CRMs sound simple until you open one and see words like lead, contact, account, opportunity, pipeline, lifecycle stage, MQL, SQL, and conversion. If those terms aren’t crystal clear, teams mislabel records, pipeline reports become nonsense, and follow-ups fall apart.
This page is built to fix that fast.
Definition (snippet-ready):
A CRM glossary is a reference list of common CRM setup terms—like leads, contacts, accounts, opportunities, pipelines, and activities—so teams use the same words the same way inside a CRM.
Jump To
- Core CRM Records (Objects)
- Sales Pipeline Terms
- Lead Qualification Terms
- Marketing & Lifecycle Terms
- Customer Success & Support Terms
- Data & Admin Terms
- Reporting Terms
- Quick: Stop Confusing These
- FAQs
Core CRM Records (Objects)
These are the “things” a CRM stores. Different CRMs use slightly different labels, but the ideas are consistent.
Contact
A contact is an individual person you communicate with—usually tied to a company (account). Think: a real human in the database.
Account
An account is the company or organization you do business with. Contacts usually belong to an account.
Lead
A lead is a potential customer who hasn’t been fully qualified yet. Leads are often early-stage inquiries (form fill, call, referral).
Prospect
A prospect is a lead that looks promising—someone who fits your target customer. Many teams use this term loosely, so define it internally.
Opportunity (Deal)
An opportunity (or deal) is a potential sale you’re actively working on. It has value, stage, and expected close date.
Customer
A customer is someone who has purchased or signed. Often tracked via lifecycle stage or closed-won deal.
Activity
An activity is an action you plan or log—calls, meetings, emails, tasks, notes.
Task
A task is a to-do tied to a record. Strong teams use tasks to enforce follow-ups.
Note
Internal context such as: “Spoke to Sarah; budget approved; follow up Friday.”
Owner
The person responsible for the record. Ownership prevents “everyone thought someone else would do it.”
Assignment
Rules that decide who gets a lead or deal (round-robin, territory, source).
For foundational context, see What Is CRM?.
Sales Pipeline Terms
These terms show up constantly in dashboards and sales meetings.
To avoid confusion between delivery tools and sales tracking, many teams compare CRM vs project management before choosing software.
Pipeline
A visual view of records moving through stages.
Stage
A step in your pipeline (New → Qualified → Proposal → Won/Lost).
Deal Stage
A stage specifically for opportunities.
Pipeline Value
Total potential revenue in the pipeline.
Weighted Pipeline
Pipeline adjusted by probability.
Close Date
Expected date the deal will close.
Win Rate
Won ÷ (Won + Lost).
Sales Cycle Length
Average time from lead creation to closed-won.
Forecast
Estimated future revenue based on pipeline.
Closed-Won
Deal successfully closed.
Closed-Lost
Deal lost (reason should be recorded).
Loss Reason
Why a deal was lost—price, timing, competitor, no decision.
Next Action
The next committed step. No next action = abandoned deal.
For real-world context, see CRM examples.
Lead Qualification Terms
These help teams avoid wasting time.
Qualified Lead
A lead that meets your minimum criteria to pursue.
Lead Conversion
Turning a qualified lead into a contact/account and sometimes an opportunity.
Disqualified Lead
A lead you decide not to pursue (wrong fit, spam, no budget).
Lead Source
Where the lead came from: organic, paid, referral, outbound.
Inbound Lead
A lead who comes to you.
Outbound Lead
A lead you reach out to.
BANT
Budget, Authority, Need, Timing—used as guidance.
ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)
Description of customers you serve best.
Marketing & Lifecycle Terms
Lifecycle Stage
Tracks where someone is in the journey (subscriber → lead → customer).
MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead)
Marketing believes the lead is ready for sales.
SQL (Sales Qualified Lead)
Sales accepts the lead as real.
Lead Scoring
Points system to prioritize leads.
Nurture
Automated education until a lead is ready to buy.
Segmentation
Grouping contacts for targeting.
Campaign
Tracked marketing effort tied to leads or revenue.
Customer Success & Support Terms
Ticket
A logged support request.
SLA
Promised response or resolution time.
CSAT
Customer satisfaction score.
NPS
Likelihood customers recommend you.
Renewal
Customer continues a contract.
Churn
Customer stops paying.
Upsell / Cross-sell
Upgrade or add-on sales.
Data & Admin Terms
These keep CRMs clean.
Field / Property
A piece of stored data.
Required Field
Must be filled before saving.
Dropdown / Picklist
Predefined options for consistency.
Duplicate
Two records for the same person/company.
Data Hygiene
Ongoing cleanup and standardization.
Permission
What a user can see or edit.
Role
Grouped permissions by job function.
Workflow / Automation
Rules that trigger actions.
Integration
Connection between tools.
Reporting Terms
Dashboard
Visual overview of metrics.
Report
Structured data view.
KPI
Key performance indicator.
Conversion Rate
Percent moving to next stage.
Attribution
How revenue credit is assigned.
Quick: Stop Confusing These
Lead vs Contact
- Lead = early/unqualified
- Contact = known person
Account vs Contact
- Account = company
- Contact = person
Opportunity vs Lead
- Lead = potential customer
- Opportunity = active sale
Pipeline vs Funnel
- Funnel = concept
- Pipeline = active deals
FAQs
What are the most important CRM terms to know first?
Lead, contact, account, opportunity, pipeline, stage, owner, next action.
Do CRM terms mean the same in every CRM?
Concepts are similar; labels vary. A shared glossary prevents confusion.
What does lead conversion mean?
Turning a qualified lead into structured records.
What’s the fastest way to keep CRM data clean?
Use dropdowns, enforce ownership, and clean duplicates regularly.