ℹ️ Note
This glossary is written for Indian business owners and sales teams encountering CRM terminology for the first time. Every definition is in plain English, and every example uses Indian company scenarios, ₹ amounts, and references you will recognise. Use Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F) to jump to any term.
A
- Activity
- Any interaction logged against a contact or deal — a phone call, email, meeting, note, or WhatsApp message. Activities create a timeline of your relationship with each client.
- Example: Ravi logs a call activity after speaking with Mr. Sharma about the Nashik plant contract. Next month, when a new salesperson takes over the account, they can read the full activity history.
- API
- Application Programming Interface. A way for two software systems to talk to each other automatically. CRMs with APIs can connect to your website, accounting software, or WhatsApp Business.
- Example: Your website enquiry form sends data directly to TatvaCRM via API, so leads appear instantly without anyone copying and pasting from email.
- Automation
- Rules that trigger actions without manual effort. “When a deal moves to Proposal stage, create a follow-up task for 3 days later.” Automations eliminate repetitive work and ensure nothing is forgotten.
- Example: Every time a lead is marked as ‘Qualified,’ the CRM automatically assigns it to the next available salesperson and sends a welcome email.
B
- B2B
- Business-to-Business. Companies that sell products or services to other companies rather than directly to individual consumers. Most CRM users in India are B2B businesses.
- Example: A packaging supplier in Ahmedabad selling to FMCG manufacturers is a B2B business. Their CRM tracks company accounts, not individual shoppers.
- BCC Capture
- A feature that logs emails into the CRM automatically by adding a special BCC address. When your salesperson BCCs the CRM address on an email, the email appears in the contact’s activity timeline.
- Example: Priya sends a proposal to Kapoor Traders and BCCs log@app.tatvacrm.com. The email shows up under the Kapoor Traders contact automatically.
C
- CIBIL Score
- India’s credit scoring system managed by TransUnion CIBIL. While not a CRM feature itself, some Indian CRMs integrate CIBIL data for financial services companies to assess client creditworthiness during the sales process.
- Example: A lending company uses CRM custom fields to store the applicant’s CIBIL score range alongside the deal record, helping the underwriting team prioritise applications.
- Contact
- An individual person in your CRM database. A contact has a name, phone number, email, and is usually linked to a company. Contacts are the people you actually talk to.
- Example: Mr. Suresh Patil, Operations Head at Mehta Industries, is a contact. Mehta Industries is the company. The ₹4.5L AMC deal is linked to both.
- Company
- An organisation or business entity in your CRM. Companies have multiple contacts (the people who work there) and can have multiple deals associated with them. Also called ‘Account’ in some CRMs.
- Example: Bright Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is a company record. Under it, you have three contacts: the CEO, the procurement head, and the accounts manager.
- CSV
- Comma-Separated Values. A simple file format for tabular data that every spreadsheet program can export. CSV is the standard format for importing and exporting CRM data.
- Example: You export your 500 contacts from Google Sheets as a CSV file, then import it into TatvaCRM. The import wizard maps columns like ‘Name’ and ‘Phone’ to CRM fields.
- Custom Field
- A data field that you create to capture information specific to your business that the CRM does not include by default. Custom fields let you tailor the CRM to your industry.
- Example: A real estate CRM adds custom fields for ‘Property Type,’ ‘Carpet Area (sq ft),’ and ‘RERA Registration Number’ — fields that a generic CRM would not have.
D
- Dashboard
- A visual summary screen showing key metrics at a glance: total pipeline value, deals closing this week, overdue follow-ups, team activity stats. Dashboards replace the mental math of scanning spreadsheets.
- Example: The sales manager opens her dashboard every Monday and sees: ₹32L in pipeline, 8 deals closing this week, 12 overdue tasks. She knows exactly where to focus.
- Deal
- A specific sales opportunity linked to a contact and company, with a monetary value and a stage in your pipeline. A deal represents the potential revenue you are working towards.
- Example: A ₹2.5L annual maintenance contract with Kapoor Traders is a deal. It sits in the ‘Proposal Sent’ stage and has a 60% probability of closing.
- DPDP
- Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 — India’s data protection law. It governs how businesses collect, store, and process personal data. CRM users are ‘data fiduciaries’ under this law.
- Example: When a contact asks you to delete their personal data, the DPDP Act gives them the right to erasure. Your CRM must support permanent deletion, not just archiving.
- Drip Campaign
- A series of pre-written emails sent automatically over time to nurture a lead. Each email ‘drips’ at a scheduled interval — day 1, day 4, day 10 — keeping your business top-of-mind without manual effort.
- Example: A SaaS company sets up a 5-email drip campaign for free trial users: welcome email on day 1, feature highlight on day 3, case study on day 7, pricing reminder on day 10, and a personal outreach on day 14.
E
- Email Sequence
- Similar to a drip campaign but typically more personalised and used by individual salespeople rather than marketing teams. A sequence is a series of follow-up emails and tasks triggered when you add a contact.
- Example: Ravi adds a new lead to his ‘New Enquiry’ sequence: an introductory email goes out immediately, a follow-up call task is created for day 2, and a second email is sent on day 5 if no reply.
F
- Field
- A single piece of information in a CRM record. Name, email, phone number, deal value — each is a field. Fields can be text, number, date, dropdown, or boolean (yes/no).
- Example: The ‘Expected Close Date’ field on a deal record helps the pipeline forecast. The ‘GSTIN’ field on a company record stores the tax identification number.
- Follow-up
- Any subsequent interaction after the initial contact. In Indian business culture, follow-ups are the backbone of sales. A CRM tracks follow-ups as tasks with due dates and reminders.
- Example: After sending a proposal, Priya creates a follow-up task for three days later: ‘Call Mr. Sharma to discuss proposal.’ The CRM reminds her at 10 AM on that day.
- Funnel
- A visual representation of your sales process from initial awareness to final purchase. The funnel is wide at the top (many leads) and narrow at the bottom (few conversions). Funnel analysis shows where prospects drop off.
- Example: Your funnel shows 200 leads at the top, 80 contacted, 30 proposals sent, 12 negotiations, and 5 closed-won. The biggest drop-off is between ‘Contacted’ and ‘Proposal’ — your team needs to improve their qualification calls.
G
- GSTIN
- Goods and Services Tax Identification Number — the 15-digit tax identifier for Indian businesses. Many Indian CRMs include GSTIN as a standard field on company records for invoicing and compliance.
- Example: When creating a company record for Mehta Industries, you enter their GSTIN (27AABCM1234F1Z5). This flows into your invoicing system when you close the deal.
I
- Import
- The process of bringing external data into your CRM, typically from a CSV or Excel file. A good import tool maps your columns to CRM fields, handles duplicates, and validates data before saving.
- Example: You export 400 contacts from your old Google Sheet, upload the CSV to TatvaCRM, map ‘Full Name’ to ‘Contact Name’ and ‘Mobile’ to ‘Phone,’ and import. Five minutes, done.
- Integration
- A connection between your CRM and another software tool that allows data to flow between them automatically. Common integrations include email providers, accounting software, and communication tools.
- Example: TatvaCRM integrates with Resend for transactional emails. When a salesperson sends a proposal email from the CRM, it is delivered through Resend and the delivery status is tracked automatically.
K
- KYC
- Know Your Customer — a verification process required by Indian financial regulations. While KYC is a regulatory requirement, CRMs used by financial services companies often include KYC status tracking on contact records.
- Example: A mutual fund distributor tracks KYC status in their CRM: ‘KYC Complete,’ ‘KYC Pending,’ or ‘KYC Rejected.’ Deals cannot move past the ‘Documentation’ stage until KYC is marked complete.
L
- Lead
- A potential customer who has shown interest but has not yet been qualified or converted into a contact/deal. Leads are the raw material of your sales pipeline. They come from enquiries, events, referrals, and marketing.
- Example: Someone fills out a form on your website asking about pricing. They are a lead. After your salesperson calls them, qualifies their budget and timeline, and confirms genuine interest, they become a contact with a deal.
- Lead Scoring
- A system that assigns a numerical score to each lead based on how likely they are to buy. Scores are based on factors like company size, budget, engagement level, and fit with your ideal customer profile.
- Example: A lead from a company with 200+ employees who visited your pricing page twice and downloaded a case study scores 85/100. A lead who only filled out the contact form scores 30/100. Your team calls the 85 first.
- Lifecycle Stage
- The current phase of a person’s relationship with your business: subscriber, lead, marketing-qualified lead (MQL), sales-qualified lead (SQL), opportunity, customer, or evangelist.
- Example: Mr. Kapoor started as a lead, became an SQL after a discovery call, moved to ‘Opportunity’ when a deal was created, and is now a ‘Customer’ after signing the contract.
M
- MQL
- Marketing Qualified Lead. A lead that marketing has identified as more likely to become a customer based on their behaviour (website visits, content downloads, webinar attendance) but has not yet been validated by sales.
- Example: A person from a target industry who downloaded your whitepaper and attended your webinar is flagged as an MQL. Marketing passes them to sales for a discovery call.
N
- NPS
- Net Promoter Score. A customer satisfaction metric based on one question: “On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend us?” Scores of 9-10 are promoters, 7-8 are passives, and 0-6 are detractors.
- Example: Your CRM tracks NPS survey responses. You discover that clients in your ‘Enterprise’ segment have an NPS of 72, while ‘Starter’ clients score 34. You investigate and find that onboarding support is the gap.
O
- Owner
- The team member assigned as the primary responsible person for a contact, deal, or task. Ownership ensures accountability — someone is always responsible for every record.
- Example: Priya is the owner of the Sharma Trading deal. She is responsible for follow-ups, proposals, and closing. If the manager wants an update, they know exactly who to ask.
P
- PAN
- Permanent Account Number — a 10-character alphanumeric identifier issued by India’s Income Tax department. Some Indian CRMs include PAN as a field on company records for financial compliance and invoicing.
- Example: When onboarding a new vendor-client, you record their PAN (AABCM1234F) in the company record so your accounts team can issue TDS certificates and file returns correctly.
- Pipeline
- The visual representation of all your active deals, organised by stage. A pipeline is like a Kanban board for sales — cards move from left to right as deals progress from ‘New’ to ‘Won.’
- Example: TatvaCRM’s pipeline board shows 5 stages: New, Contacted, Proposal Sent, Negotiation, and Won/Lost. You can see at a glance that there are 22 active deals worth ₹68L in total.
- Pipeline Stage
- A specific step in your sales process, represented as a column on the pipeline board. Each stage has a name, an order, and often a probability percentage used for revenue forecasting.
- Example: Your ‘Proposal Sent’ stage has a 40% probability. This means a ₹5L deal in this stage contributes ₹2L to your weighted forecast. If it moves to ‘Negotiation’ (70%), the weighted value rises to ₹3.5L.
- Probability
- The estimated likelihood of a deal closing, expressed as a percentage. Probability is typically set per pipeline stage and is used to calculate weighted pipeline value for forecasting.
- Example: Your five stages have probabilities of 10%, 25%, 40%, 70%, and 90%. A deal worth ₹10L at the 70% stage contributes ₹7L to your weighted forecast.
R
- RBAC
- Role-Based Access Control. A security model that restricts data access based on a user’s role in the organisation. Admins see everything, managers see their team’s data, and members see only their own records.
- Example: TatvaCRM has 5 system roles: Owner (full access), Admin (all except owner-only settings), Manager (team visibility), Member (own records), and Viewer (read-only). Custom roles can be created for specific needs.
- Record
- A single entry in your CRM — one contact, one deal, one company, one task. Each record has fields that store data. Your CRM’s plan may limit the total number of records you can create.
- Example: Your CRM has 450 contact records, 120 company records, 80 deal records, and 200 task records. On the Starter plan, you have room for up to 5,000 total records.
- Role
- A named set of permissions assigned to a user. Roles determine what a person can see and do inside the CRM. System roles are built-in; custom roles can be created by admins.
- Example: You create a custom ‘Junior Sales’ role that can view and create contacts but cannot delete them, export data, or access billing settings.
S
- SaaS
- Software as a Service. A software delivery model where the application runs in the cloud and you access it through a web browser. You pay a subscription instead of buying a licence. Most modern CRMs are SaaS.
- Example: TatvaCRM is a SaaS CRM. You sign up, log in through your browser, and start using it immediately. There is nothing to install, no servers to manage, and updates happen automatically.
- Segment
- A filtered group of contacts based on shared characteristics. Segments let you target specific subsets of your database for campaigns, analysis, or outreach.
- Example: You create a segment of ‘Contacts in Mumbai with deal value above ₹5L who have not been contacted in 30 days.’ This gives you a focused list of 18 high-value contacts to re-engage.
- SQL
- Sales Qualified Lead. A lead that has been vetted by the sales team and confirmed as a genuine opportunity with budget, authority, need, and timeline (BANT). SQLs are ready for a proposal or demo.
- Example: After a 20-minute discovery call, Ravi marks the lead as SQL: the company has budget (₹3L approved), the contact is the decision-maker, the need is immediate, and they want a proposal by Friday.
- Stage
- See Pipeline Stage. The current position of a deal in your sales process. Moving a deal from one stage to the next represents progress towards closing.
- Example: Priya drags the Sharma Trading deal card from ‘Proposal Sent’ to ‘Negotiation’ after Mr. Sharma calls back to discuss pricing adjustments.
T
- Tag
- A label you attach to a contact, deal, or company for categorisation and filtering. Tags are flexible and freeform — you can create any tag you need without changing the CRM structure.
- Example: You tag contacts with ‘Diwali Campaign 2025,’ ‘Referral,’ or ‘VIP Client.’ Later, you filter by tag to see all contacts who came through referrals.
- Task
- A to-do item in the CRM with a title, description, due date, and assignee. Tasks are the action layer of CRM — they turn insights into activities. Follow-up calls, proposal submissions, and document collections are all tasks.
- Example: The CRM creates an automatic task: ‘Follow up with Kapoor Traders on proposal — due Thursday 10 AM.’ Priya sees it in her task list and gets a notification when it is due.
- Template
- A pre-written email or message that can be personalised and reused. Templates save time on repetitive communication like introduction emails, proposal follow-ups, and meeting confirmations.
- Example: Your team has a ‘Proposal Follow-Up’ template: ‘Hi {first_name}, just checking if you had a chance to review the proposal we sent on {date}. Happy to hop on a quick call to discuss.’ One click to send.
- Tenant
- In a multi-tenant SaaS CRM, a tenant is one customer’s isolated workspace. Your data, settings, pipelines, and users are separate from every other tenant. Think of it as your private apartment in a shared building.
- Example: When you sign up for TatvaCRM, a new tenant is created with its own PostgreSQL schema. Your contacts, deals, and settings are completely isolated from every other TatvaCRM customer.
- Trigger
- An event that starts an automated action. “When a deal is created” is a trigger. “When a contact’s email is opened” is a trigger. Triggers are the ‘if’ in if-then automation rules.
- Example: Trigger: ‘When a deal stage changes to Won.’ Action: send a congratulations email to the salesperson and create a task for the accounts team to raise an invoice.
W
- Webhook
- A way for your CRM to notify another system when something happens. Unlike APIs where you ask for data, webhooks push data automatically when events occur. They are like automated alerts between systems.
- Example: When a deal is marked as ‘Won’ in TatvaCRM, a webhook sends the deal details to your accounting software, which automatically generates an invoice and sends it to the client.
- Win Rate
- The percentage of deals that you close successfully out of the total deals in your pipeline. Win rate = (deals won ÷ total deals closed) × 100. It is one of the most important metrics for evaluating sales effectiveness.
- Example: Your team closed 15 deals out of 60 total (including 45 lost) this quarter. Your win rate is 25%. Industry benchmark for B2B in India is typically 15–30%, so you are doing well.
💡 Key insight
Missing a term? We update this glossary regularly. If there is a CRM term you have encountered that is not listed here, let us know and we will add it with a plain-English definition and an Indian business example.