Sales terms, explained plainly.
38 terms you will hear in sales, each with a one-line definition, what it looks like on a real call, and where to go deeper.
A
Account executive (AE)
The salesperson who owns a deal from a qualified conversation through to the signed agreement.
In teams that split the work, an SDR or BDR books the meeting and the account executive runs discovery, the demonstration, the proposal and the close. In small companies one person often does all of it. The skill that separates good AEs is usually discovery, not presentation.
Active listening
Listening that the buyer can see: follow-up questions on what they actually said, and short recaps they can correct.
Nodding along does not count on a phone call. Listening becomes visible when your next question uses their words, and when you summarise a point and ask whether you have it right. It also means letting the answer change your view.
Example“So the problem isn’t the number of leads, it’s that nobody calls them back the same day. Have I got that right?”
Appointment setter
A seller whose job is to book a qualified call for someone else, usually a closer, rather than to make the sale themselves.
Common in high-ticket and agency sales. The setter’s success is a booked call with the right person who turns up, so the skills are the opening, fast qualification and a clear, specific next step.
Assumptive close
A close that proceeds as if the decision has already been made, asking about the details of going ahead rather than whether to.
Used well, it simply reflects a buyer who has already signalled yes. Used on a buyer who has not, it feels like a trick and invites resistance. It belongs at the end of a conversation where the need and the fit are both clear.
Example“Shall we start you on the monthly plan, then?”
B
BANT
A qualification checklist: Budget, Authority, Need and Timing.
Useful as a list of things you should know before a deal can close, and a poor script for the start of a call. Asking about budget in the first minute tells the buyer you care about their money before their problem. Most sellers learn BANT facts through discovery instead.
BDR (business development representative)
An early-stage seller who creates new opportunities, usually through outbound calls and emails.
Where companies use both titles, the BDR tends to prospect outbound and the SDR tends to follow up inbound leads, though many use the names interchangeably. Either way, the job is opening conversations and booking qualified meetings.
Brush-off
A reflex response designed to end the call quickly, such as “not interested” or “we’re fine”, rather than a considered objection.
A brush-off is usually said before the buyer knows what you are offering. Depending on your style, one honest question can be fair. It is not the same as a removal request: if the buyer asks you to stop calling, you stop.
Buying signal
Something a buyer says or asks that suggests they are picturing themselves using what you sell.
Questions about start dates, set-up, contract terms or who else would use it are the classic signals. The mistake is to keep presenting after one appears. A buying signal is a cue to check readiness and ask.
Example“How long would it take to get this running?”
C
Close
The point in a sales conversation where you ask for the decision, and the decision itself.
Every selling style closes; they disagree about when and how hard. A good close follows from a need the buyer has stated and a fit you have explained honestly. A booked follow-up with no decision is not a close, it is a postponement.
Cold call
A sales call to someone who has not asked to hear from you and does not know you.
The first ten seconds decide whether there is a second minute. What works is short and relevant: who you are, one plain reason for calling, a small question, then a pause. Many countries regulate cold calling, so check the rules where you sell.
D
Decision maker
The person who can actually say yes to the purchase, which is not always the person you are speaking to.
In small businesses it is often the owner, sometimes with a partner. In larger ones it can be a committee. Ask early and neutrally who else is involved, so “I need to check with someone” does not arrive as a surprise at the end.
Deliberate practice
Practice aimed at one specific weakness, with fast feedback and repeated attempts, rather than simply doing more of the job.
Making a hundred real calls is experience; rehearsing the same objection ten times with feedback after each attempt is deliberate practice. Research suggests its effect varies a lot by field, but a narrow target and quick feedback are what make practice sessions comparable.
Discovery
The part of a sales conversation where you find out how the buyer works today, what is not working and what it costs them.
Good discovery starts from what actually happens now, follows concrete details and ends with a summary the buyer agrees with. It is where the pitch is earned: a recommendation built on a checked understanding lands; one built on assumptions does not.
Disqualification
Deciding, openly and with the buyer, that your offer is not a fit for them.
It sounds like losing a sale, but it saves both sides time and often earns respect. Some styles use it deliberately: offering the buyer an easy way out makes it safe for them to say what they really think.
Do-not-call request
A buyer asking you to stop contacting them; it ends the conversation and is not an objection to handle.
Confirm you will remove them, apologise briefly for the interruption and end the call. If they soften a moment later, the removal still stands. Many countries have legal rules about this; check the ones that apply where you sell.
F
Follow-up
Any contact after the first conversation, meant to move a decision forward.
A useful follow-up refers to a real conversation, adds one thing of value and makes the next step obvious, including the step of saying no. “Just checking in” gives the buyer nothing to respond to.
G
Gatekeeper
The person who answers before the decision maker, such as a receptionist or assistant, and decides whether you get through.
Treat gatekeepers as people with a job, not obstacles. Say who you are and why you are calling as plainly as you would to the decision maker. Tricks to get past them tend to work once and poison the account.
I
Isolating an objection
Checking whether the objection you are hearing is the only thing in the way before you answer it.
If price is the concern, it is worth knowing whether solving price would settle it. Otherwise you answer one objection and the next appears. Asked gently, it also tells the buyer you are taking the concern seriously.
Example“If the cost worked for you, is there anything else that would stop you going ahead?”
N
Next step
A specific, agreed action after a call, with a purpose, an owner and a time.
“Let’s touch base next week” is not a next step. “Thursday at 10, with your business partner, to go through the pricing” is. The best next step is the smallest one that answers the buyer’s remaining question.
O
Objection
A reason the buyer gives for not going ahead, which may or may not be the real reason.
The same words can hide different concerns: “it’s too expensive” can mean no budget, a cheaper comparison or doubt that the problem is worth solving. Handling an objection starts with finding which one you are facing.
Objection handling
Responding to a buyer’s hesitation by understanding the real concern and answering it honestly.
Across styles the skeleton is similar: acknowledge, clarify what the concern really is, answer it with real facts, and ask again or accept a clear no. Where styles differ is tone and how hard they push.
P
Pain point
A specific problem the buyer has, described in their terms, that your offer could help with.
“Growth” is not a pain point; “we miss calls while we’re on site and those customers ring the next firm” is. Pain points come from discovery, and the best ones have a cost the buyer can put a number on.
Pipeline
All the deals a seller or team is working on, grouped by how far each has progressed.
A healthy pipeline has enough early conversations to replace the deals that will be lost. It is also where vague next steps show up: deals that have not moved in weeks usually lacked a real one.
Pitch
Your explanation of what you offer and why it matters to this buyer.
A pitch given before discovery is a guess. A pitch given after it can be short: one capability, tied to a problem the buyer described, with honest limits. It should sound like an answer, not a speech.
Price anchoring
Setting a reference point that shapes how a price is judged, such as the cost of the problem or of the alternative.
A price looks different next to the cost of doing nothing than next to a cheaper competitor. Honest anchoring uses the buyer’s own numbers from discovery. Invented comparisons or inflated “original prices” are not anchoring, they are misleading.
Q
Qualification
Finding out whether a buyer has a real need, the ability to buy and a reason to act, before investing more time.
Qualification protects both sides. It usually happens during discovery rather than as a checklist, and some styles make it explicit, telling the buyer early that you will both find out whether this is a fit.
R
Rapport
Enough trust and ease between buyer and seller that the buyer will tell you what they really think.
On a sales call, rapport comes less from small talk than from relevance, a calm pace and showing you listened. Forced familiarity, such as pretending to know someone, destroys it.
Reframe
Offering the buyer a different way to look at their objection, without dismissing it.
A reframe works when it is true and uses the buyer’s own facts: price compared with the cost of the problem rather than with zero, for example. It fails when it sounds like a trick or ignores what they said.
Risk reversal
A term that reduces what the buyer stands to lose by saying yes, such as no long contract or the ability to cancel.
It answers the fear behind many objections. It only works, and is only honest, if your offer genuinely has the term. An invented guarantee is the fastest way to turn a sceptical buyer into a hostile one.
S
Sales cycle
The time and steps from the first conversation to a decision.
Some sales close on the first call; some take months and several people. Knowing your typical cycle tells you what a realistic next step looks like, and when a “let me think about it” is normal or a sign the deal is stalling.
Sales roleplay
Practising a sales conversation with someone, or something, playing the buyer.
Traditional roleplay uses a manager or colleague, which is awkward and hard to schedule. AI sales roleplay puts an AI in the buyer’s seat, so you can rehearse one moment out loud as many times as you need and get feedback after each attempt.
SDR (sales development representative)
An early-stage seller who qualifies leads and books meetings for account executives.
The SDR role is often where people start in sales. The day is mostly opening conversations and qualifying quickly, so openings, brush-offs and asking for a specific meeting are the skills that matter most.
Stall
An objection that delays the decision rather than refusing it, such as “I need to think about it” or “call me next month”.
A stall usually hides a specific concern the buyer has not said out loud. Asking warmly what they would be thinking over often brings it to the surface. If the delay is real, agree a specific time rather than an open-ended one.
T
Talk-to-listen ratio
How much of a call the seller spends talking compared with the buyer.
There is no magic number, but a seller who talks most of the call rarely learns enough to close it. Listening back to a recording, or reading a practice transcript, is the quickest way to see your own ratio.
Active listening in salesTurn sales call feedback into one change
Tonality
How you sound: pace, pitch, pauses and emphasis, as distinct from the words you say.
The same sentence can sound certain, pushy or apologetic depending on delivery. Changing one delivery choice at a time, such as a pause before your question, is easier to practise than a whole new script.
Trial close
A question that checks how ready the buyer is, without asking for the final decision.
It tells you whether to keep exploring or to ask. The answer is useful either way: a hesitant reply surfaces the objection while there is still time to discuss it.
Example“Based on what we’ve talked about, does this sound like it would help?”
V
Value selling
Explaining what you sell in terms of a problem the buyer described and what solving it is worth to them.
Value is relevance plus accuracy: one capability tied to the buyer’s own words, honestly scoped, beats a complete product tour. It depends on discovery, because you cannot explain value in the buyer’s terms without knowing them.
Knowing the words is the easy part
Practise the moments behind them out loud with Coach Selly: the opening, the discovery, the objection and the close.
Social proof
Evidence that other people like the buyer have chosen, and been satisfied with, what you sell.
Real, checkable social proof is persuasive. Made-up reviews, customer names or results are not social proof; they are false claims, and they are exactly what a sceptical buyer is afraid of.
“How do I know this is legit?”