Commercial Decision Design
How revenue outcomes are shaped before the proposal.
For leaders responsible for how revenue is won, lost, delayed, discounted, and ultimately decided.
The conversations before the proposal matter more than most organisations realise. That is where commercial preference is formed, risk is assessed, and buying confidence begins to take shape.
Deals feel close. But don’t convert.
Proposals are accepted, then quietly stall.
Forecasts look strong until they suddenly aren’t.Most teams respond by focusing harder on closing. More follow-ups. More pipeline reviews. More pressure at the proposal stage.
But the outcome is usually being shaped long before any proposal is sent.
Pricing, negotiation, procurement, and presentations may look like the decisive moments in a deal. In reality, something more important has often already happened by then.
The buyer has formed a view of the problem. They’ve decided what matters, what feels risky, what feels credible, and what kind of solution makes sense inside their world. They’ve already begun defining what “good” looks like.
That is the real decision.
Everything that happens afterwards tends to play out against a direction that was established earlier, often invisibly and without anyone formally acknowledging it.
Most pipelines look active on the surface. Far fewer reflect genuine buying intent.
You can assess yours here.
Pre-Close → Proposal → Decision
The proposal rarely creates the decision. More often, it reveals the decision that has already been forming beneath the surface of the conversation.
How we work
Most teams start in one of three places.
Design The System
Build a structured commercial approach across your team.
Improve Decision Quality
Work on live opportunities and strengthen how decisions are formed.
Support Critical Deals
Understand how decisions are shaped in real conversations
Led by Jacques de Villiers
For more than 23 years, Jacques has worked inside commercial environments studying how decisions are shaped before buyers formally commit. His work draws from sales, persuasion, positioning, behavioural psychology, and commercial communication.
Over time, this led to the development of the Commercial Decision Design framework. A strategic model built around how buyers form preference, assess risk, justify decisions internally, and move toward commitment long before a proposal is formally evaluated.
The framework has since been applied across more than 3000 consulting sessions, keynotes, workshops, and commercial engagements with sales teams, business owners, and leadership groups across South Africa.