Prospect is the term used to refer to a company's potential customers. It is a person who has already shown interest in your brand, product or service. They may have subscribed to a newsletter or contacted you directly to receive more information.
Prospecting is the first step in the sales process, they may or may not become a customer, however they will have to follow a series of steps to get to that point. The first starting point is prospect qualification, where the salesperson determines if the prospect has all the characteristics to become a customer.
The Sales Glossary is a compendium of all the most commonly used terminology in sales strategy. Many of the concepts listed here are used when implementing a CRM system or a digital sales funnel, no matter if they are legacy systems or an online CRM. See also our blog that deals with sales techniques, marketing and sales culture.