How long is the sales cycle for a small B2B service deal?
Usually 3 to 8 weeks from the first call to a signed contract. Larger projects that need several people to agree often take 3 to 4 months.
Sales cycle length depends mostly on deal size and on how many people must say yes. A website refresh for a 20-person company where the founder decides alone can close in three weeks. A six-figure IT project in a mid-sized firm needs budget approval, procurement and a legal review, and drifts towards the B2B average of 84 to 120 days quoted in our guide to calculating customer acquisition cost.
A typical small deal passes through four stages: first conversation, scoping call, proposal and decision. Allow about a week for each, plus slack for holidays and internal approvals. A marketing agency that holds a first call on 3 March, scopes on 10 March and sends a proposal on 14 March can realistically expect a signature around 5 April, 33 days after the first call.
The slowest part is often the stretch before the cycle officially starts: getting a first conversation with someone who can decide. Weeks of cold outreach rarely appear in sales cycle reports, but they are real. Starting from a call the other side has already agreed to, as on Meetcatcher, removes much of that hidden wait.
Typical cycle by deal size
- Under €5,000One decision maker, usually the founder or owner. Often 2 to 4 weeks, and sometimes closed on the second call.
- €5,000 to €25,000The owner plus one or two colleagues. Expect 4 to 8 weeks and at least one revised proposal.
- €25,000 to €100,000A small committee, budget sign-off and a contract review. Plan for 2 to 4 months.
- RetainersAdd one or two weeks for agreeing scope, reporting and notice periods, even when the monthly fee is small.
- Signs a deal is stallingNo date for the next step, a new stakeholder appearing late, or silence after the proposal. Knowing how many meetings one client takes helps you plan around it.
To shorten the cycle, agree the next step and its date at the end of every call, and send proposals within 48 hours. Keeping the full cycle under 90 days is a sign of strong execution, as our piece on measuring sales success points out.