Most companies commonly use the step-by-step procedure when closing a deal, called the sales cycle. In SaaS business, the cycle may take five to six stages and frequently includes sales prospecting, objection handling, and lead nurturing. By the end of the process, salespeople often ask for referrals to generate new and more leads. The overall process is then repeated from the very start as the sales team welcomes new leads, hence the term sales cycle.
And while other SaaS businesses tend to follow a sequence of calculated steps, not all companies achieve top-tier results. It only shows that it depends on how a sales team executes the process. So, how are you and your sales reps executing your sales process? If you want to get stellar results, you only need to boost your sales cycle length.
Here in this blog, we will discuss what sales cycle length is and outline some actionable tips that help you speed up your sales cycle – helping you increase more wins and close more deals in the entire pipeline stage.
What is the Sales Cycle?
To put it simply, the sales cycle is the whole selling process, starting with the conversation of potential leads to closing the deal. This covers everything your sales team is doing to keep the prospects interested in your software products – keeping them engaged, answering their questions, and converting them from being a lead to paying customers.
The sales cycle length is one key aspect you should take seriously other than your sales targets and goals. The sales cycle length’s role is vital, for it determines your growth rate. The ideal sales cycle length has five components you need to weave together to generate conversions.
- Prospect: This is the initial step where you are attracting targeted leads to your product. You should pay attention to and understand more about them, especially their pain points.
- Qualify: When you have already figured out the desires and needs of your prospect, you can determine whether they intend to purchase your product or not. Therefore, you can further optimize your funnel in this stage and fill them with quality prospects.
- Connect: In this stage, connecting to your prospect and making them sign-up for the product is the goal. This is the discovery call. All information gathered in this stage helps you get the desired and positive outcome.
- Present: This is where you need to showcase your product to your leads, ensuring it sits at the top of their purchasing decision. This stage is where you also need to start building credibility and trust with your prospects by telling them how your product can solve their pain points.
In order to get maximum conversions, deliver a great product demo presentation rather than outline the benefits. A great demo convinces your prospects that you get the best product and helps them make informed decisions.
- Close: You can hit the sweet spot to get more conversions. Your prospects are warmed already, and the last step is to push them to take action. This is where you can opt to give them a free trial or other options.
And depending on the effectiveness of the process, your sales cycle length will be determined.
Tips on How to Improve Your Sales Cycle Length
1. Educate your prospects about your product
Even if your lead lies in the warm category, he will still be guaranteed to purchase your product. So, you better do something to make up your prospect’s mind. Start with your product demo, make sure it is personalized, and give your prospect a more hands-on experience with your product.
With Demostory.io – the latest interactive demo software, you can deliver a more realistic demo experience to your leads without being salesy with your approach. With this demo tool, you can educate your prospects more about your product and highlight the best features it can offer them.
2. Rank your leads
In the sales cycle, it is best to ask your prospects what stage they are in with their buying decision. You may ask them to choose 10, 12, or 15 days. This strategy will help you rank your leads based on their serious intention or interest, budget expectation, budget authority, urgency, and other important factors. Remember having the most qualified leads in your sales pipeline is more important than ever.
3. Use the best demonstration software for your demo
Your salespeople should have paid more attention to the product demos they deliver. And there are many times when the demo process redesign keeps happening again – prospect by prospect. As a result, it cost your team time and even caused chaos.
Ensure that demos are structured and set up properly, especially live. Invest in the state-of-the-art demo tool Demostory.io and take advantage of its benefits. It has the best technical features that help you deliver your prospects a great, well-structured live demo.
4. Generate more leads using effective performance channels
You must build multiple channels to attract leads – landing pages, websites, CTAs, emailers, and more. Determine what channels that generate more leads faster and try to prioritize those leads so that you can take advantage of the opportunity in the shortest time.
5. Track sales cycle metrics
Measuring is assessing and knowing. So, unless you measure your average sales cycle length, how can you improve it? Make sure to keep track of all the available metrics related to the sales cycle, for they will help you set the benchmark to boost the timing of your sales cycle.
Moreover, always remember to measure the average time consumed for every stage to complete. This will help you determine the stages where your prospects spend the most time. You will also best understand where your sales reps need to improve in handling and tracking average sales cycle duration.
6. Align your marketing and sales team with your goals
In this ever-changing and modern sales process, the role of all your teams has always been critical, particularly your sales and marketing team. Know that content like blogs, product videos, and other marketing materials also play a huge role in acquiring more leads or lead generation.
So, create an internal channel where your sales and marketing teams align for shared objectives – where sales feedback and marketing campaigns are openly and actively discussed in a single platform.
Introducing Demostory.io
While this entire blog focuses mainly on the sales cycle, product demos are a huge part of the overall sales process. You might have the perfect product, a well-planned sales strategy, a very effective sales pitch, and the best sales team, but you might fail to describe and showcase your product in the best way.
Your product demo should be flawless, and it must speak for itself and engage your leads through the entire demo journey. So, how can you execute a great demo?
Simple. Use Demostory.io – a modern web-based demonstration software that allows you to execute an excellent product demo to your leads. This demo tool guarantees a more personalized and interactive live demo environment, making it more realistic for your prospects. On top of that, Demostory.io helps you highlight your product’s best features effortlessly at an easy rate.
Schedule a free demo now if you are curious about how it does wonder for your live demos. And get ready to witness how it can improve your product demos and optimize your sales cycle length.
