“How do we get buyers to sign faster?”
I hear this question a lot from consultants selling mid to large engagements (high-5 figure and beyond).
The frustration is real. You know you can help. You can see the problem clearly inside the client organization. Yet the deal drags on.
One reason is structural, not personal.
Gartner has reported that complex B2B purchases often involve multiple decision makers. Commonly six to ten people. I cannot verify the exact number, but the pattern itself is widely observed.
Think about what that means in practice.
If you are selling strategy, for example, it might be strategy leaders, innovation teams, the CEO, and the wider leadership group.
If you are an IT consulting firm, you are not only dealing with IT leadership. You are also dealing with users, business stakeholders, finance, and sometimes procurement.
Every additional stakeholder increases friction.
Every additional priority slows momentum.
You can do many things well:
✅ Engage stakeholders at the right time
✅ Show up as an expert
✅ Add value in every conversation
But there is one hard truth that is easy to miss. You do not control when an organization decides to move.
Budgets. Internal priorities. Procurement rules. Politics. Timing.
All of these sit outside your control.
That is why trying to force deals to close faster often leads to frustration.
The only reliable lever you do control is volume. Not spammy volume, but relevant, qualified conversations.
The number of active prospects you are speaking with should be driven by:
👉 Your historical conversion rates
👉 Your average deal size
👉 Your typical sales cycle
👉 Your revenue targets
If you do not know these numbers, your sales process will always feel disappointing. Not because you are bad at selling, but because you are operating without visibility.
Long sales cycles are not a personal failure.
They are a math problem. And math only works when you know your numbers.
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