is an AI agentAn AI agent is a system that understands a request, decides the next step and acts in other systems. How it differs from a chatbot, sales examples and limits.
- What is GEOGEO is preparing your site and content to be used and cited by ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and AI Overviews. How it works, how it differs from SEO and its limits.
- What is an LLMAn LLM is the language model behind ChatGPT, Gemini and other assistants. What it does well, where it gets things wrong and how it fits into sales, support and marketing.
- What is RAGRAG is the technique that makes AI check your company's documents before answering. How it works, why it reduces made-up answers and where it's used in sales.
- What is an AI copilotAn AI copilot is an assistant that works alongside a person without acting on its own: it summarizes conversations, suggests next steps and drafts proposals.
- What is generative AIGenerative AI creates text, images and audio from a prompt. How it works, where it pays off in marketing, sales and customer service, and what to watch out for.
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