Consumer and B2B Sales Cycles

Remember to keep the buying cycle of your target market in mind as you sell your products and services. For general consumer patterns take a look at this statistic: “One study by the Advertising Research Foundation indicates that 35 percent of purchasers took up to ninety days to make a decision, while another 28 percent placed an order between three to six months. And nineteen percent waited for six to twelve months after making the initial inquiry to actually buy.

The same study revealed that when it came to future purchases only thirteen percent would buy within three months; forty-four percent would require six to twelve months to decide. Yet, twenty percent announced at the beginning that they would require a full year or longer for the sale to be completed.”

For B2B, according to MarketingSherpa, 34 percent of sales cycles in 2011 were less than 3 months with 22 percent lasting 4-6 months, 19 percent 7-12 months and 10 percent more than 1 year.