What is the MEDDPICC sales process? (Free Checklist Included)

The MEDDPICC sales process is a B2B sales qualification methodology. Its purpose is to help salespeople narrow down the leads with the highest chance of becoming paying customers, empowering them to close more deals. 

Keep reading to learn what MEDDPICC stands for and how to use it.

What is the MEDDPICC sales process?

MEDDPICC is an acronym for the eight steps in this sales qualification methodology:

1. Metrics 
2. Economic buyer
3. Decision criteria
4. Decision process
5. Paper process
6. Implication of pain
7. Champion
8. Competition

An iteration of the MEDDIC sales process, MEDDPICC adds two more steps to the equation: Decision process and Competition.

How to use MEDDPICC: A step-by-step guide

We’ll go over each step of the MEDDPICC sales methodology in detail, including what it means and how to do it. (Or, download a free PDF checklist of the MEDDPICC sales process for your sales team!)

Step 1: Quantify the economic benefit to the prospect with Metrics

You can’t sell something to someone until you know what they’re expecting to gain by buying it. And while you can list product features till you’re blue in the face, nothing’s going to drive your solution home like numbers will. 

Oh, and we mean real numbers here—no guesstimating.

Metrics give prospects something quantifiable to entice them with. So hit them with an impressive ROI number or a time savings promise of X many hours a workweek as a result of your solution and paint them a picture that compels them to buy.

But first, ask them the right questions.

Questions to ask: 

• What are your business goals right now?
• Which metrics around cost, efficiency, or business do you need to achieve?
• If we met those metrics, how much money would your business save or generate?

Step 2: Find the decision-maker, also known as the Economic buyer

Imagine this: You’re near the end of your process when the prospect pulls the “I need to get approval on this first” or “I don’t have the budget right now” card. Welp, there goes the deal.

If you’re like most sales reps, you probably don’t need to imagine this. Because you’ve seen it happen at least once throughout the buying process. 

That’s where the E in MEDDPICC comes in. E stands for “economic buyer” and represents the one person who will ultimately decide if your product or service is worth buying.

Your mission is to deliver your sales pitch to this person, and you should strive to identify the economic buyer early in the process.

A bit of detective work on a company’s website or LinkedIn will help you find out who the economic buyer is. 

Once you’ve found them (or think you have), reach out. Their answers to the below questions will let you know whether you’ve connected with the right person. Otherwise, they can help point you in the right direction.

Questions to ask:

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

Step 3: Understand the prospect’s Decision criteria

Once you’ve identified your economic buyer, you need to understand exactly what they’re looking for and how closely your solution aligns with it.

Think of decision criteria as the prospect’s wishlist.

Weighing how your solution stacks up against this wishlist will let you know whether to qualify the prospect for the next stage or disqualify them as a potential buyer.

Questions to ask:

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

Step 4: Find out the prospect’s Decision process

Next, it’s time to figure out the prospect’s process for making the final purchase decision.

The decision process will be based on a combination of technical and financial factors. The questions below should help.

Questions to ask:

• What is the process for making a technical decision? 
• What is the process for making a financial decision?
• Who is involved, and what are the steps to make a final decision?
• How is this purchase prioritized, and what timeline is it based on? 

Step 5: Understand the Paper process

This is where MEDDPICC starts varying from MEDDIC.

The purpose of the Paper process step is to understand how long your prospect’s decision-making process will take—specifically with the legal department, since they’ll be doing the majority of the paperwork.

This is important because you want to make sure deals close on time.

Questions to ask:

• What is the process to get the paperwork completed? 
• What is the legal review process on your end? Inside or outside council?
• What is our level of priority? How long does it usually take?

Step 6: Understand the Implications of pain

To deliver an effective sales pitch, you need to identify how your product can solve a pain the prospect is facing. Some examples are high costs, employee turnover, and production delays.

By presenting a clear cost-benefit analysis to the prospect, you can show them the benefits they’ll gain by going with your solution—and what’ll happen if they don’t.

The difference between a strong and a weak sales angle here is specificity.

For example, say the prospect’s pain is that their business, the ABC Company, isn’t operating as cost-effectively as it could be. Tell them exactly how much they’re losing a year without your solution versus how much they could be saving with it.

A strong angle: ABC Company needs to deliver X project by the end of year, but they’re having some technical issues that are causing major delays. It may not be done in time, in which case they’ll incur a $50,000 fine.

Your product can solve these technical issues and ensure on-time delivery, saving their reputation and helping them avoid a hefty penalty.

A weak angle: ABC Company is working on a project but is experiencing technical issues.

The difference is in the details.

Questions to ask:

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

Step 7: Connect with a Champion to vouch for your solution

If your product truly is a good fit for the company you’re trying to sell it to, there’ll always be someone there who sees it. That person is your champion—and your goal here is to get them to pitch your solution on your behalf.

The champion is usually the person most affected by the pain you identified in the previous step, meaning they also have the most to gain from what you’re offering. 

For example, say you’re selling marketing automation software. Your champion could be a senior marketing manager who has a fair amount of persuasive power with the executive team. 

This person recognizes that your product is going to improve things for their team and the company they work for, and will therefore be motivated to help you sell it.

Your champion can get you “insider information,” like who you should be approaching and how, information about their customer base, or the current length of their sales cycle—all details you can use to fine-tune a sales pitch. 

The champion might even help you set up a meeting with the right people.

Questions to ask (when assessing a champion):

• What does this person have to gain?
• Does this person have an influence on decision-makers?
• Can they accurately explain your product’s benefits to the company?

Step 8: Communicate what sets you apart from the Competition

When talking to a prospect, always remember you’re not their only option. Your competitors are likely targeting them at the same time, or the prospect is still considering other vendors offering similar or alternative solutions. 

So rather than avoiding the topic and simply crossing your fingers and hoping the prospect chooses you, be upfront about the competition. 

The key here is to highlight your competitive advantages without taking jabs (no matter how tempting) at your competitors, which can make you sound biased. Be truly helpful by listing the pros and cons of each option.

Pro-tip: Make sure you’re knowledgeable about your competitors’ product offerings, so you can confidently speak to the difference between you and them.

Questions to ask:

• I know X is important to you. How do we compare to other solutions you’re looking into?
• A lot of companies that use our solution want X in a solution, which is where we really shine from our competitors. I suggest inquiring about this no matter which vendor you go with.

Use Weflow to implement MEDDPICC

Weflow’s note templates are the best way for sales management to ensure sales reps follow the MEDDPIC sales methodology and achieve sales success.

To create a note template, log in to your Weflow account and click on the Notes icon in the left-hand menu.

From there, click the Use template button, and then on +New template.

Here, you’ll select Opportunity in the Linked to record type drop-down and add a name for your template (e.g., “MEDDPIC”).

Then, fill out the template with questions you’d like sales reps to ask, the information you’d like them to gather, and the tasks you’d like them to complete.

Once done, click on Use template.

That’s it! You’ve created a note template that can be reused with every new prospect.

Wrap up

Now that you know more about MEDDPIC, go ahead and implement it. Don’t forget to use Weflow’s note templates to make your life easier.