B2B sales cycles are getting longer; what can contract manufacturers do?

The clock is ticking, but deals are still dragging. While manufacturing sales cycles may be slowing down, new research shows that you don’t just have to grin and bear it.  Here are 6 practical strategies for speeding up your sales process and boosting your overall sales performance.

First, the bad news

Manufacturing sales cycles are getting longer.

In 2024, a study by Focus Digital found that the average time taken to convert a manufacturing prospect from a contact in a database to a fully fledged customer was 130 days. 

But that’s not the whole story, as the buying process starts much earlier in the prospect's journey than ‘first contact’ suggests.

In fact, B2B research by Dentsu found the average time taken from conducting ‘initial research’ around a pain point to a deal being closed is much longer. 

Their 2024 research found it takes an average of 379 days from the start of that process to a final deal being agreed.

And the length of that journey has increased 16% from 2021.  

But the buyer's journey is not just getting longer - it's becoming harder to track and control.

Most buyer research is conducted without you knowing

With the rise of digital and zero click search, buyers are making important decisions about the services you offer without ever talking to a sales rep.

What’s more, there are lots of people involved in the buying chain who you’ll need to persuade, but may never even encounter before a deal is signed. 

According to Gartner:

Why is decision-making so painstaking?

Here's the good news.

Sales cycles are getting longer (and buying panels are getting bigger) because outsourcing deals are becoming more complex and valuable. 

Increasingly, OEMs are looking to consolidate multiple services with single suppliers, including design, prototyping, testing and logistics. 

This represents more opportunities for OEMs with individual businesses.

However, accelerating these high value decision-making processes can be hard.

Frustratingly, these multi-stranded RFQs and procurement processes are often wrapped in red-tape.

6 strategies for speeding up the sales cycle in the CM industry

But, the latest research shows there are ways you can make shortlisting your company a no-brainer for the buying panels who are your gatekeepers. And digital orchestration can help streamline the buyers’ decision-making process in your favour. 

Dentsu’s study shows there are 6 areas that manufacturers can focus on to help shorten the time it takes for OEMs to move from researching solutions to signing on the dotted line.

Let’s look at them in a bit more detail.

1. The power of brand

For contract manufacturers who doubt the value of ‘brand building’, think about this:

Put bluntly, companies who are not already in their prospect’s minds when they begin their research process are unlikely to become their chosen partner in the end. 

In an age of the slow-burn sell, contract manufacturers must become a recognisable brand. To cut through, they need to stand for something in the marketplace and bring a distinctive offering to the table.

But how?

Luckily, there’s no alchemy involved in B2B brand building and you don't need some Shoreditch hipster to tell you how.

Instead, it’s about finding your authentic voice and working to increase your visibility in the sector with the right combination of publishing and promotion.

How to build a recognisable brand in a fragmented digital world:

• Agree your messaging – Decide the key values and ideas about your brand that you want to convey to the market. 
• Speak their language – Develop a distinctive creative style that resonates with your ideal customer and enhances your sales pitch.
• Have a strong visual presence – Stand out with a powerful and unmistakable look, to strengthen your sales brand.

When you have these building blocks in place - it's time to publish and promote:

• Share freely – Develop content to offer valuable sector support and insights via your website and social channels. This boosts your inbound sales prospecting and builds a solid sales pipeline.
• Bring the answers they need – Ensure your brand appears in your prospect’s Google and ChatGPT searches—as well as on other emerging AI platforms—to support every stage of the sales cycle.
• Appear on their timelines – Stay active on LinkedIn, industry forums, and sector-specific social channels, keeping your marketing team and sales leader in constant view.
• Be the expert they always see – Get featured in the trade media your customers trust to increase customer satisfaction and drive sales success.
• Be consistent – Remember, brand awareness isn’t built overnight; it requires ongoing effort across every sales stage and effective sales cycle management.

Why make the effort?

As Dentsu’s research shows, becoming a recognisable and trusted brand can decrease the average sales cycle by 16 weeks.

“Brand building is about creating lasting impressions in people’s minds that predispose them to choose your brand in the future.” (Source: Binet & Field, Media in Focus)

Want a little help to isolate the key messages to focus on? The marketing company Wynter offers a free, digital crash course to help with this process.

2. The power of peer recommendations

Every manufacturer claims reliability, but buyers trust industry peers more than marketing messages. According to Dentsu, strong peer advocacy can shave 11 weeks off the decision cycle and support a robust B2B sales cycle.

How to build peer trust:

• Develop case studies – Highlight measurable results and pull out key customer quotes to support your sales collateral
• Encourage testimonials & reviews – Share them on LinkedIn, industry forums, and third-party sites to enhance your sales prospecting
• Leverage industry events & networking – Find opportunities where prospects can hear from satisfied customers informally, supporting both outbound sales and virtual selling.

Anonymous case studies can protect sensitive client details while telling your most compelling stories. Find out how in Equinet’s guide to writing powerful  anonymous case studies.

3. Streamlining negotiation & contracting

Contract finalisation often gets bogged down by multiple stakeholders. A structured, efficient contracting process can cut 11 weeks from the sales cycle, resulting in a smoother sales process and improved sales cycle management.

How to speed up deal closures with digital tools:

• Align legal & procurement early – Avoid last-minute roadblocks that lead to sales objections.
• Digitise & automate contracts – Use e-signatures and real-time tracking as part of your sales automation strategy.
• Create digital ‘sales rooms’ –  Vidyard offers a bespoke digital space where key stakeholders can view tailored sets of marketing and demo videos, supporting your sales rep in delivering an effective sales pitch.

4. The importance of digital experiences

Modern B2B buyers expect B2C-like convenience. Companies with user-friendly digital channels and self-service options can speed up decisions by 9 weeks, boosting overall sales velocity.

How to optimise digital engagement:

• Create a clear, intuitive website – Tailor it to support specific customer journeys, ensuring that each potential customer moves smoothly through the sales cycle.
• Implement account-based experiences – Orchestrate seamless transitions across your website, email, and social interactions through advertising retargeting and digital personalisation.
• Offer self-service tools – Product configurators, pricing calculators, and interactive demos can improve your sales prospecting and qualify leads faster.
• Leverage automation & CRM – Deliver personalised content at the right time in the buyer’s journey with responsive nurturing sequences, reinforcing your sales automation efforts.

5. Strengthening 1-to-1 human interaction

Even in a digital-first world, human connection matters. Strong direct engagement can reduce the sales cycle by 4 weeks. Whether through consultative selling or virtual selling, a dedicated sales rep can make the difference in closing deals.

How to build buyer confidence:

• Assign a dedicated contact – Help prospects navigate technical and commercial questions, ensuring your sales team and sales leader provide clear guidance.
• Be responsive & proactive – Address concerns before they become obstacles, reducing common sales objections.
• Position yourself as a partner, not just a supplier – Help buyers solve challenges, not just purchase products, to drive customer success and enhance overall sales performance.

6. Engaging procurement teams early

Procurement functions focus on cost, compliance, and contract structure—neglecting them can cause unnecessary delays. Engaging them early can save 2 weeks in the decision cycle, ensuring smooth progress through every sales stage.

How to align with procurement:

• Offer transparent pricing structures – Remove guesswork to support a strong sales strategy.
• Provide compliance documentation upfront – Anticipate due diligence needs and streamline the process.
• Train sales teams to speak procurement’s language – Highlight cost savings, service-level guarantees, and key sales metrics that matter, improving both sales cycle management and overall sales operations.

Conclusion

Dentsu’s research highlights a significant opportunity: B2B purchase cycles are long and complex, but there are ways to shorten them.

By focusing on digital orchestration, you can automate and accelerate key parts of the buyer journey. In doing so, you free up your sales team to focus on ABM, outbound sales, and one-to-one work when it really matters.

But another important message emerging from Dentsu is the growing realisation that B2B brand perception can have a dramatic effect on buying behaviour.

The research shows your sales process can be made much easier when the key messages of your brand already inhabit the minds of your prospects. 

Levels of trust and understanding engendered throiugh brand building cuts out a lot of the time you need to spend establishing credibility when you go from a standing start.

Because, as the veteran researchers Binet and Field point out:

“If you want long-term [B2B] growth, what you've got to do is change people's minds. You've got to build up memory structures that will bias their behaviour into the future…”

That's why B2B branding is more than just window dressing.  It's the way you position and root your company in the mind of your prospects, so they're more likely to say yes when the time comes.

It turns out, that the rules are the same in B2B as they are in B2C:

“Branding is a conversation starter. It sets the mood for the transaction long before the sales pitch even begins.”

Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman, Ogilvy & Mather

Want to accelerate your sales cycle?

The data says you should start by making your brand the obvious choice - before buyers even start looking for you.