Originally published in 2018 and updated for today’s B2B sales teams.
MEDDIC and The Challenger Sale are often compared, but they are not the same kind of sales system. MEDDIC and MEDDPICC® are full-scope, execution-focused sales methodologies, with a strong emphasis on qualification and assessment. They help sellers determine whether an opportunity is real, understand how the buyer will decide, identify who holds economic power, and define what must happen to win. The Challenger Sale is more of a commercial conversation approach built around teaching, tailoring, and taking control of the buyer conversation. In complex B2B sales, they can work together: Challenger helps shape the conversation, while MEDDIC/MEDDPICC® helps assess, qualify, manage, forecast, and execute the deal.
In the MEDDPICC and MEDDIC Sales workshops that I facilitate, sometimes people bring up the comparison between the Challenger Sales and MEDDIC or MEDDPICC. In most cases my audience had only heard about the Challenger Sales but never experienced it as a methodology. Despite that, I thought sharing my viewpoint here and asking for your opinion would help analyze the positioning of the two Sales approaches.
| Question | MEDDIC / MEDDPICC® | The Challenger Sale |
|---|---|---|
| Main purpose | Qualify, manage, and execute complex B2B deals | Reframe the buyer’s thinking and lead the commercial conversation |
| Best use case | Enterprise sales, creating urgency in long sales cycles, enlarging deals | Insight-led selling, challenging assumptions, |
| Core strength | Deal qualification, forecast discipline, close bigger & faster, increased sales productivity | Teaching, tailoring, taking control |
| Main risk | Used mechanically as a checklist | Difficult to implement as a repeatable enterprise sales methodology, especially in younger sales teams |
| Can they work together? | Yes | Yes |
How do MEDDIC & MEDDPICC compare to The Challenger Sale?
In fact they are so different that comparing them to the Challenger Sale is like comparing Apples to Oranges. One is a full-scope, execution-focused sales methodology with a strong emphasis on qualification and assessment to increase sales and shorten sales cycle. While the other is a concept and idea in the communication style helping in being more convincing, respected and trusted in a sales campaign. The two don’t compete with each other; they complement each other and are omnipresent in each other.
Challenger is powerful for the conversation. MEDDIC/MEDDPICC® is stronger for qualification, execution, and deal management. They are different tools.
Is The Challenger Sale a “Methodology”?
The Challenger Sale is a brilliant concept. In this related article I have written about things I like about it and the challenges of implementing it in a sales force. As I mentioned there, I am a firm believer in the Challenger Sale approach; successful sellers take control of the sales process, influence the client’s decision criteria, and lead the conversation. I am yet to be convinced in the efficiency of the Challenger Sale as a “sales methodology”. One that you would want to implement in an existing sales force to sell to Enterprise clients. The Challenger Sale started from a study, theoretical reflections, and academics trying to get into execution.
MEDDIC & MEDDPICC are all about EXECUTION!
MEDDIC Sales is almost the contrary. Instead of starting with a reflection on a concept resulting from a study, MEDDIC derives from execution and best practices by doers. MEDDPICC, as a course delivered to the newly hired sales reps at PTC, articulated and documented the best sales practices in the field. Those practices assured 40 quarters of consecutive growth for PTC in a very conservative, competitive, and closed market (CAD/PLM) dominated by strong, profitable, established vendors. It got into academics only after being a successful and proven methodology in the field.
In the Challenger Sale approach, the seller should understand and master the industry’s problems. If they fail to master the industry’s challenges, how can they play the role of a teacher? Such a seller needs either a few years of training or needs to be hired as a senior seller already in the industry. Unlike the Challenger Sales, MEDDIC & MEDDPICC courses can be taught to any seller with no industry experience and make them successful as of their first quarter with the company.
MEDDIC is very practical and easy to learn and apply. At MEDDIC Academy, the basic course (The Full MEDDPICC) lasts about 3 hours. In-person workshops are typically delivered in half a day. Challenger-style selling can require significant industry knowledge, business acumen, and coaching before it becomes natural in real sales conversations. MEDDIC/MEDDPICC®, by contrast, can often be taught as a practical qualification and deal-management discipline much faster, because it gives sellers a concrete structure for inspecting opportunities.
MEDDIC & MEDDPICC are company/product-agnostic!
When the seller switches jobs and moves into a new industry, the MEDDIC sales knowledge and skills follow them. The Challenger Sale is not the same since they need to learn the specifics of the new industry before becoming credible when discussing the new industry’s issues.
Finally, although The Challenger Sale is not new, few known vendors can testify to a successful implementation with results. At MEDDIC Academy, we have successfully trained sellers at ALL TEN AMONG TOP TEN Enterprise Tech companies. Among them, you can see Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, SAP, Oracle, Sales Force, Service Now, Cisco, Fortinet and the likes.
When should a sales team use MEDDIC, MEDDPICC®, or Challenger?
- Use MEDDIC/MEDDPICC® when your sales team needs better qualification, forecast accuracy, deal inspection, and execution discipline.
- Use The Challenger Sale when your sellers are experienced executives from the industry who can reframe buyer thinking, bring commercial insight, and lead stronger conversations.
- Use both together when you sell complex solutions and need both strong buyer conversations and strong deal qualification.
If your team needs a practical framework for qualifying and managing complex sales opportunities, MEDDIC Academy offers MEDDIC and MEDDPICC® training for individuals, managers, and enterprise sales teams:
- MEDDIC certification
- MEDDPICC® training/course comparison page
- Workshops page
- And if you don’t know where to start, the MEDDIC sales training page will help.