How to use MEDDPICC

--- tags: Module 6 --- # How to use MEDDPICC MEDDIC or it's slightly expanded and updated version MEDDPICC belong to the most widely used qualification frameworks in sales. There are many tech organizations out there that have proven, how successful it helps sales teams to be. It is particularly helpful in deep enterprise and highly competitive selling environments (hence the additional letters P - for competition and C - for competition). Bear with us please. Especially experienced, already successful salespeople often times think MEDDPICC has little to offer for them. We want to challenge you to be open to this. If you are, it has the potential to make you way more successful. Most salespeople do not explicitely sit down with execs to define crystal clear business cases and check all boxes of MEDDPICC. That's what we want to change. ## Deep dive: Definition of the 8 letters Let's do a quick recap of what MEDDPICC stands for as shown on the graphic below. ![](https://i.imgur.com/oBQhuPB.png)   Now, let's drill down one level and take a closer look of what is really behind every single one of them: **Metrics** Metrics are all about convincing your prospect with hard numbers. What is your business case? You need real numbers here. Don’t guess. With these numbers, you’ll paint a picture for your prospect that compels them to buy. Your goal with Metrics is to understand the financial impact of your prospect's main drivers being where they are now and show your prospects how your solution can move them. Map them and the percentage of improvement your solution can bring. Sample questions to ask: * If we implement our solution, what % improvement could be seen across your main business drivers? * If we improved by that %, how much new revenue would your business save or generate? * What can you do with the newly gained resources (e.g. time)? :::info **In a nutshell:** * Essentially the business case * What economic impact can your solution have on your prospect's business? * What KPI improvements will you achieve? * How do you measure success of the solution? * What metrics do you need to achieve? * What does your prospect want to improve and for what? ::: **Economic buyer** We have probably all gotten to the end of a deal only to hear “I need to share this with someone,” or, “I don’t have budget,” and then lost the deal. The E stage of MEDDPICC is all about solving that by identifying your economic buyer. We need to find out who can spend money, who has budget, who can CREATE budget, and who can sign the contract. This is your economic buyer, and this will be the person saying YES or NO to our proposal. They are the ultimate decision maker. You want to meet this person early in the process. Make sure you understand their vision and their pain. They are often very busy, but if you understand the challenges they have, clearly state the problem you solve, build trust, demonstrate the ROI, and help them get there, you will get their attention! This doesn’t mean you ignore everyone else, though. It’s OK to work with several people during an opportunity. In large deals, you may see 6-8 or even more. But as you work with other members of your prospect’s decision team, be sure to share your findings with the economic buyer. And make sure they’re a part of your final presentation, your business case review, and contracting. Questions for YOU to evaluate if you are talking to the economic buyer: - Are you talking to the person that owns the budget line-item? - Do you know what does success look like for them? - Do they see and acknowledge your business case (metrics)? :::info **In a nutshell:** * Will have ultimate Yes or No * The one who OWNS the line item (even though CIO decides, they may have to check back with the CFO) - can be found out by asking your champion * Validate: * What does success look like for them? * What are their decision criteria and decision making process? * Do they sponsor us? * Aligned on business case and decision criteria and are they buing into it? ::: **Decision Crteria** This is about understanding based on what criteria your prospect will make their decision for a specific vendor. You need to understand based on which criteria you will be evaluated and tailor your pitch and story accordingly. What are their expectations and what are they trying to get out of the new solution? What is a must have and what's a nice-to-have on their wishlist? Sample questions to ask: * What are you looking to get out of your new solution? * If you had a wishlist for your new solution, what would be on it? * What is a MUST have and what are nice-to-haves? :::info **In a nutshell:** * Criteria based on which the prospect decides * Technical: Features, functionality and how well your solution matches * Financial: ROI / payback * Service: Service level, support, training ::: **Decision process** While the Decision criteria describe the factors your prospect’s company looks for, the Decision process tells you about how they make a decision. This specific MEDDPICC guideline will help you understand the prospects’ decision-making process , so your deal doesn’t hit any roadblocks. The purpose of this stage is to understand the path so you can walk hand-in-hand with your buyer through the purchase. This step gives you permission to hold both sides accountable to the agreed upon journey. Without clarifying the decision process, you may have a deal, but you’ll have no idea when you’ll actually win it. You can’t forecast accurately without this step. Sample questions to ask: * Besides you, who else is involved in the decision making process? * What roles and levels of influence do they have? * How long does the decision making process for a solution like ours typically take? * By when do you want to have the solution in place? :::info **In a nutshell:** * Helps you understand the decision making process * This way you know who needs to be involed and HOW * Who needs to approve? * What happens when? * How long does it take? * Who else are they evaluating? * When do they want to be live? ::: **Paper process** The point of adding a P to MEDDIC is to help sales reps understand the paper process and the associated timeline. You can then make more accurate predictions, and hence, improve your chances of closing a deal. Then there’s also the fact that the larger the organization, the more complex the paperwork. So it’s better to sort the paperwork details ASAP and stay ahead of legal departments and administrative tasks, avoiding further delays. This is critical to learn to make sure deals close on time. Because, usually, business process ≠ legal process. The business may be ready to sign, but legal may rewrite an entire agreement or spend months defining terms because outside lawyers they work with are getting paid by the hour. Sample questions to ask: * Any legal requirements / processes we need to pass? * Critical mandatory terms or conditions? * What contractual paperwork is the basis for our collaboration? * How long did it take before buying a similar solution? :::info **In a nutshell:** * Understand the legal process to accurately forecast and shorten sales cycles * Goal is to understand: * How long your prospect’s legal process typically takes * Who is reviewing * What the level of priority is * If the signature process has changed ::: Any legal requirements / processes we need to pass? Critical mandatory terms or conditions? What contractual paperwork is the basis for our collaboration? How long did it take before buying a similar solution? **Identify pain** No pain, no deal - as simple as that. As with any qualification in sales, understanding the prospect's pain and motivation behind making a change is the most important point. Even experienced sales reps only scratch on the surface but don't get to the core of the real problem and the impact it is (not fixing it AND fixing it). Do you know why your prospects might make a change? Do you know why now? What is each function’s challenge with the current environment? What would be their personal/professional win with the change? If they don’t make the change, what happens? If you don’t know their true pain point, how can you connect their problem to your solution without making an assumption? This is where salespeople get lazy. We see surface pain, and we connect the dots from past conversations. We assume. And then we make recommendations — big recommendations — for massive change without really understanding… An absolut no go. Instead, dig deep here. Sample questions to ask: * Pleaes describe how ABC currently works. How happy are you with that process? * What is your main challenge when it comes to ABC? * Why do you want to do something about it? * What does it mean for you personally? What for the business, fnancially? * When do you want to make the change by? Why? * What happens if you don't make the change? :::info **In a nutshell:** * Understand the TRUE motivation and underlying driver for making a change (buying your solution) * Goal is to understand: * What is the real underlying problem / challenge? * Understand reasons behind the potential change * Implication: what does it mean for them and the company? What’s the impact? * What is the cost of doing nothing? * Quantify pain: how much are you losing due to the pain? ::: **Champion** Did you ever catch yourself wishing what was going on inside your customer? Getting the inside stories on how they really make decisions and where you stand? This is exactly what our champion is there for. Especially in enterprise sales, decision making is so complex that we need someone internal to help us navigate and tilt the final outcome (winning the deal) towards our favor. Your champion is your inside person—your point of contact or an end-user who stands to benefit most from your solution. The person who backs you up in front of decision-makers and the economic buyer. You must choose your champion wisely. Their respect and influence (or lack thereof) within the buying organization can influence your chances of winning the sale. Once you do find the right person, foster and nurture a trusting relationship with them. Educate them about your solution, present information that helps them advocate for you, or ask them to prep for meetings with you. :::info **In a nutshell:** * Your internal fan that advocates for you when you are not there * Needs to have considerable say, e.g. power and influence * Qualify for power and influence, not just the main point of contact - somebody who knows economic buyer / gets to them * Building a champion happens over time (build it on pain, needs and motivation - if aligned on this, foundation is great for building a champ) * If they have format titles with budget authority, great champions * Finding it usually happens in the scoping phase of a deal, after pain discovery * Find out * What’s in it for them? * What is their influence internally? * Get buy in from them to be champion ::: **Competition** Competition is the most underestimated risk factor when it comes to securing and closing a deal. It goes beyond your rival company’s solution. Usually, the most common one is what we already have in place, the "status quo". It’s why you must know your competitive advantages and understand how the competition is solving your prospect’s pain points and meeting their success metrics. Metrics and identifying pain are two of your best tools to beat the status quo. The second thing that can help you beat the competition is being an expert. You know what you are solving for. You know what’s important to the buyer. And you know how to differentiate yourself. So be the expert you already are. Questions to ask / how to probe for it: * I know this is important to you. How do we compare? Have you looked into... * Who else are you considering as a vendor? * Many companies are looking for X in a solution, and this is what sets us apart. You may want to explore that with other solutions. :::info **In a nutshell:** * Understanding the alternatives your prospect considers * Find out * Who are we competing against? * What value they provide and how it fits the customers decision making criteria ::: ## How to apply MEDDPICC Knowing what each of the letters stand for, lets take a closer look in how to apply MEDDPICC during the sales process. ![](https://i.imgur.com/iHoYKPZ.png) Let's listen to our cofounder Dominic, who explains how MEDDPICC can be applied during the sales process. <div style="position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0;"><iframe src="https://www.loom.com/embed/910af48b35e849eaa61a079baa08c31a" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen style="position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;"></iframe></div>   <style> body > .ui-infobar, body > .ui-toc, body > .ui-affix-toc, body > .ui-community, body > .document-footer { display: none !important; } </style>