Enterprise sales cycles are long because process is long
Most partners blame long enterprise cycles on indecision.
But the real reason deals stretch is simple: enterprise buying has multiple gates, and each gate introduces waiting time.
Typical gates include:
- Vendor onboarding
- Security and compliance reviews
- Procurement workflows
- Legal redlines and contract negotiation
- Finance approvals and payment setup
Even when the buyer is aligned, these steps create months of delay.
AWS Marketplace shortens enterprise sales cycles because it reduces the weight of these gates by aligning the purchase to a buying path the enterprise already uses for AWS.
Quick takeaway: Marketplace reduces time-to-close by replacing “new vendor purchase” with a familiar AWS procurement route.
Where time is actually lost in enterprise deals
To shorten a cycle, you need to understand where time disappears.
In most enterprise deals, time is lost in:
- Waiting for procurement queues
- Waiting for legal review bandwidth
- Waiting for finance vendor setup
- Waiting for onboarding and compliance steps
- Waiting for internal approvals triggered by contract changes
These are not product issues. They are process delays.
Marketplace addresses process delays directly.
Marketplace reduces vendor onboarding and supplier setup delays
Vendor onboarding can take weeks and sometimes months.
It often includes:
- Supplier registration
- Banking and tax documentation
- Vendor master approvals
- Internal supplier risk reviews
When a customer buys through Marketplace, many organizations treat it as part of their established AWS procurement relationship.
That can reduce the need for a full new vendor onboarding cycle or compress the steps significantly.
Less onboarding equals fewer weeks lost.
Marketplace avoids common procurement bottlenecks
Procurement teams are measured on governance and risk, not speed.
Direct deals often get stuck because procurement wants:
- Contract standardization
- Competitive checks
- Internal sourcing workflows
- Multiple levels of approval
Marketplace helps because the purchase route is already integrated into the customer’s AWS buying process and billing governance.
That reduces the number of custom procurement steps the buyer needs to trigger.
So deals move through procurement faster.
Marketplace keeps finance comfortable through consolidated billing
Finance slows deals when a purchase creates operational burden.
Direct purchases create:
- Another vendor record
- Another invoice stream
- Another payment schedule
- More reconciliation work
Marketplace reduces finance friction because billing is consolidated under AWS.
This makes it easier for finance to approve and track the spend.
When finance is comfortable, approvals take days, not weeks.
Private Offers compress negotiation time
Enterprise deals almost always require customization:
- Pricing adjustments
- Term length changes
- Scope alignment
- Payment structure changes
In direct sales, these adjustments trigger new negotiation loops and often restart legal review.
Private offers compress this by allowing you to provide enterprise-specific pricing and terms while still using the Marketplace transaction path.
This keeps the deal moving and prevents “commercial rework” from adding more weeks.
Marketplace makes internal approvals easier for the buyer’s champion
Your buyer has to sell your solution internally.
That internal selling takes time when the purchase path feels risky or unfamiliar.
Marketplace helps champions because they can frame the purchase as:
- “We are buying through AWS”
- “This follows our established cloud procurement route”
- “Billing stays consolidated with AWS spend”
- “Approvals are easier because this is an AWS path”
The easier it is for the champion to defend the purchase, the faster approvals happen.
That shortens the cycle.
Mini example: why cycles shrink with Marketplace
A partner is late stage with an enterprise team. The buyer is ready, but procurement says direct contracting will take 8 to 10 weeks due to vendor onboarding and legal review.
The partner shifts the deal to Marketplace and issues a private offer that matches scope, term, and pricing.
The buyer routes the purchase through their AWS procurement path and avoids the slower new vendor process.
Result: the deal closes inside the quarter instead of slipping.
This is how Marketplace shortens cycles: it reduces waiting time between “yes” and “signature.”
Signals that a deal will benefit from Marketplace early
If you hear these statements, Marketplace should be introduced immediately:
- “Procurement is slow right now”
- “We need to onboard you as a vendor”
- “Legal is backed up”
- “Finance needs vendor setup”
- “We prefer buying through AWS”
- “We have cloud budget for this initiative”
These are process signals. Marketplace is a process solution.
Practical checklist: how to shorten cycles using Marketplace
Use these steps as a repeatable motion.
- Position Marketplace early: “Many enterprises prefer buying through AWS Marketplace to simplify procurement and billing”
- Qualify the buying path: “Do you have an AWS procurement route or cloud budget for this?”
- Treat private offers as the default enterprise close route
- Create a standard internal workflow so private offers are produced quickly
- Equip champions with one internal message: “This can be purchased through AWS under our existing procurement process”
Fast deals require fast execution. Marketplace helps, but only if you run it like a motion.
Closing thought
Enterprise sales cycles are long because enterprise buying is full of waiting.
AWS Marketplace reduces that waiting by removing vendor onboarding drag, compressing procurement steps, calming finance, and enabling private offers without restarting negotiation cycles.
If you want enterprise deals to close in the current quarter instead of the next one, Marketplace is one of the most practical levers AWS partners can use.
Marketeering helps AWS partners shorten sales cycles by operationalizing Marketplace GTM, including offer packaging, private offer workflows, and AWS-aligned enablement so deals move faster from approval to signature.
