What is Decision Criteria?
Decision criteria are the yardstick the buyer will measure you against. Selling without knowing them is guessing at what matters.
The advanced move is not just uncovering criteria but influencing them, helping the buyer weight the factors where you are strongest.
Short answer
Decision criteria are the explicit and implicit requirements a buyer uses to evaluate options and pick a winner, spanning technical, commercial, and risk factors. Uncovering them early tells you what you must prove, and shaping them, so your strengths become the buyer's priorities, is a core competitive-selling skill. Deals are often lost because the seller never learned the real criteria.
Key takeaways
- The requirements a buyer uses to choose a solution.
- Span technical, commercial, and risk factors.
- Uncovering them reveals what you must prove.
- Shaping them is a competitive-selling advantage.
Why it matters
If you do not know the criteria, you cannot prove you meet them, and you certainly cannot influence them. Deals are routinely lost to a competitor who understood and shaped the criteria better.
How Ardovo handles it
Ardovo holds decision criteria as fields on the deal, and Rook flags when they are unknown or when a competitor's strengths dominate them, so reps can address gaps and shape criteria before the decision.
Frequently asked questions
What are decision criteria in sales?
They are the specific requirements a buyer uses to evaluate options and choose a winner, spanning technical fit, commercial terms, and risk. They define exactly what a seller must prove to win the deal.
How do I uncover a buyer's decision criteria?
Ask directly in discovery what factors will drive the decision and how they are weighted, and confirm with multiple stakeholders. Criteria often differ across the committee, so surface each key player's priorities.
Can you influence decision criteria?
Yes, and it is a hallmark of strong competitive selling. By helping the buyer see why certain factors matter, you can shape the criteria so your genuine strengths become the priorities they weigh most heavily.