From CRM to pipeline to BYOK: the most important terms around CRM and sales – explained briefly and clearly.
Every definition in 40 to 80 words – no jargon, with clear examples.
Terms explained the way they actually come up in the day-to-day sales work of SMEs and startups.
You will find many terms as features in Advanzo – from deal scoring to workflows.
28 terms from API to workspace – maintained by the Advanzo team and continuously extended.
These terms are searched most frequently:
From term to understanding in three steps.
Find the term in the list below – all definitions live on this page.
Every definition explains the term in 40 to 80 words – with a link to day-to-day sales work.
See how Advanzo puts the term into practice – or start for free right away.
“Who is this glossary for?”
For founders, SME teams and everyone who works with CRM terms in sales – no prior knowledge required.
“How up to date are the definitions?”
The glossary is maintained by the Advanzo team and continuously extended. Last updated: August 2026.
“Is a term missing?”
Write to us via the contact page – we regularly add new terms to the glossary.
“Can I try the terms directly in Advanzo?”
Yes. Advanzo is free to start – you will find pipeline, deal scoring and workflows right in the product.
An API (application programming interface) is an interface that lets two software systems talk to each other directly. Instead of copying data by hand, it flows automatically – from a web form into your CRM, or from the CRM into your accounting tool. That means less typing, fewer errors and a system that works with the tools you already use.
Automation means handing recurring sales tasks over to your system: reminders, tasks, status changes. The key is the right dose – automate the routine, keep the customer relationship personal. In Advanzo, workflows play this role today; a visual automations builder with an AI copilot is in development.
Autopilot is the AI copilot in Advanzo. It suggests reply drafts, tasks, stage changes, risk flags and new deal proposals. Importantly, Autopilot never sends emails automatically. Every suggestion lands in an approval queue, and you decide what gets applied. Control always stays with your team. Learn more →
In Advanzo, Business Intelligence is your editable AI profile of your own business: positioning, ideal customers, target industries, buying signals and competitors. This profile is the foundation Autopilot works from – the more precisely you maintain it, the more relevant its suggestions become. You can edit every entry at any time and shape how the AI understands your business. Learn more →
BYOK stands for Bring Your Own Key: you run AI features with your own API key from an AI provider instead of the vendor's add-on. Advanzo gives you both routes: the AI add-on for CHF 9 per user per month – or your own Anthropic API key.
Churn is customer attrition: the share of customers who cancel or stop buying within a given period. A high churn rate eats your growth, because winning new customers costs more than keeping existing ones. A CRM helps you spot warning signs early and react in time.
The conversion rate measures how much of one stage moves on to the next – from lead to deal, or from proposal to close. It shows where your sales process loses deals. If you know your conversion rates per stage, you know exactly where improvement pays off most.
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management: looking after your customer relationships systematically. A CRM system brings contacts, companies, deals and all communication together in one place. Instead of Excel lists and scattered emails, your team shares one up-to-date view of every customer – and never misses a follow-up. Modern CRMs like Advanzo add AI support on top.
Data migration is moving your existing data – contacts, companies, deals, notes – from spreadsheets or an old CRM into your new system. A clean migration decides how well you start: remove duplicates and outdated records before the import. That way your team begins with a complete, reliable data foundation.
A deal is a concrete sales opportunity: a potential close with a specific customer, an expected amount and a stage in your pipeline. Deals bundle everything that belongs to them – contacts, emails, tasks, notes and documents. So you know exactly where you stand before every conversation.
With deal scoring, AI rates your open deals with a number from 0 to 100. In Advanzo, four factors count equally: engagement, momentum, timing and size. The score is a snapshot on demand and helps you decide which deals need your attention first.
The DSG is Switzerland's data protection act, the GDPR its EU counterpart. Both regulate how you may collect, store and use personal data. For CRM users this means transparent data handling, access rights and secure storage. Advanzo hosts your data in Switzerland and meets the requirements of both laws.
A follow-up is checking back in after a touchpoint – say after a first call or a proposal you sent. Most closes take several follow-ups. A CRM reminds you at the right moment, so no deal fails because of forgetfulness and you stay politely persistent.
The forecast is your revenue prediction: which deals will likely close, when, and with what probability? It builds on pipeline data such as stage, amount and close date. A realistic forecast helps you plan capacity, hiring and spending – without a crystal ball.
Go-to-market is the strategy for bringing a product to market: target audience, positioning, pricing, sales channels and messaging. A clear GTM strategy aligns marketing and sales around one shared plan. Your CRM provides the data behind it – showing which segments respond and which channels actually produce closed deals.
Swiss hosting means your data is stored on servers in Switzerland, under Swiss law. For many SMEs, fiduciaries and consultancies this is the precondition for trusting customer data to a cloud tool. Advanzo hosts all customer data in Switzerland.
Human in the loop means: the AI proposes, a human approves. Every action – say an email draft or a stage change – waits for your approval before anything happens. The principle combines AI speed with your team's judgement. Advanzo applies it strictly: emails are never sent automatically.
The Ideal Customer Profile describes your ideal customer: industry, size, region, budget and typical problems. A clear ICP helps you prioritise the right leads and avoid wasted effort. In Advanzo, the AI uses your ICP to score new contacts by fit.
Kanban is a visual way of organising work in columns. In a CRM, the Kanban board shows your pipeline: every column is a stage, every card a deal. You drag deals from stage to stage and instantly see where work piles up – and where revenue is waiting.
Customer segmentation means dividing your contacts and companies into groups with shared traits – such as industry, size, region or revenue potential. That lets you address each segment specifically instead of treating everyone the same. In your CRM, tags and filters are the foundation: you see at a glance which segments generate the most revenue.
A lead is a potential customer who has shown interest but is not yet qualified – for example an enquiry through your contact form. A lead becomes a deal once you have checked its potential. Clean lead management decides whether enquiries sit idle or turn into revenue.
Lead qualification is assessing whether a lead fits your offer and shows real buying intent – typically based on budget, need, decision-making authority and timing. Qualified leads move into the pipeline as deals; the rest are nurtured or dropped. This keeps your team's time focused on contacts with a real chance of closing.
The pipeline maps your sales process in stages – for example from first enquiry through proposal to close. Every deal moves through these stages. At a glance you see how much revenue sits in which stage, where deals are stuck and what comes next.
A sales copilot is an AI that supports you in sales without taking the wheel. It analyses emails and your pipeline, proposes reply drafts, tasks and next steps – and you decide what gets done. In Advanzo, this copilot is called Autopilot.
The sales cycle is the time span from first contact to closing a deal. It varies widely: small deals close in days, complex B2B deals often take months. Knowing your average sales cycle makes forecasts more realistic and helps you spot stalled deals earlier. Your CRM measures the duration from stage changes in the pipeline.
Win rate measures the share of your deals you actually win – 30 won out of 100 opened deals means a win rate of 30 percent. It shows how well qualification and your sales process work. A low win rate often means too many poor-fit deals enter the pipeline – and you should disqualify earlier.
A workflow is a simple if-then rule in your CRM: when an event occurs – say a new deal or a stage change – an action follows automatically, such as a task or a notification. Workflows take routine work off your plate without reinventing your processes.
In Advanzo, a workspace is a separate, fully isolated CRM area with its own contacts, deals and settings. Agencies and partners run multiple client workspaces in parallel and switch between them via the agency console – each client's data stays strictly separated. Learn more →
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