Average Sales Cycle Length by Industry: 2024 Report

Our team conducted a comprehensive study of the average sales cycle length by industry with further segmentation based on the sales cycle stage. We have also presented information for the average sales cycle length based on the company size of the prospect, the sales channel, and the complexity of the product. 

You’ll notice that we have left product prices off of our list of analyses. While we examined this metric, we concluded that there was insufficient data to segment based on price point, as price point does not directly influence the sales cycle length, but rather the percentage of price to the prospect’s revenue. 

Average Sales Cycle Length by Industry & Pipeline Stage

The following table displays the average sales cycle length by industry with further segmentation by the pipeline stage. 

Average Sales Cycle Length by Company Size

In this segmentation, we moved our study to be industry-agnostic and solely focused on the prospect’s company size to give the average sales cycle length. 

Average Sales Cycle Length by Sales Channel & Complexity of Product

In this analysis, we crossed sales channels and the complexity of the product to determine the average sales cycle length for both variables. Our findings were interesting, as inbound channels cut the sales cycle length drastically, versus the outbound channels that extended the sales cycle length as a greater degree of rapport needed to be built before the true selling could occur. 

How to Shorten Your Sales Cycle Length

Sales cycles take as long as it takes for the prospect to become fully convinced that you are the solution to their want, need, or desire. This generally happens in two stages, as the prospect must trust you personally first, and then they must trust your delivery mechanism will achieve their desired result. 

For example, let’s pretend for a moment you own a manufacturing company making small components to assemble final products for other companies. A prospect must initially trust that you are trustworthy before they allow you to sell them that your company can make their needed components to spec, deliver on time, etc. 

To do this, the most important factors are what we refer to as sales assets. A sales asset is devised of any sources of proof that you can deliver what you say you can deliver. The following are examples of sales assets:

*Each of the above is linked to an example

Each of the above sales assets represents a piece of evidence that you can achieve the results you say you can achieve. The more refined each of these is to the client’s situation specifically, the more powerful. For example, if I am selling widgets, it is great to have a long list of client testimonials for my widgets. However, if I am selling this widget to a farmer, then it is better for the long list of testimonials to all be from farmers. 

Further Reading & Next Steps

Our team specializes in developing sales assets and strategic content to convert prospects into customers. We take the time to learn the aspects of your business that are the true selling points and convey that to prospects during the sales process in the right order, at the right time. To learn more about this, see the following further reading:

• Average Cold Call Conversion Rate by Industry
• Customer Acquisition Cost Trends
• Our Strategic Planning Guide

For any further questions, we invite you to contact us on our Contact Us page.

Sources:

• Evaluate your team’s performance with these 2024 B2B sales benchmarks – Gradient Works
• B2B Sales Cycle Length: How Long Does It Usually Take to Close a Deal? – Databox
• Sales 2024: A revenue data analysis – Outreach