Glossary

A 360 customer view is a complete, detailed, and interconnected representation of all customer data taken from various sources such as CRM, social media, website analytics, or third-party sources. 

AI customer service is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and related technologies to automate, augment, or improve various aspects of customer service and support. 

AI customer service is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and related technologies to automate, augment, or improve various aspects of customer service and support. 

ARR by agent is a customer support metric that measures the average number of support tickets resolved by a particular support agent over a given period of time.

Abandon rate, or abandonment rate, is a KPI used in call centers to measure the percentage of callers who hang up the call before reaching a customer support agent. 

An accelerator is a program designed to help early-stage startups grow and develop. It lasts 3-6 months and consists of mentorship, workshops, resources, and networking opportunities that will help startups to scale faster.

Acquisition is a business transaction between two companies, with the aim of one company buying or taking control over the other.

Action items are tasks that must be completed to achieve a goal. Action items allow for accountability, and guarantee tasks are completed on time.

Agent experience is the overall work experience, job satisfaction, and professional development of customer support representatives in a call center. 

Agile product development is a process that allows businesses to quickly and efficiently create and test new products with an emphasis on collaboration and customer satisfaction.

Alpha testing is the first stage of software testing designed to identify and fix any major problems or defects in the software. The goal of alpha testing is to catch and fix any major issues with the software before it is released to beta testers or the general public.

Audience segmentation is the act of breaking down a target audience into different groups or segments based on specific characteristics.

Average handle time (AHT) is a metric used in customer support and service to measure the average amount of time it takes for a support agent to handle customer interaction. 

Average reply time is a customer support metric measuring the average time it takes for a support agent to respond to a customer inquiry or issue. 

Average resolution time (ART) is a metric that shows the average time it takes customer support to resolve a customer’s issue.

B2C is a commerce model where businesses sell their products or services directly to consumers through their own websites or intermediaries.

A backend developer develops the functionality and data that powers a website or application. This involves creating, maintaining, and updating the software architecture, data structure, and servers that store information and code that powers the system.

A backlog is an organized list of features, ideas, tasks, updates, bug fixes, user stories, and sprints that need to be addressed/ completed up to a certain deadline.

Beta testing is the final testing stage of a product, where a sample group of users is given access to test it before it is released to the general public.

Bootstrapping is a term that refers to starting a business with no external resources like venture capital and investments. Bootstrapped businesses start with minimal resources like the founder’s personal savings.

Brand identity refers to the visual and intangible elements of the brand that distinguish it from its competitors and make it easily recognizable to consumers. It consists of a logo, color palette, typography, tone of voice, messaging, values, mission, and vision.

A brand manager is a marketing professional who oversees and directs the strategic planning and execution of a company's brand.

A burn rate is a rate at which a company uses its cash to fund its operations. The amount of money a company spends each month relative to its net revenues or sales determines how quickly it will run out of cash.

Burndown chart is a graphical representation of the remaining work and the required time to complete a project.

A business analyst analyzes business processes companies use to improve their efficiency and make better decisions.

CPM is an acronym for "Cost Per Mille" or "Cost Per Thousand." It is a common advertising metric that represents the cost of delivering an ad to 1,000 people, regardless of whether they actually saw or engaged with the ad.

Canned responses are pre-defined replies to common customer inquiries or frequently asked questions. 

Centralized planning is a project management method in which a central authority (project manager, board of directors, client) is responsible for deciding the project specifics (budget, scope, resources).

A chatbot is an application designed to simulate human-like interactions by using artificial intelligence (AI), natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning algorithms to interact with users through text or voice-based conversations.

Churn is a term that describes the process of subscribers canceling their subscription to the service. It is also known as customer attrition or customer turnover.

Churn rate is the percentage of customers that canceled their subscription to the service over a specific period of time.

CTR, or Click-Through-Rate, is a metric used to measure the effectiveness of an online advertisement or other online content.

Closed ticket is a ticket status indicating that an issue has been resolved and doesn’t need additional action.

A community forum is an online platform where individuals with shared interests, goals, or concerns interact, ask questions, share knowledge, and collaborate on various topics. 

Consistent resolutions, in a customer service context, refer to providing reliable and coherent solutions to customer inquiries or issues. 

A content marketing manager is a professional who is responsible for developing and implementing a content marketing strategy for a business or organization.

Context switching is the act of abruptly switching between unrelated tasks, projects, or apps.

Continuous deployment is a software development practice of automating the building, testing, and deploying of new code changes.

Continuous integration (CI) is a software development practice of regular code merging throughout the development team.

Conversation juggling, in a customer service context, is managing multiple simultaneous conversations or interactions. 

Conversational AI is a set of technologies that enable computers to understand, process, and generate natural human-like conversations through text or voice-based interactions.

Conversational commerce refers to using chatbots, messaging apps, or voice assistants to facilitate interactions between businesses and customers throughout the buying process.

Convertible note is a type of seed investment in the form of a loan (short-term debt) that can be converted into equity in the future. The investors loan money to a startup, and instead of getting their money back with interest, they receive equity in the company based on the terms of the note.

CPM is an acronym for "Cost Per Mille" or "Cost Per Thousand." It is a common advertising metric that represents the cost of delivering an ad to 1,000 people, regardless of whether they actually saw or engaged with the ad.

Cost per resolution is a metric that helps businesses understand how much it costs to solve a customer issue. 

Cost per ticket is the average cost of resolving a single customer support request. It is used to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of customer support, IT support teams, or helpdesk.

Critical success factors are the most important conditions that must be met for an organization to succeed. Success is not always guaranteed, but without these key components, it certainly becomes more difficult.

A cross-functional team is a group of people with various functional skills that work together on a project.

Crowdsourcing is a decentralized approach to problem-solving by outsourcing tasks to a large number of people, paid or unpaid, instead of relying on a single source. The focus is to leverage collective intelligence, resources, and skills to achieve a specific goal.

Customer care is a range of activities a company undertakes to ensure user satisfaction, well-being, and positive experience. 

Customer data is any information collected about customers, which can be used to understand customer behavior, preferences, and needs. 

Customer effort score (CES) is a customer experience metric that measures the effort customers put into interacting with a business.

Customer engagement is the process of building and maintaining a relationship between a business and its customers. 

Customer expectations are the assumptions customers have before, while, or after interacting with a brand, service, or product.

The customer experience is a customer's overall impression of a brand based on their interactions and experiences with the business across all touchpoints throughout the customer journey.

Customer feedback is the insights, opinions, and experiences shared by customers about company’s products, services, and interactions.

Customer insights are interpretations of customer behavior that help businesses understand their customers.

Customer intelligence is the process of collecting and analyzing customer data to understand their preferences, needs, and motivations and use these insights to form business decisions.

Customer journey mapping is the process of creating a visual representation of the customer's experience with a company, product, or service, from initial awareness to post-purchase stages.

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is a metric used to estimate the total revenue or profit a business can expect from a single customer over the entire duration of their relationship.

Customer marketing is a term used for all marketing activities aimed at retaining existing customers. 

Customer needs are motives that drive purchase decisions and satisfaction. They can be functional, emotional, or social.

Customer onboarding is the process of introducing new customers to a product or service, ensuring that they understand how to use it effectively.

Customer onboarding journey is a process a customer goes through from the moment they first engage with a product or service to becoming a fully integrated and satisfied user. 

Customer relationship management (CRM) is the process of nurturing customer relationships over time to gain a deeper understanding of customer preferences and increase profit. 

Customer retention is a metric that measures a company's ability to retain its customer base over a period of time.

Customer satisfaction is the reflection of how well a product or service provider has met the customer's needs and expectations. 

Customer satisfaction score is a metric used to calculate how satisfied customers are after interacting with a brand or product.

Customer segments are groups of customers who share similar characteristics, needs, or behaviors. 

A customer service agent is a person who interacts with customers to provide assistance, address inquiries, resolve issues, or facilitate transactions. 

Customer service KPI (key performance indicator) is measurable metric organizations use to evaluate the overall performance of customer service operations. 

Customer service philosophy is a set of guiding principles and beliefs that businesses use when interacting with customers.

Customer success is a business process that helps customers succeed using a product or service. It involves understanding customer needs and helping customers achieve their objectives.

Customer support refers to the assistance and guidance provided to customers before, during, and after the purchase of a product or service. Its purpose is to address any issues or concerns the customer may have, and ensure their satisfaction with the company's offerings.

Customer support workflow is a structured and organized process that defines the steps, procedures, and guidelines for handling and resolving customer inquiries, issues, or complaints. 

Customer support workflow is a structured and organized process that defines the steps, procedures, and guidelines for handling and resolving customer inquiries, issues, or complaints. 

A daily routine refers to the regular activities that a person engages in on a daily basis. These activities may vary depending on a person's occupation, personal interests, and lifestyle.

Daily Standup is a daily meeting held among team members to communicate what they have accomplished since the last standup, what they plan to work on, and which obstacles they may be facing.

Debt financing is a way companies get money to expand, acquire a new company, finance their endeavors, etc.

The definition of done (DoD) is a set of criteria that must be met before a product, feature, or other deliverables can be considered complete. In agile software development, the DoD helps ensure that all necessary work has been completed and the deliverable meets the required quality standards.

The definition of ready (DoR) is a set of criteria that must be met before the work on a product or a feature can be started.

The deflection rate measures the percentage of customer support requests resolved through self-service channels — knowledge bases, tutorials, chatbots, communities, and portals — without requiring the assistance of a support agent.

Dependency is a relationship between tasks and activities in a project where the completion or progress of one task depends on another.

A design brief is a document that outlines the requirements of a design project.

A Design sprint is a process of validating, building, and testing new ideas or solutions in a short time (usually five days). It is a collaborative interdisciplinary process that brings together key stakeholders to quickly identify and solve a problem.

Disruptive technology is new technology or innovation that significantly alters how businesses or consumers behave and operate.

Divergent thinking is a technique used for generating ideas or solutions to a problem. It works by exploring as many possible solutions or outcomes as possible without evaluating or limiting them right away, which allows for maximum creativity.

Downtime is a period when a support system, service channel, or customer service representative is unavailable or unable to assist customers. 

Due diligence is an audit, investigation, or comprehensive analysis of a potential investment, company, or product, with the goal of determining its potential value and risks.

Early adopter is a term Everett M. Rogers uses to define one of the 5 categories of people in product adoption

Elevated customer expectations are higher standards and demands that customers have regarding the quality, speed, and efficiency of customer service and support. 

An exit strategy is a plan executed by an investor, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, or a business, looking to get out of investments they made, whether it be liquidating assets, selling stocks, or closing a business.

A feature audit is a process of evaluating and analyzing the features of a product or service in order to identify areas for improvement or to make informed decisions about the direction of future development.

First Call Resolution (FCR) is a performance metric used in customer service and support to measure an organization’s effectiveness in resolving customer issues, concerns, or inquiries during the initial contact. 

First contact resolution rate (FCRR) is a metric that measures the percentage of customer inquiries resolved on the first interaction with customer support.

First-mover advantage is an advantage that a company achieves by being the first company to introduce a new product or service into the market, or market segment.

First response time (FRT) is a metric that measures the time that passes between a customer submitting a ticket and the support responding to it.

Focus time is a type of time management technique that allows you to focus on a single task for an extended period of time, without any distractions or interruptions.