The sales cycle in a CRM: stages, metrics and best practices

Mon Projet CRM - 5 septembre 2024

The sales cycle is the sequence of stages a sales opportunity progresses through, from initial lead identification to closing the deal (and beyond, to customer loyalty). In a CRM, this cycle is visualised as a pipeline: each opportunity moves from one stage to the next, enriched with associated data (value, probability, next steps, estimated closing date). Structuring this cycle effectively provides you with the tools to manage sales activity confidently, forecast revenue, and identify exactly where deals are falling through.

Typical stages of a sales cycle

Depending on the industry, the cycle consists of 4 to 8 stages. Here are the most common ones:

Prospecting: identifying and qualifying new prospects.
Initial contact: booking an appointment or initial exchange.
Discovery: understanding the context, expectations, and decision-maker.
Proposal: sending the quote or commercial proposal.
Negotiation: adjusting terms (price, lead times, scope).
Closing: signature, validation of the purchase order, start of the service.
Retention: post-sales follow-up, satisfaction, upselling.

How the CRM structures this cycle

In the CRM, each stage corresponds to a status in the opportunity pipeline. Each sales representative moves their deals from one stage to another based on field reality. Each stage is associated with specific fields (amount, probability, close date, primary contact) and required actions.

This structure provides several benefits: shared visibility of the deal portfolio, ability to prioritise, more reliable revenue forecasts, and identification of stages where deals tend to stall.

Key metrics to track

Essential indicators enabled by a well-maintained sales cycle:

Number of opportunities created over the period, by source.
Total pipeline value and distribution by stage.
Conversion rate from one stage to the next.
Average sales cycle length and duration per stage.
Overall win rate and win rate per sales rep.
Revenue forecasting for the next 30, 60, and 90 days.

Best practices for maintaining the sales cycle

Simple rules to ensure the pipeline reflects reality:

Clearly define the criteria for moving from one stage to the next.
Limit the number of stages to what is useful for management: an overly granular cycle becomes unmanageable.
Enter a next action and an associated date for every opportunity.
Regularly clean the pipeline: a deal that hasn't moved for months should be re-qualified or removed.
Review the cycle once a year to stay aligned with commercial reality.

Common mistakes

The most frequently observed pitfalls:

Designing a pipeline that doesn't reflect how sales reps actually sell.
Adding stages to reassure management rather than simplifying the work.
Allowing dormant opportunities to clutter the pipeline.
Failing to analyse conversion rates between stages.

Questions to ask yourself

To properly configure your sales cycle in the CRM:

What are our actual sales stages today?
At which stage do we lose the most deals?
What is our average cycle length?
Which metrics do we want to use to manage the activity?

Key takeaways

The sales cycle is the sequence of stages an opportunity goes through until the deal is closed.
In the CRM, it is visualised as a pipeline with stages, amounts and probabilities.
It enables you to manage the deal portfolio and improve the reliability of forecasts.
A simple cycle that reflects reality is better than an exhaustive one that remains unused.
Tracking conversion rates between stages is a powerful lever for improving sales performance.

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