Presales glossary

The terms, frameworks and acronyms used across the handbook. One line each, with a link to the chapter that explains it.

52 terms

A

AI connector: A ready-made link from an AI assistant to a named app such as your drive, mail or CRM. It acts with your permissions. Read the chapter: AI Toolkit for PreSales: Models, MCP, Connectors and Skills
AI plugin: A bundle of skills, commands and connectors for one role or job. You install it once and get everything. Read the chapter: AI Toolkit for PreSales: Models, MCP, Connectors and Skills
AI skill: Saved instructions, templates and examples that teach an AI assistant how to do one job your way. A slash command starts one by name. Read the chapter: AI Toolkit for PreSales: Models, MCP, Connectors and Skills

B

BANT: A quick qualification check: Budget, Authority, Need and Timeline. Good for a first filter, too thin for complex deals. Read the chapter: Sales Discovery
Business case: The argument, in numbers and outcomes, for why the customer should spend the money now. Read the chapter: The Return on Investment (ROI) & Value Calculation
Buyer persona: A profile of a typical role in the buying group, with its goals, worries and questions. Read the chapter: Buying Journey
Buying journey: The steps a customer goes through to buy, from noticing a problem to signing and using the solution. Read the chapter: Buying Journey

C

CHAMP: A qualification framework that starts with the customer's problem: Challenges, Authority, Money and Prioritization. Read the chapter: Sales Discovery
Champion: Someone inside the customer who wants your solution to win and sells it internally when you are not in the room. Read the chapter: Sales Discovery
Click-through demo: An interactive product tour that prospects click through on their own time, without a login or a presenter. Read the chapter: Demo Automation
Closing: The last stretch of a deal, where presales clears the final doubts and keeps trust high through the signature. Read the chapter: Closing

D

Demo: A live walk through your product that shows the customer how it solves their problem, not every feature it has. Read the chapter: The Demo (Tell the Story)
Demo automation: Tools and assets, such as recorded or click-through demos, that let prospects see your product without a live session. Read the chapter: Demo Automation
Doing nothing: Often the strongest competitor: the customer decides the problem is not worth solving yet. Read the chapter: Competition

E

Economic Buyer: The person who can sign off the budget and say yes when everyone else is still undecided. Read the chapter: Sales Discovery

F

Functional and technical discovery (FTD): The deep dive into the customer's processes, systems and gaps before you propose or demo anything. Read the chapter: Functional & Technical Discovery
Functional and technical qualification (FTQ): A structured check of whether your solution truly fits the customer's requirements before you invest in a demo. Read the chapter: FTQ: Functional and Technical Qualification

K

Knowledge base: The shared place where a presales team keeps answers, demos and collateral so nobody starts from zero. Read the chapter: Documenting and Knowledge Sharing
KPI: Key performance indicator: a number that shows whether a team is doing well, such as win rate or time to demo. Read the chapter: Metrics and KPIs for Presales

L

Lessons learned: A short, honest review after a deal is won or lost, so the next one goes better. Read the chapter: Close Won / Close Lost Lessons learned
LLM API: The interface software uses to call an AI model directly, paid per amount of text. It is how vendors build AI into their products. Read the chapter: AI Toolkit for PreSales: Models, MCP, Connectors and Skills

M

MCP: The Model Context Protocol: an open standard that lets an AI assistant use tools and data through one kind of plug instead of a custom link per app. Read the chapter: AI Toolkit for PreSales: Models, MCP, Connectors and Skills
MEDDIC: A qualification framework for complex deals: Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain and Champion. Read the chapter: Sales Discovery
Mutual Action Plan: A plan agreed with the customer that lists every step, owner and date until go-live. Read the chapter: PreSales Best Practices: Top 30 Tips for Every Stage

O

Objection handling: Hearing a customer's concern out, finding the real worry behind it and answering that, not the surface. Read the chapter: Objection Handling
Opportunity Review Call (ORC): A cross-team call where sales, presales and others decide together whether a deal deserves more time and how to win it. Read the chapter: Qualification
Opportunity Scoping Document (OSD): The written summary of discovery: the customer's situation, pains, requirements and next steps, shared with your team. Read the chapter: Opportunity Scoping Document (OSD)

P

Personal brand: What people know and expect from you, online and offline. Built by sharing useful work, consistently. Read the chapter: Personal Branding
Pilot: A limited real-world rollout with real users and data, usually the last step before a full contract. Read the chapter: Proof of Concept (PoC) in Sales: PoC vs PoV vs Pilot
Pipeline: All open deals and their stages. A hard-qualified pipeline is smaller and more honest. Read the chapter: Metrics and KPIs for Presales
Presales consultant: The technical and business expert who helps sales win by understanding the customer and showing how the product fits. Also called solution consultant or sales engineer. Read the chapter: The PreSales Consultant: Role, Skills and Responsibilities
Prompt engineering: Writing clear instructions for an AI model so it gives useful, checkable answers for presales work. Read the chapter: AI for PreSales (Prompting)
Proof of Concept (POC): A short, scoped test that answers one question: can the solution do this in the customer's world? Read the chapter: Proof of Concept (PoC) in Sales: PoC vs PoV vs Pilot
Proof of Value (POV): A test that goes past "does it work" to "does it deliver the value we need", measured against agreed numbers. Read the chapter: Proof of Concept (PoC) in Sales: PoC vs PoV vs Pilot

Q

Qualification: Deciding early and honestly which deals are worth your team's time, and walking away from the rest. Read the chapter: Qualification

R

RACI matrix: A table that says who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed for each task. Read the chapter: PreSales Leadership
Return on investment (ROI): Gain from the investment minus its cost, divided by its cost. The number finance uses to judge your business case. Read the chapter: The Return on Investment (ROI) & Value Calculation
RFI (Request for Information): A formal request that asks vendors for general information, often to build a shortlist. Read the chapter: RFX Process: RFI, RFP and RFQ Explained
RFP (Request for Proposal): A formal request for a detailed proposal against a list of requirements, usually with a fixed deadline. Read the chapter: RFX Process: RFI, RFP and RFQ Explained
RFQ (Request for Quotation): A formal request for pricing when the buyer already knows what they want to buy. Read the chapter: RFX Process: RFI, RFP and RFQ Explained
RFx: The umbrella term for formal requests from buyers: RFI, RFP and RFQ. Read the chapter: RFX Process: RFI, RFP and RFQ Explained

S

SaaS: Software as a Service: software you rent by subscription and use in the browser instead of installing it. Read the chapter: Understanding SaaS
Sales Accepted Lead (SAL): A lead that sales has checked and agreed to work, the first stage of the selling journey. Read the chapter: Selling Journey
Sales discovery: The early conversations that test whether a deal is real: the problem, who decides, the budget and the timing. Read the chapter: Sales Discovery
Selling journey: The vendor's side of the deal, stage by stage, and who does what in each stage. Read the chapter: Selling Journey
Service discovery: Finding out which services, such as implementation, integration or training, the customer needs to make the software work. Read the chapter: Service Discovery
Stakeholder: Anyone on the customer side who is affected by the decision or can influence it. Read the chapter: Buying Journey
Statement of Work (SOW): The document that lists the services, deliverables and effort for an implementation, usually written by professional services. Read the chapter: Service Discovery

T

Tell-Show-Tell: A demo pattern: say what you will show and why, show it, then say what it means for the customer. Read the chapter: The Demo (Tell the Story)

V

Value proposition: A short statement of the specific value your solution brings to this customer, tangible and intangible. Read the chapter: The Return on Investment (ROI) & Value Calculation

W

Win rate: The share of qualified deals you win. One of the few presales numbers leadership always asks about. Read the chapter: Metrics and KPIs for Presales
Win/loss analysis: Asking customers why they chose you or someone else, and feeding the answers back into product and sales. Read the chapter: Close Won / Close Lost Lessons learned