Account prioritization glossary
Plain definitions of the terms reps use when they prioritize and research accounts. Where a guide goes deeper, the term links to the guide.
Last updated October 2026
Account prioritization
Account prioritization is deciding which accounts in your book to work first. A good priority list is built on what is happening at each account right now, and changes week to week. See How to prioritize named accounts.
Account research
Account research is learning what a company does, what changed recently, what the company's teams are building and where your product connects, before you reach out. See How to research an enterprise account before a first meeting.
Book of business
A book of business, or book, is the full set of accounts a rep is responsible for.
Buying signal
A buying signal is a change at a company that makes the company more likely to buy something like what you sell in the next few months. Common buying signals are job postings, leadership changes, funding, acquisitions, incidents and new technology. A buying signal is only strong relative to your product. See How to use buying signals to rank your account list.
Ideal customer profile (ICP)
An ideal customer profile describes the kind of company most likely to buy and succeed with your product: industry, size, technology and situation. An ICP tells you which companies fit. Buying signals tell you which companies are moving.
Intent data
Intent data tracks what companies research online, such as topics they read about or content they download, to estimate interest in a category. Intent data is usually bought from a data provider at the company level.
Job posting signal
A job posting signal is an open role that tells you what a company is building or where the company is short. The titles and the requirements in a posting often reveal plans months before a purchase.
Leadership change
A leadership change is a new executive in a role you sell to. Engineering and security sellers watch for a new CTO, CISO or VP of Engineering. Other sellers watch for a new CFO, CIO, COO, Chief Revenue Officer, Chief Marketing Officer or Chief Data Officer. New leaders often bring new priorities and new budgets in their first year.
Living account list
A living account list is an account list connected to the internet. A living account list watches every account for news, job postings and research, re-ranks itself as signals land, and connects every account to what the rep sells. Most account lists are still static spreadsheets that only change when the rep changes them.
Named account
A named account is a specific company assigned to a rep by name. A rep's named accounts usually sit inside a territory, such as a region or an industry.
Pitch
A pitch, or value proposition, is one value your product delivers, named the way only a rep would name it. Under each pitch sit its triggers, and the same account can be a strong fit for one pitch and a weak fit for another.
Research brief
A research brief is a written summary of an account: what the business does, the technology the company has announced, dated events with sources, and what the company's executives have said in public.
Signal-first selling
Signal-first selling means choosing who to contact, and what to say, based on what just changed at the account, instead of working a static list from top to bottom.
Territory
A territory is the set of accounts or the market a rep is assigned, by region, industry, company size or named list.
Tier
A tier is a label, such as Tier 1, 2 or 3, that ranks accounts by revenue potential, usually set during territory planning. Tiers say how much an account could be worth. Tiers do not say who to call this week.
Trigger
A trigger is a hire, project, incident or announcement that means an account needs the value a pitch delivers. A rep lists the triggers under each pitch once, and every signal is scored against them automatically, every day.
Trigger event
A trigger event is a specific moment that opens a window to reach out, such as a funding round, an acquisition, a breach or a new executive. Trigger events are the most time-sensitive kind of buying signal.
Why reach out
Why reach out is the AccountPulse name for the written case for contacting an account: a one-paragraph short version that connects the dots, then a numbered set of claims for one of your pitches, each pointing to a dated signal or a sourced research fact. See how it works.