Sales Stage Duration

What is Sales Stage Duration?

Sales Stage Duration is the elapsed time (in days) that an opportunity remains in a specific stage of the sales pipeline (e.g., Discovery, Proposal, Negotiation).

Example: If your “Demo” stage takes an average of 12 days across all deals, that’s your average Sales Stage Duration for that phase.

Tracking this metric at a granular stage level gives visibility into how deals flow—and where they clog.

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Why It Matters in B2B SaaS

• It exposes sales process bottlenecks. Slow-moving stages often signal misalignment or gaps in enablement
• It helps with deal coaching. Managers can step in when deals get “stuck” in one stage too long
• It informs forecasting. Accurate duration benchmarks reduce close date guesswork
• It sharpens rep performance. High-performing reps often move deals through stages faster and with less friction
• It improves customer experience. Long delays in certain stages can frustrate buyers or lower momentum

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How to Measure Sales Stage Duration

Step 1: Use your CRM to track:

• Date a deal enters a stage
• Date it exits that stage (either to the next stage or closed-lost)

Step 2: Calculate average duration per stage: Average Duration = (Sum of Days in Stage for All Deals) ÷ (Number of Deals in That Stage)

Step 3: Segment by:

• Win/loss outcome
• Deal size
• Rep/team
• Buyer segment (SMB, MM, ENT)

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Best Practices

• Benchmark each stage. Know the expected duration for every sales phase and flag outliers
• Use automation. Set alerts for deals stuck longer than the benchmark
• Pair with Time in Stage dashboards. Visual tools help identify and prioritize stuck deals
• Create stage exit criteria. Deals shouldn’t progress unless they meet clear buyer signals
• Coach based on data. Review stage-level performance in weekly rep 1:1s or pipeline reviews