Sales Customer Relationship Management glossary
Release version: Australia Updated March 12, 2026
11 minutes to read Learn about terms and concepts that are unique to Sales Customer Relationship Management.
Glossary terms are listed alphabetically.
account
A customer or organization record in ServiceNow
Sales CRM.
attract
The phase where sales agents identify and engage potential customers through marketing efforts to generate interest and leads.
automated fallout records
Records created automatically when an order fulfillment workflow includes a "Create fallout action" due to issues like downstream system failures, data problems, or inventory shortages.
backorder
An item that can't be delivered immediately due to being out of stock.
business portal
Self-service web portal for B2B customers, providing integrated access to knowledge articles, community forums, service catalogs, and chat bots, enabling customers to browse products, place orders, and manage order cases.
To learn more about using the business portal, see Using the Business Portal.
campaign
A coordinated marketing effort to generate leads and promote products or services.
change order
A request to modify an existing order, such as changing quantity, product, or fulfillment details.
channel partners
External organizations like resellers or system integrators that collaborate with an enterprise to sell products and services, and can be managed through Partner Relationship Management.
characteristics and characteristic options
Characteristics define product attributes, while characteristic options are the available values for these attributes, based on customer preferences.
commit
Sales opportunities that representatives are confident will close in the current forecast period.
committed time frame
The deadline for delivering products and services to a customer, often specified in a contract.
competitor
A record capturing information about companies or products competing for the same customer deal within an opportunity.
contact
A person associated with a customer account or partner organization, serving as the primary communication point.
contract
A legal agreement between a seller and buyer outlining sale terms, including products/services, pricing, quantities, and delivery.
contract management
The process of creating, managing, and executing legal sales contracts from completed quotes.
covered products
configurable pricing plans
Customizable plans defining the sequence of pricing calculations and adjustments to determine final product prices.
cross-sell
A sales strategy for selling related products that differ from the customer's current purchases.
customer engagement sequence (or sequence)
A playbook guiding sales agents in engaging leads across multiple channels.
customer order
Orders for products (tangible or digital) that a customer wants to purchase or change.
deal prioritization
Analyzing opportunities based on financial impact to focus on high-value deals.
discount
A price reduction for a product or service offered to customers.
disqualified lead
A lead that is no longer viable for sales engagement.
DocuSign
An external service for electronic signatures, enabling customers to sign documents digitally.
enrichment
Enhancing customer orders with additional technical data or attributes necessary for accurate processing and fulfillment.
fallout record
A record created to investigate and resolve processing issues during order fulfillment, generated automatically or manually.
forecast category
Classification of opportunities by closure certainty, with default categories including Won, Commit, Strong Upside, Upside, Pipeline, and Omitted.
For more information, see Sales Forecasting terminology.
forecast model
forecast roll-up method (single/cumulative)
Defines opportunity aggregation into forecasts, with "Single" showing each category separately and "Cumulative" aggregating previous categories.
forecast schedule
A process generating the latest forecast data from all system opportunities.
fulfill
Completing customer orders by executing order tasks.
fulfillment flow
The sequence of steps for decomposed orders, including order tasks.
gap (Sales Forecasting)
The difference between Quota and Won sales, indicating the amount needed to meet targets.
hierarchical node map
A visual representation of hierarchical structures, showing relationships and levels.
horizontal relationship
A relationship between different product specifications, defined using compatibility rules.
inflight change
Modifications made to customer orders during fulfillment.
inventory allocation
Assigning available inventory to customer orders based on configuration, quantity, and eligibility.
jeopardy alert
Notifications generated when fulfillment tasks risk missing deadlines.
lead
A potential customer created from information captured through various channels.
For more information, see Lead Management.
lead management workflow
A structured process guiding lead progression from creation to opportunity conversion.
lead nurturing
Engaging with leads over time to build relationships and increase conversion likelihood.
lead qualification
Determining if a lead meets criteria to be considered sales-qualified.
lead routing
Automatically assigning leads to sales representatives based on criteria.
lead scoring
Prioritizing leads based on predefined criteria or assigning numerical values based on conversion potential.
lead segmentation
Categorizing leads based on parameters like industry or behavior for targeted marketing.
lead source
The channel through which a lead was acquired.
lead task
Follow-up actions created to progress a lead.
lead-to-cash cycle
A business process encompassing all activities and tasks involved in selling to customers, fulfilling orders, and delivering ongoing services.
MACD (move, add, change, delete/disconnect)
matrix validations
Rules ensuring data accuracy in pricing and product eligibility matrices.
monthly recurring charge (MRC)
A pricing method with monthly charges for products/services.
multiple configurations
A feature allowing multiple variations of child product offerings.
For more information, see Multiple configurations.
needs analysis
A process using needs templates to gather customer requirements and generate product recommendation.
needs templates
Questionnaires associated with needs decision trees for product recommendations.
needs decision tree
A guided decision process presenting questions to agents for product recommendations.
negotiation enhancement (Opportunity Management)
Providing real-time pricing insights to tailor customer offers while maintaining profitability.
non-product attribute pricing adjustment
Pricing adjustments based on non-product characteristics.
open state model
A framework controlling product options in the product configurator.
opportunity
A qualified lead with high potential to become a customer.
opportunity line items
Products/services added to an opportunity.
opportunity management
Analyzing customer needs and generating product recommendations.
For more information, see Opportunity Management
orchestration
Coordinating order fulfillment through fulfillment flows.
orchestration plans for order fulfillment
User interfaces tracking domain orders and tasks, providing hierarchical representations.
order case
Cases created for order-related issues or changes.
order fallout
Failures during order fulfillment due to errors or exceptions.
For more information, see Managing order fallout.
order hierarchy
The structure of an order, including decomposed orders and tasks.
order life cycle
Stages a customer order progresses through in Order Management including order creation, enrichment, decomposition, and orchestration, and fulfillment.
For more information, see Using Order Management.
order line items (Order Management)
Individual items in customer and service orders.
order states
The current stage of an order or an order line item in its life cycle, from initial creation through fulfillment and closure. Each state indicates what actions have been completed and what steps remain in the order processing
workflow.
For more information, see Order life cycle states.
order tasks
order tracking
Monitoring order locations and statuses.
pipeline
Early-stage opportunities with uncertain closure.
pipeline analysis
Analyzing sales pipeline progression.
point of no return (PONR)
price list
Definitions identifying pricing features and product or service prices.
price list defaulting matrix
Specifying conditions for default price list usage.
price list line
Entries within price lists identifying list prices.
price point (pricing plan)
Prices calculated after specific pricing plan steps.
pricing adjustments
Modifications to standard list prices.
pricing adjustments for bundled products
Price adjustments defined for product offerings when they are sold as part of a product bundle.
pricing engine
A component calculating and applying pricing strategies.
pricing engine parallel execution
A system property that enables the pricing engine to process transaction lines in parallel to optimize performance, especially for large sets of transaction lines (typically 100 or more).
pricing engine parallelism lines threshold
The minimum lines required for parallel processing with the default value being 100.
pricing entities
Pricing-related elements exportable between ServiceNow instances.
pricing extension points
Integration points for customizing the pricing engine.
pricing matrix
Frameworks for complex pricing adjustments.
pricing plan
A customizable sequence of steps that determine the final price of a product or service. It includes various pricing calculations and adjustments, such as base price determination, discounts, and markups.
pricing plan step
Stages within pricing plans applying specific calculations.
pricing strategies
Methods determining product and service prices.
product
Items or services offered, configured, quoted, and ordered.
product attribute-based pricing adjustment
Adjustments based on certain product characteristics.
product configurator
A user interface embedded within various ServiceNow
Sales CRM applications (Opportunity, Quote, and Order Management) that enables agents to dynamically configure complex products or services according to customer requirements, displaying
product hierarchy, option selection, and current pricing.
product hierarchy (product configurator)
A section within the product configurator that lists the parent and child product relationships for configurable products, helping agents navigate nested bundles.
product data model
A structured representation of a business's offerings that separates commercial, service, and technical attributes to support the entire lead-to-cash process.
product offer bundling
Allows for the creation of product offer bundles with an offer hierarchy using product offer relationships and relationship groups. These bundles can reference a product specification or specification hierarchy at any
level.
product offer eligibility
Dynamically filters product catalogs, product offering categories, and product offerings to display only eligible items for a specific customer, based on context such as customer accounts, location, and sales
contracts.
product offering category
Logical groupings of product offerings within a catalog, making it easier for agents to browse and navigate product offerings.
product offering recommendations
Suggestions for additional products that agents can use to up-sell or cross-sell to customers in quotes, displayed as cards in the contextual side panel.
product offering version
New iterations of published product offerings.
propose
Presenting offers to potential customers.
qualified lead
A customer whose needs have been analyzed, resulting in the creation of an opportunity.
quotas
Specific sales targets or goals that individual sales representatives are expected to achieve within a defined time frame, helping to measure performance and drive sales efforts.
quote
A formal offer for products or services with specific prices and payment terms.
quote expiration
The date after which a quote becomes invalid, requiring customers to request a new one.
quote line items
Individual quote entries representing specific products or services, where characteristics and pricing can be updated.
quote management
Process of creating and managing quotes for products and services.
quote PDF documents
PDF documents created from quotes for customer review and electronic signatures.
quote revision
Modifying a previously generated quote to reflect changes in price, products, or terms.
quote versions
Different quote iterations managed through the Revisions tab with sequential version numbers.
renew/expand
A classification indicating sales engagement nature: "Renew" for continuing contracts or subscriptions and "Expand" for up-selling or adding products or services.
renewal
Extending an existing customer contract.
Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA)
Formal authorization for customers to return unwanted or defective items.
revenue forecasting
Projecting future sales volumes or revenue based on opportunities, historical performance, and pipeline analysis.
risk level (jeopardy)
Classification of fulfillment task risk based on delay percentage. Levels include Low, Medium, High, and Critical.
salesforce automation
A software that automates a business’s sales processes, including lead and opportunity management, sales forecasting, and territory management.
sale cycle
Lead progression through stages until becoming a qualified opportunity and resulting in a sale.
sales cycle type
Classification of opportunity into different sales cycles such as New Customer, Renewal, or Up-sell (to name a few).
sales forecast dashboard
A visualization tool displaying sales forecast information and targets.
sales forecasting
Projecting future sales or revenue based on opportunities, historical performance, and pipeline analysis.
sales process record
A ServiceNow record tracking potential sales through stages.
sales-qualified lead
A lead meeting specific criteria, ready for sales engagement.
sales quota management
Assigning sales quota targets to representatives or managers based on hierarchy, role, and forecast period.
For more information, see Set up sales quota.
sales targets
Specific goals or objectives for sales teams, territories, or representatives.
self-service
Customer capability to perform tasks and access information independently via Business Portal.
sequence step
Individual activities within sequence tasks, such as customer calls or emails.
sequence task
System-generated tasks including predefined activities for sales agents while engaging with a prospect or customer.
shipment
Delivering ordered products to specified locations.
signers (quote PDF)
strong upside
Opportunities with high potential to close but minor uncertainty.
telesales
Process of engaging with prospects or customers via phone calls with the goal of generating leads, making direct sales, and building customer relationships.
total annual contract value (ACV)
Total annual contract value representing yearly revenue.
total annual recurring revenue (ARR)
Cumulative annual recurring revenue for recurring products or services.
total monthly recurring revenue (MRR)
Cumulative monthly recurring revenue for recurring products or services.
total contract value (TCV)
Total revenue expected over a contract's lifetime.
transaction line
Detailed records in orders and quotes representing specific products or services.
transient products
Single-use products and services that are identified as transient to differentiate them from persistent products.
unit of measure
Standard quantity/increment defining product offering amounts.
up-sell
Sales strategy encouraging customers to upgrade products.
upside
Opportunities with potential to close but lower certainty.
versioning
Tracking or managing different versions of entities in Sales Customer Relationship Management.
volume pricing
weighted amount
Total revenue adjusted by the probability percentage of closing the opportunity.
win rate
Performance metric reflecting successfully closed opportunities as "Won" compared to the total number of opportunities.
won
Forecast category for successfully closed opportunities.
workflow
Defined sequence of steps automating processes in Sales Customer Relationship Management.