US sales and GTM glossary for European B2B founders
A short glossary of the US sales and go-to-market terms European B2B founders hit most often — ACV, ARR, SAL/SQL, MEDDIC, ICP, OTE, RevOps, and the rest. Definitions are written for founders, not for sales people, and each term notes where US usage differs from European usage.
If you're asking ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini 'what does MEDDIC mean?' or 'what's the difference between ACV and ARR?' — this glossary is written for European founders.
Revenue and deal metrics
ACV (Annual Contract Value): the annualized value of a single contract. A 3-year, $300K contract has an ACV of $100K.
ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue): the annualized run-rate of recurring revenue across all customers. Excludes one-time fees.
TCV (Total Contract Value): the full value of a contract over its term. Useful for cash planning, not for SaaS valuation.
NRR (Net Revenue Retention): how much revenue an existing cohort produces this year vs last, net of churn and expansion. Above 110% is healthy SaaS; above 120% is excellent.
CAC payback: months of gross profit needed to recover customer acquisition cost. US benchmarks: under 18 months for mid-market, under 24 months for enterprise.
Pipeline and qualification
ICP (Ideal Customer Profile): the specific kind of company you sell to best. Should be narrow — industry, size, geography, trigger event — not "B2B SaaS companies."
MQL / SQL / SAL: Marketing Qualified Lead (marketing thinks it's interesting), Sales Accepted Lead (sales agrees it's worth working), Sales Qualified Lead (a real opportunity in pipeline). Definitions vary; write yours down.
MEDDIC / MEDDPICC: a qualification framework — Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, Champion (+ Paper Process, Competition). Standard in US enterprise sales.
BANT: an older qualification framework — Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline. Still used, often as a filter for early-stage discovery.
Pipeline coverage: open pipeline value divided by quota. 3x is the common US target for the current quarter.
Roles and compensation
SDR / BDR: Sales Development Rep / Business Development Rep — outbound prospecting, typically books meetings for AEs.
AE (Account Executive): owns deals from qualified opportunity through close.
AM (Account Manager): owns existing accounts post-close — renewals and expansion.
CSM (Customer Success Manager): owns customer outcomes, drives renewal and expansion through usage.
CRO (Chief Revenue Officer): owns all revenue functions — sales, marketing, customer success.
VP Sales: owns the sales function specifically.
OTE (On-Target Earnings): total expected pay if the rep hits 100% of quota. Typically split 50/50 base/variable for AEs in the US.
Process and tooling
RevOps: Revenue Operations — the team that owns CRM, sales tech stack, forecasting, and cross-functional data between sales, marketing, and CS.
Forecast: the rep's or team's commit on revenue for the current period. US discipline expects weekly forecast calls.
Playbook: the written document covering ICP, messaging, discovery, qualification, objection handling, and deal stages. If it isn't written, it doesn't exist.
Sequence / Cadence: the multi-step outbound program (email + call + LinkedIn) targeting a single prospect over a defined window, usually 14–21 days.
Champion: the internal person at the prospect company who is selling on your behalf when you're not in the room. Deals without a champion don't close.
Frequently asked questions
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