Account planning and technical sales glossary

32 terms that sellers to engineering teams use when they plan accounts, research them and work a deal, each in about 50 words. Where a guide goes deeper, it is linked.

Account planning

Account planning is deciding, for each account you sell to, whether it fits, who matters there, why now, and what you will do next. You write the answers down and keep them current. The written result is an account plan. Sellers use it to choose which accounts deserve their time.

Account plan

An account plan is a short document about one account. It says whether the account fits, who matters there, why now is the time to call, what you don't know yet, and your next step. Each point cites a source, so the plan can be checked and updated.

Strategic account plan

A strategic account plan is the longer-range plan for an account worth sustained effort, usually a large one with several teams and a long sales cycle. It adds relationships, goals, risks and a timeline to the basic account plan, and it is reviewed on a regular schedule.

Territory plan

A territory plan ranks every account in a seller's territory, so the seller knows which ones deserve a full account plan and which to watch. It works across many accounts at once. A territory plan answers where to spend time; an account plan answers what to do at one account.

Call plan

A call plan covers one meeting or call: who will be there, what you want to learn, what you will ask, and the outcome you want. It is the slice of an account plan you take into a conversation. A pre-call brief is a call plan.

Account research

Account research is gathering facts about one company before you contact it: whether it fits, who owns the problem, what changed recently and what its engineers use. Sellers draw on public sources such as job posts, engineering blogs, GitHub and filings. Good research records the source and date of each fact.

Account tiering

Account tiering sorts a list of accounts into groups that say how much effort each gets. A simple version uses three tiers: act now (a fit and a recent reason to call), work this quarter (a fit, no reason yet) and watch (a possible fit, nothing to act on). Each tier needs a one-line reason.

Ideal customer profile

An ideal customer profile describes the kind of company that gets the most value from what you sell: its size, industry, tech stack and the problem it has. Sellers use it to rank accounts. The best ones come from your own best customers, not from guesses.

Firmographics

Firmographics are basic facts about a company: its industry, size by employees or revenue, location, and funding or ownership. They are the business version of demographics. Firmographics tell you what a company is, not what it is doing now, so sellers pair them with signals about recent change.

Technographics

Technographics are facts about the technology a company uses, such as its databases, cloud provider, monitoring tools and programming languages. Sellers use them to judge fit and to spot a competitor already in place. Public sources include job posts, engineering blogs, GitHub and status pages.

Intent data

Intent data is information that suggests a company is researching a purchase, such as visits to review sites, searches on a topic or content downloads. Vendors collect and sell it, usually as a score or a list of topics. Treat it as a hint to check, not proof that a deal is open.

Sales intelligence

Sales intelligence is information about accounts and people that helps a seller decide whom to contact and what to say. It can include company data, contact details, buying signals and the tech stack. Tools range from large contact databases to research tools that look up each account when you ask.

Buying signal

A buying signal is a fact in a public source that suggests a company may need what you sell. Examples are a job post for the role that owns the problem, a new leader, a launch or a migration. A signal is worth keeping only if it changes whom you call, what you say, or whether you call.

Trigger event

A trigger event is a specific, dated change that gives a seller a reason to reach out now, such as a new engineering leader, a funding round, a product launch or a cloud migration. It is one kind of buying signal. The older the event, the weaker the reason to call.

Why now

Why now is the part of an account plan that says what changed recently to make this the right time to call. List changes newest first, with dates: a new leader, a relevant hire, a migration. If you find nothing recent, write "none found" and leave the account in a lower tier.

Blocker

A blocker is a reason to skip or slow down on an account that otherwise looks good. Examples are a certification you lack, a decision to build the tool in-house, or a stack you don't support. Check for blockers early, because finding one after weeks of outreach wastes the effort already spent.

Buying committee

A buying committee is the group of people who take part in a purchase decision at a company. In technical sales it often includes the engineers who would use the tool, their manager, security or architecture reviewers, and whoever controls the budget. One person rarely decides alone.

Stakeholder map

A stakeholder map is a table of the people involved in a deal: their role, what each one cares about, whether they support or oppose you, and what you still need to learn. Some teams call it a buying committee map. It shows who you have talked to and who you have missed.

Champion

A champion is a person inside the buyer's company who wants your product to succeed and helps you win the deal. They explain how decisions get made, coach you on objections and speak for you when you are not in the room. A friendly contact is not a champion unless they act.

Economic buyer

The economic buyer is the person who controls the budget and can approve the spend. They may not use the product or join the technical evaluation. Sellers need to know who it is early, because a deal the users like can still stall when no one with budget authority has agreed.

Technical evaluator

A technical evaluator is the engineer or architect who tests whether your product works in their environment. They judge integrations, performance and how much work it is to run. They usually can't approve the purchase, but a negative verdict can end the deal.

Multithreading

Multithreading means building relationships with several people at one account instead of depending on a single contact. If your one contact leaves, changes jobs or loses interest, a single-threaded deal stalls. Sellers multithread by finding the engineers, managers and reviewers a deal touches.

Pre-call brief

A pre-call brief is a one-page summary a seller reads before a call. It covers the account's fit, why now, the people on the call and what each likely cares about, the questions to ask, and the source behind each point. Some sellers call it a meeting brief or a call plan.

Pre-visit brief

A pre-visit brief is a pre-call brief for an in-person meeting. It covers the same ground and adds logistics: address, entry, demo set-up, and the people who are not invited but matter to the deal. Write it the day before, and recheck news and job posts that day.

MEDDICC

MEDDICC is a sales qualification checklist. The letters stand for Metrics, Economic buyer, Decision criteria, Decision process, Identify pain, Champion and Competition. A seller fills in each item for a deal to see what is known and what is still missing. Teams use it mostly on large deals.

Discovery call

A discovery call is an early conversation where a seller asks questions to learn how the buyer works today, what problem they have and who else is involved. The seller's job is to listen and qualify, not to pitch. Preparing from public facts makes the questions specific.

Land and expand

Land and expand is a sales strategy that starts with a small first purchase, such as one team or one use case, then grows to more teams and more spend over time. Vendors of developer tools and infrastructure commonly use it. It works only if the first team gets value quickly.

POC (proof of concept)

A proof of concept, or POC, is a limited trial in which a buyer tests your product on a real problem to see whether it works. It has a defined scope, success criteria and an end date. Without agreed criteria, a POC can drag on without a decision.

Security review

A security review is the check a buyer's security team runs on a vendor before approving it. It may include a questionnaire, a look at certifications and a review of how the vendor handles data. At regulated buyers it often decides the timeline, so ask about it early.

Security questionnaire

A security questionnaire is a list of questions a buyer sends a vendor about how it protects data, controls access and responds to incidents. Buyers use the answers in a security review. Sellers answer faster when they keep a standard set of answers ready and know early whether the buyer will ask.

Procurement

Procurement is the buyer's team that handles purchasing: it negotiates terms, checks that the vendor is approved and processes the contract. In larger and regulated companies it joins late but can still stop a deal. Ask early what the vendor approval process is and who owns it.

Mutual action plan

A mutual action plan is a shared list of the steps a buyer and seller must complete to close a deal, each with an owner and a date. Typical steps are a technical evaluation, a security review, legal review and signature. It makes the buying process visible and shows early when a step has stalled.