Introduction:
Discovery is one of the most critical aspects of the B2B sales process to get right – arguably it is actually the number one reason why B2B deals are won or lost. MEDDPICC is one of the most popular discovery methodologies used by B2B sellers to help them assess and accelerate deals (if you’re a Challenger fan instead – read this) .
It guides Go-To-Market teams to dedicate their efforts only on the right leads and opportunities through a rigorous qualification and discovery process and is frequently linked to effective value selling. While qualification and discovery sound passive, by uncovering issues or blockers in the deal, a rep can better position against them. Hence MEDDPICC is often attributed to higher win rates and a way of ensuring deals don’t fall into the 40-60% of B2B deals that end in no decision.
Originating from the software company PTC in the 1990s, MEDDPICC was initially devised to pinpoint why the company was losing deals and sales reps. After examining hundreds of past opportunities, they discovered that PTC excelled in one of six key areas when they won a deal. Conversely, losses could be attributed to being outperformed in these same areas. These insights eventually laid the groundwork for the evolution of MEDDIC to MEDDICC, and ultimately to the MEDDPICC Sales Methodology we know today.
The purpose of this guide to MEDDPICC is to provide a comprehensive overview to help you understand and implement it. On the lefthand side is what we’ll cover – let’s dive in!
What is MEDDPICC?
MEDDPICC is an acronym that stands for Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Paper Process, Identify Pain, and Champion. It is a framework designed to help sales teams navigate complex sales cycles and increase their win rates. It equips sales professionals with a structured approach to qualifying deals and uncovering the essential components necessary for successful deal closure.
See below for a more detailed explanation of each letter.
What does each letter of MEDDPICC stand for?
Here’s an overview of what each letter stands for in MEDDPICC. If you’re using another variation (MEDDICC, MEDDICC or MEDDIC) you’re just using an abbreviated version of the below.
Metrics | Compelling stats & data points that provide proof your offering adds value. There are three levels of Metrics: M1s: Outcomes you have delivered for existing customers. Usually case study metrics to act as social proof-points which immediately build your credibility with any new prospect. M2s: Through discovery and collaboration with your prospect you can transform hypothetical metrics into curated outcomes which are specific and personalized to their role and/or company. M3s: These are the quantifiable value metrics your customer has realized after buying, implementing, and using your solution. A relatively new introduction to the framework, and traditionally overlooked by Sales (especially in the old on-premise software days). In today’s subscription economy, M3’s are critical to Customer Success in securing renewals and upsells. Metrics act as a virtuous circle, where you can turn M3’s into new case study M1’s. |
Economic Buyer | Identify the person who has ultimate authority to approve your deal. Remember you’re often not selling to the actual buyer (the person who has the budget and needs to approve the spend). Usually the prospect you’re speaking to is a level or two down from the Economic Buyer (EB). Finding a route into the EB is critical. |
Decision Criteria | The buyers’ formal criteria against which they will evaluate each potential provider. You need to understand what the buyer’s main criteria for evaluation are so that you can ensure you tick those boxes in the solution presentation and proposal. You certainly don’t want to find that out after the prospect chose someone else! |
Decision Process | The process, actions, and people involved to make a decision. This is key to make sure the deal doesn’t drag. When selling into enterprises this becomes more important as the number of people involved in signing off a deal can be alarmingly large. |
Paper Process | The specific documents and process the buyer needs to follow to secure a signature. This is what turns MEDDICC into MEDDPICC. Procurement processes, especially in large enterprises can take months. Understanding this ahead of time means you can be prepared and provide the required documentation – like security protocols etc. |
Identify Pain | Problems the organization currently faces and are trying to fix. There are three level of pain a rep needs to go to. o i1 – Identify – identify the problem or pain a prospect has and the root cause of it o i2 – Indicate – indicate the size of pain by quantifying it’s impact to the business or individual o i3 – Implicate – show a glimpse into the future utopian state when the pain is solved |
Champion | The key individual at the buying organization who will become your internal seller Again in large deals this becomes even more critical. Often times your Champion is the person that has the most access to the Economic Buyer and decision maker. They need to be equipped to sell your solution internalle |
Competition | Competitive strength, weaknesses and differentiators you’re up against There will always be alternatives and if you’re up against a competitor it’s critical you understand this during the sales cycle so that you can lay competitive traps and position your unique strengths. |
Comparing MEDDPICC, MEDDICC, and MEDDIC:
You may have heard of other sales methodologies sounding similar. Before delving into MEDDPICC in more details, let’s just outline the key differences between them.
MEDDPICC evolved out of MEDDICC, and it’s predecessor MEDDIC.
The key difference lies in the additional “Paper Process” component that has been introduced in MEDDPICC.
The inclusion of “Paper Process” emphasizes the importance of understanding the internal processes and procedures that your prospect follows to make a purchase. This addition provides sales professionals with valuable insights into potential roadblocks, approval processes, and budget allocation, enabling them to navigate the complexities of the customer’s organization more effectively.
The importance of the “Paper Process” is stressed in larger, more complex enterprise deals. So if you’re selling smaller deals that are less complex, MEDDICC may be better suited.
Why is MEDDPICC important?
MEDDPICC is pivotal in streamlining the sales process by creating a structured approach to evaluate and advance deals. It is essentially a qualification and discovery methodology that enhances understanding of customers’ needs, driving informed and strategic decision-making.
It improves forecast accuracy, allowing for more reliable resource allocation. Ultimately, MEDDPICC fosters greater sales efficiency, effectiveness, and ensures alignment with customer goals, significantly increasing the likelihood of closing complex sales deals.
Where is MEDDPICC most applied
The MEDDPICC methodology is applied most to the Sales Qualification and Discovery stages of the sales cycles. Here is a brief overview of these stages.
- Sales Qualification – involves making sure the prospect you’re speaking to fits with your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) i.e. they are a feasible prospect to sell to. There’s no point wasting time trying to sell to someone who will never buy what you have to offer. You want to qualify a prospect is a good fit before investing time in deeper discovery.
- Sales Discovery is where the salesperson gathers information about a prospect’s needs, challenges, goals, and their business environment. It’s an opportunity to build a relationship with the prospect, understand their pain points, and identify how your product or service can provide a solution. Often Discovery is considered as continuous until the deal is closer. Understand the hidden cost of doing poor discovery here.
The 5 Top Benefits of MEDDPICC
- Improving efficiency by Enhanced Qualification
MEDDPICC empowers sales teams to effectively qualify opportunities by diving deep into the metrics, economic buyer, and decision-making criteria. This leads to a more targeted approach, saving time and resources by focusing efforts on deals with a higher probability of success.
- Increasing chances of winning by a Deeper Understanding of Pain Points
By incorporating the “Identify Pain” (the I) component, MEDDPICC encourages sales professionals to uncover the true pain points experienced by the customer. This understanding allows for the customization of solutions and the delivery of more meaningful value propositions.
- Accelerating deal cycles by Identifying the Champion:
The “Champion” component of MEDDPICC stresses the importance of having an internal advocate within the customer’s organization. This individual can provide valuable insights, navigate internal dynamics, and help drive the deal forward.
- Identifying risks to deals Comprehensive Analysis of Competition:
MEDDPICC compels sales teams to conduct a thorough analysis of the competitive landscape. By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of competitors, sales professionals can position their offerings more effectively and articulate the unique value they bring to the table.
- Enhanced Forecast Accuracy by providing better deal health
Using MEDDPICC can significantly improve sales forecast accuracy, as it provides a more detailed understanding of opportunities and potential roadblocks.
The 5 Biggest Mistakes Reps make with MEDDPICC
- Assuming Instead of Digging:
Many sales reps fall into the trap of making assumptions about a client’s problems rather than deeply investigating them. They might think they understand the problem, but without digging into its root cause, they miss valuable insights. The ‘three whys’ method can be helpful in unearthing the real pain point and the critical business issue it impacts.
- Jumping to Solutions Prematurely:
It’s common for reps to leap to solution demonstration after identifying a single pain point. This rush can lead to missed opportunities. To avoid this pitfall, sales reps should patiently uncover multiple pain points / the root causes and prioritising them before introducing their solution’s features and functions. This approach allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the client’s needs and a more tailored solution presentation.
- Failing the Metrics conversation:
A lot of reps struggle with metric-based conversations, either lacking the confidence or credibility to effectively discuss these aspects. But metrics are integral to MEDDPICC – they help to establish credibility (M1s) and must be personalized to each prospect (M2s). Sales reps need to be comfortable asking about these business metrics and relating them back to the potential impact of their solution.
- Not highlighting pain:
Simply identifying a client’s pain isn’t enough. That pain needs to be measured and quantified to emphasize its significance and real-world impact. Reps must go a step further by depicting the potential future if the pain is resolved – showing the final impact or outcome. This technique, known as ‘implication’, can make the pain and its solution more tangible to the client.
- Not personalizing a value story:
MEDDPICC is an excellent tool for gathering information, but successful sales reps also need to use it to craft a personalized value story or business case to present back to the prospect. By tailoring this story to the specific prospect, reps can highlight how their solution addresses the client’s unique challenges and contributes to their specific goals. This personal touch can make the difference in converting a lead to a sale, or winning against a competitor.
(Pssst. you can find out how to avoid making these mistakes using Cuvama here)
The 10 step guide to Implementing MEDDPICC:
1. Agreeing and aligning with stakeholders:
The first step involves understanding and aligning on MEDDPICC as a methodology and it’s components (you can send them this guide 😉)
- Sales Leadership should understand the purpose and relevance of each element in the sales process. Everyone should be bought in to using this methodology
- Marketing and Sales Enablement need to be brought on board as they will be responsible for getting the required information together to enable reps to use MEDDPICC
- Sales Ops needs to be briefed as they will be responsible for how the tech stack can be used or evolved to support MEDDPICC
2. Metrics Mapping and Enabling:
MEDDPICC starts with Metrics for a reason. Start by defining the Metrics which indicate the success the client aims to achieve with your solution. Customer Success, Sales Enablement or Product Marketing will need to develop or use existing case studies /customer stories to build out a library of metrics per ICP (Ideal customer profile).
The you need to explain to your sales team the importance of using M1s (outcomes you have delivered for previous customers that look like them) to lead with a value hypothesis and earn credibility with the prospect. Which will allow them to move to M2’s – which involves personalizing the metrics for that specific prospect to build their value case.
3. Economic Buyer Identification:
Understand and map who the typical economic buyer (the person with final financial decision-making authority) is for each segment and ICP (Ideal Customer Profile). Then teach your team how to identify that economic buyer. Emphasize the importance of understanding their motivations, pains, and expected outcomes.
4. Clarifying Decision Criteria & Process:
Look at different customer segments and map and understand the process they used to sign off your deal. Provide guidelines for your sales team on how to map a potential prospect’s decision-making criteria and process. Equip them with the right questions to understand the client’s decision-making journey.
5. Pain Identification, Indication, and Implication:
Equip your team to effectively navigate the three critical levels of pain in MEDDPICC. This includes using discovery guides, playbooks and training.
- Identification: Train your team to uncover the customer’s primary pain points. This involves understanding not only the surface-level issues but also the underlying causes.
- Indication: Beyond identifying pain, it’s essential to highlight and quantify the impact of these pain points on the customer’s business. This measure makes the pain tangible and underscores the urgency to address it.
- Implication: Finally, your team should be trained to implicate the potential benefits of resolving these pain points. This involves painting a compelling picture of the customer’s future state when these pains are addressed, the benefits accrued, and the positive business outcomes expected.
By mastering these three stages, your team can effectively translate a customer’s pain into a compelling and personalized value story for your product or service
6. Champion Identification & Support:
Educate your team on identifying a ‘Champion’ within the customer’s organization who supports your solution. Provide strategies to equip and enable these champions to advocate for your product or service effectively. Product marketing many need to provide assets that can enable your Champion to sell your solution internally. Look at previous customer wins to understand who is likely the champion and what they’ll need to overcome internal blockers.
7. Competitor Understanding and Positioning:
The ability to understand and assess competition in a deal is vital for success in sales. Remember competition is anything that could be an alternative to your solution. Here’s how you can enable your team to do this effectively:
- Competitive Analysis: Begin by ensuring that your team thoroughly understands the competitive landscape. Equip them with insights on your competitors’ offerings, their strengths and weaknesses, pricing, and market position. Regularly update this information to keep your team informed about any changes in the competitive scenario.
- Positioning Competitive Traps: Train your sales team on the art of setting competitive traps. This strategy involves showcasing the unique advantages of your solution and subtly highlighting areas where competitors may fall short, thus ‘trapping’ the competition.
- Differentiation: Teach your team to emphasize the unique value proposition of your product or service. Regardless of how many competitors you have, there are always aspects that set your solution apart. Make sure your team can effectively communicate these differentiators to prospects.
- Objection Handling: Prepare your team for potential objections raised by prospects based on competitors’ offerings. Equip them with strong, well-articulated responses that address these objections while reinforcing your product’s strengths.
8. Role playing training
Once you’ve got all the information for the MEDDPICC methodology and trained your teams on each component, the next step is role playing. Reps need to be comfortable putting each component together in a real conversation. That means practice, practice and practice. Usually this is a face to face offsite with a trainer.
9. Tech to scale MEDDPICC: The importance of Value Selling tools
Your tech stack to enable, reinforce and track MEDDPICC is just as important as the training. And when it comes to scaling it, tech is critical.
Just incorporating MEDDPICC into your CRM system is not sufficient. A special focus should be placed on Value Selling tools and Customer Value Management tech that help reps actually execute MEDDPICC (filling out fields in a CRM doesn’t improve a rep doing MEDDPICC).
These tools are critical in facilitating the efficient and effective execution of the MEDDPICC methodology, as they provide a structured way to capture, measure, and communicate the value that your solution provides to the customer.
By aligning MEDDPICC with these tools, your sales team will be better equipped to communicate tangible benefits and clearly illustrate how your solution addresses specific customer pain points. This integration not only reinforces the methodology but also enhances your team’s ability to consistently deliver personalized value stories to each prospect.
10. Regular Reviews & Updates:
Establish a review system where your team periodically updates each MEDDPICC element for every deal. This helps keep the process dynamic and responsive to changes in the sales process.
Make sure you instil a culture of continuous improvement. Regularly gather feedback and track results to refine your MEDDPICC implementation. Remember, the application of MEDDPICC is not a one-time event but a constantly evolving practice that should improve over time.
Conclusion
Implementing MEDDPICC isn’t merely about introducing a new sales qualification framework, it’s about nurturing a robust and informed approach to understanding customer needs and driving value.
The methodology helps your sales team identify opportunities worth pursuing, understand customer pains deeply, communicate value effectively, and ultimately close more deals. Remember, MEDDPICC isn’t a set-and-forget process but a dynamic one, evolving with each new customer interaction and business scenario. With continuous refinement and reinforcement, your organization can leverage MEDDPICC to drive better sales outcomes and foster stronger customer relationships.
Find out more about how Cuvama can help you implement and scale MEDDPICC.
MEDDPICC FAQs
1 – What does MEDDPICC stand for?
MEDDPICC is an acronym for Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, Champion, Competition. Each element represents a key component in the sales qualification and decision-making process.
2 – Who should use MEDDPICC?
MEDDPICC is ideal for B2B sales teams, especially those involved in complex or high-value deals. The methodology helps such teams better understand customer needs, quantify value, and enhance deal closure rates.
3 – How does MEDDPICC help in value selling?
MEDDPICC’s comprehensive framework enables sales teams to uncover key customer pain points, identify metrics for success, and understand the decision-making process. This aids in creating a personalized value story that effectively demonstrates how your product or service addresses the customer’s unique needs.
4 – What technology can support the effective execution of MEDDPICC?
Implementing MEDDPICC effectively can be greatly enhanced with the use of specific technologies. Value selling tools and customer value management software are particularly valuable. These tools allow sales teams to quantify and articulate the unique value of their solution to the customer, supporting the Metrics and Identify Pain components of MEDDPICC. Additionally, integrating MEDDPICC into your CRM system can streamline the qualification process, ensuring the necessary information is readily accessible when making decisions.
5 – What is the difference between MEDDPICC and MEDDICC?
Both MEDDPICC and MEDDICC are sales methodologies that help sales teams qualify prospects and streamline the sales process. The difference lies in the final ‘P’ which stands for ‘Paper Process’ in MEDDPICC. This element refers to understanding the administrative process that a company needs to follow to make a purchase, including procurement processes, contract approvals, and other paperwork. It ensures the sales team is aware of these aspects and plans accordingly to avoid last-minute surprises or delays. MEDDICC does not explicitly include this aspect in its methodology.
