Every quarter you watch deals rot in the funnel. Weeks turn into months. Your forecast lies to you.
Executive Summary
- Why pipelines stall
- 7 proven moves to shorten sales cycles
- Process changes that don’t break deals
- Metrics to track this month
Why pipelines stall
Sales cycles lengthen because reps run out of momentum: weak qualification, late discovery, and demos scheduled too early. I saw this at a SaaS scale-up: reps were scheduling 60-minute demos with buyers who hadn’t even agreed on basic outcomes. Result: long delays and deal churn.
7 proven moves to shorten sales cycles
1. Pre-qualify with a 6-minute screen
Keep it tight. Ask 6 questions, end on budget and timeline. If the answers don’t match ICP, move on.
2. Use calendar gating
Only allow prospects to book demos after a 6-minute screen. It filters noise and saves rep time.
3. Time-box discovery
Make discovery 30–45 minutes with a clear agenda: outcomes, stakeholders, constraints.
4. Demo for outcomes, not features
Start demos with the prospect’s top 3 outcomes. Map features to those outcomes live.
5. Decision map
Create a simple decision map: who signs, who needs to be convinced, budget owner, timeline. Update CRM after every call.
6. Use playbooks for common objections
Make short scripts for price, procurement, and integrations. Practice them in coaching sessions.
7. Align legal and procurement early
Bring procurement into the conversation as early as the demo if your deal has procurement risks.
Process changes that don’t break deals
Don’t ration discovery; focus it. Train reps to end calls with clear next steps and a meeting owner. I once coached a rep who stopped sending documents and started scheduling ‘next-step’ calls — conversion rose 18% in 6 weeks.
Metrics to track this month
- Average days in opportunity (goal: reduce by 20% in 60 days)
- Stage conversion rate (focus: discovery→demo)
- Demo-to-proposal velocity
Want a short workshop to fix this in 4 weeks? Book a 15-minute audit.