A ‘call to action’ is an instruction given to prospective customers. An example is visitors of a company’s website may be prompted to sign up for a product demonstration. Also internal linking in a website is also a CTA. These leads can then be followed up by sales teams and there is a higher likelihood of a sale being closed.
Campaign
B2B marketing strategies are planned in advance. Campaigns can include using a company’s marketing copy or creating new marketing copy for distribution. Materials can be posted via specific channels at certain times over a defined duration of time. The aim of a B2B marketing campaign could be to increase awareness of a company’s brand or drive sales.
Challenger Sales Model
The Challenger Sales Model is a sales strategy in which the seller teaches the sales prospects. In this there can be discussions or debates, and the seller demonstrates they know their pain points and solutions well. This approach can be used in some circumstances to close more deals.
Champion
AKA Sales Champion, Customer Champion or Consumer Champion. A prospective customer who actively recommends a company’s services in their company. Their influence and recommendations can close a deal on the seller’s behalf. The champion can influence winning deals within their organisation when the seller is absent.
Channel Partner
A channel partner is a third party company who sells another company’s products. The channel partner markets and sells products using their infrastructure. Channel partners can sell on behalf of manufacturers/vendors for example.
Channel Sales
This is the model or method of selling via a channel partner. Instead of selling products directly to the consumer, a company uses a third party company known as a channel partner. The channel partner can market, sell and distribute the products themselves. This is common with manufacturing companies, such as pharmaceutical companies who work with wholesalers.
Churn Rate
AKA Rate of Attrition or Customer Churn. This is a measure of the number of customers who are lost. This can be found by establishing the number of customers who stop using a product/service, depending on the item. Also finding the number of customers who stop purchasing the product/service can be used as well.
These numbers are measured over a certain period of time to establish the rate, e.g. yearly churn rate. If the churn rate is greater than customer acquisition, the productivity from selling the product/service is in decline.
Click-through Rate (CTR)
This is found by establishing the percentage of people who click on a website link that appears in a search engine results page (SERP). The number of appearances of the website link in search engine results is known as the impressions. The percentage of ‘clicks’ on that website divided by the number of ‘impressions’, as a percentage, measures the click-through rate.
Organic click-through rate refers to the number of website visitors who clicked on an organic link. Organic links are web pages which appear in a search engine results page without being a paid advertisement.
Click-to-Call
AKA Click-to-Dial, Click-to-Chat, Click-to-Talk, Click-to-Text. Click-to-call refers to an online tool which websites can use. It is a button which prospective customers can click to talk with a sales rep for example. This digital technology can help close deals by providing instant support, answers and good customer service.
Client
Someone who pays for a service from a company or individual. This can be on a continued basis, unlike a customer who may make a one-off purchase. Clients usually have agreements with the sellers, such as a financial, contractual agreement for a set period of time.
Closed Won
This is the stage in the sales funnel where a sales opportunity has agreed to become a customer. Contracts are then signed and the opportunity becomes a customer of the company. It is the opposite of ‘closed lost’.
Closed-ended Questions
Questions which are close-ended are formulated to encourage finite responses. An example of this type of questioning could include “How long have you used this?”. Questions that entice ‘yes or no’ answers are also closed-ended. This method of questioning helps to establish someone’s exact position on a matter.
Cold
A type of communication where there has not been prior communication between two parties. Examples include cold calls or cold emails. Cold leads have not shown prior interest in the company via means like visiting their website. The aim of the outreach could be to set up a further call to discuss their needs.
Commission
A type of payment which is paid to employees in some roles such as sales representatives. The payment is often a certain percentage of a deal which was closed by that employee.
Comparative Advertising
A marketing strategy in which a company’s product or service is compared with that of a competitor’s to show more benefit for the item being marketed.
Compensation
This is the total amount of pay an employee of a company can receive. The pay includes their base salary, any commission payments, and other payments which they receive such as bonuses.
Contact
AKA Sales Contact. A contact is a sales lead who has engaged with the seller’s company. They may have had contact directly or via the company’s content for example.
Content
Content describes the work that a company publishes as their marketing material. It can take many forms such as long-form copy in a website blog, or a video. It is useful for generating interest for a company, increasing engagement and generating leads.
Conversion
A conversion occurs when a sales lead performs a desired action, such as paying for a company’s product. It can be measured by dividing the number of people who completed the action, by the total number of website visitors, in a given time. The conversion rate is a metric which can track the success of a campaign. The conversion path describes how a sales lead converts to being a customer.
Cost-per-X
Different payments can be made to purchase advertisements on the internet. Cost-per-click (CPC) is the cost of having a paid advertisement as pay-per click (PPC), divided by the number of clicks. Cost-per-impression (CPI) is per appearance of the ad.
Cross-selling
A sales strategy where another product or service is sold alongside another sale. Such as offering insurance for the main product which is being sold.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
This is the total costs associated with obtaining a new paying customer for a company. It can include the costs of marketing, equipment, packaging, etc.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
Customer lifetime value is the amount of money which is expected to be paid by an entity on your products or services over their lifetime.
Customer Loyalty
This is a metric in customer success. It is defined by the continued use of a product or service by a customer, due to positive outcomes being experienced by the buyer.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
CRM is technology which contains information of interactions between a company and their clients/sales leads. It is an effective way to streamline all communications with customers.
Customer Success
This is a department which deals with managing existing customers to ensure continued loyalty, as well as promoting more products and services which they may need. Roles include Customer Success Representative or Manager.