The B2B sales glossary
The language of outbound, defined.
Clear, practical definitions of the cold calling, email outreach, lead generation, and sales development terms that actually move pipeline. Written by the team that runs outbound every day.
438 terms and growing · 6 categories · Updated continuously
438
Terms defined
6
Categories
129K+
Meetings behind the advice
10 yrs
Running outbound
Offshore Contact Research
Offshore Contact Research is the process of using specialized teams in lower-cost countries (such as the Philippines or India) to identify, verify,...Offshore List Building
Offshore list building is the practice of using sales research teams based in lower-cost countries (such as the Philippines or India) to identify,...Offshore Sales Outsourcing
Offshore sales outsourcing is the practice of delegating B2B sales development activities, such as prospecting, cold calling, email outreach, and SDR...Onboarding
Onboarding is the structured process of integrating new people and tools into an organization so they reach full productivity quickly. In B2B sales...Onboarding Experience
The onboarding experience is the structured journey a new hire goes through from offer acceptance to full productivity, including training, tools...On-Premise CRM
On-premise CRM (also called on-premises CRM) is customer relationship management software installed and hosted on a company’s own servers and...Onshore Outsourcing
Onshore outsourcing is hiring an external provider located in your own country to handle work, as opposed to offshoring it abroad. In B2B sales...Opener
An opener is the first thing said or written in a conversation or message, meant to grab attention and set the tone. In B2B sales development, the...Open Rates
Open rates measure the percentage of sent emails that recipients actually open. In B2B sales development, open rates are a core deliverability and...Open Rate Sampling
Open Rate Sampling is a testing approach in B2B email outreach where sales teams send emails to a smaller, representative subset of prospects to...Open-to-Reply Percentage
Open-to-Reply Percentage is a cold email performance metric that measures how many recipients reply after opening your email. Calculated as replies...Open Tracking
Open tracking is the process of measuring when a prospect opens a sales email, usually via an invisible tracking pixel that loads when images are...Open Tracking Pixel
An open tracking pixel is a tiny, invisible image (usually 1x1 pixel) embedded in an email to record when the message is opened, a technique used...Opportunity
An opportunity is a qualified potential deal that has a defined need, budget, and buying process and is actively being worked toward a sale. In B2B...Opportunity Management
Opportunity management is the structured process of tracking, prioritizing, and advancing qualified sales deals from first conversation through...Opt-Out Link
An opt-out link (unsubscribe link) is a clearly visible hyperlink in a B2B sales or marketing email that lets recipients stop or reduce future...Outbound Lead Generation
Outbound lead generation is the proactive process of identifying, contacting, and qualifying potential B2B customers who have not yet expressed...Outbound Lead Generation Agency
An outbound lead generation agency is a specialized B2B partner that builds and runs proactive prospecting programs, typically using cold calling,...Outbound Marketing
Outbound marketing is the practice of proactively reaching out to potential buyers rather than waiting for them to come to you. In B2B sales...Outbound Sales
Outbound sales is a proactive B2B selling motion where SDRs, BDRs, and AEs initiate contact with target accounts via cold calls, cold emails, social...Outsourced Account Executive
An outsourced account executive (outsourced AE) is a quota-carrying salesperson, employed by an external provider rather than your company, who...Outsourced B2B Lead Generation
Outsourced B2B lead generation is the practice of hiring an external specialist partner to plan, execute, and optimize outbound prospecting and...Outsourced BDR
An outsourced BDR (Business Development Representative) is a third-party sales professional or team that handles top-of-funnel B2B prospecting,...Outsourced Business Development
Outsourced business development is the practice of hiring a specialized external partner to run core top-of-funnel B2B sales activities, such as...Outsourced Cold Calling
Outsourced cold calling is the practice of hiring a specialized external B2B sales development partner to run your prospecting calls, qualification,...Outsourced Head of Sales
An outsourced Head of Sales is a senior sales leader, typically engaged on a fractional or contract basis through a specialist firm, who owns your...Outsourced Inside Sales
Outsourced inside sales is the practice of hiring a specialized external team to handle remote B2B selling activities such as prospecting, cold...Outsourced Lead Generation
Outsourced lead generation in B2B sales is the practice of partnering with an external specialist firm to research, engage, and qualify prospects on...Outsourced Phone Sales
Outsourced phone sales is the practice of hiring an external B2B sales development partner to run your outbound calling and qualification efforts,...Outsourced Prospecting
Outsourced prospecting is the practice of partnering with an external B2B sales development provider to handle top-of-funnel activities such as...Outsourced Sales
Outsourced sales is the practice of partnering with a specialized third-party provider to manage parts or all of the B2B sales development process,...Outsourced Sales Agency
An outsourced sales agency is a specialized B2B partner that provides external sales development resources, such as SDRs, cold callers, and outbound...Outsourced Sales Calls
Outsourced sales calls are B2B prospecting and qualification calls executed by an external provider instead of an internal SDR team. These partners...Outsourced Sales Company
An outsourced sales company is a third-party firm that manages some or all of a B2B organization’s sales development activities, such as prospecting,...Outsourced Sales Development
Outsourced sales development is the practice of hiring a specialized external team to run your B2B SDR function, prospecting, cold outreach,...Outsourced Sales Development Reps (SDR)
Outsourced Sales Development Reps (SDRs) are external B2B prospecting specialists provided by a third-party agency to run your outbound sales...Outsourced Sales Services
Outsourced sales services are when a B2B company partners with a specialized external provider to handle parts or all of its sales development...Outsourced Sales Team
An outsourced sales team is a third-party group of B2B sales development and closing specialists that manages part or all of your sales process, from...Outsourced Sales Teams
Outsourced sales teams are external specialists that handle parts or all of a company’s B2B sales development function, typically prospecting, cold...Outsourced SDR Company
An outsourced SDR company is a specialized B2B sales development partner that provides external sales development representatives (SDRs) to handle...Definitions are step one. We run this playbook for clients every single day.
About this glossary
A working reference, not a textbook
The short version is on the surface. Open any question to go deeper.
It is a practical reference for the language of B2B outbound sales. Every entry explains a cold calling, email outreach, lead generation, or sales development term in plain English, with the context and best practices that actually matter when you run campaigns.
They come from the SalesHive team, the same strategists and SDRs who run outbound campaigns for thousands of clients every day. The goal is working knowledge you can apply, not textbook theory.
Search by name at the top of the page, jump straight to a letter with the A to Z rail, or filter by category. Each term links to a full entry with real benchmarks, best practices, expert tips, common challenges, and FAQs.
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