The sales cycle describes the stages a prospect moves through from initial engagement to closed deal. In B2B, the cycle is often complex and multi-stakeholder, involving discovery, qualification, evaluation, proposal, negotiation, and decision.
A well-structured sales cycle enables clearer forecasting and more efficient resource allocation. It provides a shared framework for sales and marketing to understand when to nurture, when to escalate, and when to intervene with value-based conversations. Because B2B buyers self-educate, the sales cycle increasingly overlaps with the marketing funnel, making alignment between teams critical.