Finance & Commercial
Revenue (or Sales) The total money the business earns from clients.
Profit What’s left after costs are taken away from revenue. Profit = Revenue – Costs.
EBITDA Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation. Simple version: a way to understand how profitable the business is from core operations, ignoring accounting and financing factors.
Margin The percentage of revenue that turns into profit.
Operating costs Operating costs are the ongoing costs of running, maintaining, and supporting Hemsley day‑to‑day. Includes salaries, associate fees, core business services, technology, overheads, and management time.
YTD – Year to date YTD is used to show cumulative performance so far, rather than a single month or quarter. Revenue YTD is total revenue earned so far this year. Costs YTD are total costs incurred so far this year.
Forecast An estimate of future sales based on current pipeline stage, deal value, probability of closing, and expected timeline.
Won Not Booked Sold contracted work being scheduled but not in forecasting yet (think coming soon).
Sales & Marketing
Book of Business (BoB) The set of clients and prospects a salesperson owns (for example 40–50 accounts).
Lead A potential customer who has shown some interest.
MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead) A lead that marketing believes is worth passing to sales. Example: downloaded a paper or attended a webinar.
SQL (Sales Qualified Lead) A lead that sales has validated as a real opportunity. They have a need, budget, and potential timeline.
Lead Generation Activities designed to bring in new potential customers.
Campaign A coordinated set of activities to drive awareness or leads.
Conversion Turning a lead into a next step, such as a meeting or opportunity.
Pipeline All potential deals currently being worked on. Think: future revenue in progress.
Pipeline Health How strong and realistic that pipeline is, based on deal size, stage, and likelihood to close.
Win Rate The percentage of deals you win.
ABM (Account‑Based Marketing) Targeted marketing focused on specific high‑value companies.
Sales Enablement Tools, content, and training that help sales teams sell more effectively.
Account Plan A structured plan for growing a specific client. Includes priorities, opportunities, and relationship strategy.
RFP (Request for Proposal) A formal document from a client asking suppliers to propose a solution.
Product & Learning
Fluidbook Hemsley Fraser’s interactive digital learning solution designed for mobile‑first, bite‑sized and engaging learning. Often SCORM compliant and LMS‑hosted.
Learning Byte A short, focused piece of digital learning designed to address a single capability, skill or behaviour quickly.
Performance Booster Targeted learning assets designed to support performance at the point of need, often aligned to conversations such as PDRs or role challenges.
Instructor‑Led Training (ILT) Live learning delivered by a facilitator, either in person or virtually.
Blended Learning A learning approach that combines digital, live and social learning elements.
Bespoke Custom‑designed learning created specifically for a client’s organisation, strategy, culture or workforce needs.
HF Core Content Hemsley Fraser owned, off‑the‑shelf learning content covering core capability areas such as leadership, personal effectiveness, communication and wellbeing.
These standardised portfolio of Hemsley Fraser learning products and assets that can be licensed, purchased off-the-shelf or customised for clients.
Integrated Solution Combining content, technology, and services into one offering.
Use Case A practical example of how a product solves a problem.
Portfolio The full set of products and services offered.
Delivery & Ways of Working
Discovery The early phase of a project focused on understanding client needs, audiences, success measures and constraints.
Scope The agreed boundaries of work, including deliverables, timelines and responsibilities.
Statement of Work (SOW) A document that defines what will be delivered, how, when and at what cost for a client engagement.
Amends Agreed rounds of feedback and revisions included within a project scope.
Process Standard way of doing something.
Streamlining Making processes simpler and more efficient.
Systemisation Embedding things into systems so they are repeatable and scalable.
Cross‑functional Alignment Different teams working together effectively.
PMO (Project Management Office) Team that standardises and oversees project delivery.
Resourcing Allocating people to projects.
Supply Chain External partners or suppliers used to deliver work.
Global Shared Services Central teams supporting all regions, such as admin, technology and data.
Data, Performance & Technology
ROE (Return on Expectations) Measures success based on whether the client’s goals were achieved. Not just satisfaction, but actual business impact.
NPS (Net Promoter Score) Measures how likely a client is to recommend you.
Data & Insights Using data to guide decisions and improve outcomes.
Levels of Evaluation
A framework used to assess the effectiveness and impact of learning. At Hemsley Fraser, this typically refers to the Kirkpatrick model, alongside Return on Expectations (ROE).
- Level 1 – Reaction Measures how participants experienced the learning, such as satisfaction, relevance, and engagement. Commonly captured through L1 surveys.
- Level 2 – Learning Measures what participants have learned, including increases in knowledge, skills, or understanding.
- Level 3 – Behaviour Measures whether participants are applying what they learned back in the workplace and changing how they behave.
- Level 4 – Results Measures the impact of learning on business outcomes, such as performance, productivity, quality, or other agreed success measures.
Operational vs Strategic Operational focuses on delivery, process and execution. Strategic focuses on long‑term value, growth and impact.
LMS (Learning Management System) A platform used by clients to host, track and report on learning activity.
SCORM A technical standard that allows digital learning content to be uploaded into an LMS and tracked consistently.
Accessibility The practice of designing learning so it can be used by as many people as possible, including those with visual, auditory, cognitive or motor needs.
WCAG 2.1 AA An international accessibility standard used to guide inclusive digital design.
SLA (Service Level Agreement) Defines the level of service expected and agreed.
SME (Subject Matter Expert) An individual with deep expertise in a topic who contributes insight, content or validation.
Co‑creation A collaborative approach where Hemsley Fraser works with clients or SMEs to design learning together.
API (Application Programming Interface)
A way for different systems or platforms to connect and share data with each other automatically. APIs allow tools such as learning platforms, dashboards, or client systems to exchange information without manual intervention.
