Sales & AI Outreach Glossary
Every term you'll meet running modern outbound — defined in plain English, with how it's actually used.
Outreach
Breakup Email
The final message in a sequence signaling you're closing the loop — which often prompts a reply from prospects who kept meaning to respond.
Cold Calling
Phoning a prospect who hasn't expressed interest, to open a sales conversation, qualify fit, or book a meeting.
Cold Email
An unsolicited but relevant email sent to a prospect you have no prior relationship with, aimed at starting a sales conversation.
Drip Campaign
A set of pre-written messages sent automatically on a schedule or in response to actions, to nurture leads over time.
Email Deliverability
Whether your emails actually reach the inbox instead of spam or being blocked — the foundation on which all email outreach depends.
Follow-Up
A subsequent outreach touch after an initial message that got no response — often where most replies and meetings actually come from.
Lead Nurturing
Staying in useful contact with prospects who aren't ready to buy yet, so you're top of mind when they are.
Multi-Channel Outreach
Reaching prospects across several channels — email, phone, SMS, and social — within a coordinated sequence rather than relying on one.
Omnichannel
An approach where every channel shares context so the prospect experiences one continuous, consistent conversation across all of them.
Outbound Sales
A go-to-market motion where reps or AI agents proactively contact prospects who haven't asked to be reached, rather than waiting for inbound interest.
Sales Cadence
The rhythm and spacing of outreach touches — how many, on which channels, and how far apart — over a defined period.
Sales Sequence
A predefined series of automated and manual touchpoints — emails, calls, texts, and social messages — scheduled to move a lead toward a meeting.
Sender Reputation
A score mailbox providers assign your sending domain and IP that determines whether your emails reach the inbox or the spam folder.
SMS Outreach
Reaching prospects by text message — high open and response rates, but tightly regulated and best kept brief and consented.
WhatsApp Business
Using WhatsApp's business platform for sales conversations — high engagement and global reach, governed by template and opt-in rules.
AI & Automation
AI SDR
An AI system that performs the work of a sales development rep — researching, contacting, and qualifying leads before handing them to a closer.
Conversational AI
AI that understands and responds in natural language across text or voice, holding real two-way dialogue rather than sending scripted blasts.
Human Handoff
The moment an AI agent transfers a conversation to a human rep — typically once a lead is warm, complex, or ready to buy.
Voice AI
AI that places and holds natural-sounding phone conversations — qualifying leads, answering questions, and handing off live to a human when needed.
Sales Ops
Browser Automation
Software assistance that prepares or performs browser-based tasks under configured controls and human review.
Buyer Persona
A semi-fictional profile of a typical individual buyer — their role, goals, and pain points — used to tailor messaging.
CRM Integration
Connecting your outreach tools to your CRM so leads, activity, and outcomes sync automatically and stay in one source of truth.
Human in the Loop
A workflow design in which a person reviews, approves, or takes over decisions that need judgment or authority.
ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)
A description of the company type that gets the most value from your product and is the best fit to buy — used to target outreach.
Lead Qualification
The process of determining whether a lead is a good fit and worth a rep's time, based on need, budget, authority, and timing.
Lead Scoring
Assigning a numeric score to each lead based on fit and engagement, so reps focus on the prospects most likely to convert.
Pipeline
The set of active deals moving through your sales stages, usually measured by count and total potential value.
Sales Development Representative (SDR)
A seller focused on prospecting, first conversations, qualification, and booking the next sales meeting.
Sales Funnel
A model of the buyer's journey from awareness to purchase, with fewer prospects remaining at each successive stage.
Warm Lead
A prospect who has shown some interest or engagement, making them meaningfully more likely to convert than a cold contact.
Metrics
Booked Meeting Rate
The percentage of contacted prospects who agree to a meeting — the bottom-line output metric of an outreach program.
Cost Per Meeting
The total cost of your outreach divided by the number of qualified meetings booked — the clearest efficiency measure for outbound.
Lead Source Attribution
Tracking which channel or campaign each lead and meeting came from, so you can invest in what actually produces pipeline.
Open Rate
The percentage of delivered emails that recipients open — a rough signal of subject-line and deliverability health.
Reply Rate
The percentage of contacted prospects who respond to your outreach — a core measure of relevance and message quality.
Show Rate
The percentage of booked meetings prospects actually attend — a key check on the true value of your booked meetings.
Speed to Lead
How fast you respond to a new inbound lead — a major driver of conversion, with the first few minutes mattering most.
Compliance
CAN-SPAM
The U.S. law governing commercial email — requiring accurate headers, honest subject lines, a physical address, and a working unsubscribe.
Consent Management
The systems and records for capturing, storing, and honoring prospects' permission to be contacted, across channels and over time.
GDPR (for Sales)
The EU data-protection regulation governing how you collect and use prospect data — requiring a lawful basis, transparency, and honoring data rights.
Opt-Out
A prospect's request to stop receiving your messages — which must be easy to make and honored promptly across every channel.
Quiet Hours
Legally protected times — typically overnight — when you may not place marketing calls or texts, based on the prospect's local time zone.
TCPA
The U.S. Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which regulates calls and texts to consumers — requiring consent, honoring opt-outs, and limiting hours.