Sales Automation Glossary: 30 Terms You Need to Know
Whether you’re evaluating AI SDR tools or building your first outbound engine, this glossary covers the key terms you’ll encounter.
AI SDR (AI Sales Development Representative)
A software system that automates the work of a human SDR: finding prospects, writing outreach emails, sending sequences, and identifying interested leads. Unlike outreach platforms (which are tools for humans), AI SDRs operate autonomously with human oversight. Examples: GetSalesClaw, Artisan, 11x, AiSDR.
Bounce Rate
The percentage of sent emails that fail to deliver. Hard bounces (permanent failures — invalid address, domain doesn’t exist) are worse than soft bounces (temporary failures — inbox full, server down). Keep your bounce rate below 2%. Above 3%, stop sending and clean your list. See: Cold Email Deliverability Guide
Cadence
The timing pattern of a multi-email sequence. A typical cold email cadence is 3 emails spaced 3-4 days apart. “Cadence” can also refer to the broader pattern of all outbound activity (emails, calls, LinkedIn messages) over time.
CAN-SPAM
US federal law governing commercial email. Requires: clear identification of the sender, a physical mailing address, a visible unsubscribe mechanism, and honest subject lines. Applies to any email with a “commercial” purpose sent to US recipients.
Cold Email
An unsolicited email sent to a prospect who has no prior relationship with you. Not the same as spam — cold email is targeted, personalized, and compliant with regulations (CAN-SPAM, GDPR). When done well, it’s one of the most cost-effective B2B sales channels.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
Software that stores and manages your interactions with prospects and customers. HubSpot, Salesforce, and Pipedrive are common CRMs. An AI SDR should sync activity to your CRM automatically. GetSalesClaw syncs to HubSpot.
DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)
An email authentication protocol that adds a cryptographic signature to outgoing emails. The receiving server verifies this signature against a public key in your DNS. If it matches, the email hasn’t been tampered with. Essential for deliverability. See: Cold Email Deliverability Guide
DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance)
A protocol that ties SPF and DKIM together and tells receiving servers what to do when authentication fails. Start with p=none (monitor only), then move to p=quarantine or p=reject once you’re confident. See: Cold Email Deliverability Guide
Domain Reputation
A score assigned by email providers (Gmail, Outlook) to your sending domain based on your email sending history. Factors include bounce rates, spam complaints, engagement metrics, and sending volume patterns. Check yours at Google Postmaster Tools.
Email Warm-up
The process of gradually building sending reputation for a new email account by starting with low-volume, high-engagement sends and slowly increasing over weeks. Typically takes 4-8 weeks. GetSalesClaw includes automated warm-up that ramps from 5 to 150 emails/day over 60 days. See: Email Warm-up Explained
Enrichment
The process of adding data to a lead record. Starting from a name and company, enrichment adds email address, phone number, job title, company size, funding history, technologies used, and more. Apollo.io, ZoomInfo, and Clearbit are common enrichment providers.
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
EU regulation governing personal data processing. For cold email, GDPR requires a “legitimate interest” basis (not consent) for B2B outreach, data minimization, and the right to be forgotten. GetSalesClaw is built with GDPR compliance in mind — EU-hosted, unsubscribe links in every email, and data isolation per account. See: GDPR-Compliant Sales Automation
Hard Bounce
A permanent email delivery failure. The address doesn’t exist, the domain is invalid, or the server has permanently rejected your email. Hard bounces damage your sender reputation immediately. Remove hard-bounced addresses and never email them again.
ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)
A detailed description of the type of company most likely to buy from you. Defined by industry, company size, geography, technology stack, and business signals. A strong ICP is specific enough that two people reading it would build the same lead list.
Intent Data
Signals that indicate a prospect is actively in-market for a solution like yours. Strong intent signals: hiring for a role your product replaces, adopting complementary technology, visiting competitor websites, or searching for relevant keywords. GetSalesClaw uses job board postings and Apollo signals as intent inputs.
Lead Scoring
Assigning a numerical score (typically 0-100) to each prospect based on how well they match your ICP and how likely they are to convert. GetSalesClaw’s AI lead scoring evaluates company fit, role fit, intent signals, and engagement history.
Mail Merge
The technique of inserting dynamic fields ({first_name}, {company}) into an email template. Widely used in outreach platforms but increasingly outperformed by AI-generated emails that don’t use templates at all. See: How to Write Cold Emails Without Templates
MX Record
A DNS record that specifies the mail server responsible for receiving email for a domain. When you send to prospect@company.com, the sending server looks up company.com’s MX record to find where to deliver the email.
Open Rate
The percentage of delivered emails that were opened (tracked via a transparent pixel image). In 2026, open rates are less reliable due to Apple Mail Privacy Protection (which pre-loads images) and some email clients blocking tracking pixels. Use for trend analysis, not absolute measurement.
Outbound Sales
A sales strategy where you proactively reach out to prospects (via email, phone, LinkedIn, etc.) rather than waiting for them to come to you. Contrasted with “inbound sales” where leads come from marketing, content, or advertising. See: Outbound Sales Playbook for Startups
Reply Rate
The percentage of delivered emails that receive a reply. The most reliable metric for cold email performance because it can’t be inflated by privacy features. A healthy cold email reply rate is 3-8%. Above 5% is strong.
Sender Reputation
A score (calculated by email providers) for a specific sending address or IP, based on historical sending patterns, engagement, and complaints. Different from domain reputation — one bad account can have low sender reputation while the domain stays healthy, or vice versa.
Sequence
A series of pre-planned emails sent to a prospect over time. A typical cold outbound sequence is 3 emails over 10-14 days. Email 1 is the initial outreach, Email 2 is a follow-up adding value, Email 3 is a breakup email. AI SDRs generate unique content for each step. See: Outbound Sales Playbook
Soft Bounce
A temporary email delivery failure. The recipient’s inbox is full, the server is temporarily down, or the message is too large. Soft bounces resolve themselves and don’t damage your reputation unless they happen repeatedly to the same address.
SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
A DNS record that lists which servers are authorized to send email on behalf of your domain. When a receiving server gets an email from your domain, it checks the SPF record to verify the sending server is legitimate. See: Cold Email Deliverability Guide
Template
A pre-written email with placeholder fields for personalization. Templates enable volume but limit uniqueness. In 2026, AI-generated emails (which are unique per recipient) are replacing templates for cold outbound due to better deliverability and engagement rates. See: How to Write Cold Emails Without Templates
Tracking Pixel
A tiny transparent image (1x1 pixel) embedded in an email that loads when the email is opened. This is how open tracking works. Some email clients and privacy features block tracking pixels, making open rates an imperfect metric.
Unsubscribe
A mechanism allowing recipients to opt out of future emails. Required by CAN-SPAM and GDPR for commercial emails. Best practice: include an unsubscribe link in every cold email, even if not strictly required by law. It builds trust and prevents spam complaints.
Warm Lead
A prospect who has shown interest — replied to an email, clicked a link, visited your website, or been referred. Warm leads convert at 5-10x the rate of cold prospects. The goal of an AI SDR is to convert cold prospects into warm leads by generating interest through personalized outreach.
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