Outreach and sales glossary
40 terms explained in plain English, with the short answer first.
A/B testing
A/B testing in outreach means sending two versions of a message to similar audiences and comparing results, to learn which wording, offer, or timing performs better.
Acceptance rate
Acceptance rate is the share of LinkedIn connection requests that people accept. You calculate it by dividing accepted requests by requests sent. It shows whether your targeting, profile, and connection note are convincing.
Account warm-up
Account warm-up is gradually increasing the sending activity of a LinkedIn account or email mailbox over time, so it builds a normal-looking history before running at full volume.
AI BDR
An AI BDR is software that automates business development work, such as researching target accounts, reaching out by email and LinkedIn, and following up, so that a human can focus on conversations that matter.
AI sales agent
An AI sales agent is software that uses AI to carry out sales tasks on its own, such as finding prospects, messaging them, reading replies, and booking meetings, within limits set by a person.
AI SDR
An AI SDR is software that performs sales development tasks such as finding prospects, sending outreach, and handling replies. Good ones keep a human able to review and control what is sent.
Appointment setting
Appointment setting is the work of getting qualified prospects to agree to a meeting with a salesperson. The person doing it prospects, follows up, and schedules, but does not usually close the deal.
BDR (business development representative)
A BDR, or business development representative, is a salesperson who opens new business by prospecting target accounts, often with outbound outreach, and creating opportunities for the sales team.
Booking link
A booking link is a URL that lets someone pick an available time on your calendar without back-and-forth emails. It turns interest into a scheduled meeting quickly.
Buyer persona
A buyer persona is a semi-fictional description of the typical person who researches or decides on your product, including their role, goals, and concerns. It guides what you say and how you say it.
Buying signals
Buying signals are observable events that suggest a person or company may be ready to buy, such as a new role, a hiring push, funding news, or engagement with your content.
Cold outreach
Cold outreach is contacting someone who does not know you and has not asked to hear from you, usually by email or LinkedIn. Its goal is to start a relevant conversation, not to close a sale in the first message.
Connection request
A connection request is an invitation to connect on LinkedIn, optionally with a short note. It is usually the first step in LinkedIn outreach, since you generally message people at scale only after they accept.
CRM (customer relationship management)
A CRM is software that stores your contacts, companies, deals, and interactions in one place, so a team can track relationships and manage the sales pipeline.
Daily send limit
A daily send limit is a cap on how many messages or connection requests an account sends in a day. It keeps volume steady and reduces the risk of platform restrictions.
Email deliverability
Email deliverability is whether your emails reach the recipient's inbox instead of the spam folder or being blocked. It depends on sender reputation, authentication, content, and sending behavior.
Follow-up sequence
A follow-up sequence is a set of messages sent after a first contact to a person who has not replied, each adding something new instead of repeating the original.
Human-in-the-loop
Human-in-the-loop means a person reviews, approves, or can override an automated system's actions. In sales automation it keeps people in control of what actually gets sent.
Ideal customer profile (ICP)
An ideal customer profile (ICP) describes the type of company that gets the most value from your product and is most likely to buy. It usually covers industry, size, location, and other company traits.
Inbound sales
Inbound sales is selling to people who have already shown interest, for example by filling out a form, downloading content, or asking for a demo, so the conversation starts at their request.
Lead generation
Lead generation is the process of identifying and attracting people or companies who might buy from you, then capturing their details so you can start a sales conversation.
Lead scoring
Lead scoring assigns points to leads based on fit and behavior, such as role, company size, and engagement, so teams can prioritize the ones most likely to buy.
LinkedIn InMail
InMail is a LinkedIn message you can send to a member you are not connected with, using a paid plan's InMail credits. It lets you reach people before they accept a connection request.
Merge tag
A merge tag is a placeholder in a message template, such as {{firstName}}, that is replaced with each recipient's real data when the message is sent.
Multichannel outreach
Multichannel outreach is contacting the same prospect across more than one channel, such as LinkedIn and email, in a coordinated sequence instead of using a single channel alone.
Outbound sales
Outbound sales is when the seller starts the conversation by reaching out to prospects, usually by email, phone, or LinkedIn, rather than waiting for them to make contact.
Pending invitations
Pending invitations are LinkedIn connection requests you have sent that the person has not yet accepted or declined. A large backlog can be a sign to prune old requests.
Personalization
Personalization in outreach means tailoring a message to the specific recipient using real details such as their role, company, or recent activity, so it reads as written for them rather than for a list.
Positive reply rate
Positive reply rate is the share of people you messaged who replied with interest or a willingness to talk. Divide interested replies by people who received a message. It shows whether the right audience wants your offer.
Qualified lead
A qualified lead is a prospect who has been checked against your criteria, such as fit, need, and interest, and judged worth a real sales conversation.
Reply rate
Reply rate is the share of people you messaged who wrote back. Divide the number of people who replied by the number who received a message. It shows whether your messaging earns attention.
Sales cadence
A sales cadence is a planned series of outreach touches, across set days and channels, used to contact a prospect until they respond or the sequence ends.
Sales engagement platform
A sales engagement platform is software that runs and tracks outreach across channels such as email, phone, and LinkedIn, including sequences, follow-ups, and reply management.
Sales Navigator
Sales Navigator is LinkedIn's paid product for sales professionals. It offers advanced lead and account search filters, saved searches, and alerts, which makes it easier to build targeted prospect lists.
Sales pipeline
A sales pipeline is a visual or structured view of all your opportunities, organized by stage from first contact to closed deal. It shows what is in progress and where deals stall.
SDR (sales development representative)
An SDR, or sales development representative, is a salesperson who finds and qualifies new prospects, usually through outbound outreach, then hands interested leads to an account executive.
Send window
A send window is the set of days and hours during which outreach is allowed to go out, usually matched to the recipient's or sender's working hours.
Social selling
Social selling is using social networks, mainly LinkedIn, to find prospects, build relationships, and start sales conversations. It combines a credible profile, useful content, and direct, relevant outreach.
Warm outreach
Warm outreach is contacting someone who already has some connection to you or your company, such as a mutual contact, a prior interaction, or interest they have shown. The shared context usually makes the message easier to receive.
Withdraw invitation
Withdrawing an invitation means canceling a LinkedIn connection request that has not been accepted. Teams do it to clear out old pending requests and keep their account tidy.
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