What is MEDDIC Sales Methodology?

Most sales organizations have at least some idea of the customer profile they’re after, whether that’s industries, company sizes, or customer persona. Few, however, truly understand the defining characteristics of a prospect who is most likely to close. As a result, many sales reps waste countless hours pursuing leads that won’t close.

What is MEDDIC?

MEDDIC is an effective sales qualification method that can help you gather critical information about your prospects. MEDDIC stands for Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision criteria, Decision process, Identify pain, and Champion. MEDDIC can help you uncover the following:

• Metrics: How does your prospect measure their success?
• Economic buyer: Who can authorize the spending?
• Decision criteria: What is your prospect basing their decision on?
• Decision process: How is your prospect reaching a decision?
• Identify pain: What is their pain point and how your product/service could ease them?
• Champion: Who will advocate for you on your buyer’s team?

The MEDDIC sales framework was first developed in the 1990s at Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC) by its sales leaders Richard Dunkel and Jack Napoli based on their best practices for sales. After adopting the MEDDIC qualification process, the company grew from $300 million to $1 billion in sales in just four years.

Why use MEDDIC sales methodology?

The MEDDIC sales framework has an excellent advantage for the sales teams: it provides an easy-to-follow structure with common language elements to the sales teams. The MEDDIC sales method lets you quickly identify qualified opportunities and control your sales cycle perfectly. In the end, this control guarantees you a higher close rate and accurate sales forecasting.

Many organizations adopt the MEDDIC sales process to extract rich customer information during sales discovery calls.

Here are the six qualification steps of MEDDIC you can use to properly evaluate a prospect, get an idea of their requirements, and increase your chances of winning the deal.

MEDDIC, broken down into each step

Metrics

First, identify what your potential customers hope to gain from your product or service. What are the measurable economic benefits of your solution relevant to your customers? Example metrics include the number of hours saved, money saved, or revenue directly attributed to your product. By having your potential customer define a quantifiable objective that they want to achieve, you can prove that your solution is a strong return on investment (ROI).

Qualifying questions to ask:

• What is your current business goal?
• Which business metrics matter to you most?
• How will you measure success?

Economic Buyer

How well you understand who is making the ultimate decision determines your ability to influence the decision to buy your solution. The Economic Buyer is the person who has the authority to make the final purchase decision and spend the money. Attempt to find in-depth information about the economic buyer from your company contact, and ensure you engage them at the right stage of the opportunity.

Qualifying questions to ask:

• Who is involved in the final purchasing decision?
• Are there any other key stakeholders involved in the buying process?
• Whose budget is going to fund this investment?

Decision Criteria

To qualify your leads, you also need to know their decision criteria. Often, customers will meet several sales representatives from various vendors before making the final decision. They’ll gauge how your product will be different from other competing solutions. Understanding how they will evaluate your product alongside other competing products will help you focus on the parts the customers are interested in.

MEDDIC decision criteria are typically categorized based on financial, technical, and legal requirements. These include product features, budget constraints, expected ROI, and ease of integration. Understanding the MEDDIC decision criteria — and how your solution stands out — allows you to tailor your pitch to meet these buying criteria.

Qualifying questions to ask:

• Which criteria will be important to influence the purchase?
• How are you going to grade different solutions?
• What’s the most crucial deciding factor when choosing a solution?

Decision Process

The Decision Process is the process through which the buyer will make a final purchase decision. It includes the buyer's steps to evaluate solutions, determine their fit against the decision criteria, and initiate a purchase. It’s important to know the key stakeholders involved in each step, their timeline, and any formal approval processes in place. Once you understand the decision process, it’s easier to identify what needs to be done to close the deal.

Qualifying questions:

• How are purchase decisions typically made at your company?
• Where are we in the timeline of this deal’s decision process?
• What are the steps of the approval process to reach a deal?

Identify Pain

Find a measurable problem impacting your prospect’s business and explain why and how you can help solve them. Your prospect may or may not be aware of the significance of these pain points. If they aren’t, help them understand the importance, the impact of leaving it unaddressed, and how resolving the issue can support their business initiatives.

The key is to use specific figures, such as turnovers, the number of dollars saved, or production delays.

Qualifying questions:

• What prompted you to look for this solution?
• How does this problem impact you or the business in the short and long term?
• What would happen if everything stayed the same as it is now?

Champion

A champion is someone at the prospect's organization who advocates for you and has the power to move a deal forward. They give you access to the decision maker (Economic Buyer) and will make a case for you internally.

Qualifying questions:

• What are their personal interest and gain?
• Will they be able to explain the benefits of your product without your help?
• Do they have the right influence?

How to apply MEDDIC sales methodology

The MEDDIC framework can be easily implemented using a MEDDIC template in most CRM tools. Proper training and reinforcement of MEDDIC steps and processes are crucial for effective implementation. Sales reps can easily update each required step, and executives will get real-time visibility into deal progression and sales process compliance. Having a MEDDIC strategy in place will accelerate your sales process reviews, improve compliance, and drive consistency across the entire sales organization.

Conclusion

Regardless of industry, size, or sales structure, every organization can benefit from improvements to the sales qualification process — the core promise of the MEDDIC methodology. With accurate sales forecasting, sales teams can identify and focus on customers with the highest possibility of buying and increase close rates. Try this methodology with your sales team; they’ll have the tools to process qualifying prospects consistently.

Other helpful articles to check out:

• What is BANT?