Built by working sales operators, this glossary covers the methodologies, roles, and metrics you hear on a modern revenue team. Where a term maps to something DealMentor does, we say so.
MEDDICSPINChallengerGap SellingSandlerBANTICPCRMFractional CROConversation IntelligenceSales EnablementSales PlaybookDiscovery CallObjection HandlingPipelineWeighted ForecastSDRAECold CallingAI Sales RoleplayRep CertificationQualified MeetingWin RateSales Cycle
- MEDDIC
- A B2B sales qualification framework for complex deals: Metrics, Economic buyer, Decision criteria, Decision process, Identify pain, and Champion. It tells a rep what they still need to learn before a deal can realistically close. A good CRM with a CRO inside reads a deal and flags which of these are missing.
- SPIN Selling
- A questioning method (from Neil Rackham) that moves a buyer through Situation, Problem, Implication, and Need-payoff questions, so the buyer articulates the cost of their problem before you ever pitch a solution.
- Challenger Sale
- An approach where the strongest reps teach the buyer something new about their own business, tailor the message to the person, and take control of the conversation, rather than simply building rapport and waiting.
- Gap Selling
- Selling the distance between a buyer's current state and their desired state. The gap is the sale; the product is only how the buyer crosses it. Reps who quantify the gap win more than reps who list features.
- Sandler Selling
- A method built on uncovering pain first, qualifying hard on budget and decision process, and refusing to chase a deal that is not real. The buyer and seller agree up front on what happens next.
- BANT
- A lightweight qualification checklist: Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline. A fast filter for whether a lead deserves an account executive's time, best used as a starting point rather than a full discovery.
- ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)
- The precise type of company and buyer most likely to buy quickly and succeed with your product, defined by firmographics, role, and pain. A sharp ICP is the single highest-leverage input to a sales team's targeting.
- CRM
- Customer Relationship Management software: the system of record for pipeline, contacts, activity, and tasks. Most CRMs store what happened. DealMentor is a CRM with a real CRO inside that also reads each deal and hands back the next move.
- Fractional CRO
- A part-time Chief Revenue Officer who sets sales strategy, builds the playbook, and coaches the team without the cost of a full-time executive. See fractional CRO vs DealMentor for where software fits and where a human still matters.
- Conversation Intelligence
- Software that records, transcribes, and analyzes sales calls to surface what was said, flag deal risk, and coach reps. Gong is the best-known example; see DealMentor vs Gong for the honest difference.
- Sales Enablement
- Equipping reps with the content, training, scripts, and certification they need to sell consistently and ramp faster. Compare the enablement approach in DealMentor vs Mindtickle.
- Sales Playbook
- The documented plays, scripts, qualification criteria, and process a team runs, so every rep sells the same proven way. DealMentor generates a full playbook from a short intake, then keeps it current.
- Discovery Call
- The first substantive sales conversation, used to uncover the buyer's pain, fit, budget, and buying process before pitching. A strong discovery call does far more listening than talking.
- Objection Handling
- Responding to a buyer's concerns about price, timing, risk, or a competitor in a way that keeps the deal moving. The best responses clarify the real concern first, then answer it in the buyer's own terms.
- Pipeline
- The set of open deals organized by stage, from new to won or lost. It is the forward-looking view of revenue a rep or manager works each week.
- Weighted Forecast
- Total open pipeline value discounted by each stage's historical win probability, giving a realistic revenue estimate rather than a best case. DealMentor's CRM calculates this automatically.
- SDR (Sales Development Rep)
- A rep at the top of the funnel who prospects by call, email, and social to book qualified meetings for account executives. Measured on activity and on meetings that actually convert.
- AE (Account Executive)
- A rep who runs discovery and demos and owns the deal from qualified meeting to close. Measured on win rate, cycle time, and bookings.
- Cold Calling
- Outbound phone calls to prospects with no prior relationship, aimed at starting a conversation and booking a meeting. Still one of the fastest ways to create pipeline when the list and the script are right.
- AI Sales Roleplay
- Practicing a live sales call against a realistic AI buyer that pushes back, so a rep rehearses objections and their opener before dialing a real prospect. DealMentor's Practice-a-Call builds the buyer from your own ICP.
- Rep Certification
- Testing and signing off that a rep can deliver the pitch, handle objections, and follow the process before they go live on real deals. Core to a repeatable team ramp.
- Qualified Meeting
- A meeting that actually took place with a prospect matching the ideal customer profile and showing a real, relevant need. The unit many outbound and BPO engagements are measured and paid on.
- Win Rate
- The percentage of deals won out of all deals that reached a close, won or lost. A core measure of sales effectiveness and of whether the team is working the right deals.
- Sales Cycle
- The time it takes a deal to move from first touch to closed. Tracking it helps you forecast and spot deals that are stalling before they die.
See the terms in action
DealMentor is a CRM with a real CRO inside: it reads every deal, writes the script, certifies the rep, and hands back the next move. 20 AI sales tools plus a live fractional CRO, on every plan.
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