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Glossary

The small business glossary, in plain words.

Short definitions for the words you hear when running a small business. No jargon to explain the jargon.

Term of the weekTask management system

A task management system is a method or app for capturing, assigning, prioritising and tracking the jobs you and your team need to do, so every…

Read the full entry: Task management system →

129 terms shown

Terms starting with A

Accounts payable

Accounts payable (AP) is the money your business owes to suppliers, contractors and other vendors for goods or services you have already received but not yet…

Accounts receivable

Accounts receivable (AR) is the money your customers owe you for goods or services you have already delivered but have not been paid for yet, usually…

Agile project management

Agile project management is a way of running projects in short cycles (often one or two weeks), delivering small usable pieces of work, getting feedback and…

AI Receptionist

An AI receptionist is software that answers a business's incoming calls or voice enquiries in a natural-sounding voice, then handles routine requests: answering questions, booking appointments,…

Chip AI

AI sequencing

AI sequencing is using AI to plan, write and set up a series of follow-up messages and actions (emails, texts, WhatsApp) that run after a trigger,…

Answering Service

An answering service is an outside company that answers your business's phone calls when you can't, usually after hours, at busy times or all day, and…

Chip AI

Appointment booking

Appointment booking is how a customer reserves a time with your business. Online, it means a booking page where customers see your free times and book…

Auto-reply

An auto-reply is a message sent automatically in response to an incoming email, chat or text, without anyone writing it at the time. What is auto-reply…

Automated payment reminders

Automated payment reminders are messages sent on a set schedule before, on and after an invoice's due date, reminding the customer what they owe and how…

Automation workflow

An automation workflow is a set of steps that runs automatically when a trigger happens, such as a form submission or an overdue invoice. It sends…

Terms starting with C

Call to action (CTA)

A call to action (CTA) is the words, button or link that tells someone the next step to take, such as "Book a free call", "Get…

Canned responses

What are canned responses? Canned responses are pre-written replies to questions a business gets again and again, saved so a person can insert one into an…

Chargeback

A chargeback is the reversal of a card payment by the customer's bank after the customer disputes the charge. The money is taken back from the…

Chatbot

A chatbot is software that holds a text or voice conversation with people automatically, answering questions or completing simple tasks without a person typing each reply.…

Chip AI

Churn rate

Churn rate is the percentage of customers who stop buying from you, or cancel a subscription, during a set period such as a month or a…

Client management system

A client management system is software that keeps everything about your clients in one place, from contact details and conversations to bookings, projects, files and invoices,…

Client portal

A client portal is a private, secure page where a client can follow the work you do for them, including progress, files, approvals, invoices and messages,…

Cold outreach

Cold outreach is contacting a potential customer who has had no previous contact with your business, usually by email, phone or LinkedIn, to start a relevant…

Contactless payment

A contactless payment is a card or phone payment made by tapping or holding the card, phone or watch near a reader, without inserting the card…

Money

Conversion rate

A conversion rate is the percentage of people who take a specific action, such as filling in a form, booking a call or buying, out of…

Credit note

A credit note is a document a seller issues to reduce or cancel an invoice already sent, for example after a return, an overcharge or an…

CRM

A CRM (customer relationship management system) is software that keeps all your customer information in one place: contact details, conversation history, deals, tasks and follow-ups, so…

CRM automation

CRM automation uses simple "when this happens, do that" rules inside your customer list to send follow-ups, create tasks, assign leads and update deals automatically, so…

CRM data management

CRM data management is the ongoing work of keeping the customer information in your CRM accurate, complete, consistent and free of duplicates, from how data comes…

CRM notes

CRM notes are short written records attached to a customer's profile in a CRM. They capture the context that numbers miss: what was discussed, what the…

CRM reporting

CRM reporting is using the data in your CRM, such as leads, deals, activities and payments, to produce reports and dashboards that show how sales and…

Cross-selling

Cross-selling is offering a customer a related product or service that complements what they are already buying, such as a maintenance plan with a new website…

Customer acquisition cost (CAC)

Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is the total you spend on marketing and sales in a period divided by the number of new customers you won in…

Customer journey

The customer journey is the full path a person takes with your business, from first hearing about you, through buying, to using what they bought, coming…

Customer lifetime value (CLV)

Customer lifetime value (CLV) is the total amount a typical customer spends with your business over the whole time they stay with you, often measured as…

Customer retention

Customer retention is a business's ability to keep its existing customers buying from it over time. It is usually measured as a customer retention rate: the…

CRM

Customer satisfaction score (CSAT)

What is customer satisfaction score? Customer satisfaction score (CSAT) is the percentage of customers who say they were satisfied with one interaction, usually by rating it…

CRM

Terms starting with E

Email automation

Email automation is sending emails automatically based on rules and triggers, such as a new signup, a booking or an unpaid invoice, so the right message…

Email drip sequence

An email drip sequence is a series of pre-written emails sent automatically, one after another with a set wait between each, starting when someone takes an…

Email marketing

Email marketing is the practice of sending emails, such as newsletters, offers and automatic follow-ups, to people who have agreed to hear from you, in order…

Email open rate

Email open rate is the percentage of delivered emails that were opened, calculated as unique opens divided by emails delivered. It is a rough guide to…

Email segmentation

Email segmentation is the practice of dividing your email list into smaller groups, called segments, based on shared traits such as location, purchase history or engagement,…

Employee offboarding

Employee offboarding is the process of managing someone's exit from a business: handing over their work, collecting equipment, removing system access, settling final pay and holding…

Employee onboarding

Employee onboarding is the process of welcoming a new hire and preparing them to do their job, from paperwork, equipment and accounts before day one to…

Estimate vs quote

An estimate is an approximate price based on what you know so far, and the final bill may differ. A quote is a firm price for…

Expense tracking

Expense tracking is the habit of recording every business cost, with its amount, date, category and receipt, so you can see where money goes, control spending,…

Terms starting with P

Paid time off (PTO)

Paid time off (PTO) is time an employee takes away from work while still receiving their normal pay, such as holidays, sick days and personal days,…

Payment gateway

A payment gateway is a service that securely collects a customer's payment details online, sends them to the banks and card networks for approval, and tells…

Payment link

A payment link is a shareable web address that opens a secure checkout page, so a customer can pay you by card, bank transfer or another…

Payment terms? Net 30 and other terms explained

Payment terms are the conditions you set for how and when a customer must pay, such as the due date (for example net 30, meaning within…

Paystack

Paystack is a Lagos-founded payment service provider, now owned by Stripe, that lets businesses in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa accept payments online and in…

Performance review

A performance review is a regular, structured conversation between an employee and their manager about how their work has gone over a set period, backed by…

Pipeline management

Pipeline management is the ongoing work of tracking, reviewing and moving deals through the stages of your sales pipeline, so you know what is likely to…

Profit margin

Profit margin is the share of your revenue that you keep as profit, shown as a percentage. It is profit divided by revenue, times 100: a…

Proforma invoice

A proforma invoice is a preliminary bill sent before goods or services are delivered. It shows what the final invoice will contain so the buyer can…

Project management software

Project management software is an app for planning a project, breaking it into tasks, assigning people and dates, and tracking progress, time and budget until the…

Project milestone

A project milestone is a checkpoint that marks an important moment in a project, such as a design being approved or a site going live. It…

Purchase order

A purchase order (PO) is a document a buyer sends to a supplier to order goods or services. It lists what is being bought, the quantity,…

Terms starting with S

Sales funnel

A sales funnel is the set of steps people go through on the way to buying from you, from first noticing you to paying, drawn as…

Sales pipeline

A sales pipeline is a visual view of every deal you are working on, grouped into stages such as new lead, proposal sent and negotiation, so…

Sales Qualified Lead (SQL)

A sales qualified lead (SQL) is a lead you have checked, usually on a short call or in writing, and confirmed has a real need you…

CRM

Service based business

A service based business earns money by doing work for customers, using skills, time or expertise, rather than by making or selling physical products. Examples include…

Service level agreement (SLA)

What is a service level agreement?

Documents

Shared inbox

What is a shared inbox? A shared inbox is one message list that a whole team works from, where each customer conversation can be assigned to…

Chip AI

SMS marketing

SMS marketing is using text messages to promote products, share updates and bring customers back, through one-off campaigns and automatic texts such as welcomes and reminders,…

Social media management

Social media management is the ongoing work of running a business's social media accounts: planning content, creating and publishing posts, responding to comments and messages, and…

Social media scheduler

A social media scheduler is a tool that lets you write posts in advance and set them to publish automatically on platforms like Facebook, Instagram and…

Sprint in agile

A sprint in agile is a short, fixed period, usually one to four weeks, in which a team commits to finishing a chosen set of work,…

Standard operating procedure (SOP)

A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a written, step-by-step description of how a routine task is done, so that anyone who follows it gets the same…

Statement of work (SOW)

A statement of work (SOW) is a document that sets out exactly what will be delivered on a project: the scope, deliverables, timeline, price, responsibilities and…

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