A shorter sales cycle is the holy grail of B2B sales. Almost impossible to find - but doing so could grant your business an eternal life cycle (or something pretty close).
We spoke to Justin Stephenson, the Indiana Jones of discovering shorter B2B sales cycles. Justin is a sales expert and Partner at the global sales management leadership organisation, Sandler Training.
Sandler works with their clients to help them efficiently and effectively improve their overall sales performance. Through this conversation, Justin shared some of his game-changing insights with us.
Scroll down to see them! đ
In basic terms, the B2B sales cycle is a set of steps that leads a salesperson through a sale. This sales strategy should be repeatable, optimisable and easy to keep track of.
The purpose of shortening your B2B sales cycle is to make things easier and more efficient. If itâs making things too complicated, redesign it.
Justin spends a lot of time helping businesses understand their current sales cycle. Companies often have a natural way of handling sales without really knowing what it is.
He gave us some benefits of shortening the B2B sales cycle đ
âWhen youâre dealing with a smaller business, itâs often the case that they have no solid sales cycle in place. This astounds me. Quite often, theyâll have some sort of system in place, but itâs too loose and wonât ensure repeatability or reliability. It needs to be nailed down.â
A short cycle makes it much easier for the salesperson to dictate the flow of a sale. The salesperson needs to keep control.
Justin said:
âWe recommend trying to build a sales methodology that helps the salesperson to control and manage the sale. If theyâre unable to do this, theyâll default to âthe buyer systemâ, where the buyer dictates the process.â
âThis can be less helpful for both parties, and is particularly common when cold calling.â
When a sales process is in place, the salesperson is less likely to miss important steps. This means theyâre more likely to attain all of the key information they need.
âCertain information needs to be gathered so the SDR and prospect can decide if there is a good reason to buy the product.â
âA lot of SMEs will be so keen to get in front of a buyer, theyâll hang in for as long as possible without finding a reason not to work with them. This can result in a late breakdown and wasted time.â
Developing a better understanding of the sales cycle will make it easier to identify strengths and weaknesses. Fixing these is the key to shortening the entire process.
As Justin said:
âA sales process should be stuck to firmly. Breaking it down into manageable chunks makes it easier for companies to gather data on each step, see where sales are getting stuck, and fix it.â
âThis process of measuring and refining will ultimately lead to a much shorter sales cycle.â
Follow these six rules đ
This is a must when making a sale. Justin said:
âIf you canât get to the root of their pain, theyâll stay in a rational state. This makes a sale much harder. Work on building a highly-tuned questioning strategy.â
âItâs a case of seeing what works well and doubling down on it. If youâve got reliable B2B data, you should be able to predict your audienceâs pain points.â
You need to find out if the prospect is capable of buying your product or service.
Justinâs advice:
âIf you wait until the end to discuss the cost, you could end up losing valuable time. This causes long sales cycles, which might not convert.â
âThe best proposal is one which the prospect doesnât have to look at. They already know what theyâre signing up for.â
Knowledge is power!
âYou need to understand who is involved on their side, why are they deciding to buy, what are their logistical requirements.â
âAsk these questions, and try to help the prospect close the deal. At this stage, youâre working with them.â
For Justin, this step is about affirming with the prospect everything thatâs been agreed upon.
âI prefer calling this fulfilment rather than closing, because if youâve managed the previous stages effectively, the deal should already be closed. Itâs just a case of sorting out the paperwork.â
Justin identifies that some buyers may show buyerâs remorse.
âSome buyers will have problems when signing. They might have to cut off a relationship with a previous provider or have a difficult internal conversation.â
âUntil the money is in the bank, this part of the sales cycle sits with the salesperson.â
Justin recommends using the following B2B sales tools:
âI recommend using a tool like Gong or Refract. These are going to help you analyse your teamâs conversations.â
âThey also make it easier to share wins and improvement points with sales leaders and team members.â
Justin had some wise words for us at the end of the interview đ
âSales is nothing more than effective communication. Whether youâre in a hard negotiation or early stages, itâs all about building trust and rapport. If you canât do this, youâll struggle.â
âSo many business owners have incredible technical knowledge of their product, and they are fantastic advocates of it, which does help. You still need to understand the nuances of effective communication in the sales cycle. Thatâs what SaaS sales is all about.â
Cognismâs Sales Companion is built for speed. It equips your team with the data, insights, and automation needed to move prospects from first touch to closed-won â faster than ever.
Hereâs how it accelerates the cycle:
Instant ICP fit checks: Quickly assess if a company matches your ideal customer profile.
AI-powered intel summaries: Skip the manual research - get business model, strategy, and competitor insights in one click.
Warm lead prioritisation: Identify high-intent accounts with intent data and technographic signals.
Smarter prospecting: From phone-verified direct dials to LinkedIn icebreakers, reps start with context and relevance.
Seamless workflows: Syncs directly with your CRM and tools your reps already use.
No more guesswork. No more delays. Just better targeting, faster outreach, and deals that close sooner.
Get your data sample today đ