How do you speed up a sales cycle that is too long?

Rarely by following up more often. Instead, ask the client how their decision works: who needs to be convinced, what information is missing, what steps remain. Providing exactly those elements shortens the cycle far more reliably than a last-minute discount, which often casts doubt on the soundness of the original price.

Should you lower your price to close?

Not as a first move. A discount granted with nothing in return establishes the idea that the price was negotiable from the start. It is better to trade a concession for a commitment — volume, duration, timing — and, above all, to make sure every decision-maker has understood the value of the offer before the question of price is raised.

Do these principles apply across Switzerland?

The broad principles, yes: collective decisions, the importance of evidence, the weight of reliability. The codes of the relationship, however, vary by region, sector and company, and even more by individual. Observing how the person you are dealing with communicates remains more useful than applying a regional rule.

Selling in Switzerland: long cycles and group decisions

After a promising first meeting, a salesperson sends his offer to an industrial SME. The technical director was enthusiastic. Two weeks go by without a reply. He follows up. Then follows up again, offering a discount “valid until the end of the month”.

The client eventually replies, politely: the proposal is being reviewed, and the sudden discount has mainly raised questions about the original price.

A decision that is rarely individual

In many companies, a significant purchase is not decided by the person you met at the first meeting. It goes through a technical manager, a finance manager, sometimes senior management, and each examines the offer against their own criteria.

This process takes time, and that time is not a sign of lack of interest. It is how long several people need to reach a common position. Trying to short-circuit it often means losing the trust of the person who was championing the project internally.

Mapping who decides

The first question to ask is not “how do I convince the person in front of me?” but “who else needs to be convinced, and of what?”. The technical director wants a reliable solution. The finance manager wants a controlled, predictable cost. Senior management wants to limit risk.

A single pitch does not answer these different expectations. You need to help your contact defend the project to those you will never meet, for example with a clear, costed summary that is easy to pass on. That is the whole principle of consultative selling: starting from the client’s real need rather than from your own product.

Reliability as an argument

In a long cycle, every exchange is evidence. A quote sent on the promised date, accurate figures and a precise answer to a technical question build credibility more than a brilliant presentation does.

Conversely, an approximation or a broken commitment weighs heavily, because the buyer reads it as a clue to what the relationship will be like after signing. This expectation is especially strong in high-end client relationships, where the client is also paying for consistency of service.

Defending your margin

Then comes the negotiation. The last-minute discount is the most common mistake: it does not shorten the decision and it weakens the perceived value of the offer. A concession should never be free; it is traded for a commitment.

That still requires the value to have been established before price is discussed. It is the subject of our course The keys to selling and commercial negotiation.