ShareCRM Terminology Glossary

SaaS

Software as a Service (SaaS) delivers software to end users over the Internet so they don’t need to install anything locally. Users access applications via standard Internet tools such as web browsers or mobile apps. For example, ShareCRM lets you register a company account on our website and purchase user licenses and relevant apps to start using ShareCRM products, including ShareCRM CRM. Compared with traditional software, you no longer need to buy hardware servers, databases, or pay for manual software upgrade services.

PaaS

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) helps organizations develop customized solutions. On the ShareCRM platform, you can use Custom Objects to quickly create business entities that match your scenarios, configure Business Process workflows to meet company-specific needs, or integrate with existing systems via OpenAPI.

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Leads

Leads are the raw contact information collected when you first engage a potential customer. A lead can be a business card gathered at an Exhibition, a phone number obtained through a marketing campaign, or basic contact information sourced from Conferences, advertising, or third-party purchases. Through proper management and follow-up, leads can convert into Accounts.

Lead Pool

A Lead Pool groups leads by criteria such as industry, region, or other shared attributes — for example, a Shanghai Lead Pool, a Beijing Lead Pool, an Education industry Lead Pool, or a Finance industry Lead Pool.

Account

An Account represents a company, organization, or individual that does business with your company. Accounts are core business assets and can be created from converted Leads or sourced through other sales activities.

Account Pool

An Account Pool groups Accounts by common attributes such as industry or region — for example, a Shanghai Account Pool, a Beijing Account Pool, or an Education industry Account Pool.

Contact

A Contact is an individual at an Account who communicates directly with your company. For corporate Accounts, Contacts are the people you interact with. For individual Accounts, a Contact is the person associated with that customer’s communications.

Opportunity

An Opportunity tracks the sales process of doing business with an Account. For corporate Accounts, a typical sales cycle includes product consultation, Quotation, solution evaluation, and ultimately either a Deal Lost or a won deal.

Sales Process

A Sales Process is a standardized set of stages and steps that guides sales personnel through lead qualification, follow-up, and closing in a repeatable manner.

Visit

A Visit is an in-person customer engagement that sales reps perform regularly to maintain relationships, assess customer needs, and check product usage.

Visit Actions

Visit Actions are predefined action modules reps use during customer visits. These structured forms guide representatives through proper visit procedures and capture structured visit data for behavioral analysis.

Inventory Check Actions

Inventory Check Actions occur when sales personnel visit retail locations (such as supermarkets) to count product SKUs and on-shelf quantities, helping them understand sales performance and Inventory levels.

Account Balance

An Account Balance is the financial asset management record for an Account. It covers cash assets, cash equivalents, vouchers, and similar instruments. Typical balance components include Prepaid Deposit, Rebate, and Credit, and it also records payment methods such as Prepaid Deposit, Pay on Delivery, and Credit Sale.

Prepaid Deposit

A Prepaid Deposit is an advance payment from Downstream parties such as Distributors, Dealers, Agents, or customers to their Upstream Suppliers. It can be a project deposit, down payment, or partial payment used to offset future Sales Order amounts.

Rebate

A Rebate is a cash incentive provided by Upstream manufacturers, brands, or distributors to Downstream Distributors, Dealers, Agents, or customers to boost sales. Rebates can be based on periodic sales performance or single-order quantities and can be applied to offset future Sales Order amounts.

Sales Order

A Sales Order is a sales agreement between your company and an Account. It documents the Account’s request for goods and represents your company’s sales commitment. Proper Sales Order management enables planned control over sales, production, and procurement activities, keeping operations orderly and efficient.

Contract Management

A Contract is a legally binding component of the sales process that defines rights and obligations for all parties. Due to legal implications, Contract Management is a critical part of sales process control.

Invoice Request

An Invoice Request refers to the conditions and timing for issuing invoices as required by law and accounting practices. Invoices should generally be issued by the receivable party to the payer when revenue is recognized, except in special cases where the payer issues the invoice to the receivable party.

Products

Products are the goods, services, information, labor, or combinations thereof that your company offers to Accounts. Products can be tangible or intangible but are measurable by units or unit combinations that indicate value. Products form the core of marketing and sales activities.

Price List

A Price List defines the set of Products and associated pricing and discounts applicable to different customer types when selling Products to Accounts.

Payment Collection

Payment Collection records the actual funds received against specific Sales Orders and is a vital part of the sales lifecycle.

Payment Plan

A Payment Plan outlines scheduled collections for Sales Orders that require multiple payments over an extended period. The system provides reminders aligned with the Payment Plan to assist with collections.

Quotation

A Quotation is the product price list you present to an Account during the sales process and serves as a reference for subsequent Sales Orders.

Refund

A Refund records situations where your company returns funds to an Account for various reasons encountered during normal business operations.

Return Order

A Return Order documents goods that an Account returns to your company due to errors, defects, or other issues.

Inventory

Inventory refers to the actual stock of Products stored in a Warehouse. Effective Inventory Management maintains optimal stock levels with minimal investment and management cost while meeting business demand and minimizing stockout losses.

Warehouse

A Warehouse is the storage facility for goods. It protects product integrity, ensures smooth production and business operations, and serves as a management system that records quantity, quality, geographic location, departmental ownership, order association, and distribution of stored goods.

Inbound Order

An Inbound Order confirms the receipt quantity of purchased goods into Inventory and serves as an internal control to monitor procurement staff and Suppliers, reducing the risk of collusion or misreporting. It is an important internal management and control document.

Shipping Order

A Shipping Order documents the delivery of Products from your company to a specified recipient and serves as evidence for pickup, dispatch, transport, and acceptance processes. It is one of the key records that reflect sales fulfillment.

Work Order

A Work Order tracks and manages requests, issues, and maintenance tasks raised by different organizations, departments, or external customers that require targeted management and follow-up.

Business Process

Business Process (Business Process Management) is a comprehensive methodology for modeling, coordinating multi-party participation, automating execution, continuously monitoring, and analyzing and improving enterprise processes.

Approval Flow

An Approval Flow defines internal rules and multi-level approvals within an organization to ensure compliance with policies. It routes data and operations to the appropriate managers and functional departments for authorization.

Workflow

A Workflow is a fully automated operational process that routes documents, information, or tasks among participants according to defined rules for execution.