Resources
Glossary of business development and construction terms.
The terms used in commercial exchanges and in construction projects, explained simply, neutrally and for educational purposes.
- Neutral, educational definitions
- Commercial and sector vocabulary
- No contractual force
Why a glossary
The same word does not always describe the same reality, depending on who uses it.
In construction, a salesperson, a site manager, an architect and an investor may use the same term with noticeably different meanings. Those gaps create costly misunderstandings: misread scope, diverging expectations, commitments interpreted differently than intended.
This glossary offers short, neutral definitions intended to support mutual understanding in a professional conversation. It describes common usage, not legal meaning.
Definitions
Grouped by family of vocabulary.
These definitions are educational and neutral. They are not legally binding definitions, contractual interpretations, or regulatory, financial or procurement advice. For a term used in a binding document, its exact meaning may depend on the applicable contract, the jurisdiction or the project context.
Business development vocabulary
- Prospecting
- Identifying and contacting people who may have a need matching an offer, before any request has been made.
- Qualification
- Checking that an opportunity meets criteria agreed in advance: an expressed need, an identified contact, a suitable scope, a decision horizon.
- Lead
- A contact identified as potentially interested in an offer. A lead becomes workable only after qualification.
- Introduction
- An arranged presentation of two parties whose needs and capabilities appear complementary. It does not determine what the parties then decide.
- Sales cycle
- The time between a first conversation and a decision. In construction it frequently spans several months and several stakeholders.
- Commercial follow-up
- The exchanges organised after an initial contact to keep a relationship useful until a decision is made, positive or negative.
Participants and stages in a construction project
- Client body
- The party behind a project, which defines the need and funds it. The term describes a role in how a project is organised; its precise content depends on context.
- Design supervision
- The party responsible for designing a project and overseeing its delivery on behalf of the client body.
- Study phase
- The period in which a project is defined technically before delivery. Choices of capability and supply are often prepared here.
- General contractor
- A company that takes responsibility for delivering a whole works package and coordinates the parties required.
- Subcontracting
- Entrusting all or part of a service to another company. The applicable conditions depend on the contract agreed between the parties.
- Specification
- The fact that a product, material or solution is named in a project's documents, ahead of the delivery phase.
Partnerships and collaboration
- Commercial partnership
- A relationship in which two companies cooperate over time, each bringing identifiable value. Its form and obligations depend on what the parties agree.
- Scope
- The boundaries of a relationship or service: territories, project types, client types, nature of the exchanges.
- Business referral
- A situation in which one party flags an opportunity to another. Any arrangements are defined between the parties concerned.
- Named contact
- The person designated on each side of a relationship to maintain continuity and prevent information loss.
- Complementarity
- A situation in which two parties' capabilities, territories or client bases complement each other without competing directly.
- Reciprocity
- Balance in what partners contribute, observed over time rather than in a single exchange.
How to use this glossary
A tool for mutual understanding, to be tested against the context of each exchange.
Clarify before committing
Where a term structures a conversation, check that everyone gives it the same meaning you do.
Separate everyday use from binding documents
A term used in discussion does not carry the same weight as the same term written into a binding document.
Complement with the guides
The guides explain the mechanisms behind these terms rather than their definition alone.
Related services
The ADVERTCIX services that put the principles on this page into practice.
Business introductions
Arranging targeted conversations between genuinely complementary parties.
Commercial prospecting
Structuring an ongoing prospecting effort rather than an occasional one.
Lead generation
Identifying and qualifying opportunities against criteria agreed in advance.
Related solutions
The commercial objectives these resources connect to most directly.
Generate qualified leads
Moving from a mixed flow of contacts to opportunities you can genuinely act on.
Build partnerships
Building durable relationships rather than one-off collaborations.
Find new clients
Widening a commercial portfolio without diluting the relevance of conversations.
Relevant sectors
These principles apply differently depending on your position in the value chain.
Sectors
- Construction companies
Securing workload and selecting the projects worth pursuing.
- Property developers
Building a network of reliable contractors for each operation.
- Suppliers and manufacturers
Specification and visibility with technical decision-makers.
- Engineering firms
Positioning upstream of projects and maintaining continuity of work.
Continue reading
How these resources connect to the rest of the site.
Understanding ADVERTCIX
- About
Our positioning, our principles and our geographic coverage.
- Our methodology
How a commercial objective becomes a structured approach.
Going further
- All resources
Return to the resource centre and explore the other categories.
- Contact us
Discuss a specific objective rather than a general principle.
Clarify an objective rather than a vocabulary
Shared vocabulary makes a conversation easier; the relevance of a commercial approach is judged on a specific context.