Sales Cycles are Changing Big Time in 2023
The latest research has shown the average small business saw a 26% increase in their sales cycle comparing 2022 to 2023. 60-day cycles are now 75 days.
See the table below: (The segment being the size of the business you are targeting)
These trends are not surprising but the rate of change from 2022 is very significant.
My observations are the following new sales and market factors are at play:
- More people working from home at larger companies slowing down collaboration and in turn decision-making is slowed.
- It’s much harder for salespeople to book face-to-face meetings to move forward decision making.
- More organisations want case studies and data to help justify their decisions.
- A tightening economic environment means buying behaviour is more conservative by nature.
B2B Marketing Tips to Buck the Trend
- Segment your customer base & marketing communications into large and small potential customers.
- Personalise and differentiate your marketing communications for Economic, User and Technical Buyers.
- Integrate your sales & marketing efforts through your email and content marketing.
- It’s the new financial year, look for re-activation opportunities from your sales pipeline where you thought the opportunity has gone cold.