If your answers are \u2018Yes\u2019, \u2018Googled it\u2019 and \u2018No\u2019 in that particular order, you are not alone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A majority of us would have answered the same. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, why did you choose \u2018No\u2019 for the third question?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simple. Purchasing a product or service for a business is neither easy nor impulsive. And it\u2019s not just you buying the solution. Your manager, some senior management, some users and if your company has a team that takes care of enterprise tech solutions, they, too, will be involved in the buying process. So, it takes a good 6-12 months to come to a conclusion on the purchase of a product. From a salesperson\u2019s perspective, that\u2019s how long your sales cycle is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
An interesting insight from a survey <\/a>of 886 sales leaders revealed that while it takes four months for 74.6% of businesses to sell to a new client, a massive 46.4% confessed that the same sale process could take well over seven months in some cases. Why? <\/p>\n\n\n\n We answer that and what a sales cycle is below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A sales cycle is the amount of time it takes to close a sale from when the prospect is contacted. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n A B2B sale can be broken down into 5-7 crucial stages in which the lead is contacted, qualified, pitched to, negotiated with, and closed the deal by a sales rep or an account executive. Each sales stage will span a week, a month, or a couple of months, depending on the industry, the complexity of the product or service, the number of decision-makers involved, and the deal’s size. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For an enterprise deal<\/strong> – Anywhere between 6 months and 2 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For a mid-market deal<\/strong> – Anywhere between 3 – 6 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a startup\/basic deal <\/strong>– Anywhere between 1 week and a couple of months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But remember, it can vary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sales cycles are an indicator of how long you are taking to close deals as opposed to how long they should be taking\u2013granted you have a base sales cycle length to work with. If you\u2019re selling for the first time, you can begin with industry benchmarks, keep track of how long each sale is taking, and work on shortening the sales cycle from that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are 5-7 common sales cycle stages that every sale goes through. These stages are the different steps initiated by the reps throughout the selling process. Each step or stage will have a set of activities that reps will carry out in order to push the sale to the next stage and the stage after that. The sections below are some of the most common stages of a sales cycle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We say common and not set in stone because, as mentioned earlier, what stages you have in your sales cycle, depends on your industry and your preferences. Like, are you doing inbound sales or outbound sales<\/a>, if you\u2019re an inside sales team or an outside sales team, if you\u2019re selling to just enterprises or SMBs, etc. We can only explain what the different stages of a sales cycle are – at a fundamental level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Tracking the sales cycle at each stage<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One general rule of thumb after you\u2019ve defined the sales activities needed to be executed for each stage is to also find out how long a deal can stay at each of these stages. The early touchpoints you make in the sales process will take the most amount of time in a sales cycle, the objection handling<\/a> and negotiation come at the final leg of the sales process and shouldn\u2019t take a lot of time (less than a week for SMBs, a month with businesses catering to mid-sized businesses and probably more time for enterprises.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before you start selling, you have to first find out who your ideal buyer is, what their problems and pain points are, and what they have to lose if they are not using your product. So look out for people who match your Ideal Customer Profile<\/a> and build a list of prospects that you can reach out to. This stage could take up to a week\u2019s time to be completed but it also depends on how many prospects you want to reach out to. Now you can choose to enter this entire list of prospects into your sales pipeline<\/a> or wait until these prospects have been qualified further to become \u2018opportunities\u2019 and then add them to the pipeline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Opportunities\u2019<\/strong> is a term assigned to leads when they\u2019ve explicitly expressed their interest in solving a particular problem. Adding opportunities to the pipeline ensures that your pipeline is filled with people who have real interest in solving a problem rather than having a bunch of leads who may not even know of the problem\/solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example: You may have 100 prospects with a total potential revenue of USD 10,000 but once you\u2019ve talked to them and qualified them, only 50 remain, and the potential revenue comes down to USD 5,000. If you had included the first number of prospects into your pipeline, you\u2019d have a conversion rate problem in your hands. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Adding your prospect list to the pipeline only when they\u2019ve been converted to opportunities saves your pipeline from becoming bloated. But then this stage will take a longer time to get completed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Use a targeted list of prospects<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Depending on the size of your product or service, you can decide who to target, and the size of your prospect list. If you have a more complex product or service that requires a bit of training to do, and is expensive, you might need to focus on a shorter, targeted list of prospects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2<\/strong>. Choose outbound or inbound lead generation methods or both<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Find out how you want to capture leads. Choosing one over the other or both depends on which stage you are as an organization, and which industry you\u2019re in. If you\u2019re in the SaaS business, a little bit of both works best to generate leads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Run sales campaigns to those shortlisted prospects. Each sales campaign includes a cold email<\/a>, follow-up emails<\/a>, touchpoints via call and\/or LinkedIn messages<\/a> or even text messages. As G2, a buyer intelligence platform, puts it, in the age of the buyer, you have to do multichannel outreach to win buyer trust. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With sales engagement software, you can set up sales sequences with multiple prospects across multiple channels for defined time periods that you can choose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to prospect?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every prospect will be at different stages of the sales funnel, it\u2019s your responsibility to identify their interest\/awareness levels<\/a>, and set up touch points exactly when needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Talk about what\u2019s in it for them, their pain points, and show social proof. Don\u2019t write your message with the sole intention to sell your product or service. In short, it\u2019s time to shed the spray and pray approach with a templated email and reach prospects wherever they are looking for solutions with a personalized message. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Depending on the who, the how and the scale of your outreach, the time it takes to book meetings would vary between a week to a couple of months. That\u2019s how the famed \u2018always be prospecting\u2019<\/em> quote came to life. Because you have to always be prospecting as a failsafe for this stage. In case you\u2019ve not booked enough meetings even after your sales sequence ran its course, you need a pool of new prospects to reach out to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pro Tip #1: Set up at least 8 multi-channel touch points over the course of a month and half with ample delivery windows after each message. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n So how do you do outreach that gets more replies? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Follow-up emails<\/a> are simple if you understand some basic rules. Like answering common questions that spring up in the mind of the email receiver, \u201cWhy should I care?\u201d or having a call to action that is clearer than a sunny day. If you stick to these ground rules, you\u2019ll get replies. It will also ensure that you\u2019re writing a gentle, non-threatening, non-interrogative follow-up email, the ones that get people to respond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You could follow up via LinkedIn, call, text or email. But make sure you do follow up. This is not the 60s when you could knock on someone\u2019s door and sell them a Hoover. People nowadays already know about the solutions in the market, and they are constantly bombarded with sales messages. So you have to ensure your messages take front and center of the inbox and get their attention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are the ground rules: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Pro tip #1: Since email exchanges happen over the web, it\u2019s easy to sound as soulless as the machine you\u2019re typing the email in. So remember to write your email like you\u2019re talking to them directly. Leave the formality at the door. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/strong>. Get Useful Sales Enablement Content : <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Get useful sales Enablement Content from your marketing team. A 2022 report by buyer intelligence<\/a> company, G2, states that buyers are now more than ever opting for self-service models to buy software. Sales enablement content is the kind of content that helps the prospect solve a particular problem\u2013that could be finding the right tool, looking at alternatives, choosing between similar products or services, industry reports, detailed and in-depth dive into a topic that matters to them. That means the sales enablement content<\/a> you\u2019ve created will help buyers make a decision for themselves. But that kind of content combined with your outreach can do wonders to move the decision-making process forward and shorten your sales cycle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2.<\/strong> Follow Up According to a Prospect\u2019s Intent: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n An intent-based sales sequence works on this simple concept – your outreach should be based on the prospects\u2019 buyer journey. Your messaging should be both relevant and personalized based on their interest levels. Eg: Create a sequence of sales messages for those who signed up for free trials and another to nurture people who signed up for an ebook. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. A\/B Different Email Strategies:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/strong>If you ever wanted to read your prospects\u2019 minds, this is how. Imagine you could learn which subject line or email body works best to get more opens or replies. To run A\/B tests, you have to create two emails identical in all manners except the factor you want to test, and you need a sales engagement software<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Qualification usually happens throughout the sales process with every lead at every stage all the way from when you start prospecting. Nevertheless, if you\u2019re doing outbound sales, since the prospect is a total stranger, you\u2019ll need to make sure they have the need for a solution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the SaaS world, where prospects have a plethora of options to choose from, a good discovery call<\/a> can help them find the right solution, and help salespeople set the course for long-lasting relationships with buyers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n During a discovery call you should focus on finding the prospect\u2019s pain points, goals, their hopes, fears, and operating boundaries \u2013 to assess if your product can help them succeed. By running a good discovery call, you avoid wasting your customer\u2019s (and your) time with a low-value pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What should you find out in a discovery call? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n At this stage, you\u2019ve got the interest and the attention of your prospects to show them what your product or service does. Depending on what your sales process looks like, it may be a physical presentation carried out by sales reps, or an online product demonstration. Basically, a new-age version of a sales pitch<\/a>. Historically, a sales pitch is a speech that you have to deliver (perform) to persuade your prospects to buy something.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n But buyer behavior<\/a> has changed over the years, now it\u2019s all about building trust. To do that best, rather than pitching your product, you have to shift your mindset to help them out with problem-solving. Show them what tangible or intangible benefits they can gain from using your product or service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Make sure your prospects show up:<\/strong> As we learnt already, sales cycles can stretch for weeks or months, so be sure to remind prospects of your appointments. Don\u2019t just show up for a meeting without double-checking in the last 24 hours that they\u2019re still on for the presentation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Take stock of what you know about the prospect.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Plan a 3-point agenda to run the presentation:<\/strong> Based on what you know of the prospect\u2019s needs, what are the 3 most important takeaways you need them to leave the demo with. They will neither understand nor care about a laundry list of all your features. Answer this: Why are they attending this demo? Write those points down and make sure that you spend time on the top 3 things that matter to them, and share this agenda with them so they, too, can stay engaged in your demo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Build your sales pitch like a story: <\/strong>Your presentation, just like a story, has to get their attention and keep them interested throughout the process. It should have a beginning, middle, and end. And an arc, if you will, of how your product\u2019s benefits can produce results for their team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. Finally, don\u2019t hesitate to ask for commitment:<\/strong> What would you like them to do next? Are they ready to buy? Do they need a trial? Your ask should be aligned with what stage of the sales funnel they\u2019re at. So if this is a new problem that you just uncovered for the prospect, they may need more social proof to improve confidence in the solution, so the next step is to send them detailed case studies. But the objective (depending on the situation) is to move them at least 1-2 stages down your sales funnel\/process \u2013 if not all the way to a purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have to concur with American author and salesperson, Zig Ziglar<\/a>, when he said, \u201cEvery sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust.\u201d So much so that it takes between a couple of days and weeks to wind up talks. It\u2019s a period during your negotiation where you\u2019re handling objections based on a variety of factors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You can, of course, speed up these talks by handling objections better. A pro tip is to write down common objections you and your colleagues have been handling and brainstorm how you can turn the tables in those crucial moments, and come up with a list of techniques you can share among your colleagues\u2013whether new or old. That way everyone can inch closer to closing the deal sooner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n General thumb rules of how to nip objections in the bud and improve your sales cycle:<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the final leg of your sales cycle\u2013when you finally move to close the deal even if the prospect is stretching the deal out. Win or lose, you have to close it. Sometimes, sales cycles can get longer because deals are stuck in the close stage\u2013where the AE refuses to close a deal solely because the prospect reached here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In reality, you may have to pull the plug on certain prospects if they\u2019ve not replied to you in a good while. Of course, you could throw them a line one last time to reignite the deal but if they don\u2019t express any confidence even after that, it\u2019s time to pull the shutters down on that deal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Tips to win negotiations at sales:<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pro Tip: Move the prospects that went cold to a list where you can store similar prospects and initiate nurturing sequences for them 6 months to 1 year down the line. The objective is to avoid deals from spending too much time in this stage. <\/mark><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n To Conclude<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The biggest issue most companies face is getting a lead to say, \u201cYes,\u201d more quickly or waiting for leads to respond even after months of crickets. If you want to shorten your sales cycle, you have to take action at each step of the sales process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s all folks. Do let us know in the comments if we\u2019ve answered all of your questions regarding the sales cycle or you\u2019d like to know more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Depends on the market, buyer behavior, deal size, industry, and number of decision-makers involved in the deal. Explain average sales cycle length, b2b sales cycle length, and enterprise deal sales cycle length.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n You cannot pinpoint a single reason for this. There might be a variety of reasons.<\/p>\n 1. Firstly, is it longer than the industry standard? 2. Hire interns\/assistants to help your SDRs with prospecting (the stage that takes the most amount of time for any movement) and getting information to personalize so you can improve your outreach and prospecting process.<\/p>\n 3. Don\u2019t put all of your leads in the same sales pipeline if you\u2019re selling to multiple ICPs in different demographics and different use cases. Since the standard sales cycles for all of those scenarios vary it wouldn\u2019t be logical to track their sales cycles on a single yardstick. You could make different pipelines to track different types of accounts.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Let\u2019s do a quick survey. If your answers are \u2018Yes\u2019, \u2018Googled it\u2019 and \u2018No\u2019 in that particular order, you are not alone. A majority of us would have answered the same. But, why did you choose \u2018No\u2019 for the third question? Simple. Purchasing a product or service for a business is neither easy nor impulsive. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"rank_math_title":"Demystifying the 7 Stages of a Sales Cycle: A Complete Guide","rank_math_description":"We break down the different stages of a sales cycle with examples, and how you can shorten these stages in real life to achieve shorter sales cycles.","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sales-development"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6057"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19991,"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6057\/revisions\/19991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What Is a Sales Cycle?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Typical Sales Cycle Lengths:<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n
![\"image](\"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/image-of-a-typical-sales-cycle-length.webp\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nWhy Track a Sales Cycle?<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What Are the 7 Sales Cycle Stages?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
![\"image-containing-the-seven-different-stages-of-the-sales-cycle\"](\"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/image-containing-the-seven-different-stages-of-the-sales-cycle.webp\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nHere Are the Different Stages of a Sales Cycle<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I. Finding the Best Prospects<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How To Set up the Sales Process for This Stage?<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
II. Reaching Out to Prospects<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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III. Following Up With Prospects<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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How To Improve Your Nurturing Process:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
IV. Qualify Your Leads by Running Effective Discovery Calls<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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V. Conducting Demos or Presentations: <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
When Making Your Product or Service Pitch, Follow These Basic Tips:<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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VI. Handling Objections <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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VII. Closing Deals<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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FAQs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
What is the average sales cycle length?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Why are my sales cycle long?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
If yes, to identify the roadblocks or pinpoint the causes, you can track how long your deals are caught up at each stage of the sales process. This will also help you spot deals that are stagnating in the pipeline.<\/p>\n