MEDDPICC is a B2B sales qualification framework that checks eight things a complex deal needs before it can be forecast with confidence. The letters stand for Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Paper Process, Implicate the Pain, Champion and Competition. It grew out of MEDDIC, created at PTC in 1996; MEDDICC added Competition, and MEDDPICC added Paper Process.
Letter by letter in a deal review
Teams use MEDDPICC as the evidence standard for a deal. Each letter is qualified only when the buyer has said or done something that proves it: Metrics is the buyer's own number, the Economic Buyer is a person the rep has met, and Paper Process is the list of legal, security and procurement steps with an owner for each. In a deal review the manager asks, letter by letter, whether the evidence is buyer-confirmed, rep-inferred or unknown, and the next call is planned around the weakest letter.
- Metrics: the buyer's own number
- Economic Buyer: a person the rep has met
- Decision Criteria
- Decision Process
- Paper Process: legal, security and procurement steps, each with an owner
- Implicate the Pain
- Champion
- Competition
The rep's own words give it away (illustrative). "Their CFO is the economic buyer" is inferred. "I met Priya, the CFO, on the 14th and she said anything over $100K comes to her" is confirmed.
MEDDPICC tells a rep what must be true about a deal. It does not tell them how to run the conversation, so teams pair it with a selling methodology such as the ValueSelling Framework®. The sales methodology guide covers that pairing, and the full eight letters with questions are on our MEDDPICC page. Caty coaches MEDDPICC deals letter by letter, with the rep on a call.
The letter that moved a close date
This example is illustrative. A rep marks a $120,000 deal as commit. In the review, seven letters hold up, but Paper Process is unknown: nobody has asked whether the buyer's security team reviews new vendors. The manager moves the deal to the best-case category and the rep's next call opens with one question: "After your team decides, who else has to approve a contract like this, and how long did it take last time?" Two weeks later the answer is a six-week security review, and the close date moves before the forecast misses.
Related terms
- What is MEDDIC?, the six-letter original
- MEDDPICC vs MEDDIC
- How to coach MEDDPICC on live deals
- How to roll out a sales methodology on live deals
FAQ
What does MEDDPICC stand for?
MEDDPICC stands for Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Paper Process, Implicate the Pain, Champion and Competition. Some teams write Identify Pain for the I, which is the wording from the original MEDDIC.
What is the difference between MEDDIC and MEDDPICC?
MEDDPICC adds two letters to MEDDIC's six: Paper Process, the approvals between a decision and a signature, and Competition, every alternative the buyer has, including doing nothing. Teams whose deals slip in procurement or go to rivals use the longer version.
Is MEDDPICC a sales methodology?
MEDDPICC is often called a methodology but works as a qualification framework. It defines what must be true about a deal. Teams pair it with a selling methodology, such as the ValueSelling Framework®, to run the conversations that make those things true.