The missing step here is the 'internal champion'. It's usually possible to speed things up if someone within the company is able to push things. I've done this

The missing step here is the 'internal champion'. It's usually possible to speed things up if someone within the company is able to push things. I've done this for certain suppliers when we've negotiated favourable terms so I spent an additional 2hrs figuring out exactly who I had to nag to get it expedited. Of course, it's easier not to care but you can make it a negotiating item (if that's part of your sales process).