MEDDIC and MEDDPICC explained

M: Metrics

The measurable result the buyer expects from solving the problem, in their numbers. A metric has a baseline, a target and a date. It is what the economic buyer will use to judge whether the purchase worked.

Listen for: Numbers the buyer volunteers, the KPIs their boss tracks, and phrases like 'we need to get this down to' or 'the board wants'.

1. How do you measure this today?
2. What is the number now, and what does it need to be?
3. By when does it need to change?
4. Who reports on that number, and to whom?
5. What would a good result look like twelve months after you start?
6. If this worked, what would you stop spending time or money on?
7. How much does the current problem cost you in a month or a year?
8. What return would you need to see to justify the change?
9. Which of your team's targets does this affect?
10. How did you arrive at that target?
11. What happened the last time this number moved in the wrong direction?
12. If we could only improve one metric, which one matters most to your leadership?

A 3 looks like: A baseline, a target and a date, stated by the buyer and agreed by the economic buyer.

E: Economic buyer

The person who can release the money and say yes when everyone else says no. It is a role, not a title: in a small company it may be the founder, in a large one a general manager or a chief financial officer. You have not identified them until you know their name and what they care about.

Listen for: Who signs off spend at this level, who the champion has to 'take it to', and who can overrule a committee.

1. Who ultimately approves spend on something like this?
2. Above what amount does it need sign-off from someone else?
3. Who would have to say yes for this to go ahead, even if everyone else agreed?
4. Has that person approved a purchase like this before? How did it go?
5. What does that person care most about this year?
6. How involved do they want to be before the decision?
7. Would it make sense for them to join our next conversation?
8. What would they need to see to be comfortable?
9. Who could stop this project, even late in the process?
10. How does that person usually hear about proposals like this: from you, in a paper, at a meeting?
11. If we disagree with the economic buyer on scope, who decides?

A 3 looks like: Named, met by the account executive, and their priorities and approval threshold confirmed in their own words.

D: Decision criteria

How the buyer will compare options: technical requirements, commercial terms, risk and relationship factors. Some criteria are written in a requirements document; the ones that decide deals are often unwritten, such as 'we will not use a vendor that cannot support us in Perth time'.

Listen for: Must-haves versus nice-to-haves, criteria that sound written by a competitor, and criteria that differ between stakeholders.

1. How will you decide between the options you are looking at?
2. Which requirements are must-haves, and which are nice to have?
3. Is there a written list of requirements? Can we see it?
4. Who wrote the criteria, and what were they trying to avoid?
5. How will you weigh price against capability?
6. What would rule a vendor out straight away?
7. Does IT, security or finance have separate criteria?
8. How important is local support or onshore delivery?
9. What did you dislike about the last vendor in this space?
10. Would the criteria change if the project grew in scope?
11. How will you test each option: a trial, references, a workshop?

A 3 looks like: Written or confirmed criteria, ranked by the buyer, with your fit against each one known.

D: Decision process

The steps and people between now and a decision: who evaluates, who recommends, what meetings happen and in what order, and what date the decision is due. It is different from the paper process, which starts after the decision.

Listen for: Dates, committees, budget cycles, board meetings, and whether the buyer has done this before or is working it out as they go.

1. Walk me through how a decision like this gets made here.
2. Who is involved at each step?
3. When do you want to have made a decision?
4. What is driving that date?
5. What happens between now and then?
6. Is there a committee or a board meeting this needs to go to? When does it meet?
7. Have you bought something like this before? Did that process work?
8. What could slow the decision down?
9. Who has to be consulted, even if they do not get a vote?
10. What do you need from us at each step?
11. If we agreed a timeline together now, what would it look like?

A 3 looks like: Every step, owner and date known and agreed with the champion, ideally written as a shared plan.

P: Paper process

How a contract actually gets signed after the decision: legal review, procurement, vendor onboarding, security questionnaires, insurance certificates and the signatories. Deals that are 'verbally won' sit here for weeks when nobody asked about it early.

Listen for: Procurement teams, panels, standard terms, security reviews and end of financial year deadlines. In Australia, many buyers' financial year ends on 30 June, which compresses approvals in May and June.

1. Once you have decided, what happens before a contract can be signed?
2. Does procurement get involved? At what stage?
3. Do you use your own contract terms or a vendor's?
4. How long does legal review usually take?
5. Is there a security or privacy review for new suppliers?
6. Do new vendors need to be on a panel or a preferred supplier list?
7. Who actually signs, and are there spend limits on their authority?
8. Are there insurance or compliance documents we should prepare now?
9. Does your financial year end affect when this can be signed?
10. What has held up a contract with a new supplier in the past?
11. Can we start the paperwork in parallel with the evaluation?

A 3 looks like: Every signing step, owner and typical duration known, with documents started before the verbal decision.

I: Identify pain

The business problem that makes change necessary, who feels it and what it costs. Pain is what creates urgency. Without it, even a good metric becomes a nice-to-have project that loses to the next priority.

Listen for: Consequences, not symptoms: lost revenue, missed targets, risk, people leaving, customers complaining, a boss asking questions.

1. What prompted you to look at this now?
2. What is not working the way it should?
3. Can you give me a recent example?
4. Who feels this problem most?
5. What does it cost you in time, money or risk?
6. What have you tried so far? What happened?
7. What happens if nothing changes in the next six months?
8. How does this affect your own targets?
9. How is your leadership seeing this problem?
10. Is this getting better, worse or staying the same?
11. Where does fixing this sit against your other priorities this year?
12. If you solved it, what would you be able to do that you cannot do now?

A 3 looks like: A specific, costed problem the buyer described with examples, linked to a person and to the metric.

C: Champion

A person inside the account who has power or influence, wants you to win and is willing to sell for you when you are not in the room. A friendly contact is not a champion until you have tested them: have they shared information, arranged access or pushed back on your behalf?

Listen for: Personal stakes in the outcome, information they share without being asked, and whether they can get the economic buyer on a call.

1. What would solving this mean for you personally?
2. Why do you think this is worth pursuing when others might not?
3. Who else needs convincing, and what will they push back on?
4. How would you present this internally?
5. Can you help us get time with the economic buyer?
6. What should we know that we have not asked?
7. Who is likely to be against this, and why?
8. Would you be willing to review our proposal before it goes to the group?
9. Have you championed a new supplier before? What happened?
10. What would make you look good in this decision?
11. If we hit a roadblock, how would you want us to handle it?

A 3 looks like: A named person who has already done something for you, such as sharing criteria or arranging the economic buyer meeting.

C: Competition

Every alternative the buyer could choose: other vendors, building it in-house, using a partner, or doing nothing. Doing nothing is often the toughest competitor in a B2B deal, so treat the status quo as a named rival.

Listen for: Other vendors in the evaluation, an internal team proposing to build, and signs the buyer could live with the problem a while longer.

1. Who else are you talking to?
2. Have you considered solving this in-house?
3. What would you do if you did not buy anything this year?
4. How did you hear about the other options?
5. What do you like about the alternatives so far?
6. Is there an incumbent supplier? How is that relationship?
7. Who inside the business prefers a different approach?
8. What would make you choose someone else over us?
9. Has anyone already given you a proposal or a price?
10. Where do we stand against the others on your criteria?
11. If you stayed as you are, what would that cost you?

A 3 looks like: Every alternative named, including the status quo, with your position against each known and a plan to win.

MEDDPICC DEAL REVIEW: {{account}}   Opportunity: {{name}}   Stage: {{stage}}
Close date: {{date}}   Value: {{amount}}   Owner: {{AE}}

Metrics: the measurable outcome the buyer expects
{{metric, baseline and target, in the buyer's numbers}}   Score: {{0 to 3}}

Economic buyer: the person who can release the money
{{name, title}}. Met: {{yes or no}}. What they care about: {{priorities}}   Score: {{0 to 3}}

Decision criteria: how they will compare options
{{technical, commercial and relationship criteria}}   Score: {{0 to 3}}

Decision process: the steps and people from now to a decision
{{steps, owners and dates}}   Score: {{0 to 3}}

Paper process: how a contract gets signed
{{legal review, procurement, security review, signatories, typical time}}   Score: {{0 to 3}}

Identify pain: the problem and its cost
{{pain, who feels it, what it costs, what happens if nothing changes}}   Score: {{0 to 3}}

Champion: the person selling for you inside the account
{{name, title}}. Tested by: {{what they have done for you}}   Score: {{0 to 3}}

Competition: every alternative, including doing nothing
{{vendors, in-house build, status quo}}. Our position: {{position}}   Score: {{0 to 3}}

Total: {{total}} of 24
Biggest gap: {{element}}   Action to close it: {{action, owner, date}}

MEETING HANDOVER: {{prospect company}}
Meeting: {{date and time}}, {{length}} minutes, {{video or phone}}
Booked by: {{SDR name}}   Account executive: {{AE name}}

Who is attending
{{name}}, {{title}}. Reports to {{manager, if known}}.
Others invited or mentioned: {{names and titles}}

Why they agreed to meet (their words)
"{{the reason they gave, as close to verbatim as possible}}"

What they told us
Current situation: {{tools, team, process}}
Problem or goal: {{what is not working or what they want to achieve}}
Impact they mentioned: {{cost, time, risk, revenue}}
Timing: {{deadline, contract end, project start, budget cycle}}
Decision: {{who else is involved, how they buy}}
Budget: {{anything said, or "not discussed"}}

Qualification score: {{framework}} {{score}} of {{max}}. Gaps: {{elements scored below 2}}

What the prospect expects from the meeting
{{what the SDR promised: a conversation, a comparison, a specific question answered}}

Watch outs
{{objections raised, competitor mentioned, sensitivity, anything not to say}}