Sales Cycle Length
Median SMB B2B cycle is 26-45 days. A 10% cycle reduction equals +5-12% revenue (McKinsey 2024).
💡TL;DR
The fastest wins come from clearing mid-funnel stalls. Template proposal prep, legal, and security Q&A, then automate reminders to shave days. Break cycle by stage, and target the longest stage for 10-20% reduction first. Show stage dwell as an SLA on dashboards, routing violations to the Action Feed.
Definition
Average time from first qualified touch (e.g., SQL) to closed-won or closed-lost. Best tracked by stage to reveal where legal, security, or internal approvals create bottlenecks.
🏢What This Means for SMB Teams
Even with few deals, cycle cuts hit cash flow immediately. Track stage dwell weekly.
7-day no-response? 14-day stalled? Auto-reconnect, never miss.
AI executes, you approve. Control meets automation.
📋Practical Example
A regional medical device distributor ($30M revenue) mapped cycle time by stage. Before: average cycle 54 days, with legal/review stages averaging 18 days; quarterly cash flow was lumpy. After pre-approved security responses, template MSAs, and automated reminders, legal stage time dropped to 9 days and overall cycle shortened to 41 days. Cash collected within quarter improved from 64% to 78%, adding $430k available cash.
🔧Implementation Steps
- 1
Measure cycle length per stage for the last 90 days to find the slowest stage.
- 2
Pre-build legal/security templates and FAQs to cut review time.
- 3
Set SLA timers on the slowest stage and auto-remind both buyer and seller owners.
- 4
Escalate stalled deals after 72 hours with no movement to a manager.
- 5
Recompute cycle monthly and rotate focus to the next longest stage once improved.
❓Frequently Asked Questions
How do we shorten cycles without rushing buyers?
Remove internal friction first: templates, clear owners, and fast approvals. Offer time-boxed pilots to de-risk decisions rather than pressure tactics.
Do discounts speed up the cycle?
They can, but often hurt margin. Test small, time-bound incentives and compare cycle impact versus margin loss. Prioritize process fixes before price cuts.
⚡How Optifai Uses This
Optifai detects stage stalls and routes cause-specific plays to the Action Feed.
📚References
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Related Terms
Pipeline Velocity
A composite metric combining deal size, win rate, cycle length, and pipeline per rep to show how fast revenue moves through the funnel. It highlights which lever—volume, value, speed, or quality—is limiting growth.
Sales Velocity
A metric measuring how quickly deals move through the pipeline and generate revenue, calculated as: (Number of Opportunities × Win Rate × Average Deal Size) / Sales Cycle Length.
Automated Deal Progression
Automation that advances deals between stages—sending mutual action plans, scheduling next steps, nudging stakeholders—based on milestones and risk signals.
Revenue Velocity Index
A composite metric that scores pipeline health by weighting deal cycle time, win rate, deal size, and active pipeline per rep. It tracks how fast revenue moves, not just how much exists.