Decision Criteria

Decision criteria are the standards people use to judge whether an option is right for them.

Some are explicit: price, timing, capability, or location. Others emerge through experience: responsiveness, confidence, familiarity, perceived risk, or whether the business seems to understand the situation.

Gather Evidence

Listen to the questions customers ask before buying, the reasons opportunities stall, and the language people use when explaining a choice. Compare this with what the website, proposal, and sales conversation currently emphasise.

The gaps often reveal why a strong capability is not being recognised.

Shape The Offer

Do not attempt to satisfy every possible criterion. Decide which standards the business can credibly win on and make the supporting evidence easier to find.

The aim is to help the right customer make a confident comparison.

Follow A Decision

Imagine two businesses quoting for the same office renovation. Their prices are similar, but one explains how the team will keep the office usable during the work. For a customer worried about disruption, that detail may matter more than another page of finished interiors.

Treat that as a question to investigate, not a universal buying rule. Ask recent customers what they compared, what nearly stopped them and what finally gave them confidence. Include people who chose another provider where you can.

Connect The Evidence

For each recurring concern, record what you heard, where it arose and what the business currently provides in response. Keep customer statements separate from the team’s interpretation.

If disruption repeatedly comes up, the intervention might be a clearer project plan, an example of occupied-site work or a change to delivery itself. Copy can explain a capability; it cannot create one.

After making the change, listen for whether the same uncertainty remains in enquiries and sales conversations. Use that response to refine both the offer and the explanation.