Deal Velocity: Definition, Importance, and Strategies

What is Deal Velocity about?

Deal velocity is all about speed—how quickly a deal moves through your pipeline and turns into revenue.

It’s a direct reflection of how efficient (or sluggish) your sales process is.

A high deal velocity means you’re closing deals fast.

A low one? You might have some roadblocks slowing you down.

Why Should You Care?

Faster deals mean:

• More revenue, sooner. The quicker deals close, the faster revenue comes in.
• Better efficiency. You’ll spot and fix bottlenecks before they kill your momentum.
• Stronger forecasting. Predicting revenue gets easier when you know how fast deals move.

Cutting down deal cycles

A company selling software used to take 60 days to close deals.

By tightening up their sales process, streamlining approvals, improving their pitch, and cutting down negotiation times, they have reduced deal cycles to 30 days.

That’s double the speed, meaning they can close twice as many deals in the same timeframe.

Deal Velocity vs. Sales Velocity: What’s the Difference?

People throw these terms around like they’re the same thing. They’re not.

How This Plays Out in Sales

• If your team is focused on deal velocity, they might work on reducing contract negotiation times or eliminating unnecessary steps in the buying process.
• If they’re improving sales velocity, they’re likely working on increasing deal volume or closing higher-value deals faster.

How It Impacts Sales

• If deal velocity is slow, reps struggle to close deals efficiently.
• If sales velocity is slow, the entire pipeline isn’t converting fast enough.

Speed per Deal

Deal velocity is about speed per deal. Sales velocity is about speed of revenue growth. Know the difference, measure both, and optimize accordingly.

How to Calculate Deal Velocity

If you want to measure how quickly deals move through your pipeline, you need to track how long it takes to close a deal from first contact to final contract signing. A slow-moving pipeline can kill momentum, while a high deal velocity means your team is closing more deals faster.

Formula for Deal Velocity

Deal Velocity = Total Sales Cycle Time ÷ Number of Deals Closed

A lower number means deals are moving faster, while a higher number signals inefficiencies that need attention.

What Deal Velocity Tells You

• Shorter sales cycles = Higher deal velocity – Your team moves efficiently, and prospects make decisions quickly.
• Longer sales cycles = Lower deal velocity – Something is causing delays, whether it’s slow follow-ups, unclear messaging, or decision-makers dragging their feet.

Example

If a company closes 10 deals per month and the average sales cycle is 20 days, the deal velocity is 2 deals per day. That means, on average, two deals are getting finalized daily.

Tracking this metric helps sales teams spot bottlenecks, optimize their process, and ultimately close more deals in less time.

Factors That Affect Deal Velocity

Several factors can slow down or speed up how quickly deals move through the pipeline. Identifying and improving these can have a direct impact on revenue.

Lead Qualification Matters

Reps often waste time on deals that were never going to close. When leads aren’t properly qualified, they drag out sales cycles, causing deal velocity to drop.

Solution: Use AI-powered lead scoring and qualification frameworks (like BANT or MEDDIC) to focus on prospects who are actually ready to buy.

Decision-Making Complexity

B2B deals often involve multiple stakeholders, which means more approvals, legal reviews, and negotiation rounds. The more people involved, the longer it takes.

Solution: Identify key stakeholders and decision-makers early and create urgency by aligning with their biggest pain points. If you’re waiting for legal approval, try preemptively addressing concerns before they come up.

Sales Process Efficiency

A broken or inefficient sales process can slow deals down. Delayed follow-ups, confusing proposals, or slow contract negotiations all hurt deal velocity.

Solution: Streamline your sales process with automation. AI-powered forecasting tools, automated reminders, and pre-approved contract templates can shave days off the cycle.

The Role of Technology and Automation

Modern sales teams are using AI and automation to increase deal velocity. The right tools can help reps stay on top of their pipeline, prevent deals from stalling, and close faster.

Example: A B2B SaaS sales team using AI-driven forecasting can reduce time spent on low-priority leads, ensuring reps focus on high-probability deals, increasing overall deal velocity.

By improving these factors, sales teams can shorten sales cycles, increase revenue, and drive more predictable growth.

Why Deal Velocity Matters for Sales Success

If your deals are stuck in the pipeline, your revenue growth takes a hit. Deal velocity isn’t just about moving faster—it’s about closing smarter.

The quicker your team can move qualified prospects through the pipeline, the more deals you’ll close and the more predictable your revenue will be.

Faster Deals = More Revenue

Every extra day a deal sits in the pipeline increases the risk of it slipping through the cracks. A faster sales cycle means reps can close more deals in the same time, directly impacting revenue growth.

AI-Driven Insights and Automation

AI-powered sales tools eliminate guesswork by providing real-time insights into deal health. Automated follow-ups, predictive lead scoring, and intelligent coaching help sales teams keep deals on track without relying on gut instinct.

A Predictable Sales Pipeline

Long, inconsistent sales cycles create unpredictable revenue streams. When teams optimize their velocity, they can forecast revenue more accurately and ensure a steady flow of closed sales.

Want to see how AI-powered sales tools can accelerate deal velocity?

Lori Harmon is the Vice President of Global Cloud Sales & Customer Success at NetApp and the author of a book titled, “42 Rules for Building a High-Velocity Inside Sales Team”.

In this episode, we get into the nitty gritty with Lori’s recommendations and advice about structuring a high-velocity sales team suited for deal success. We discuss building your sales process, handling inbound vs outbound, hiring and enabling sales managers, and more.