Operating vocabulary, defined precisely
The terms that cause the most expensive misunderstandings between marketing, sales, operations and leadership. Each entry gives the definition, a worked example and where it matters.
Lead routing
Lead routing is the rule set that assigns every incoming lead to an accountable owner automatically, with a fallback so no record is left unowned.
Lifecycle stage
A lifecycle stage is a defined position in the customer journey, entered by an observable event and left by a written exit condition — not a description of how a deal feels.
MQL — marketing qualified lead
An MQL is a lead that meets the qualification criteria marketing and sales agreed in writing — a shared definition, not a score marketing sets alone.
SQL — sales qualified lead
An SQL is a lead that sales has accepted and verified as a genuine opportunity — the acceptance step that turns a marketing judgement into a commercial one.
CRM hygiene
CRM hygiene is the maintained state of the data: no duplicates, no orphaned records, no stale deals, and required fields limited to what reporting actually consumes.
Attribution
Attribution assigns credit for a conversion to marketing touchpoints. It is a decision-support model with stated boundaries, not a measurement of truth.
Customer health score
A customer health score combines observable delivery signals into a rating that triggers defined action — not a sentiment gauge, and not a dashboard colour.
SLA — service level agreement
An SLA is a committed standard for response or resolution, with a defined measurement point, an owner and a consequence when it is breached.
Process owner
A process owner is the single named role accountable for a process working — with the authority to change it, not merely to report on it.
Operating cadence
An operating cadence is the fixed rhythm of reviews where exceptions surface and decisions get made — each meeting defined by the decision it must produce.
Workflow automation
Workflow automation executes a defined sequence of steps across systems when a trigger fires — moving data, creating records, notifying people and enforcing standards.
Speed to lead
Speed to lead is the elapsed time from lead creation to the first genuine human contact — measured from creation, not from assignment, and not counting unanswered attempts.