Resources · Glossary
Industrial procurement & GTM terms, defined.
Clear definitions of the terminology used in industrial procurement, sales and revenue operations — written for practitioners, not academics.
RFQ
Request for Quotation
A formal procurement document issued by a buyer to potential suppliers requesting pricing and terms for specific goods or services. RFQs are the standard mechanism for industrial procurement above defined contract thresholds.
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Qualified RFQ
Qualified Request for Quotation
An RFQ-stage sales opportunity that meets a defined qualification standard before handoff to the supplier's sales team: a documented requirement, confirmed budget authority, a procurement timeline, and a mapped buying committee. MultiRev's qualification standard — used to separate quote-ready opportunities from general interest.
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Industrial Buying Signals
Industrial Buying Signals
Observable events that indicate a company is preparing to purchase: capex announcements, construction project filings, procurement hiring, supplier changes, contract expiries, engineering activity, prequalification requests and tender publications. Industrial buying signals typically appear 3–24 months before a formal RFQ is issued.
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Supplier Scouting
Supplier Scouting
The phase of industrial procurement in which a buyer actively researches and screens potential suppliers before issuing an RFQ or tender. Supplier scouting typically occurs 3–6 months before formal procurement and is when shortlists begin to form — making it the highest-leverage window for supplier engagement.
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Pre-Tender Procurement
Pre-Tender Procurement
The private activity that precedes a public tender: budgeting, specification drafting, supplier scouting and pre-shortlisting. Every public tender is preceded by roughly 3–6 months of pre-tender activity, which is when specifications are still influenceable and competition is thinnest.
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Buying Committee
Industrial Buying Committee
The group of stakeholders who collectively decide an industrial purchase — typically 5–8 people spanning the economic buyer, procurement lead, technical buyer (engineering), plant operations, quality, finance and the executive sponsor. Winning industrial contracts requires multi-threaded engagement across the committee, not a single contact.
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Procurement Intelligence
Procurement Intelligence
The systematic monitoring of buyer-side procurement activity — supplier scouting, pre-tender preparation, contract expiries, budget cycles — to identify purchasing intent before RFQs are publicly released. The discipline underlying pre-tender supplier engagement.
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Industrial ABM
Industrial Account-Based Marketing
Account-based marketing adapted to industrial buying: target-account programs that engage the full buying committee — procurement, engineering, operations, finance — across the channels each stakeholder actually uses, calibrated to 6–18 month industrial buying cycles rather than SaaS funnels.
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RFQ Recovery
RFQ Recovery
The structured re-engagement of stalled quotes, lost RFQs, no-decision opportunities, expired contracts and dormant accounts in an industrial company's historical pipeline. Because the buyer already knows the supplier and the requirement pattern exists, recovered opportunities convert at materially higher rates than cold outreach.
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Tender
Tender
A formal, structured procurement process — often public-sector or large-enterprise — in which a buyer invites competing supplier bids against a published specification. Tenders run through defined stages (PIN, PQQ/SQ, ITT) with fixed submission windows, typically 10–20 working days.
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Framework Agreement
Framework Agreement
A multi-year agreement between a buyer and one or more qualified suppliers that sets terms, pricing structures and call-off rules for future orders without repeating full procurement each time. Framework positions are among the most valuable assets an industrial supplier can hold.
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OEM
Original Equipment Manufacturer
A company that produces parts, components, or complete systems that are incorporated into products sold by another manufacturer. OEMs typically operate on multi-year supply agreements with their tier suppliers.
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Procurement
Industrial Procurement
The structured process by which industrial organisations source, evaluate, qualify and contract with external suppliers for goods and services. Industrial procurement operates under formal policies with defined thresholds, approval requirements and supplier-qualification criteria.
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SLA
Service Level Agreement
A contractual commitment defining the minimum performance standards a service provider will maintain, including response times, uptime guarantees, and remediation procedures for service failures.
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