The DECIDE steps
The six steps of DECIDE, what you do in each, and why the order matters.
DECIDE is a sequence of six steps that follows how Buyers actually arrive at a decision. It is close to the opposite of a pushy, persuasion-based approach: you don't start with an offer. You start by growing trust, and the offer comes last, when the Buyer has already described what they want.
The six steps
| Step | What you do |
|---|---|
| Discover | Find the Buyers: anyone with power or influence over the decision. You never stop looking for new ones. |
| Engage | Grow trust. Understand the Buyer's role, the results they are accountable for, and a general sense of what they personally value. No products, no demonstrations, no quotes. |
| Collaborate | As trust grows, Buyers share more. Explore their Value Gaps together, including the personal ones. You become their Trusted Guide. |
| Invent | Work with the Buyer to invent their own solution, in their language, including what a reasonable cost would be. You still don't mention products or brands. |
| Dovetail | Now, for the first time, your offering enters the conversation. You match it to the solution the Buyer invented. This is a conversation, not yet a quote. |
| Endorse | The Buyer confirms your offering is their solution. Only then do you submit a formal offer, and by then the Buyer has already agreed to it. |
Why the order matters
Each step involves a decision before you move on. Is this person really a Buyer? Am I trusted yet? Do I understand their Value Gaps? Has the Buyer said "yes, that is the solution"?
The steps are not gates you pass through once. You keep doing what you did in the earlier steps. You are still discovering Buyers while you collaborate, and still growing trust while you invent.
Why there is no offer until Dovetail
Until Dovetail, your coaching and conversations are about understanding the Buyer: their situation, what they value, and their relationships. If you offer early, you move to talking about yourself, which undermines trust, and you quote a price without knowing what the Buyer expects. That invites a price objection.
When the Buyer has invented their own solution and agreed a reasonable cost, your offer matches what they already described. Consensus replaces haggling.
DECIDE steps and NIMTS are different things
NIMTS stands for Need, Interest, Money, Time and Shortlist. It describes how far a Buyer's organisation has progressed in its own buying decision. The DECIDE steps describe what you do. The two don't line up one-to-one, and a mismatch isn't automatically a bad sign. Context decides what it means.
Keeping track
The DECIDE App helps you record where you are with each Buyer so you can decide whether you are ready for the next step. To plan which step to take across the whole opportunity, see Planning your strategy.