What is sales cycle length?
Sales cycle length is the time it takes to close a deal, usually measured in days from the moment an opportunity is created to the day it is won.
How to calculate sales cycle length
Use won deals only, and measure from the same starting point every time, such as the date the opportunity was created:
Average sales cycle length = total days to close for won deals ÷ number of won deals
The median is often more honest than the average, because a few deals that took a year will drag the average up.
Average sales cycle length
B2B sales cycle length varies with deal size and with how many people must agree. A small team buying software might decide in a few weeks; a contract that needs procurement and legal review can take months. Track your own figure by deal size and source rather than chasing an outside benchmark.
How to shorten the sales cycle
Look at the sales cycle stages one by one and find where deals wait, not where they move. Common fixes are agreeing the next step and its date at the end of every call, starting the security questionnaire or legal review early, and offering a trial so the buyer can test instead of debate.
Sales cycle length and sales velocity
Cycle length is the denominator of the sales velocity formula, so cutting it is one of the most direct ways to bring revenue forward. Sales CRM and Pipeline measures the median days won deals spent in each stage, which shows which part of the cycle to work on.
Last reviewed 2026-11-01.