MEDDIC is the most renowned Sales Qualification Methodology. It is applicable to any complex Enterprise Sales Process. MEDDIC may be referred to as the MEDDIC CHECKLIST or even the MEDDIC SALES PROCESS (imperfect).
Learn more about MEDDIC, with its variants MEDDICC and MEDDPICC, here.
What does the acronym MEDDIC stand for?
Metrics: Quantification of the potential gain and, ultimately, the economic benefit
Economic Buyer: Interaction with the person who has decision control on the funds for the PO
Decision Process: Process defined by the company to reach the purchase decision
Decision Criteria: Criteria used by the company to make the purchase decision and choose among options
Identify Pain: Actual pains at the company that would require your product/service to be relieved
Champion: Powerful & influential persons at the company who are favorable to your solution
The level of knowledge, control, and progress of each of the above elements in a specific account provides the salesperson with a kind of CHECKLIST that is easy to use and remember. Reviewing the MEDDIC CHECKLIST will result in an objective assessment of the level of qualification in the sales campaign and the degree of confidence in the sales forecast. The unchecked elements on the MEDDIC CHECKLIST will point the sales team to the right actions in the account, leading to closing that deal.
What Is MEDDPICC®?
MEDDPICC ®, a trademark owned by Darius Lahouitfard, the founder of MEDDIC Academy, is a course commercialized online and in person. It covers:
Metrics: Quantification of the potential gain and, ultimately, the economic benefit
Economic Buyer: Interaction with the person who has decision control on the funds for the PO
Decision Criteria: Criteria used by the company to make the purchase decision and choose among options
Decision Process: Process defined by the company to reach the purchase decision
The Value Triangle: A visual representation of our value for the client’s needs vs our competitor.
Paper Process: Formal procurement process that the customer has defined internally for all suppliers, including security review, legal, purchasing, etc.
Identify Pain: Actual pains at the company that would require your product/service to be relieved
Champion: Powerful & influential persons at the company who are favorable to your solution
Competition: The alternatives that the customer is considering alongside your solution, including another supplier, internal developments, or simply status quo (i.e., no decision)
ROI: Return on Investment or Payback period – How to develop any metrics into an ROI pitch
Say No: Why, When, and How to Say No
Champion Development: How to identify, develop, and test champions
Objection Handling
MEDDPICC Score calculator
The level of knowledge, control, and progress of each of the above elements in a specific account provides the salesperson with an easy-to-use and remember MEDDPICC CHECKLIST. Reviewing the MEDDPICC CHECKLIST will result in an objective assessment of the level of qualification in the sales campaign and the degree of confidence in the sales forecast. The unchecked elements on the MEDDPICC CHECKLIST will point the sales team to the right actions in the account, leading to closing that deal.
Who Created MEDDIC & MEDDPICC®?
No one single person. The methodology results from the best practices of the initial sales leaders at PTC, where MEDDIC took shape. That initial team of sales managers and VPs in the early 90s, composed of a dozen trailblazers, are the true creators of MEDDIC. The company grew from 0 to $1B in sales in 10 years under Steve Walske, PTC’s CEO. (read his testimonial about MEDDIC & the book “Always Be Qualifying” here). PTC sales leaders played a key role in the creation of MEDDIC. Then, training facilitators at PTC were asked to formalize the best practices, which they did. That said, key contributors to MEDDIC, all former PTC employees, are:
Darius Lahoutifard was one of those early sales leaders at PTC who founded MEDDIC Academy, the first online platform teaching MEDDIC and MEDDPICC and commercializing courses accessible to all. He also authored the first book ever written, published, and sold on MEDDIC and MEDDPICC, an Amazon Bestseller. Before that, he was also the first to publish related slides on Slideshare and market his private training sessions on MEDDIC and MEDDPICC.
Dick Dunkel and Jack Napoli, as PTC employees (training facilitators during the 90s at PTC), formalized the initial programs and delivered MEDDIC training to many salespeople during the new hire onboarding (a simplified version of MEDDIC then).
Mike McGuiness, John McMahon, and several other early sales leaders and executives at PTC (together with Darius Lahoutifard and several other international executives) figured out the recipe and best practices with their quota-carrying sales teams before asking operations to formalize these best practices into training.
What is the history of MEDDPICC®?
MEDDPICC is the evolution of MEDDIC, which finds its roots at PTC, a software maker founded in 1988 and headquartered in Boston. PTC had to grow fast while the competitors, including IBM, Dassault Systems, Siemens, and Computervision, were working on their products to catch up.
Under Steve Walske’s leadership, the collective efforts of the PTC sales organization resulted in a unique success story in the history of technology. Growing from inception to $1B revenue in 10 years was rare. Through discipline and execution, during 40 consecutive quarters of unstoppable growth, the initial sales leaders at PTC made it possible. Some of their best practices were put together as a checklist by the training teams at the headquarters, and they were given an internal name: MEDDIC. While the MEDDIC Checklist is sometimes considered as MEDDPICC’s ancestor, in terms of concept, the MEDDPICC sales training program and course curriculum at MEDDIC Academy is a lot more than just a concept or framework.
MEDDIC was the result of teamwork, not one person’s creation. Some key executives who contributed to MEDDIC are:
> Steve Walske, the mastermind strategist, the CEO
> Dick Harrison, the first seller hired by Walske (Became the CRO per today’s language)
> Mike Mc Guinness and John Mc Mahon joined soon after and quickly became sales VPs who were instrumental in the initial growth, especially in the US
> Joachim Fietz, Head of Germany and Western Europe, the 2nd market after the US
> Darius Lahoutifard, Head of France and Southern Europe, the most strategic market where PTC faced the toughest competition
> Anne Gary, Jack Napoli, and Dick Dunkel, the internal training team.
> And many more Country Directors and VPs of Sales
MEDDIC was just an internal concept for over a decade since PTC was not a sales training company. To our knowledge, the following notable events helped shape the current status of sales training offers around MEDDIC and MEDDPICC.
> In 2003, Force Management, founded by Grant Wilson and David Kaplan, introduced a series of in-person training services branded “The Command of The Message” and similar marks.
> In 2006, Jack Napoli’s CIS, aka “The Godfather of MEDDIC”, started offering in-person training services branded as MEDDIC.
> Also in 2006, Darius Lahoutifard started offering in-person training services branded MEDDIC & MEDDPICC through his company 01consulting.
> In 2013, Darius Lahoutifard published the first educational material branded MEDDPICC on Slideshare, the most popular repository of corporate slides during those years. The company was later acquired by LinkedIn.
> In May 2017, MEDDIC Academy became the first eLearning platform to offer MEDDPICC courses online, including videos, audio, slides, ebooks, etc. MEDDIC Academy’s offer included the first MEDDPICC vILT (Virtual Instructor Led Training). According to Google Trends, that’s when MEDDIC and MEDDPICC became popular quickly.
> In June 2020, Darius Lahoutifard published the first book on MEDDIC and MEDDPICC, “Always Be Qualifying, MEDDIC, MEDDPICC.” The book became an Amazon Best Seller. Its educational style makes it practical learning material similar to a workbook. Steve Walske recommended it.
> In June 2021, John Mc Mahon published The Qualified Sales Leader, a highly popular book on sales qualification. The book is written in a story-telling style, focusing on sales leadership.
> In 2024, Force Management launched its eLearning platform, branded Ascender.
MEDDPICC courses, training programs, workshops, and other educational materials are exclusively offered at MEDDIC Academy.
Who owns the rights now?
MEDDPICC, as a course and training service, is a registered trademark owned by Darius Lahoutifard and his affiliated legal entities. All course contents are registered at the US copyright office and protected by US and international laws.
What’s the benefit of using the MEDDIC or MEDDPICC®?
+ Monitors the level of qualification/progress of a deal
+ Self-assessment by each salesperson
+ Leads to the next sales activity during the sales campaign
+ No Discount needed to win a deal
+ Creates real pressure from the client side instead of trying to use your quarter-end as a compelling event in vain
+ Improves accuracy of sales forecasts
+ Increases revenue through sales efficiency thanks to better qualification
+ Reduces costs thanks to early disqualifications of the deals that are not winnable
+ Creates common language within the sales force
How Can We Implement the MEDDIC or MEDDPICC® Methodology Within Our Sales Force?
We train your sales force starting with as short as a half-day training & workshops, in-person or through state-of-the-art yet accessible distance learning methods. We also offer to coach your team through weekly sales meetings until MEDDIC becomes a habit. Finally, we offer many modern and traditional tools and media to train your teams. Check them out here:
+ Learn the methodology through our famous self-paced eLearning: Online MEDDIC Courses.
+ Train your first-line sales managers to coach their teams and inspect deals under MEDDIC: here.
Copyright 2002-2024 - MEDDIC ACADEMY By 01consulting - Los Angeles, CA & Paris, France
MEDDPICC® is a registered trademark and should not be used without prior written permission from MEDDIC Academy.
"MEDDIC Academy" and "MEDDIC Certified" are trademarks belonging to MEDDIC Academy and should not be used without prior written permission from MEDDIC Academy.
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