B2B lead generation glossary: the words vendors use, in plain English

This glossary explains 41 terms you meet when you buy B2B leads and follow them up. Each term gets one plain sentence. A line under it says what the term means for you.

Lead vendors use the same words for different things. Where we use a word, we say what we mean by it and what we check. Ask any vendor to do the same. A word with no method behind it tells you nothing.

From A to Z

• A Account-level intent · Accurate work email
• B BDR · Bounce
• C CAN-SPAM · Cold email · Company phone · Content syndication · Cost per held meeting · CRM
• D Data decay · Decision committee · DNC
• E Engaged with content on your topic
• F Firmographics · Follow-up · Free leads
• G Gated content
• H Held meeting
• I ICP · Intent
• L Lead · Lead age · Lead list
• O Online check · Opt-out · Outbound
• P Pack · Personal number · Phone check · Pipeline · Price per lead · Proof link
• R Replacement · Reply rate
• S SDR · Seniority
• T Topic · Touch
• V Verified: checked online and by phone
• W Work email

Buying leads

Lead

A lead is one person who might buy from you. Every vendor sets its own bar for what counts as one.

Ours is a person who fits your ICP and passed two checks, online and by phone. They engaged with content on your topic in the last 90 days.

For you: ask each vendor for their bar in one sentence. Then compare it with our sample leads.

Lead list

A lead list is a file of names and contacts, often taken from a database. It holds no reason to write to any one person.

For you: a list tells you who exists. It does not say who engaged with your topic, or when. From us you get leads that fit your ICP, not access to a database.

ICP

ICP means ideal customer profile. It is the kind of buyer you sell to: the roles, company sizes, industries and places.

We match each lead on job title, company size and topic. We match industry too, when you name one.

For you: write your ICP in one line before you buy anything. For example: "VP of IT at US companies of 200 to 999 people". A vendor can only match what you name. Week 1 of the founder-led outbound plan starts there.

Seniority

Seniority is how high a person sits: manager, director, VP or C-level.

For you: name the levels in your ICP. Each lead in our file shows its level in its own column.

Firmographics

Firmographics are facts about a company, such as its size, industry and location.

For you: they describe the company and say nothing about the person. Two people at one company can care about different topics. Firmographics alone cannot tell you who to write to.

Content syndication

Content syndication means B2B reports and guides that many sites offer to professionals. A person gives their work details to get one.

For you: a content syndication lead names the person and the content they engaged with. Before you buy, run the checklist in is content syndication still worth it.

Gated content

Gated content is a report or guide you get only after you fill in a form with your work details.

For you: gated content is how content syndication finds people. The form gives a name, a company and the topic of the report.

Intent and signals

Intent

Intent is what a person wanted to read, and when. It is one fact. It does not promise that they will buy.

Vendors sell intent data in two kinds. One kind names a company that read about a topic. The other names the person.

For you: ask whether a vendor's intent names a person or a company. Only a person can answer your email.

Engaged with content on your topic

This is how we describe what a lead did. They opened an email about a report or guide on your topic. Then they clicked a link, filled a form or opened the file.

We do not claim a download. The file does not show which of those steps a person took.

For you: name the topic in your first email. It gives the person a reason to read on.

Account-level intent

Account-level intent says that someone at a company read about a topic. It does not say who.

For you: you still have to find the person yourself. A lead from us names the person, with the content and the date.

Topic

A topic is the subject of the content a person engaged with, such as email security or recruiting.

For you: we match each lead's topic to what you sell. A lead on the wrong topic gives you no reason to write.

Lead age

Lead age is the number of days since the person engaged with the content.

We count it from the earliest date on record for that lead. Nothing older than 90 days goes out.

For you: sort by date and write to the newest leads first. Ask any vendor how old their leads are, in days. Who to contact first gives the full order.

Checks and data quality

Online check

In an online check, a person compares the lead's name and title with public sources. Those are pages such as a professional profile or the company website.

For you: it catches a made-up name or a wrong title before the lead reaches you. Every step is on how we check.

Phone check

In a phone check, a call confirms that the person works at the company. The call does not ask about budget or interest.

For you: it catches people who have left. The call happens before the lead reaches us, so a person can still move later. If they have left, tell us within 7 days and we replace the lead.

Verified: checked online and by phone

Vendors use "verified" for almost any check, often one done by software alone. We use the word only with the method: checked online and by phone.

For you: when a vendor writes "verified", ask who checked, how and when.

Proof link

A proof link is a public page that shows the person at the company. Every lead we sell has one. A lead without one is not sold.

For you: open it before you write. If the page shows someone else, the lead is wrong, and you get a new one.

Work email

A work email is a person's own address at their company. Free mail addresses and shared inboxes such as info@ do not count.

For you: a message to info@ goes to whoever reads that inbox. Every lead from us comes with a work email.

Accurate work email

Every email is accurate: they engaged with content sent to that address. That is what we mean by an accurate work email.

For you: if an email still bounces, it counts as a wrong lead, and you get a new one.

Bounce

A bounce is an email that comes back because it could not be delivered.

For you: count the bounces after your first send. A bounce from one of our leads counts as a wrong lead. Tell us within 7 days and we replace it.

Data decay

Data decay is contact data going out of date as people change jobs, get promoted or leave.

For you: an old list loses people every month you keep it. Ask how old each lead is, in days. With us, a person who has left counts as a wrong lead.

Company phone

A company phone is the main number of the company.

For you: when you call it, ask for the person by name. Our file marks each number as office or personal.

Personal number

A personal number is a phone number that belongs to the person. It may be a mobile.

Our file marks it "personal, may be mobile: manual dial only, check DNC before calling". You can have one on every lead. It costs $9 more a lead, in any pack.

For you: dial it by hand, and check the DNC registry first. The phone rules say what to do on each call.

DNC

DNC is the National Do Not Call Registry. It is a US list of phone numbers that sales callers must not call.

For you: most calls to a business line are exempt. A personal mobile is not a business line, so check the registry before you call one.

Sales follow-up

Outbound

Outbound means you contact buyers first, by email, phone or a message.

For you: the first 30 days of founder-led outbound gives a plan for one ICP and 50 people.

Cold email

A cold email is a first message to someone who does not know you.

For you: US law allows it when you follow CAN-SPAM (see below). Write about the person's topic, in a few lines. Our three emails over 10 days give you the words.

Touch

A touch is one attempt to reach a person: an email, a call, a voicemail or a message.

For you: log every touch with its date. Then you can see which step brought the reply.

Follow-up

A follow-up is any touch after the first one, to the same person.

For you: plan your follow-ups before you send the first email. Our follow-up plan lays out each touch and its day.

Decision committee

A decision committee is the people at one company who decide on a purchase. Vendors also call it a buying committee or a buying group.

In a 2026 Belkins study of 1,871 sales plans, sellers planned for 4.6 to 6 people per company. The number grew with company size.

For you: write to 2 or 3 people at one company where you can. Write to each about their own problem. A pack can include 2 or 3 people from the same buyer group at one company, if you ask. We tell you how many before you pay. The decision committee guide shows how to work them.

SDR

An SDR, or sales development representative, finds new prospects, contacts them and books first meetings for the sales team.

For you: an SDR's on-target pay is about $6,667 a month (The Bridge Group, 2025). Tools and a manager cost extra. Leads vs meetings vs an SDR compares that with a pack.

BDR

A BDR, or business development representative, does the same job as an SDR at many companies. Some teams use the title for outbound only.

For you: ask what the person does each day. The two titles often mean one job.

CRM

A CRM, or customer relationship management system, is where you keep your contacts, companies and deals.

For you: our leads arrive as a CSV file. Import it into your CRM and log each touch there.

Pipeline

Your pipeline is all your open deals and what they are worth.

For you: a lead enters your pipeline only when the person agrees to talk about buying. We do not promise pipeline. We deliver the people.

Reply rate

Reply rate is the share of people you emailed who wrote back.

For you: check what a quoted rate divides by, emails sent or people contacted. We do not promise a reply rate. Replies depend on your message as much as on the lead.

Held meeting

A held meeting is a meeting that took place. A booked meeting the person skipped does not count.

For you: judge a pack by held meetings per 50 leads. Log each one in your CRM on the day it takes place.

Opt-out

An opt-out is a person's request to get no more messages from you.

For you: stop writing to them, and keep their address on a list so no tool writes to them again. If they came from us, tell us too. We keep them out of your future deliveries.

CAN-SPAM

CAN-SPAM is the US law for commercial email. It lets you send a first email without asking first, if you follow its rules.

For you: each sales email needs an unsubscribe link that works and your postal address. The subject line must not mislead. This line is not legal advice. The FTC's compliance guide lists every rule.

Pricing

Price per lead

Price per lead, or CPL (cost per lead), is what you pay for one lead.

Ours is $40 a lead in a pack of 50. It falls to $34 in a pack of 200.

For you: a low CPL can hide thin checks. Compare what each lead holds and who checked it. What a B2B lead costs in 2026 shows the price bands vendors publish.

Pack

A pack is what you buy from us: 50, 100 or 200 leads. You pay one invoice per pack.

There is no contract and no minimum term. Before you pay, we check there are enough of your buyers to fill the pack. If there are not, we say so and you do not pay for it.

For you: start small and judge the pack by held meetings. All prices are on pricing.

Free leads

Your free 10 are leads for your buyers, with name, email and phone, before you pay anything.

They are separate from the packs and do not count toward one. They arrive within 2 business days. If we cannot find 10 that fit, we tell you how many we found and why.

For you: judge them on your own ICP before you spend money. How to judge your free leads gives the steps.

Replacement

A replacement is a new lead in place of a wrong one.

A lead is wrong if one of these is wrong: name, job title, level, work email, phone number, company, website, industry, company size, office address, the content they engaged with, the date they engaged, proof link. It is also wrong if the person has left the company. Tell us within 7 days of delivery. You get a replacement lead; a refund only if no lead in your ICP is left to replace it.

Not covered: the person does not remember engaging with the content, or a number turns out to be a mobile or on the Do Not Call list.

For you: note what you saw, such as the bounce message or the page. The replacement terms are on pricing.

Cost per held meeting

Cost per held meeting is what you spent, divided by the meetings that took place.

For you: use it to compare a pack, an SDR and email-only outreach on one number. Leads vs meetings vs an SDR does the math.

Test the words on your own buyers

Give us your work email, then tell us who you sell to. We send 10 leads that fit, with name, email and phone. If we cannot find 10, we tell you how many we found and why.

Get 10 free leads