Welcome to Rattle's Big List of Revenue Operations Acronyms!
Maybe you're a seasoned RevOps pro who wants to be "hep" with all the RevOps kids' "lingo" these days.
Maybe you're not a RevOps person at all and you just want to feel included. <3
Whatever the case, we're sure you've heard some wacky stuff and now you're looking for an explanation in plain English. We tried our best to be as substantive as possible here (and to include some fun Easter Eggs).
We also want to acknowledge too that its a big RevOps world out there, so if you've got some you'd like to see included (or have nitpicks about how we described anything herein, please reach out to us — or hell, call us out — on LinkedIn!
Without further ado...
Here's our list!
A
ABM: Account-Based Marketing - A marketing strategy that focuses on targeting specific accounts or companies, rather than individual leads or customers.
ACV: Annual Contract Value - The total annual value of a customer's contract with a company.
AE: Account Executive - A salesperson who is responsible for managing and closing sales opportunities for a specific set of accounts.
ALM: Application Lifecycle Management - The process of managing the entire lifecycle of an application, from development to deployment to retirement.
AOV: Average Order Value - The average amount of revenue generated by each order or transaction.
ARPU: Average Revenue Per User - The average amount of revenue generated per user or customer.
ARR: Annual Recurring Revenue - The amount of revenue a company expects to earn from recurring subscriptions or contracts on an annual basis.
API: Application Programming Interface - A set of protocols and tools used for building software applications and integrating different systems.
AWS: Amazon Web Services - A cloud computing platform provided by Amazon that offers a wide range of services and tools for building and managing applications.
B
B2B: Business-to-Business - A type of commerce transaction between businesses as opposed to between a business and a consumer.
B2C: Business-to-Consumer - A type of commerce transaction between a business and person.
B2C2B: Business-to-Consumer-to-Business - A business model that involves selling products or services directly to consumers and then using those consumers as a way to reach other businesses. This is as far as we're willing to go with this chain acronym (it can get long).
BANT: Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline - A framework used to qualify leads in B2B sales.
BDR: Business Development Representative - A sales role responsible for generating leads and qualifying prospects.
BOFU: Bottom of the Funnel - The stage in the sales funnel where a lead is close to making a purchase.
C
CAC: Customer Acquisition Cost - The cost a company incurs to acquire a new customer, including marketing and sales expenses. (Not to be confused with Customer Acquisition Cash-burn, AKA the financial bonfire a company builds to lure in new customers, tossing in marketing and sales expenses like kindling.) (That was pre-2023).
CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate - The rate at which a company is growing over a certain period of time, expressed as an annual percentage.
CARR: Committed Annual Recurring Revenue - The total amount of revenue a company expects to receive from its customers over the next 12 months.
CFO: Chief Financial Officer - The person who wants to know why you bought what and if there's possibly a more cost effective way to do it.
CLV: Customer Lifetime Value - The total amount of revenue a company expects to generate from a customer over the course of their relationship.
CMO: Chief Marketing Officer - The executive responsible for a company's marketing strategy and execution.
CMS: Content Management System - A software application that allows users to create, manage, and publish digital content.
COB: Close of Business - The end of the business day, usually 5 p.m. in a given time zone. Also: A unit of corn.
COG: Cost of Goods - The cost of producing a product or service, including materials, labor, and overhead.
CPE: Cost per Engagement - A metric used to measure the cost of a marketing campaign based on how much it costs to get a user to engage with an ad or piece of content.
CPL: Cost per Lead - A metric used to measure the cost of acquiring a new lead or potential customer.
CRM: Customer Relationship Management - A technology used for managing a company's interactions with customers, clients, and sales prospects. Think: Salesforce.
CRO: Chief Revenue Officer - Probably your boss. Probably likes sports metaphors.
CS: Customer Success - the department responsible for ensuring the satisfaction and retention of customers by providing ongoing support, education, and value-add services. In RevOps, CS teams may collaborate with other departments, such as sales and marketing, to ensure a cohesive customer journey and increase revenue growth.
CSAT: Customer Satisfaction - A metric used to measure customer satisfaction with a company's products or services.
CTA: Call to Action - A marketing term used to prompt an immediate response or action from a prospect or customer.
CTI: Computer Telephony Integration - The integration of computer and telephone systems to improve the efficiency of communication and customer service.
CTR: Click-Through Rate - The ratio of clicks to impressions on an advertisement or email campaign.
CX: Customer Experience - The sum of all interactions that a customer has with a company, from initial contact to post-sale support.
CXM: Customer Experience Management - The process of managing and improving the customer experience across all touchpoints.
D
DAM: Digital Asset Management - A system for organizing, storing, and retrieving digital assets, such as images, videos, and other multimedia files.
DMP: Data Management Platform - A system used for collecting, organizing, and analyzing large volumes of data from various sources.
DNS: Domain Name System - A system that translates domain names into IP addresses, allowing users to access websites and other online services.
DQM: Data Quality Management - The process of ensuring data accuracy, completeness, consistency, and validity throughout the organization.
DSO: Days Sales Outstanding - The average number of days it takes for a company to collect payment after a sale has been made.
DSP: Demand-Side Platform - A system used for buying and managing online advertising inventory in real-time.
DTC: Direct-to-Consumer - Companies that sell their products or services directly to customers without using a middleman or third-party retailer.
E
EBITDA: Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization -A financial metric that measures a company's profitability by subtracting its expenses from its revenues.
EOD: End of Day.
EOM: End of Month.
EOQ: End of Quarter.
EOY: End of Year.
EOAT: End of All Time. (A creative way of saying "Never").
ERP: Enterprise Resource Planning - A software system that integrates all business processes and functions of an organization, including finance, human resources, inventory, and supply chain management.
ETL: Extract, Transform, Load - The process of extracting data from various sources, transforming it into a standard format, and loading it into a data warehouse for analysis.
EV: Enterprise Value - A financial metric that represents the total value of a company, including its debt and equity.
F
FAB: Features, Advantages, Benefits - A sales technique used to highlight the features, advantages, and benefits of a product or service.
FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out - a psychological phenomenon where people feel anxious or insecure about not being included in an event or opportunity — also responsible for the creation of Instagram.
FMV: Fair Market Value - The price that a willing buyer would pay to a willing seller in a transaction involving the sale of a business or asset.
FQL: Facebook Query Language - A query language used to retrieve data from Facebook's API.
FTE: Full-Time Equivalent - A unit to measure the workload of an employee, where one FTE represents the workload of one full-time employee.
FTP: File Transfer Protocol - A protocol used to transfer files between computers over a network.
FUD: Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt - A marketing technique used to create negative emotions in customers or prospects in order to influence their decision-making.
FY: Fiscal Year - A 12-month period used by organizations for accounting and financial purposes. Just to keep you on your toes, this may or may not align with the calendar year (it usually doesn't).
G
G2C: Government-to-Citizen - The exchange of information, services, and transactions between governments and citizens.
GDD: Growth-Driven Design - A web design methodology that focuses on continuous improvement based on user data.
GDP: Gross Domestic Product - The total value of goods and services produced in a country.
GEC: Global Engagement Center - The department responsible for managing global customer engagement and relationships.
GIS: Geographic Information System - A system that captures, stores, analyzes, and manages geographic data.
GPT: Generative Pre-trained Transformer - A type of machine learning model that is pre-trained on large amounts of data and can generate human-like text.
GQL: GraphQL - A query language for APIs that allows for efficient and flexible data retrieval.
GRC: Governance, Risk, and Compliance - A framework that helps organizations manage risk and comply with regulations.
GTM: Go-to-Market - The process a company takes to bring a product or service to market.
GTT: Global Telecom & Technology - A company that provides cloud networking services to businesses.
H
HVC: High-Value Customer - A customer who has a high lifetime value and is worth investing extra resources in retaining. Not to be confused with HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning - The systems responsible for regulating temperature, humidity, and air quality in a building.)
I
IaaS: Infrastructure as a Service - A cloud computing model in which a third-party provider hosts infrastructure components, such as servers, storage, and networking hardware.
IAS: Industry Average Spend - A benchmark metric that compares your company's spending to the average spending of other companies in the same industry.
IBM or IBPM: Ideal Buyer Profile Matrix - A matrix that helps you identify the characteristics of your ideal customers and target them more effectively.
ICP: Ideal Customer Profile - A fictional representation of your ideal customer, based on characteristics such as industry, company size, location, and behavior. (Not the band that talks about magnets and wears face paint.)
IQL: Ideal Qualified Lead - A lead that meets all the criteria of your target audience and has a higher probability of converting into a paying customer.
IQLT: Ideal Qualified Lead Time - The amount of time it takes to qualify an IQL based on your company's criteria.
ISR: Inside Sales Representative - A sales professional who works remotely to sell products or services to customers.
ISV: Independent Software Vendor - A company that develops and sells software products that are designed to run on third-party platforms.
IRR: Internal Rate of Return - A metric that calculates the profitability of an investment.
ITM: Inbound Territory Management - A strategy that focuses on attracting leads and customers through inbound marketing tactics, such as SEO and content marketing.
K
KPI: Key Performance Indicator - A metric used to assess the success of an individual or department in attaining important business goals or advancing projects.
L
LCAC: Lifetime Customer Acquisition Cost - The total cost, including marketing and sales expenses, associated with acquiring and retaining a customer over their lifetime.
LDR: Lead Development Representative - A sales professional responsible for qualifying and nurturing leads until they are ready to be passed on to a salesperson.
LDRM: Lead-to-Revenue Management - A process that encompasses the entire customer journey, from lead generation to deal closure and beyond, with the goal of maximizing revenue.
LMS: Learning Management System - A software application used to manage and deliver educational content, track student progress, and administer assessments.
LOE: Level of Effort - A measure of the amount of time, resources, and personnel required to complete a project or task.
LPO: Landing Page Optimization - the process of improving the effectiveness of a landing page in order to increase conversions.
LTV: Lifetime Value - The estimated total revenue a customer will generate for a business over the course of their relationship.
M
MAC: Move-Add-Change - A process used in IT and facilities management to track and manage changes to physical or virtual infrastructure, such as adding or moving employees, changing equipment or software, or updating configurations.
MAP: Marketing Automation Platform - Software used to automate marketing tasks such as email campaigns, social media, and lead generation.
MEDDIC: Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, Champion - A framework used in sales to qualify leads and opportunities. It focuses on identifying the key players in the decision-making process, understanding the customer's pain points, and aligning the sales process with the customer's buying process. It often goes missing.
ML: Machine Learning - The use of artificial intelligence to analyze data and make predictions. In Revenue Operations, ML is often used to analyze customer behavior and identify patterns that can be used to optimize business operations.
MOFU: Middle of the Funnel - The stage in the marketing funnel where leads have shown interest in a product or service and are considering a purchase. Significantly less tasty than TOFU.
MOPs: Marketing Ops - The position and/or processes and technologies charged with supporting marketing campaigns and initiatives.
MQA: Marketing Qualified Account - A lead that has been qualified by the marketing team as having a high likelihood of becoming a paying customer.
MQL: Marketing Qualified Lead - A lead that has shown interest in a company's product or service and has been deemed more likely to become a customer based on certain criteria established by the marketing team.
MRR: Monthly Recurring Revenue - A metric that calculates the amount of revenue a company expects to receive on a monthly basis from its recurring revenue streams.
MSA: Master Service Agreement - A contract that outlines the terms and conditions of a business relationship between two parties.
MTA: Multi-touch Attribution - The process of assigning credit to multiple touchpoints in a customer's journey towards a purchase.
MTR: Marketing to Revenue Ratio - A metric that measures the effectiveness of a company's marketing efforts by comparing the amount of revenue generated to the amount spent on marketing.
MVP: Minimum Viable Product - Refers to a product that has enough features to satisfy early customers and provide feedback for future development. Also: Most Valuable Player.
N
NBO: Next Best Offer - A sales strategy that suggests the next best product or service to a customer based on their previous purchases or behavior.
NDA: Non-Disclosure Agreement - A legal agreement between two or more parties that prohibits the disclosure of confidential information.
NFR: Non-Functional Requirement - A requirement that defines the behavior of a system rather than its specific function.
NPS: Net Promoter Score - A customer loyalty and satisfaction measurement commonly used by businesses.
NSAs: Net Sales Amounts - The total revenue generated from sales after deducting any discounts, returns, or allowances.
NRR: Net Revenue Retention - A metric that helps businesses calculate the revenue retained from existing customers over a given period.
O
OKR: Objectives and Key Results - A goal-setting framework that defines and tracks objectives and their outcomes in a measurable way.
OPEX: Operating Expenses - The ongoing expenses incurred by a business to keep it running, such as rent, utilities, and salaries.
OQL: Order Quantity Limit - The maximum number of units of a product that a customer can purchase in a single order.
OSS: Open Source Software - Software whose source code is available to the public for use and modification.
OTC: Over-The-Counter - A type of financial transaction that occurs directly between two parties, without the involvement of a formal exchange.
OTE: On-Target Earnings - The total compensation a sales rep can expect to earn if they meet or exceed their sales quota.
P
P&L: Profit and Loss - A financial statement that shows the revenues, costs, and expenses of a company over a specific period of time, typically a quarter or year.
PAC: Partner Account Manager - A role that manages relationships with strategic partners, such as resellers or distributors, to drive revenue and increase market share.
PCA: Partner Channel Automation - Software that automates and streamlines the management and tracking of partner programs, including deal registration, co-marketing, and commissions.
PIP: Performance Improvement Plan - A plan created to help underperforming employees improve their performance and meet the company's expectations. Often just a softer way of saying, "You're about to be fired."
PLG: Product Led Growth - A go-to-market strategy that relies on the product to drive growth and acquisition, rather than traditional sales and marketing tactics.
PMM: Product Marketing Manager - A role that focuses on the marketing and positioning of a company's products, including messaging, pricing, and competitive analysis.
POC: Proof of Concept - A trial or test of a product or service to determine its feasibility and potential success.
PQL: Product Qualified Lead - A lead that has engaged with the product and demonstrated a strong likelihood of becoming a paying customer.
PSA: Professional Services Automation - Software that helps manage and streamline the delivery of professional services, such as consulting, implementation, and training.
R
RACI: Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed - An organizational tool used to define and clarify roles and responsibilities within a project or process.
RFP: Request for Proposal - A document that outlines the requirements of a project or service and solicits bids from potential vendors or suppliers.
ROI: Return on Investment - A measure of the profitability of an investment, calculated by dividing the net profit by the cost of the investment.
ROR: Rate of Return - The percentage return on an investment, calculated by dividing the profit by the initial investment.
ROS: Run of Site - A type of online advertising where ads are displayed on all pages of a website, rather than on specific pages or sections.
RRP: Recommended Retail Price - The price that a manufacturer suggests retailers sell their product for.
RSLA: Revenue Share and Licensing Agreement - A contract between a company and a partner that outlines the revenue share and licensing terms for a product or service.
S
SaaS: Software as a Service - A software licensing and delivery model where software is hosted on a cloud-based server and accessed by customers over the internet.
SAL: Sales Accepted Lead - Leads that have met the criteria set by the sales team and are considered qualified for further engagement.
SAO: Sales Accepted Opportunity - An opportunity that has been qualified by the sales team and has a high likelihood of closing.
SDR: Sales Development Representative - A sales professional who focuses on generating leads and qualifying prospects for the sales team.
SEO: Search Engine Optimization - The practice of improving the quality and quantity of traffic to a website from search engines.
SLA: Service Level Agreement - A contract between a service provider and a customer that specifies the level of service that will be provided. Is often timed and anxiety-inducing.
SOP: Standard Operating Procedure - A documented set of instructions that outlines how specific tasks or processes should be performed within an organization.
SQL: Structured Query Language - A programming language used to manage and manipulate relational databases. Or…
SQL: Sales Qualified Lead - A lead that has been qualified by the sales team and is deemed ready for direct contact.
SMB: Small and Medium-sized Business - A business that has fewer than 500 employees and generates less than $1 billion in annual revenue.
SOW: Statement of Work - A document that outlines the scope of work to be performed by a vendor or service provider.
SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats - A framework used to analyze a company's internal and external environment.
T
TAM: Total Addressable Market - The total market demand for a product or service.
TBR: Total Bookings Revenue - The total amount of revenue generated from all bookings made.
TCV: Total Contract Value - The total value of a contract over its entire duration, including all fees and charges.
TKAD: Total Knowledge of Account Dynamics - A comprehensive understanding of the customer's business, including their pain points, goals, and challenges. (We made this one up to see if you're paying attention.)
TOFU: Top of Funnel - The initial stage of the buyer's journey, where potential customers become aware of your brand and begin to engage with your content or marketing efforts. Also: a tasty alternative to meat-based products.
TOM: Target Operating Model - A blueprint for the design and implementation of an organization's operations to achieve its strategic objectives.
TPS: Transactions Per Second - The number of transactions processed by a system per second.
TQM: Total Quality Management - A management approach that seeks to optimize performance and enhance customer satisfaction by focusing on quality at every level of an organization.
TSR: Total Shareholder Return - The total return on investment for shareholders, including dividends and capital appreciation.
TTR: Time to Revenue - The amount of time it takes for a customer to start generating revenue after making a purchase.
V
VOC: Voice of the Customer - Refers to the feedback, opinions, and preferences of customers regarding your products or services. Trust this. Or don't. Some people don't know what the hell they want, honestly.
VTC: Virtual Training Center - A remote platform or software that provides training and educational resources to employees and customers virtually.
VDR: Virtual Deal Room - A secure online platform used by companies to share confidential documents and information during the due diligence process of a business deal.
VAR: Value-Added Reseller - A company that enhances or modifies a product or service before reselling it to customers.
VSOE: Vendor-Specific Objective Evidence - Refers to the fair value of a product or service that is based on the vendor's specific evidence of the value of the product or service.
VOP: Value Optimization Process - The process of analyzing and optimizing a company's value proposition to maximize revenue and profitability.
VOCaaS: Voice of the Customer as a Service - A service that provides companies with tools and resources to collect, analyze, and act on customer feedback in real-time.
W
WFM: Workforce Management - The process of ensuring that an organization has the right number of employees with the necessary skills and experience to meet business objectives.
WFO: Workforce Optimization - A holistic approach to managing an organization’s workforce to improve performance, efficiency, and employee engagement.
WIP: Work in Progress - Refers to tasks or projects that are currently being worked on but are not yet completed.
WYSIWYG: What You See Is What You Get - Not just what I told my wife on our first date. This one refers to a user interface or editor that shows exactly what the final output will look like, as opposed to requiring users to use code or markup language.
