How to build a strong sales qualification process with MEDDIC

What is the MEDDIC methodology?

The MEDDIC sales methodology advocates that pitching to leads and prospects who are highly qualified will result in a higher closing rate. It’s a step-by-step process that outlines proper lead qualification to ensure that you’re building the right foundation to meet your team’s sales goals.

MEDDIC rose to fame during the 1990s and is credited with fueling software company PTC (Parametric Technology Corporation)’s rapid sales growth from $300 million to $1 billion. Today, it’s still a staple of modern B2B sales.

Once again, MEDDIC stands for:

• Metrics
• Economic buyer
• Decision criteria
• Decision process
• Identify pain
• Champion

What is the MEDDPICC sales process?

Terms such as MEDDICC and MEDDPICC are also sometimes used to refer to MEDDIC – why is that?

To answer this question, we asked Andy Whyte, the author of the best-selling book on the subject MEDDICC, the book. Andy said:

“MEDDIC is the term most widely used to refer to the framework invented by Dick Dunkel at PTC back in the nineties. Since then, it has evolved and commonly features an additional C for ‘Competition’ and a P that stands for ‘Paper Process’.”

What does MEDDPICC stand for?

MEDDPICC stands for Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, Champion, Competition and Paper Process.

MEDDIC purists state that both of these elements can live inside of the original MEDDIC framework, which is true, but, more commonly now, these elements are being called out separately as the buying landscape has evolved so much.

For instance, thousands of companies are competing for the same budgets and resources you are, and when you are lucky enough to win, the Paper Process itself is vastly more complicated due to increased security and privacy standards and regulations, as well as the agreements themselves being more complicated.

What does the MEDDIC process look like in practice?

Let’s take a look at what a sales process implementing the MEDDIC template looks like.

Metrics

The first piece of making the MEDDIC sales process work is applying the principle of "show, don’t tell".

Sales professionals are trained to make your product or service sound like an ideal solution, but it’s crucial to provide prospects with concrete proof when it comes to what your product can specifically do for them.

That’s where your metrics come into play. Here are some examples of statements and scenarios which highlight data points to prospects:

• “On average, our customers save ten hours per week on data entry once they adopt our product…”
• “We actually have a client of your size in the same industry that managed to see a return on investment within three months…”
• “If you’re interested in increasing revenue by 10% by the end of the year, that’s definitely a possibility…”

The takeaway is that you should present specific, numeric outcomes over vague promises.

If you’re in SaaS, you can use your own internal customer metrics and data to back up your claims. These are perfect to bring up during initial conversations and sales presentations alike.

Regardless of your industry, customer success stories and case studies can serve as your proof. For example, in the Pipedrive marketplace we have several case studies across a variety of industries that showcase specific outcomes for our customers. Real customer success stories and metrics can go a long way in helping your reps back up their claims and build trust with prospects.

Economic buyer

Getting past gatekeepers is always a challenge. Meanwhile, bouncing between multiple contacts trying to find the person who can actually put the proverbial stamp on your purchase can be a time-sink.

The MEDDIC sales methodology prioritizes talking to decision-makers first and foremost. Sometimes doing so requires a direct approach, asking qualifying questions such as:

• “How does your organization typically make buying decisions?”
• “Is anyone else involved in the buying process?”
• “What’s your role in the decision-making process?”

Variations of the questions above can help determine if you’re talking to the right person. Beyond that, sales managers should ensure their reps are familiar with the typical titles and roles of prospects who make product-related decisions. For example, a software company salesperson will likely get further talking to a CTO versus an account manager.

By understanding the roles and responsibilities of the decision-maker, it’s easier to spot them. Additional tools such as LinkedIn can help you confirm and nurture prospects based on their titles, for example.

Your CRM’s feature can also help you and your reps easily locate and store the contact information of decision-makers you’ve identified. With a tool like Prospector, for example, you can find relevant outbound leads from a database of 400 million profiles and 10 million companies based on your ideal customer profile.

Making the most of the sales technology and tools available can significantly help you to more efficiently qualify leads.

Decision criteria

Every company is different in terms of their criteria for making a purchase.

If you’re selling on behalf of a SaaS company, chances are your leads aren’t going to spell out exactly what goes into their decision criteria, but here are some key factors to consider:

• Pricing
• Features
• Level of service provided
• Onboarding assistance
• Product integrations
• Ease of use
• Name recognition
• Industry reputation

Keep in mind that 77% of B2B buyers state that their latest purchase was very complex or difficult. Further, the buying journey isn’t linear and potential customers often complete a set of ‘jobs’, such as solution exploration and validation, before finalizing a purchase. All of the factors above will likewise be compared against your leads’ existing solutions, your competitors, your existing customer reviews and feedback and more before a purchase decision is made.

As part of MEDDIC, salespeople should stress how your product or service fits into their prospect’s decision criteria during their conversations or pitches. Based on their lead qualification efforts, they should already have a good idea of what those factors are and should structure the pitch to align with their prospect’s needs and goals. This will help to simplify the decision-making process and move the deal along quicker.

Decision process

At this point, your lead is at the very least evaluating your product for purchase. This means that sales reps should do everything in their power to speed up and smooth out the decision-making process, which includes:

• Providing a hands-on demonstration or free trial of your product
• Bringing in new stakeholders and others involved in the decision-making process
• Confirming the typical timeline for making decisions

Conventional wisdom says that the average B2B sales process can take multiple months. The key is to be proactive and suggest the next steps to keep things moving. A CRM can also help with this effort, as your reps can set up automated follow-ups to ensure they are checking in with their prospects in an appropriate time frame.

Identify pain

Tapping into your customers’ struggles is a surefire way to speak their language. Anything your reps can do to reassure them of your solution’s effectiveness is a huge point in your favor. By predicting pain points and objectives, they can better frame your product as a winner.

Here are some examples of typical pain points which B2B buyers face:

• Inefficiencies and wasting time
• Wasting money
• Current solutions are too clunky or complicated
• Eliminating tedious tasks

In addition to highlighting these pain points, consider how your reps can also ease their prospects’ minds when it comes to your solution versus a competitor. Some additional talking points for reps include:

• The price tag of your solution (and why it’s worth it for its features)
• Ease of use versus competitors
• How quickly your customers can get up-and-running
• How your product integrates with existing services and tools

Champion

The last piece of the MEDDIC sales process involves finding someone at your leads’ company who will advocate on your behalf.

The concept here is simple. By having a “champion” who can sing your business’ praises, it gives your company a sense of credibility while also influencing decision-makers. Note that your champion doesn’t necessarily need to be someone involved in the decision-making process, but rather someone associated with your lead.

Of course, having a champion is a luxury and not always possible. That said, this is a situation where referrals and scouring your mutual connections on LinkedIn can help give you an edge when it comes time to close a deal.

Three quick tips for adopting the MEDDIC methodology

Putting any sales methodology into practice takes efficient training and time, which sales leads should absolutely put the effort into, for payoff in the long run. Below is a quick rundown of how to help your sales team succeed with MEDDIC sales training.

Empower your sales team through analytics

The importance of data is a two-way street when it comes to MEDDIC. For starters, sales reps need to have a pulse on the progress of any given deal. Because each step of the MEDDIC sales process ultimately builds upon the last, keeping track of sales stages encourages reps to move toward the next one.

This is another instance of where a CRM can come in handy. Whether individually or company-wide, a CRM gives you a snapshot of where your deals are in your sales pipeline so that you never have to wonder what step comes next.

As noted earlier, customer data and analytics are essential for the “M” piece of MEDDIC. Although some customer data might be sensitive, make a point during your MEDDIC sales training process to provide reps with resources and talking points from existing clients which include actual performance numbers, if possible.

Use sales enablement to equip your reps with all of the information they need to improve efficiency throughout every stage of the buying journey.

Review sales objections and reasons for lost deals

The proactive nature of MEDDIC means that your reps are likely going to be hit with a lot of sales objections during their conversations.

Whether it’s the price tag, a lack of trust, fear of change, or something else, some objections are more daunting and specific than others. During MEDDIC sales training, you should familiarize your reps with talking points to help put their prospects at ease and keep their deals from falling apart.

This is yet again where real-world data can be a huge help. A CRM allows you to log and track the most frequent reasons why deals are lost, allowing you to notice trends such as price objections or a competing product. Based on this data, you can arm your reps with the information they need to better pivot their conversations and rethink how they frame their pitches.

Here’s our video guide on how to deal with a common objection: