Section 16 · Field Guide

16Glossary

Every term used in this guide and in the Intensive, in plain English. If a word ever trips you up, it's here.

Roles & people

MSP Sales Process™	The Fox & Crow sales method for managed IT providers. This CRM is built to run it.
Sales Executive (SE)	A rep who wins new clients — Suspect through Closed Won.
Account Manager (AM)	A rep who keeps and grows existing clients.
Gatekeeper (GK)	The person who answers the main line. Not an obstacle — the first human source of truth.
Decision Maker (DM)	The person who can actually say yes to a managed-IT relationship.
ICP	Ideal Customer Profile — the industry, size, and location that define a good-fit prospect.
Co-managed IT	An account with its own internal IT person or team, where you'd work alongside them rather than replace them.

The funnel

Suspect	A name that might be a fit; nothing confirmed.
Prospect	Fits the basic profile — right industry, size, and location.
Qualified Prospect	You know the facts (decision maker, size, IT method, and — for third-party IT — provider, contract, health, pain).
Qualified Opportunity	The FTA is booked; active selling has begun.
Gate	The checkpoint between two stages. The CRM advances a company only when the gate's facts are captured.
FTA	First-Time Appointment — the booked-and-accepted first meeting with the decision maker. The one gate to Qualified Opportunity.
Disqualified	Deliberately set aside as not a fit, with a recorded reason.

The Mountain

Guide Check	Your own readiness — mindset, discipline, and a clean CRM — before and between climbs.
Trailhead	The prospecting zone: qualifying and booking the FTA.
Switchbacks	Discovery — diagnosing the real problem and its impact.
Ridgeline	Mutual qualification and building the value case.
Summit Push	The close — money, timing, and commitment.
Plant the Flag	Closed won, with a clean handoff.
Summit from the Parking Lot	Pitching before you've earned discovery. Don't.
Weather Window	The real timing conditions around a decision.

Trailhead craft

The opener	The one scripted line that starts every cold call and asks for a name.
A.S.K.	Acknowledge, State a relevant fact, Keep asking open What/How questions — how you handle the three objections.
Qualification track	The question ladder: how they get IT → how long → rate it 1–10 → what would move it → team size → do they all use computers.
Disposition	The outcome you log on every single call.
Block tracker	The specific objection you log only when an objection ends the call.
Two-Minute Audit	Six yes/no, non-technical questions for a skeptical decision maker.
Golden Hours	The best windows to reach gatekeepers versus decision makers.
Rule of three	Follow-up timing in threes: 3 days (no human), 3 weeks (talked), 3 months (nurture).

Discovery & the close

Mirroring	Repeating someone's last few words back as a question to keep them talking.
Labeling	Naming a feeling — "it sounds like…" — then going quiet.
Pain funnel	Going horizontal with What/How questions to widen the pain before you deepen it.
Budget anchor	Framing the money as an investment they'll fund — never "afford."
Ridgeline conditions	A winnable deal: budget isn't a barrier, the decision makers are in the room, and you're presenting last.
Three-question close	Could IT be better? Will my plan help? Would you like my help?
Inoffensive Close	Plan / Price / Person — statements they can correct, ending with an invitation to let you help.

System & CRM terms

Pursuit	One organized attempt to work an account toward a booked appointment.
Play	A proven step-by-step recipe you run during a pursuit.
Opportunity (deal)	An active sale, created when the FTA books.
Sequence / cadence	A play whose steps fire on a timer — send, wait, follow up.
Decision-Making Matrix	The Contacts tab: each person's role, attitude, and influence.
Saved view	A filtered list you name and reuse, like "Leads Ready for FTA."
Label	A colored tag for grouping companies and contacts.
Disposition & block tracker	See Trailhead craft — the two things you log per call.
Method drift	A flag for a bad habit showing up as a pattern across several calls.
Nudge	A short, timely coaching tip the CRM surfaces as you work a lead.
Recycle bin	Where deleted items wait; a manager can restore them.
Enrichment	Public data the system gathers automatically about a company.

The bottom line

No term left unexplained.

The method has its own language, and so does the tool. When they overlap — as with disposition, pursuit, or the gates — this guide has shown you both. Now go climb.