Gartner : Buying Cycle Time Vs. Sales Cycle Time

One of the biggest challenges in our research studies and trying to get a handle on cycle times. We've asked questions in past surveys about duration and how that compared to expectations, but i never really trusted the data. In our latest study, I think we may have gotten it right, or as close to right as possible when using a survey approach. We are starting to publish these times in research reports that start at a top level-across our entire study-but will explore many tech categories, industries, and objectives over time. (For Gartner clients, check out B2B Tech Buying Basics, 2022. It has some of the fundamentals of buying today-and while it is the basics, there is nothing basic about it).

Here is how we approached the time question. We broke buying cycle time down into 3 phases.

• From initially exploring options (aka possibilities) to engaging with the first potential provider
• From engaging with that provider to choosing a winner
• From choosing a winner to actually signing contracts

For each phase we offered respondents a time window:

• Less than 1 month
• 1 to 3 months
• 3 to 6 months
• 6 to 9 months
• 9 to 12 months
• 12-15 months
• 15-18 months
• 18+ months

To calculate average times, we would use the mid-point of each range (e.g. 3 to 6 months was calculated as 4.5 months). This should be understood when looking at the figures we present, there is almost some built in "standard error," but the ranges we saw seem to make sense this time. For all the respondents (and remember, this is the biggest purchase decision they were involved with), the calculated mean is roughly 18 months. That is the buying cycle time. From a vendor perspective, they might think of their sales cycle as being phases 2 and 3, so that was roughly 12 months.

In our research for clients, we'll be exploring and sharing these numbers in lots of different ways-deal size, project purpose, and more. But, for regular readers, you can guess where I'm going. Let's look at some of the results by Enterprise Technology Adoption profile groups. Without sharing all the details, some interesting items:

• The fastest decision makers are Agile Leaders (FID) - no surprise there. There mean buying time is roughly 4 months faster than the slowest-the Disinterested Laggards (FCM).
• In addition to the Agile leaders, the Disciplined Followers were the other group with the highest portion on respondents spending the most time exploring options before engaging with providers. For all the other profiles, the segment most likely to be longest is actually the time from choosing a winner to signing the contracts (that feels like frustration and risk for provider teams-whether you've been told you are the chosen group or not).
• The three groups that fall on the other side of the New Chasm take the longest to complete a purchase and they have the lowest percentage of respondents who spend the most time exploring options before engaging with the initial provider (more on this in the future)

The table below summarizes all of this. It is showing the ordered rank of the segments that took the longest time for each group.

A few thoughts on the implications. The segment most likely to be longest for many being getting the deal signed was somewhat surprising to me (but probably shouldn't have been). I'd hypothesize that teams determine who they want, but then need to dig deeper with some due diligence first, gain broader consensus, and then negotiate the contract (for these big deals). If that is the case it makes sense.

It is also interesting that the groups that are most likely to spend the most time exploring options have the lowest percentage of respondents who spend the most time in the middle portion. That up from work may make it easier for them to choose a winner.

As mentioned, there is much more to explore here. Clients be on the look out for more research like the link above (and do check that out). Lots of interesting implications to explore over time.