FAQs

FAQs

How long should my sales cycle be? Short enough that the buyer's urgency survives it, which depends entirely on deal size and complexity. A self-serve product can close in days, an enterprise deal may take months. The useful question is not "what is normal" but "where in my cycle do deals lose momentum," because that gap is the only thing you can compress. Measure your own cycle by stage first, then attack the longest, leakiest step.

Will pushing for speed make me look desperate? Pushing does. Giving the buyer a clear path does not. The difference is who the speed serves. "Just checking in" serves you and reads as needy. "Here is what usually trips deals like this up, let's clear it now" serves the buyer and reads as expertise. Acceleration done right removes friction from their decision, it does not pressure their decision.

Should I add more leads or work my existing pipeline harder? Almost always work the existing pipeline first. Lifting your stage-to-stage conversion or shortening your cycle compounds across every future deal, while more leads just feed the same leaky funnel. Add leads once your conversion is healthy and your stuck-deal pile is genuinely cleared, not as a way to avoid the deals you are afraid to confront.

What do I do with a deal that has gone completely silent? Send one direct, low-ego message that makes it easy to say no: a short note giving them explicit permission to tell you the timing is wrong or it is not happening. Honesty unsticks more silent deals than another cheerful follow-up. Either they re-engage with a real next step, or they confirm it is dead and free up your time. Both outcomes are faster than hope.

How many stakeholders do I actually need to involve? Enough that no single person leaving can kill the deal, and always including the person who controls budget. For a small deal that may be two. For a large one you want the economic buyer, the day-to-day user, and the sceptic who would otherwise block it quietly. If you can only name one person who wants this, widen the base before you do anything else.

Is a mutual action plan overkill for a smaller deal? The full formal document can be, but the principle never is. Even on a small deal, end every conversation with an agreed next step and a date. The mutual plan just scales that habit up for deals complex enough to have multiple steps and stakeholders. Match the formality to the deal size, but never skip the agreed next step, because that is where momentum lives.