The B2B prospecting glossary

Warm Outbound is about creating, detecting and acting on moments of sales warmth, to turn cold prospecting into warmer sales conversations.

A prospect can start out completely cold, then read a piece of content, accept a LinkedIn invitation, visit your website or change jobs. Each of these events adds context. Warm Outbound means picking up on those changes and adjusting your outreach, instead of sending the same message to an entire list.

Example: an IT services firm notices that a target account has just appointed a new CIO, who also reacted to a post about cloud migration. The first message references that context, and the follow-up call is no longer completely cold. The sales rep steps in once there is enough interest.

Further reading: Read the Warm Outbound manifesto

Cold outbound is outreach sent to contacts who don't know you and haven't shown any sign of interest.

Cold outbound is a volume game: a list built on targeting criteria, a generic message, scheduled follow-ups. The prospect gets your message with no particular reason to read it now. In practice, replies are scarce, and much of the effort goes into finding the few accounts that already had a need.

Example: an HR software vendor sends the same four-email sequence to every HR director at companies with 200 to 500 employees. None of the messages mention the recipient's situation. Warm Outbound starts from the same target list but waits for, or creates, a moment of warmth before pushing.

Further reading: From cold outbound to Warm Outbound

A buying signal is an observable event suggesting that a company likely has a need, a budget or a project related to what you sell.

Buying signals fall into a few families: growth signals (funding rounds, new offices, product launches), people signals (hiring, appointments, job changes) and technical or intent signals (installed technologies, content consumed). A signal only matters if it's timely, so it needs a date and the right account attached to it.

Example: a manufacturing SME posts three field sales job openings in a single week. For a CRM vendor, that's a sign of a growing sales team that will need tooling. The outreach can open with that hiring push rather than a product pitch.

Further reading: Explore intent signals

Weak signals are subtle, isolated or ambiguous clues that don't prove a need on their own but become meaningful once combined.

A like on a post, a visit to your pricing page, a vaguely worded job ad: taken one at a time, none of these justify a call. Stacked up on the same account within a short window, they point to a trend. The real work is cross-checking and dating them to avoid false positives.

Example: at a target consulting firm, a partner comments on an article about compliance, then the firm hires a legal counsel, then a contact visits your compliance page. None of these facts is decisive, but together they justify outreach focused on compliance.

Further reading: Explore intent signals

Intent data is the information showing that a company is actively researching a topic, a product category or a vendor.

It usually comes in two flavors: first-party intent, collected on your own channels (site visits, email opens, downloads), and third-party intent, observed elsewhere on the web (content consumed, topic research). First-party data is more reliable but only covers accounts that already know you. Third-party data widens the view, with less precision.

Example: several employees at the same logistics company read comparisons of warehouse management tools. For a vendor in that space, the account jumps to the top of the list, and the rep knows which topic to open with.

Further reading: Explore intent signals

Lead scoring assigns each prospect a score based on how well they match your target and how interested they seem, so you know who to contact first.

A score usually blends two dimensions: fit (does the account look like your best customers?) and engagement (has it shown recent interest?). Sales and marketing agree on the criteria and their weights, then adjust them by comparing scores against the deals that actually close.

Example: a prospect in the right industry and size range earns fit points; if they just opened two emails and replied to a LinkedIn message, they earn engagement points. The SDR calls the accounts that score high on both first and keeps the rest on watch.

Further reading: See how replies get scored

An MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead) is a contact marketing considers promising, and an SQL (Sales Qualified Lead) is a contact sales has confirmed as a real opportunity.

The move from MQL to SQL is the handoff from marketing into the sales pipeline. An MQL might have downloaded a white paper and fit the target; an SQL has confirmed a need, a timeline or a budget in a conversation. Defining that threshold clearly avoids friction between teams over lead quality.

Example: the CFO of an SME signs up for a webinar on month-end close and becomes an MQL. On the qualification call, she explains she wants to switch tools before the fiscal year ends, so the rep marks her as an SQL and books a demo.

Further reading: See how leads get qualified

Multichannel prospecting means reaching the same prospect through several channels, such as email, LinkedIn and phone, as part of a single effort.

Each channel has its strengths: email carries a detailed argument, LinkedIn builds familiarity, the phone allows a real conversation. Using them together creates more chances to be noticed without repeating the same message in the same place. The hard part is coordination: knowing who was contacted, where, and how they replied.

Example: a marketing agency rep emails a brand's marketing director, views her LinkedIn profile two days later, sends a connection request, then calls and mentions the email. The prospect recognizes the name at every touchpoint.

Further reading: Discover the Outbound Hub

Omnichannel prospecting goes further than multichannel: every channel shares the same history, and each action depends on what the prospect did elsewhere.

In a multichannel setup, channels can run side by side without talking to each other. In an omnichannel setup, a LinkedIn reply pauses the email follow-ups, a site visit triggers a call, and a refusal stops the whole sequence. The prospect experiences one conversation, whatever the channel.

Example: a procurement manager replies on LinkedIn that she'll be available next month. The follow-up email scheduled for the next day is cancelled, and a callback is set for the date she gave, with the conversation history visible to the rep.

Further reading: Discover the Outbound Hub

A prospecting sequence is a planned series of touchpoints (emails, LinkedIn messages, calls) sent to a prospect over a set period.

A sequence sets the order of steps, the channel for each one, the delay between touches and the exit condition (reply, meeting, refusal). It keeps follow-ups from slipping and holds a steady pace. A good sequence adapts: you don't follow up the same way with someone who opened three emails and someone who stayed silent.

Example: day 1, a short email referencing a recent funding round; day 3, a LinkedIn invitation; day 6, a call; day 10, a follow-up email with a use case; day 15, a closing message. Any reply takes the prospect out of the sequence and hands them to the rep.

Further reading: Discover the Outbound Hub

Social selling means using professional social networks, LinkedIn first, to get known by prospects, talk with them and build trust before you sell.

It comes down to three habits: posting content that's useful to your target, engaging with your prospects' posts and starting conversations without an immediate pitch. It doesn't replace direct outreach, it warms it up: a prospect who has already read your posts is more likely to open your message.

Example: a cybersecurity consultant publishes a weekly incident breakdown and comments on posts from CISOs in his target market. When he reaches out to one of them, his name is already familiar and the conversation starts from a topic the prospect raised.

Further reading: Personalized LinkedIn messages

The SSI (Social Selling Index) is a score out of 100 that LinkedIn calculates to measure how effectively you use the platform for social selling.

The score breaks down into four pillars worth up to 25 points each: establishing your professional brand, finding the right people, engaging with insights and building relationships. You can check it for free from your LinkedIn account, and it updates regularly. It works best as a progress indicator, not as a goal in itself.

Example: a rep sees that his "engage with insights" pillar is low. He commits to commenting on three prospect posts and sharing one piece of content each week, then tracks how that pillar moves over the following months.

Warm calling is a prospecting call to a contact who has already had a touchpoint with you or shows an identified buying signal.

The call doesn't come out of nowhere: the prospect got an email, accepted a LinkedIn invitation, visited your site or is going through an event you can mention. The rep opens with that context instead of a generic pitch. The phone stays the same; the preparation is what changes.

Example: a rep calls the new sales director of a SaaS company, appointed last month, who opened his email the day before. He opens with: "You started in the role recently, and I wrote to you yesterday about how your team is organized." The conversation starts on familiar ground.

Further reading: AI-assisted phone prospecting

Cold calling is a prospecting call to a contact who doesn't know you, with no prior exchange and no identified sign of interest.

The rep has a few seconds to justify the call and earn the right to keep talking. Cold calling still helps open accounts that are hard to reach any other way, but it takes volume and a high tolerance for rejection. How well it works depends heavily on list quality and on how relevant the opener is.

Example: an SDR works through a list of construction SME owners pulled from a directory, using the same script for everyone. Warm Outbound aims to gradually turn those cold calls into prepared ones by adding context before anyone picks up the phone.

Further reading: AI-assisted phone prospecting

A warm email is a prospecting email sent to a contact with whom you already share a connection, some context or a specific signal that justifies the message.

A cold email starts from a list; a warm email starts from a reason: a past interaction, a referral, news about the account, a site visit. That reason shows up in the first line, and the message stays short. The recipient understands right away why they're getting it now.

Example: after seeing that a financial services firm is opening a Lyon office, a recruitment agency writes to the HR director: "You're opening Lyon this spring, so I imagine several roles need filling on site." The rest of the email suggests a short call, with no attachment.

Further reading: AI-personalized emails

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) focuses marketing and sales efforts on a short list of target accounts, treating each one as a market of its own.

Rather than attracting as many leads as possible and sorting them later, ABM starts from the accounts you want to win and builds tailored actions for each: dedicated content, targeted ads, coordinated outreach to several decision-makers. Marketing and sales share the same list and the same goals. It fits best with long sales cycles and large deal sizes.

Example: an industrial software vendor picks fifty manufacturing groups. For each one, it identifies the head of operations, the CIO and the buyer, runs targeted LinkedIn content for them, then launches personalized outreach that addresses each production site's specific challenges.

Further reading: Discover the Sourcing Hub

The ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) describes the kind of company that gets the most value from your offer and is most likely to become a good customer.

You define it from your best current customers: industry, size, location, tech stack, business model, maturity. It describes companies, not people; the profile of the individuals you talk to is a persona. A sharp ICP lets you build consistent lists and turn down accounts that eat time without converting.

Example: a tech recruitment agency notices that its best clients are SaaS companies with 50 to 300 employees, recently funded, hiring developers. That ICP shapes all of its prospecting, and the signals to watch follow from it: funding rounds and technical job postings.

Further reading: Discover the Sourcing Hub

Data enrichment means filling in and verifying your contact and company records (email, phone, job title, size, industry) using external sources.

Sales records often arrive incomplete: a name and a company, no email, no direct line. Enrichment queries one or more sources to fill the gaps, then checks the data before use, starting with email validity. Data goes stale quickly (job changes, departures), which is why regular refreshes matter.

Example: a rep imports a trade show attendee list with only names and companies. After enrichment, each record has a verified email, a LinkedIn profile and, when available, a direct phone number. In Prosperian, the Enrichment Hub queries several providers in a waterfall to get there.

Further reading: Discover the Enrichment Hub