The MEDDIC method is a useful B2B sales technique. It allows a high level of qualification of commercial opportunities. MEDDIC also gives you a framework for reflection to better pilot your sales process by asking the right questions. In the end MEDDIC qualifies your sales as much as your prospects!
MEDDIC is actually an acronym for : Metrics, Economic buyer, Decision criteria, Decision process, Identify pain et Champion.
MEDDIC’s objective is to help you sell more by having a better control of the sales process.
And to do this, it does not ask you to question the organization of your sales team … No, it invites you to question what you know about your customers and prospects and to position them at the heart of the process.
The MEDDIC sales methodology gives you a framework, a methodological grid to answer these two questions. Here is everything you need to know about your prospects:
This Sales qualification methodology tells you how your prospects fit in with your value proposition.
By using qualification frameworks you know that the more qualified the prospect, the more likely you are to close the deal.
We owe the MEDDIC sales process to two men: Jack Napoli and Dick Dunkel. They both worked at PTC corporation, a software company.
With MEDDIC, the PTC enterprise sales team recorded 40 quarters of continuous growth during the 90s!
What is special about the products sold by PTC? High-cost and above all disruptive tools, necessarily transforming organizations.
The MEDDIC system then proved to be a perfect tool for this type of complex sale, in particular thanks to the identification of a Champion. He was the guarantor of the integration of the project internally at PTC’s customers.
Since then, MEDDIC has been considered particularly interesting for :
The MEDDIC technique has a great advantage for the teams: it allows to give a structure with common language elements to the sales and marketing teams.
In long sales, which involve many interlocutors and many months of exchanges, one can very quickly lose track of the sale so your organization stands to benefit from this alignment.
By using the MEDDIC method and by answering each of the questions you will have all the keys in hand to keep perfect control of your sales cycle.
Marketing teams will be able to create the right materials and content to convince all stakeholders.
Sales managers will be able to keep in touch with prescribers and buyers more easily for more effective sales.
In the end, this control guarantees you a higher close rate and therefore a better revenue !
MEDDIC’s first line of thought is economic indicators.
You will be able to describe all the functionalities of your product…
To do this, you need to identify the economic benefits and gains of your solution for your prospect… and quantify and/or measure them.
This will be reflected in your speech:
Be interested in figures that are relevant to your customers. In a word, understand the ROI (return on investment) expected by your prospects.
From now on, you must identify who in your prospect’s company will give the validation to buy your solution.
Indeed, if you exchange with a person who does not have the right strategic position, you risk wasting time.
Don’t hesitate to use social networks such as Linkedin to write directly to the presumed decision-maker or buyer.
If the title of his position does not give you enough information about his decision-making power, do not hesitate to propose a telephone meeting and ask him to invite people who will be involved in the project.
To qualify your leads, you also need to know what the decisive criteria are for them.
Often, customers will meet several sales people before making a purchase, so what are the criteria that will make the difference?
Make sure you investigate :
Let’s now look at the decision-making process prior to purchase.
It’s about looking at who makes the decisions, what timeframes and processes are in place to decide:
Make sure you list the organization’s problems and explain why and how you can help solve them.
Also ask yourself about the consequences of inaction in the face of their problem. In this sense, you can feed your discussions with testimonials from companies that have remained inactive and are now paying the consequences…
Remember to be concrete with figures: consequences on turnover, brand image or even production delays caused.
Finally, make sure that the prospect knows your solutions and that he is convinced by your ability to help him.
The “Champion” is your ally. He’s a key character for your sale.
He has the ability to “evangelize” your product or service in the company. He can help you sell your product by selling to the right people within the organization.
Often, the prescriber is the individual most affected by the problem you are going to solve. This explains his strong involvement. Note: he is not necessarily a decision-maker buyer, but he is in any case respected in his field of expertise.
The prescriber believes in you to help him change his business or introduce a new tool. He is generally very transparent about the organization in the company and will potentially put you in contact with the right people.
Observe his subjects of interest but also the questions he asks himself. You can provide him with documents to feed his curiosity or call a meeting to clarify a point.
So, are you able to fill out this analysis grid for each of your leads?
And to accompany your reflection, do not hesitate to consult our MEDDIC checklist:
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