Part 3 of our Revenue Glossary series covers L through N, and this section is packed with metrics. MRR, NRR, LTV: the numbers that tell you whether a business is truly healthy or just growing on the surface.
We also cover Multi-Threading and MEDDIC here. If you’re in a complex sales environment and haven’t fully applied either of those, this is a good moment to change that.
As always, if you think there is something missing? Let us know!
L
Lead
A potential customer who has shown some level of interest but hasn’t yet been fully qualified as a real opportunity. Leads come in many forms: a form fill, a webinar attendee, a reply to a cold email. Not all leads are equal.
Lead Scoring
A system for ranking leads by how likely they are to convert, based on factors like company fit and level of engagement. Good lead scoring helps reps focus on the prospects most worth their time and avoids spreading effort evenly across leads of wildly different quality.
LTV / CLV (Lifetime Value / Customer Lifetime Value)
The total revenue a customer is expected to generate over their entire relationship with your business. LTV is frequently compared against CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) to assess whether the cost to win new customers is justified by what those customers are worth over time.
M
MEDDIC / MEDDPICC
A rigorous B2B qualification methodology. MEDDIC stands for Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, and Champion. MEDDPICC adds Paper Process and Competition. It’s one of the most comprehensive qualification frameworks used in complex enterprise sales and an excellent discipline for revenue teams that want to improve forecast accuracy.
MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead)
A lead that marketing has assessed as ready to pass to sales, based on engagement signals and fit with the ICP. Not every MQL becomes an SQL. The definition of an MQL varies by organization, which is why having a shared, agreed definition between sales and marketing is so important.
MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue)
The predictable recurring revenue a business earns from subscriptions each month. MRR is one of the most closely tracked metrics in SaaS. It’s the pulse of the business and the starting point for understanding growth trajectory.
Multi-Threading
Building relationships with several stakeholders across an account rather than relying on a single contact. If your only contact leaves the company or changes roles, a single-threaded deal can collapse overnight. Multi-threading protects the opportunity and gives you a more complete picture of the account.
N
Net New
Brand-new business or revenue, as opposed to renewal or expansion from existing customers. Net new is the measure of how effectively a team is growing the customer base, and it matters differently depending on the stage of the business.
NRR (Net Revenue Retention)
The percentage of recurring revenue retained from existing customers, including expansion revenue, minus churn and downgrades. NRR above 100% means your existing customers are generating more revenue than when they started, even before counting any new business. It’s one of the most powerful indicators of a healthy SaaS business, because it tells you whether your product is delivering enough value to make customers grow with you.
Nurture
Staying in touch with prospects who aren’t ready to buy right now, keeping them warm and engaged until the timing is right. Good nurture is relevant and helpful to the reader. It’s not just a series of check-in emails asking if anything has changed.
Part 3 done. Part 4 covers O through R, where we get into pipeline, prospecting, playbooks, and how deals actually move through the funnel.
