Time to first sale refers to the duration from the launch of a product or service within the market to the moment the first sale is made to a customer.
Example: Imagine a company that develops enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and establishes a partnership with a consulting firm specializing in business optimizations. The consulting firm introduces the ERP software to its client base. The "time to first sale" in this context would be the period between the initiation of this partnership and when the first client, through the consulting firm's recommendation, purchases the ERP software. This metric is crucial for both the software developer and the consulting firm to understand the effectiveness of their partnership and sales strategies.
Understanding time to first sale helps businesses optimize their go-to-market strategies, refine their sales tactics, and better manage resources to accelerate revenue generation.