Prospecting glossary

Account

A company, or a distinct buying unit of one, that you might sell to.

Contact

A named person at an account.

ICP

Ideal Customer Profile: required, preferred and exclusion criteria plus a trigger list.

Required criterion (R)

Must be true. False → Disqualified. Unknown → one 5-minute extension, then Hold (H-UNV).

Preferred criterion (PF)

Makes the account a better fit. Each verified one raises Fit by one point, up to 3. Never disqualifies on its own.

Exclusion (X)

If true, the account is Disqualified regardless of anything else. Checked first.

Trigger (TR)

A specific, recent, verifiable event that plausibly creates a need for what you sell.

Trigger window

How recent a trigger must be to count. Default: 6 months.

Gate

The pass/fail check: exclusions first, then required criteria.

Fact / Hypothesis

Fact: a claim supported by a logged Tier 1–3 source. Hypothesis: your reasoning (Tier 4); never supports a score above 1.

Source tier

Tier 1 company primary · Tier 2 reputable secondary · Tier 3 data provider · Tier 4 inference.

Qualified / Hold / Disqualified

The three possible research decisions.

Value / Urgency

Value = Fit + Buying potential + Strategic value. Urgency = Timing + Pain.

P1 / P2

Priority tiers for Qualified accounts: P1; P2 value-led; P2 timing-led.

Touch

One outreach action (email, call, message). T1–T6 make up the sequence.

Engaged

Any two-way reply, other than an opt-out, from any contact at the account.

Cohort

Accounts whose sequences started (T1 sent) in the same week. Conversion is measured per cohort.

Nurture

Sequence finished with no reply; re-check after 90 days.

Next action

The one dated step every record in stages 1–5 must carry.

The full method behind each term is in the Operating Manual.