What Is the MEDDIC Sales Methodology? : A Comprehensive Guide

Have you ever watched a dancer glide across the stage with grace and precision? 

That’s what implementing the MEDDPICC framework looks like for successful sales. 

Each letter represents a crucial step, guiding you smoothly from understanding your client’s needs to closing the deal. 

It’s the choreography that turns a bunch of scattered sales moves into a seamless, winning performance. 

Confused? 

Don’t worry, I’ve got you.

Let me choreograph for you!

Key Takeaways

• MEDDPICC’s sales methodology offers a systematic approach to navigating complex B2B sales cycles. It enables sales teams to understand customer needs and requirements for closing deals effectively. MEDDPICC stands for:
  
  M-Metrics
  E-Economic Buyer
  D-Decision Criteria
  D-Decision Process
  P-Paper Process
  I-Identify Pain
  C-Champion
  C-Competition
  
  
• The MEDDPICC methodology allows sales teams to deeply understand customer needs and buying processes. It tailors their approach for each opportunity, differentiates itself from competitors, accelerates qualified deals, and increases win rates.
  
  
• MEDDPICC Sales methodology includes the following implementations:
  
  

• Quantify the economic value and benefits your solution provides to the customer.
• Identify and engage directly with the economic buyer who has final decision-making authority.
• Understand the customer’s key decision criteria and requirements for making a purchase.
• Gain visibility into the customer’s decision process like who is involved, what approvals are needed, and expected timelines.
• Gather intelligence on the paperwork and legal/administrative processes required for purchase.
• Uncover and quantify the challenges and pain points your solution can address for the customer.
• Find an internal champion at the customer organization who sees value in your solution.
• Differentiate your offering compared to competitors based on how well you meet the customer’s needs.

What Is MEDDIC?

MEDDIC is a sales qualification framework that helps salespeople evaluate and prioritize potential opportunities based on six key criteria.

MEDDIC stands for Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, and Champion. 

MEDDPICC is an expanded version that adds “Paper Process and Competition” to the original MEDDIC components.

What Is MEDDPICC?

MEDDPICC is a B2B sales methodology that helps sales professionals navigate complex sales cycles. It focuses on understanding the customer’s needs, decision-making process, and the crucial steps required to close the deal.

MEDDPICC stands for:

MEDDPICC

M–Metrics: Quantify the economic value and benefits of your solution, demonstrating its superiority over competitors. E-Economic Buyer: Connect with the individual who holds the final authority to approve the release of funds, for buying purposes. D-Decision Criteria: Understand the specific factors that influence the clients decision making process when it comes to making a purchase. D–Decision Process: Map out the steps and stakeholders involved in the client’s buying process, ensuring a smooth transition from interest to sale. P–Paper Process: Navigate the administrative and legal procedures required for purchase, streamlining the transaction process. I-Identify Pain: Identify and analyze the client’s pain points which require your solution to be relieved. C-Champion: Find an internal advocate within the buyer’s organization who supports your solution, facilitating buy-in and expediting the sales process. C-Competition: To differentiate yourself, understand your competitors’ strategies, strengths, weaknesses, and identify their champion.

MEDDPICC vs MEDDIC

MEDDIC and MEDDPICC are the kind of cheat sheets that help you close deals faster in B2B sales. Let’s compare them:

MEDDPICC	MEDDIC
Developed more recently as an extension of MEDDIC	Developed by Jack Napoli at PTC ( in the 1990s
More comprehensive framework with 8 components	Simpler framework with 6 components
Includes components like “Paper Process” and “Competition”	No such components included
Differentiates from competitors and navigates approvals	Primarily focuses on qualifying opportunities and decision-making
Assesses the competitive landscape and unique selling points	Does not explicitly address competition

How to Implement MEDDPICC: A Step-by-Step Guide

By unpacking MEDDIC and MEDDPICC we have seen the extra steps MEDDPICC brings to the table, let’s put them all into action! 

Here’s a step-by-step guide created by our sales experts at Sparkle to implement MEDDPICC and qualify leads:

Step 1: Quantify the Economic Benefit with Numbers

You can’t sell something until you know what the buyer hopes to gain from it. Listing product features won’t be as convincing as using real numbers. Give the prospect impressive numbers like how much money or time they could save by using your solution. But first, ask them the right questions to understand their goals.

Questions to Ask:

• What are your current business goals?
• What cost, efficiency, or business metrics do you need to achieve?
• If we meet those metrics, how much money could your business save or make?

Step 2: Find the Decision-Maker

Sometimes, a deal falls through because the person you’re talking to doesn’t have the authority to make the final purchase decision. You need to identify the economic buyer, the person who will ultimately decide if your product is worth buying. Do some research to find out who this person is, and then reach out to them directly.

Questions to Ask:

• Are you sponsoring this project?
• What do you need to take this project to completion?
• Is anyone else involved in making the final decision?

Step 3: Understand the Buyer’s Decision Criteria

Once you know the decision-maker, you need to understand exactly what they’re looking for and how well your solution meets their needs. Think of their decision criteria as their wishlist. Comparing your solution to this wishlist will help you decide if they’re a good potential buyer or not.

Questions to Ask:

• Describe your perfect solution to me. What should it include?
• What are the most important criteria for you when making a purchase decision?
• How are you calculating the return on investment for this project to justify the cost?

Step 4: Figure out how the potential customer makes their final purchase decision.

While Decision criteria cover what factors a prospect considers, the decision process is about how they actually make the purchase decision.

To understand their buying process and avoid roadblocks, ask your contact:

• Who is involved in the decision meetings?
• What paperwork is required?
• What approvals are needed to finalize?
• How long does the process typically take?

Knowing their decision process allows you to accurately forecast and plan your sales activities to successfully close the deal.

Ask questions like:

• How do you make technical decisions?
• How do you make financial decisions?
• Who is involved in making the final decision and what are the steps?
• How is this purchase prioritized and what is the timeline?

Step 5: Understand the paperwork process.

By incorporating the “P” for paperwork into MEDDIC (renaming it as MEDDPICC) sales professionals gain insights into document procedures and timelines enhancing their ability to forecast deals accurately and boosting their likelihood of closures. 

Additionally, this approach enables them to address intricate paperwork issues upfront particularly in larger corporate settings thereby averting potential delays stemming from legal and administrative processes down the line.

Ask questions like:

• What is the process to complete the paperwork?
• What is the legal review process on your end? Do you use internal or external legal counsel?
• How high of a priority is this? How long does it usually take?

Step 6: Understand the impacts of the customer’s current challenges/pain points.

To give an effective sales pitch, you need to identify how your product solves a problem the potential customer is facing, like high costs, employee turnover, or production delays. Show them the benefits of your solution compared to not using it.

Be specific, not vague. For example, instead of saying “They are having technical issues”, quantify it by saying something like “This issue is causing delays that could result in a $50,000 fine if the project isn’t delivered on time. Our product can solve the technical issues and help avoid the fine.”

Ask questions like:

• What challenges are you currently facing?
• What are the implications of those challenges?
• What happens if you do nothing?

Step 7: Find someone at the company who supports your solution

There will likely be someone who sees the value in your product and how it can help the company. This person is your champion, you want them to advocate for your solution internally.

The champion is usually the person most impacted by the problems your product solves, so they have the most to gain from using it.

For example, if selling marketing software, your champion may be a senior marketing manager whose team would directly benefit.

This person recognizes how your product improves things for their company, so they’ll be motivated to help sell it internally. Your champion can provide insider information and may even help set up meetings.

Questions to ask:

• What does this person gain from your solution?
• Do they influence decision-makers?
• Can they explain your product’s benefits well?

Step 8: Explain how you are better than the competition

Remember the prospect likely has other options besides you. Your competitors are likely pitching to them too.

So be upfront about the competition. Highlight your advantages over them, but avoid insults. List the pros and cons of each option to be truly helpful.

Make sure you know your competitors’ offerings well so you can confidently explain the differences.

Questions to ask:

• I know X is important to you. How do we compare to other solutions you’re considering?
• Many companies want X capability, which is where we shine compared to competitors. I’d suggest checking on this no matter which vendor you choose.

Why Should You Use MEDDPICC?

MEDDPICC is a powerful framework that can help you achieve sales success by providing a structured approach to qualify and prioritize opportunities.

Here are the top 6 reasons why you should use MEDDPICC:

• Better Understanding of Customers:

This strategy assists in gathering important information about potential customers. This way, you can figure out if they are a good fit for what you’re selling. By knowing their goals, decision process, and problems, you can focus on the customers most likely to buy from you.

• Sales Approach Tailored to Each Customer:

With MEDDPICC, you can customize your sales approach for each potential customer. 

By understanding the decision-makers, their process, and requirements to craft a strategy highlighting your solution’s value proposition tailored to their specific needs.

• Stand Out from Competitors:

It helps in understanding your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. This means you can highlight what makes your offering different and better, giving you an advantage over competitors.

• Faster Sales Process:

Using MEDDPICC to qualify customers and match your approach to their needs can speed up the sales process. By focusing on the most promising customers and addressing concerns early, you can move deals forward more quickly.

• More Successful Sales:

MEDDPICC gets you more deals by ensuring you’re pursuing the right customers and engaging with them in a meaningful way. Truly understanding their needs and providing a solution that delivers results builds trust, making them more likely to choose you.

• Better Forecasting: 

Provides a framework for assessing the likelihood of closing a deal based on the information gathered. 

This can help you manage your pipeline more effectively and make informed decisions about resource allocation.

FAQs

1. What is the difference between MEDDIC and MEDDPICC?

MEDDPICC is a variation of MEDDIC that has evolved to include a P that stands for Paper Process and an additional C that stands for Competition. Buying technology was much simpler in the 90s.

2. What is MEDDPICC decision criteria?

The decision criteria is the set of principles, guidelines and requirements which an organization  uses to make a decision. Sometimes the Decision Criteria exist in a physical form where the customer has taken time to construct the specification of their requirements.

3. Why is MEDDIC important?

The MEDDIC methodology essentially helps sales professionals identify which prospects are worth focusing on, and who are most likely to convert into customers, and thus reduce the time and costs spent on trying to nurture leads that aren’t a fit.

4. What is the MEDDIC qualification?

MEDDIC, is the most renowned Sales Qualification Methodology, applicable to any Enterprise Sales Process which is rather complex. MEDDIC may be referred to as the MEDDIC checklist or even MEDDIC sales process.

Wrapping up

MEDDPICC serves as a strategy that can revolutionize your sales approach and drive better outcomes. Remember these three points:

• Leveraging MEDDPICC provides a systematic approach based on data to quantify and prioritize sales opportunities effectively.
  
• Ensuring the adoption of MEDDPICC by your wholesale management team leads to improved success rates, accurate forecasting, and enhanced coaching efforts.
  
• Customizing and adjusting MEDDPICC to align with your sales environment is key to maintaining long-term success.

With MEDDPICC, at your disposal, you’ll be well-equipped in the field of sales to navigate selling processes, make informed decisions, and secure lucrative business deals.

So why wait? Start integrating MEDDPICC into your sales training today and elevate your sales performance to heights!

Reference:

MEDDIC Sales Qualification Process, HubSpot
MEDDIC, MEDDICC or MEDDPIC? Brian B Berlin, LinkedIn