CRM glossary — R to Z

<p><strong>Round-robin assignment</strong> is an automation rule that distributes incoming <a href="#lead">leads</a> evenly across a team of reps in rotation — lead 1 to rep A, lead 2 to rep B, lead 3 to rep C, then back to rep A. It's used to ensure fair workload and fast response without managers manually triaging. More sophisticated variants weight by territory, deal size, rep capacity, or <a href="#icp">ICP</a> fit.</p>

<p><strong>Sales velocity</strong> is how much revenue your pipeline generates per day, calculated as <code>(number of deals × average deal value × win rate) / sales cycle length in days</code>. It captures the four levers a sales team can pull — volume, deal size, <a href="#win-rate">win rate</a>, and cycle time — in one number. Doubling any one lever doubles velocity; halving cycle time has the same effect as doubling win rate.</p>

<p>An <strong>SLA</strong> is a documented commitment to a response or resolution time — for example, "every inbound <a href="#mql">MQL</a> is contacted within 5 minutes" or "support tickets are first-touched within 1 hour." Sales SLAs between marketing and sales are common because lead response time correlates strongly with conversion (5-minute follow-up converts ~10× better than 30-minute). <a href="#round-robin-assignment">Round-robin</a> and routing automation typically enforce SLAs.</p>

<p>An <strong>SQL</strong> is a lead that a sales rep has qualified through discovery — typically using a framework like BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timing) or MEDDIC — and confirmed as a real buying opportunity. SQLs become <a href="#deal">deals</a> in the CRM with a stage, value, and close date. The MQL-to-SQL conversion rate is the cleanest measure of how well marketing-qualified leads actually fit the <a href="#icp">ICP</a>.</p>

<p>A <strong>stage</strong> is one step in a <a href="#pipeline">pipeline</a> — for example, Discovery, Demo, Proposal, Negotiation, Closed-Won. Each stage has an associated probability (e.g., Demo = 30%, Proposal = 60%) used by <a href="#forecasting">forecasting</a> to weight open deals. Healthy pipelines have clear, exit-criteria-based stages so stage changes reflect real progress, not rep optimism.</p>

<p>A <strong>touchpoint</strong> is any single interaction between your company and a prospect — an email opened, a call answered, a webinar attended, a piece of content read. B2B research shows it typically takes 8 to 12 touchpoints across multiple channels for a cold prospect to convert. CRMs surface touchpoint history per <a href="#contact">contact</a> so reps can see the full engagement timeline before reaching out.</p>

<p><strong>Win rate</strong> is the percentage of qualified <a href="#deal">deals</a> that close as won, calculated as <code>closed-won / (closed-won + closed-lost)</code>. Tracking win rate by <a href="#stage">stage</a>, rep, segment, and <a href="#lead-source">lead source</a> reveals where pipeline quality is strongest. Healthy B2B SaaS win rates for inbound deals are usually 20% to 30%; outbound win rates are typically lower.</p>

<p><strong>Workflow automation</strong> in a CRM is rule-based logic that runs in response to a trigger — for example, "when a <a href="#deal">deal</a> moves to Proposal, create a task for the rep, notify the manager, and update the forecast." Modern workflow builders use a visual if-this-then-that interface so non-developers can build them. Common uses: lead routing, <a href="#round-robin-assignment">round-robin</a> assignment, SLA enforcement, follow-up reminders, and deal-stage hygiene.</p>