What is sales cycle?
Sales cycle length compounds with deal value to produce sales velocity (a key revenue planning metric). Shortening the cycle is one of the highest-leverage levers a CRO has: cutting a 90-day cycle to 60 days lifts sales velocity by 50%. Common cycle-compression tactics include better lead qualification upfront, multi-threading earlier in the deal, parallel rather than sequential approval workflows, and shorter pilot/POC durations. Cycles also vary by champion seniority — deals championed by a VP close faster than deals championed by a manager.
Examples
- →Mid-market SaaS: average 78-day cycle (15-day discovery, 30-day eval, 33-day procurement)
- →Enterprise: 12-month cycle including 4-month security review
- →SMB self-serve: 7-day cycle from signup to first paid plan