Sales / RevOpsSales Cycle

Sales Cycle Length

Sales cycle length measures the average time from when an opportunity is created to when it closes (won or lost).

Key Takeaways
  • Sales cycle length is the average number of days between opportunity creation and deal closure, indicating sales efficiency and buyer journey speed.
  • Common Mistakes:
  • Including open pipeline in sales cycle calculations (use closed deals only).
  • Not segmenting by deal size—larger deals naturally take longer.
  • Ignoring seasonality or quarter-end effects that compress cycles.
  • Comparing sales cycles across different products or markets.
  • Not tracking time in each stage to identify bottlenecks.
  • Optimizing for speed at the expense of deal quality or size.

Definition

Sales cycle length is the average number of days between opportunity creation and deal closure, indicating sales efficiency and buyer journey speed.

Short cycle (<30 days)

Efficient sales motion; lower touch or product-led.

Medium cycle (30-90 days)

Typical for mid-market B2B.

Long cycle (>90 days)

Enterprise sales with complex buying processes.

Formula

Sales Cycle Length = Average (Close Date − Create Date) for closed deals

Variables

Close Date

Date the opportunity was marked closed-won or closed-lost.

Create Date

Date the opportunity entered the pipeline.

Examples

Average sales cycle calculation

OpportunityCreatedClosedDays
Deal AJan 1Feb 1545
Deal BJan 10Mar 554
Deal CJan 20Feb 2839
  1. 1Sum of cycle lengths = 45 + 54 + 39 = 138 days
  2. 2Average sales cycle = 138 / 3 = 46 days
→ Average sales cycle = 46 days

Track in Daymark

Data Sources

CSVgoogle sheetspostgreSQL

Required Fields

Opportunity timeline
  • opportunity_id
  • created_date
  • closed_date
  • stage
  • amount

Sample Questions

  • What is the average sales cycle length?
  • Show sales cycle trend over the last year
  • Calculate sales cycle by deal size
  • Compare cycle length by rep or team
  • What's the sales cycle for different customer segments?
  • Show cycle length distribution (histogram)
  • Which stage takes the longest in our sales process?
Analyze sales cycle

Dashboard Template

1. line
Sales cycle trend

Average days to close

2. histogram
Cycle length distribution

How cycles vary

3. scatter
Cycle by deal size

Correlation with ACV

4. stacked bar
Time in each stage

Where time is spent

Common Mistakes

  • •Including open pipeline in sales cycle calculations (use closed deals only).
  • •Not segmenting by deal size—larger deals naturally take longer.
  • •Ignoring seasonality or quarter-end effects that compress cycles.
  • •Comparing sales cycles across different products or markets.
  • •Not tracking time in each stage to identify bottlenecks.
  • •Optimizing for speed at the expense of deal quality or size.

FAQ

Q: Should I include lost deals in sales cycle calculations?

Yes, include all closed deals (won and lost) for an accurate picture. You can also track them separately.

Q: How can I shorten our sales cycle?

Better qualification, clearer ROI demonstration, streamlined approval processes, and addressing objections earlier.

Q: What's a typical sales cycle for B2B SaaS?

SMB: 1-30 days, Mid-market: 30-90 days, Enterprise: 3-12+ months.

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