What industry are you in? How long are your sales cycles on average?

I'm in B2B marketing/sales software. Average cycle is 2-3 months. What about you?

🏰 War Stories
📈 Closing
36
CastleIsland
Tycoon
16
Associate Account Director
Cyber Security - Enterprise, Long fucking sales cycles. If they trust you they will buy, but you don't know when. If they don't, they will not tell you and you will follow up forever and die.
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
I can only imagine some of the sagas that your deals can be. What's your ASP out of curiosity?
kavalan
0
Enterprise Account Executive
Same here, Cyber, 6-12 months for enterprise deals, 3-6 months for smaller accounts 
youngmula
Contributor
0
Account Executive
I started in Cyber Security a year and a half ago. Love this industry, but hate the long sales cycles.

The money makes it all worth it though ;) 
Ninerfan
Member
5
Partner Ambassador
Real estate Software - 3-4 month cycle, but there are apparently some crazies that can be sold in 2 weeks. Gotta find me some of those unicorns!
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
They're out there somewhere! haha

Is it mostly individual brokers our larger brokerage firms? Or maybe a mix of both? 
Ninerfan
Member
1
Partner Ambassador
It’s independent brokers, franchise owner brokers, and top producers.
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
Nice, thank you for the input! Don't think we've had anyone in this industry chime in yet. 
Jimsalestheblue
Opinionated
0
Sales development representative
Real estate is such a cool industry, especially now since everything is flying off the market
WeasleyIsOurKing
0
Sales Manager
Which part of real estate? I'm mostly working with residential leasing brokers- Real estate as a whole is a BEAST!
Ninerfan
Member
0
Partner Ambassador
I work with top producing agents and independent brokers for residential home sales. It is a BEAST and there are like 4 other industries wrapped up in it!
softwarebro
Politicker
4
Sales Director
Enterprise fintech software | 7-15mo. Typically this type of software/projects needs to be embedded into an IT, Business, finance budget. So what quarter you find the deal determines the length of the sales cycle. 
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
1
Account Executive
Are most of your customers on a calendar fiscal? 
softwarebro
Politicker
2
Sales Director
yes, since avg. deal size is ~$2M. Most companies don't have that much "extra" allocated in their budgets. 
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
1
Account Executive
Had a client in the enterprise CLM space with a similar motion. What months are most critical for getting into the budget? 
softwarebro
Politicker
1
Sales Director
In my experience most budgets are decided and finalized by late Q3/ early Q4. Personally March - July are when people with authority are willing to talk budget. Of course shift the months is your prospect doesn’t follow a Jan- Dec fiscal year.
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
1
Account Executive
This is great input for any enterprise SaaS seller I think. Thanks for sharing @softwarebro 
SalesViking
Valued Contributor
4
Partner Dev Consultant
Fitness and wellness software, 1 week
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
Nice! Are most of your customers in HR?
SalesViking
Valued Contributor
0
Partner Dev Consultant
No, dealing directly with owners of gyms, salons, spas and studios. We have a corporate team that deals with HR reps to offer memberships to employees
JuicyKlay
Celebrated Contributor
0
AM
Do you enjoy that industry? I’ve been thinking about making a move 
SalesViking
Valued Contributor
0
Partner Dev Consultant
I really do, first sales job that ive had that i dont feel like a telemarketer (no offense), good WLB and decent pay. 
MSPSales
Politicker
3
Partner Development Manager
SMB software for managed service providers - backup, disaster recovery and business continuity.

Channel focused company so our sale cycle matches what our partners sale cycle is for their end user.

Typically is short sales cycle for smaller deployments. Can range from a 1 call close to 30 days.

For larger deployments it can take from a quarter to  EOY.

Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
1
Account Executive
Thanks for putting a different lens on this. Always interesting to hear comparisons between direct and channel focused selling. 

How many partners do you have? And what % would you say consistently bring you deals?
MSPSales
Politicker
1
Partner Development Manager
Great question! The company has 1500 + in NA and more globally. The way is works for AEs is we have territory and all partners within that territory fall under the umbrella to cross sell services or expand on the services they currently are using. This where our larger deals come from every month. 

On the new business side we are responsible for generating opps but also have SDRs and marketing to support. The net new business are the smaller deals that come in through the door. 

I would say existing business takes up the vast majority of our deals. Around  70%-80%
Incognito
WR Officer
2
Master of Disaster
Insurance and bonds. I’ve closed seven figure deals in two weeks. Many take years. 
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
1
Account Executive
Thanks for the input, nice to see folks outside of SaaS chiming in! 
SADNESScounselor
Good Citizen
2
VP National Accounts
Niche commercial insurance- sales cycle average is about 2 months. Quickest sale- 3 days, longest (and largest) 18 months.
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
1
Account Executive
Thanks for this! I've seen a few comments from insurance sales folks. Seems like it will vary a ton in that industry depending on the type of insurance. What's your ASP like?
SADNESScounselor
Good Citizen
1
VP National Accounts
ASP ranges from $30-35k. Small deals are about $10-15k, larger deals are anything over $100k (quite common) to $500k+ (maybe get a shot at a couple a year).
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
Love it, you can hit singles and doubles throughout the year then cap it off with a grand slam! First year I ever hit quota was like that. Thanks for sharing @SADNESScounselor 
notremovingfromlist
Good Citizen
2
Senior Account Executive
ERP software. Sales cycle could be anywhere from 1-12 months 
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
Do you work with companies various sizes? Or are you specifically aligned to an Enterprise/Mid Market/SMB segment?
notremovingfromlist
Good Citizen
0
Senior Account Executive
If there is a fit and they can afford it, I do not turn away deals based on a particular segment.
CaneWolf
Politicker
2
Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract
Implementation and design services. 2-12 months with an outlier every once in a while that'll get closer to 18.
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
Makes sense, I imagine it's often based on client projects and timing. How many deals would you say you're working at any given time on average?
CaneWolf
Politicker
0
Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract
4-10.
PeterSwan
Opinionated
2
Sales Specialist
I’m in B2B-B2B2C CX/marketing automation software. Average cycle is 6-9 month cuz we sell to large enterprises
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
With a longer cycle like that, what are the most important month in your fiscal year?
PeterSwan
Opinionated
0
Sales Specialist
I believe March or September
Trinity
WR Officer
1
BusDev
B2B SaaS tech 6-12 months.
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
Enterprise I'm guessing?
Trinity
WR Officer
1
BusDev
Yes
Wolf
Opinionated
1
Commercial Account Executive
B2B SaaS 6-12 Months, could be even longer depending on which vertical.
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
Sounds like you target enterprise customers, but I could be wrong. Who do you sell to within a company?

Wolf
Opinionated
1
Commercial Account Executive
I sell to the C-Suite level but because of the scope of the platform I sell, it typically falls under CIO or COO. 
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
Got it, that usually means working with a lot of folks on the CIO/COO's team. Longer cycle makes sense, lots of cats to herd before you can get a deal done! 
Wolf
Opinionated
1
Commercial Account Executive
Yeah depending on the company, lots of stakeholders are definitely required to bring onboard to get a deal closed.
Q.P
Old School Bravo
1
Manager of Business Development Asia
SCADA 6-12 months
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
What's your ASP if you don't mind me asking? Long cycles usually equal bigger contracts. 
SalesEveryday
Praised Answer
1
Account Executive
B2B 1-3 months. Could be same day transaction, but we typically see atleast a couple of weeks. 
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
Gotta love those same day transactions! Out of curiosity, do you sell a product, service, or both? And to what buying center do you typically sell?
DingersAllDay
Executive
1
Sr. Principal Enterprise Account Executive
Enterprise subscription software Sales about 90 days
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
What's the buying center you sell into? Curious about how your sales cycles differ from other enterprise SaaS offerings. 
JustImpaired
Executive
1
Director of Sales
B2B SaaS/Hardware combo... Our Mid-Market Vertical I believe is about 3 weeks, but my team in Enterprise is more like 3-6 months.
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
I'd say that's shorter than average for an enterprise team, especially if there's a hardware component to your business. Good on ya! 
funcoupons
WR Officer
1
👑
Employee benefits to corporations, roughly 2-3 months.
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
Nice! What's the ASP? 
funcoupons
WR Officer
1
👑
About 40-60k on average, but I've seen anywhere as low as 10k for a very small business and over half a million for larger ones.
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
Got it, this is helpful. Thanks for the input! 
LordTyrion
Good Citizen
1
VP of Sales / Co-Founder
Sell Demand Gen - could close in a day - average is 4 weeks in EMEA, 12 in the US
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
2
Account Executive
How fitting that your sales cycles are short, LordTyrion haha
LordTyrion
Good Citizen
1
VP of Sales / Co-Founder
Nice
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
Thanks for your input, any particular reason the sales cycle takes less time in EMEA vs the US?
LordTyrion
Good Citizen
1
VP of Sales / Co-Founder
More competition, it's generally quarterly cycles so the more competitive the space the longer you have to wait to get a shot.
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
Makes sense, 12 weeks is still a pretty good turnaround. Good on ya! 
Mrsconcrete
Member
1
Sr director of sales
Concrete testing technology, can be anywhere from a day to a year, depends when they are starting their project and how soon before hand we reach them!
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
Very cool! Is this a relatively new technology for the construction industry? 
Mrsconcrete
Member
1
Sr director of sales
it is!industry is extremely slow to adopt so it is a constant struggle. It is especially entertaining walking into a room of men in their 50s who have been in the industry their whole lives, and 5 foot little me comes in telling them how to pour concrete 
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
Love it! Sounds like a major disruption opportunity in a huge industry. But it can be tough to educate people on a new way of doing things. What's your approach to challenging the status quo? 
deviantzen
WR Lieutenant
1
Consultant
When I sold digital advertising, it could be anywhere from one call close to around 3 weeks for larger or globally present accounts.

Selling hospitality software to restaurants and hotels would typically be 2-3 weeks for SMB, 1-2 months for middle market, and up to 4 months for enterprise/international accounts.

Currently selling branding consulting and custom music. Inbounds close within about 2 weeks, referrals nearly instantly, and my occasional outbound efforts 1-2 months.
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
This is great input. I haven't seen anyone chime in about the digital ad space yet. Sounds like the hospitality software fell in line with the average cycle times for most non-enterprise SaaS offerings? 

Also, good on ya for having that kind of velocity in the current gig! How does the ASP differ from your other experiences? 
Idkwhatimdoing
Opinionated
1
Business Development
SaaS provider for banks and credit unions. Average sales cycle is 5-8 months 
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
1
Account Executive
How big are your clients? I've seen reps run 2+ year cycles with big players like JP Morgan Chase and Fidelity. Most people would consider 5-8 months a long cycle, but that's pretty fast for Financial Services clients with tons of regulatory concerns, in my experience. 
Idkwhatimdoing
Opinionated
1
Business Development
Ranging from $500m in assets to $3b. As of recent it’s been 5-8 months which is quick.  I think is from companies trying to play catch up from covid. Shortest sales cycle I’ve worked on was 3 months which was very fast but longest was just over a year and a half. We do data consulting so it’s a large up front investment but growth requires investment. 
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
1
Account Executive
Makes sense, it's so interesting how the pandemic has propelled certain industries forward. Seems like banking and manufacturing have felt the pressure to modernize and think more about future state. Sounds like you're in a good spot! 
Idkwhatimdoing
Opinionated
1
Business Development
Was tough when covid first hit but now that it’s been around a lot of credit unions are realizing they need to make changes to stay competitive with big banks. Definitely an exciting time. 
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
1
Account Executive
Love it, best of luck closing out the month! 
Mikey
Politicker
1
Senior Regional Director
Gage, how has demand changed for this in COVID? How long have you been in the biz?
Idkwhatimdoing
Opinionated
0
Business Development
Beginning of covid limited everyone’s budget but we made dashboards helping credit unions make data driven decisions about how they run their business during covid and how to protect their branches and members. Now that credit unions are becoming more comfortable with covid they are willing to invest in their growth. Majority of credit unions don’t have a true data warehouse/data lake which is what help them with. I’ve been in banking for 5 years, at my current company for 2.5 years but been in sales for just over a year. 
Mikey
Politicker
1
Senior Regional Director
Good luck!
Mikey
Politicker
1
Senior Regional Director
Oooooh this is interesting. I work B2C luxury travel. It’s generally a 1-2 week cycle. I love the quick sale. 
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
How has business been during the pandemic?
Mikey
Politicker
0
Senior Regional Director
March and April of last year were scary. The industry completely haulted. Since about July of last year, we've seen consistent growth. Just last month was one of our best months in company history. So thankful for these vaccines. I learned a lot of valuable lessons in the last 12 months which I'm sure we all did! Thanks for asking!
Premium_User
Fire Starter
1
Sales Manager
I've inherited 3 year old conversations that STILL aren't ready to close, and I've made the sale before the prospect even puts down the phone

Document translation can be something that the prospect wants to have an agreement in place for when they start exporting in X years time... Or something they need done by Friday. 

At the moment it's 2 weeks avg from quotation to decision but the deviation from the average is quite big 
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
What's the volume of deals you're working at any given time? Also curious about what your ASP looks like. 
HarryCaray
Notable Contributor
1
HMFIC
Fintech SaaS. B2B. 6-9 months, but deals are usually a minimum of around $100K
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
Longer cycles usually mean bigger deals! How many people are typically involved in the decision-making process?
TheWolfofGlengarry
Opinionated
1
Global Account Manager
IT Software - minimum 8 Months. My average deal $1.3M. $1.8 quota. 
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
1
Account Executive
Sounds like enterprise for sure. How many deals would you say you work over the course of a year?
TheWolfofGlengarry
Opinionated
0
Global Account Manager
Work - 10
Close - average 3.5 running from 500k to 2.1M.
I am in the 'enterprise' space but I focus on Big Game Hunting. I don't want to find 1000 mice to make my number.

I average about 155% of plan.

Always (at least) top 5 Salesman in my company. 
Last year, #1. This year, #4. Globally. 
I don't F around. Get paid or GTFO!
Slingerofdata
Personal Narrative
1
Sales Director
Data analytics. The verticals range; typically the longest part of the cycle is finding a useful application. Anywhere from 3 Months to a year. Contract value ranges widely.
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
Is there a ICP you go after in terms of company size?
Slingerofdata
Personal Narrative
0
Sales Director
Fortune 500 mainly, however a great deal are small start ups. For our offering, it's more about having a prospect that can actually work with a technical product. The difficulty is in finding ways to embed it and use in other divisions.
LordBusiness
Politicker
1
Chief Revenue Officer
Lead generation - our average deal cycle is roughly 24 days, and our clients commit quarterly, so its heavy reliant on ability to renew/upsell (while still keeping a consistent flow of new biz) 

Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
Are your reps responsible for renewal/upsell and new business? Or do you have people specifically focused on one or the other?
Saasmaven
Praised Answer
1
Enterprise Account Executive
Bringing interactive demo experience software to-market. ~2-4 month cycle.
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
What's your ASP like? I'd say the cycle is on parr with most of the other SaaS submissions. 
TheClosedWons
1
Relationship Manager
Project Management software. There can be one call closes all the way to a few quarters out depending on the industry/seasonality. All depends on their buying cycles!
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
What types of companies do you go after in terms of industry and size? Curious to know what your ASP is like to. 
YoureMuted
Executive
1
Regional Sales Director
Tech hardware. Sales cycles can be same day or 1 year, anywhere in between.
Derpfrickinvalu
Arsonist
0
Account Executive
What do your customers look like?(size, industry, etc)
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how long are your sales cycles?
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