An economic buyer is the person in the buying organization with final authority over the purchase, who can say yes when others say no. MEDDICC.com, which publishes the framework, adds the other half: they can also say no when everyone else says yes. The Economic Buyer is the E in MEDDPICC, and reps often mark it as known when it is a guess.
Finding the economic buyer
The Economic Buyer is rarely the person running the evaluation. They usually own the budget line or the P&L the purchase hits, and their priorities track the company's strategic goals more than the feature list.
- Have you met them?
- When?
- What did they say?
In a deal review, managers treat it as a yes or no question. Our MEDDPICC page puts it this way: have you met them, when, and what did they say? A name in the CRM without a meeting counts as unknown. The usual route in is the Champion, and a contact who will not arrange that meeting is a signal about the Champion as much as about access. Once the meeting is booked, the rep prepares two things: the business outcome the Economic Buyer cares about, in their numbers, and the one decision the rep needs from them. The sales methodology guide covers how this sits inside a full qualification framework.
Example
This example is illustrative. A rep forecasts a $150,000 deal as commit. The evaluation lead, a director of operations, has been enthusiastic for six weeks. In the review the manager asks who signs. The rep thinks it is the CFO but has never spoken to her. The deal moves to best case, and the next call with the director has one job: ask what the CFO will need to see to approve it, and whether the director will set up 30 minutes with her before the proposal goes out.
The weak version of that ask is "Can we loop in your CFO?", which the director can wave off. The version that works sounds like this: "When this reaches the CFO, what will she need to see to sign it, and could we get 30 minutes with her before the proposal goes out so it answers that?"
Related terms
- What is MEDDPICC?
- What is a champion in sales?
- What is the decision process in sales?
- MEDDPICC vs MEDDIC
FAQ
What is the difference between an economic buyer and a decision maker?
An economic buyer holds final authority over the spend. A decision maker may choose the vendor inside an evaluation but still need the economic buyer's approval to sign. In a large deal there can be several decision makers and only one economic buyer.
Can a deal have more than one economic buyer?
A deal usually has one economic buyer at a time, but who it is can change. A reorganization, a bigger price or a new budget owner can move approval to someone else, so reps confirm it again whenever the deal changes shape.
How do you find the economic buyer?
Ask your champion who approves a purchase of this size and how the last one was approved. Then ask for a meeting. If the champion cannot or will not arrange it, treat the economic buyer as unknown and the champion as unproven.