Why Buyer-centric?
Why DECIDE starts with trust and the Buyer's desired outcome and not your product.
If you are going to engage with Buyers and be of value to them, they need to trust you. That is why trust is an essential part of DECIDE, and why the method is built to grow it.
Trust comes first
One of the best-known definitions of trust comes from David Maister, Charles Green and Robert Galford, the authors of the bestseller 'The Trusted Advisor':
The things above the line grow trust. Tell the truth, be believable, do what you say you are going to do, and be open and transparent. Most right-minded people already do these things.
The problem is what is below the line.
Self-interest destroys trust. When you talk about yourself, your product or your company, it comes across as self-interest, and that undermines trust. A Seller can start losing trust almost from the first conversation.
DECIDE is built around keeping the focus on the Buyer, so that trust has room to grow.
Start with why
A seller-centric approach and a buyer-centric approach cover the same three questions, in opposite order.
| Seller-centric | Buyer-centric (DECIDE) | |
|---|---|---|
| First | What: the Buyer's needs, which are really inputs. | Why: the result or outcome the Buyer wants, not the inputs to get there. |
| Second | How: my product will meet those needs. | How: work with the Buyer to invent their solution, in Buyer language, as a specification. There is no mention of any product. |
| Third | Why: justify the product with features and benefits. | What: once there is consensus on a solution, match your offering to it, if that's possible. If not, exit gracefully. |
The seller-centric order is entirely self-interest. The buyer-centric order is entirely about the Buyer. If you have heard of Simon Sinek's Start With Why, this is the same idea.
If your offering does not match the Buyer's solution, there is no point in offering anything and you should exit gracefully.
Qualify early
Because you grow trust and learn what the Buyer values, you find out very early in the engagement whether you might be able to be of value. If you cannot, you disengage and spend your time where you can be of value.
A product-centric approach does the opposite. It tends to keep a Seller in an opportunity far longer than they should be, and many opportunities are lost simply because the Seller should never have been there.
Read next
- The buyer journey: how this plays out compared with the traditional sales cycle.
- The DECIDE steps: each step in more detail.
- Growing trust: how to grow trust with a Buyer.