The Impact of Sales Effort on Lead Conversion Cycle Time in a Business-to-Business Opportunity Pipeline

Abstract

While much is written about the adoption, usage, and failures of Customer Relationship Management (CRM), little empirical research exists to fully examine the levers to improve the conversion performance of leads in a sales funnel, particularly in a business-to-business (B2B) industrial context. This research examined sales effort as a key capability, within the high technology B2B sector, to understand its impact on sales lead conversion cycle time. By studying the extensive CRM sales funnel of a large semiconductor company, along with employee survey results, a quantitative study was performed to address this research question, and assist sales managers seeking to improve the lead conversion performance of their organizations. Sales effort was shown to accelerate sales cycle times, particularly for the small non-key customer base. This is a notable contribution to research, as previous studies of sales cycle time influences have been inconclusive.