Glossary
The B2B Outbound Glossary
A working reference for the vocabulary behind cold email, LinkedIn outbound, cold calling, and B2B lead generation. Written by the team that runs these campaigns every day — not copy-pasted from Wikipedia.
A
- Account Executive (AE) The closer on a B2B sales team. AEs own the deal from qualified meeting through signed contract and carry a revenue quota.
- Appointment Setting The craft of converting a positive reply into a confirmed, held meeting. The handoff discipline that determines how much cold outreach actually produces pipeline.
B
C
D
- Data Enrichment The process of adding context — firmographics, contacts, emails, signals — to an account or lead record so outbound can target it precisely.
- Discovery Call The first real sales conversation after outreach. Confirms fit, diagnoses the prospect's situation, and decides whether a deal moves forward.
- DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) An email authentication method that uses a cryptographic signature to prove a message actually came from your domain. Core deliverability record.
- DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) The DNS policy that tells inbox providers what to do when an email fails SPF or DKIM. Now effectively mandatory for cold outbound.
- Domain Reputation The trust score inbox providers assign to your sending domain. Determines whether your cold email lands in the primary inbox or spam.
E
I
L
M
O
P
R
- Reply Rate The percentage of prospects who respond to a cold email or outbound message. The most honest signal of whether your outreach is working.
- RevOps (Revenue Operations) The function that owns systems, data, and processes across marketing, sales, and customer success to unify revenue execution.
S
- SDR (Sales Development Representative) A sales role focused on outbound prospecting and booking qualified meetings, not closing deals. Top of the B2B funnel.
- Sequence Cadence The structured pattern of timing, channel, and message variation across a multi-step outbound outreach campaign.
- Spam Folder Where cold emails go to die. The quarantine destination inbox providers route mail to when they do not trust the sender or the content.
- SPF (Sender Policy Framework) A DNS record that lists which mail servers are allowed to send email for your domain. First line of cold email deliverability.
T
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