The language of
Revenue Operations.
128 definitions. Clear context. Search, filter, and browse the terminology that powers modern revenue teams.
128 terms
A
- ARPA (Average Revenue Per Account)MetricRevOps
The average monthly or annual revenue generated per customer account. Unlike ACV (which measures new deal value) or ASP (which measures closing price), ARPA reflects the ongoing revenue contribution of the entire customer base, including expansion and contraction over time.
- ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue)MetricRevOps
The annualized value of all active subscription contracts. The north-star metric for SaaS businesses.
- ASP (Average Selling Price)MetricSales
The average deal size across closed-won opportunities in a given period.
- Account ScoringFrameworkSales
A model that ranks accounts by their likelihood to buy, expand, or churn based on firmographic, behavioral, and engagement data at the account level.
- Account-Based Everything (ABX)ConceptMarketing
An evolution of ABM that extends account-based thinking beyond marketing into sales, CS, and product. All revenue functions coordinate around a shared set of target accounts.
- Activity MetricsMetricRevOps
The quantitative inputs (calls, emails, meetings, demos) that leading indicators suggest will produce pipeline and revenue outputs.
- Annual PlanningFrameworkRevOps
The yearly process of setting revenue targets, building capacity models, designing territories, finalizing comp plans, and allocating budgets across the revenue org. RevOps typically owns the modeling and cross-functional coordination.
- Attach RateMetricCustomer Success
The percentage of customers who purchase an additional product or module beyond the initial purchase, measuring multi-product adoption.
- AttributionConceptMarketing
The methodology for assigning credit to marketing and sales touchpoints that influenced a deal. Models include first-touch, last-touch, linear, and W-shaped.
- Average Contract Value (ACV)MetricSales
The annualized value of a single contract. For multi-year deals, ACV normalizes the total contract value to a per-year figure for consistent comparison.
- Average Deal SizeMetricSales
The mean contract value of closed-won deals, used for pipeline modeling, forecasting, and segmentation analysis.
B
- BANTFrameworkSales
A lead qualification framework: Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline. Determines whether a prospect has the resources, power, requirement, and urgency to buy.
- BookingsMetricSales
The total value of new contracts signed in a period, including new business, renewals, and expansions. Distinct from revenue, which is recognized over the contract term.
- Bowtie ModelFrameworkRevOps
A revenue framework shaped like a bowtie, where the left side represents acquisition (awareness to close) and the right side represents expansion (onboarding to advocacy), with the deal at the center.
- Burn MultipleMetricRevOps
Net cash burned divided by net new ARR. Measures capital efficiency -- how many dollars are burned to generate each dollar of new revenue. Lower is better; under 2x is considered efficient.
- Buyer IntentConceptMarketing
Behavioral signals that indicate a prospect is actively researching or evaluating solutions. Sources include content consumption patterns, review site visits, competitor comparisons, and search activity.
C
- CAC Payback PeriodMetricRevOps
The number of months it takes to recover the cost of acquiring a customer through their gross margin contribution.
- CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote)ConceptRevOps
Software and process for generating accurate, approved quotes based on product configuration, pricing rules, and discount policies.
- Capacity PlanningFrameworkRevOps
Modeling how many reps, SDRs, or CSMs are needed to hit revenue targets based on quota, ramp time, attrition, and pipeline assumptions.
- Champion/Challenger TestingFrameworkRevOps
A methodology for testing process changes by running a new approach (challenger) against the current standard (champion) with a subset of reps, then measuring which performs better before rolling out org-wide.
- Churn RateMetricCustomer Success
The percentage of customers (logo churn) or revenue (revenue churn) lost in a given period.
- Cohort AnalysisFrameworkRevOps
An analytical method that groups customers by a shared characteristic or time period to track how their behavior changes over time.
- Compensation Plan (Comp Plan)ConceptRevOps
The structure defining how reps earn variable pay, including base/variable split, quota, accelerators, decelerators, and clawbacks. RevOps typically models and administers comp plans.
- Competitive IntelligenceProcessSales
The systematic collection, analysis, and distribution of information about competitors to inform sales strategy, product positioning, and pricing decisions.
- Contraction MRRMetricCustomer Success
The reduction in monthly recurring revenue from existing customers due to downgrades, seat reductions, or discount increases.
- Conversion RateMetricRevOps
The percentage of records that advance from one stage to the next (e.g., MQL to SQL, SQL to opportunity, opportunity to closed-won).
- Cost Per Lead (CPL)MetricMarketing
Total marketing spend on a campaign or channel divided by the number of leads generated. A foundational efficiency metric for demand generation.
- Cost per AcquisitionMetricMarketing
The cost to acquire a single customer or lead through a specific marketing campaign or channel, distinct from the blended CAC metric.
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)MetricRevOps
Total sales and marketing spend divided by the number of new customers acquired in a period.
- Customer Effort ScoreMetricCustomer Success
A metric that measures how easy it is for customers to interact with a company, resolve issues, or achieve their goals with the product.
- Customer Health ScoreConceptCustomer Success
A composite metric combining product usage, support tickets, NPS, engagement frequency, and contract data to predict a customer's likelihood to renew or churn.
D
- Dark FunnelConceptMarketing
The invisible portion of the buyer journey that occurs outside trackable channels -- podcasts, Slack communities, word-of-mouth, private social. Revenue teams can't attribute it, but it drives pipeline.
- Data GovernanceConceptRevOps
The policies, standards, and accountability structures that ensure data across revenue systems is accurate, consistent, secure, and compliant. Goes beyond hygiene to include ownership and access controls.
- Data HygieneConceptRevOps
The ongoing practice of cleaning, deduplicating, enriching, and standardizing data across revenue systems.
- Data OrchestrationConceptRevOps
The automated movement, transformation, and synchronization of data across revenue systems to ensure every tool has the right information at the right time.
- Deal DeskConceptRevOps
A cross-functional team or process that manages non-standard deal structures, pricing exceptions, and contract approvals.
- Demand GenerationConceptMarketing
The set of marketing programs designed to create awareness and drive qualified pipeline. Distinct from lead gen in that it focuses on creating demand, not just capturing it.
- Demand WaterfallFrameworkMarketing
A framework originally developed by SiriusDecisions that defines the stages a lead passes through from initial inquiry to qualified opportunity.
- Discovery CallConceptSales
The first substantive conversation between a seller and a prospect, focused on understanding the buyer's situation, pain, and desired outcomes. The quality of discovery directly predicts deal velocity and win rate.
- DunningProcessCustomer Success
The process of recovering failed subscription payments through automated retry logic, customer notifications, and payment method update prompts.
E
- EnrichmentConceptRevOps
The process of augmenting lead or account records with third-party data (firmographics, technographics, intent signals) to improve routing, scoring, and prioritization.
- Expansion MRRMetricCustomer Success
The additional monthly recurring revenue generated from existing customers through upsells, cross-sells, and plan upgrades.
- Expansion RevenueMetricCustomer Success
Revenue growth from existing customers through upsells, cross-sells, seat additions, and usage increases. Expansion revenue is the engine behind net revenue retention above 100%. Companies with strong expansion motions can grow even with moderate new logo acquisition because existing customers spend more over time.
F
- Forecast AccuracyMetricRevOps
The percentage difference between predicted revenue and actual closed revenue for a given period. Measures how reliable the forecasting process is. RevOps owns the methodology and tracking.
- ForecastingConceptRevOps
The process of predicting future revenue based on pipeline data, historical trends, rep judgment, and statistical models.
- Full-Funnel VisibilityConceptRevOps
The ability to track and measure every stage of the buyer journey from first touch to closed-won and beyond, without data gaps between teams.
G
- Go-To-Market (GTM)FrameworkRevOps
The coordinated structural plan that defines how an organization brings an offering to market, identifies and reaches buyers, positions value, enables conversion, and operationalizes revenue production across channels and teams.
- Gross BookingsMetricSales
The total contract value of all new, renewal, and expansion deals signed in a period before accounting for churn or contraction.
- Gross MarginMetricRevOps
The percentage of revenue remaining after subtracting the cost of goods sold (COGS), measuring the profitability of core operations.
- Gross Revenue Retention (GRR)MetricCustomer Success
The percentage of recurring revenue retained from existing customers excluding expansion. Measures pure churn and contraction.
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Why this exists
Revenue Operations sits at the intersection of sales, marketing, and customer success. The discipline has its own vocabulary — one that evolves as teams adopt new tools, frameworks, and strategies.
RevOps Dictionary exists to provide clear, authoritative definitions for the language that powers modern revenue teams. Not jargon for jargon's sake, but genuine understanding of the concepts that matter.