MEDDPICC: The proven sales framework you may have never heard of and how it can help you win
- Tony Nissen
- Feb 24
- 6 min read
Updated: May 9
MED what????
Despite what my AI generated General Practitioner friend may have led you to believe - it is not a doctor's garden tool.
In the fast-paced world of B2B and enterprise solution selling, having a robust, data-driven approach to qualifying leads and closing deals is essential for sustained success.
Pioneered by Dick Dunkel and Jack Napoli in 1996 while at PTC - a company specialising in complex software solutions - MEDDPICC (the evolution of MEDDIC) is a powerful framework that helps you thoroughly understand customer needs, anticipate potential roadblocks, and boost your chances of winning complex deals.
The original acronym emerged from Dick’s exercise to answer three critical questions:
Why did PTC win deals?
Why did PTC lose deals?
Why did deals slip at PTC?
Dick discovered six commonalities in the answers, which became the basis and origin of MEDDIC.
As Dick and Jack prepared for a sales education event, Dick jotted the acronym on a whiteboard for review - and the rest is history.
After implementing the newly minted methodology, PTC increased its revenue from $300 million to $1 billion in just four years.
Fast forward to 2025, and thousands of businesses worldwide have adopted MEDDPICC across a broad range of industries, including:
Technology and Enterprise Software
Manufacturing
Cyber Security
Healthcare and Health Tech
Finance
Marketing Technology (Martech)
Cloud Services
Data Management and Integration
With sources such as MEDDIC Academy reporting that companies adopting this framework often see up to a 30% improvement in win rates and a 40% reduction in sales cycles, it’s no wonder MEDDPICC’s popularity has continued to grow.
But what’s in a name?
Let’s take a closer look at the acronym.
Breaking Down the Acronym
MEDDPICC’s success stems from its comprehensive approach. By breaking the sales cycle into discrete, key questions, you ensure every angle is covered—from engaging the right decision-maker to mapping out the paperwork required for final approval.
Here’s a quick reference table to guide you through each component of MEDDPICC:
Element | Key Question | Why It Matters |
M – Metrics | How does the customer define success (KPIs)? | Aligns your solution with concrete, measurable business goals. |
E – Economic Buyer | Who holds the final purchasing authority? | Ensures you engage the ultimate decision-maker for sign-off. |
D – Decision Criteria | What factors will influence their choice? | Helps tailor your pitch to the buyer’s top priorities. |
D – Decision Process | How will they decide (steps, timeline)? | Lets you align with their internal milestones and deadlines. |
P – Paper Process | What formal documentation or approvals are required? | Avoids surprises that can delay closing the deal. |
I – Identify Pain | Which specific challenges is the customer facing? | Positions your solution as the remedy to urgent issues. |
C – Champion | Who is your internal advocate? | A champion can rally support and push for your solution. |
C – Competition | Which other solutions are they considering? | Helps you differentiate and highlight your unique value. |
If you can’t answer one of these questions for a given opportunity, that’s a sign you need to gather more information before committing to a forecast or devoting extensive resources to the deal.
A couple of tips if you are just starting out:
Think of this as more of a BINGO card of the questions you want to answer while working on a deal. It's less about the order you do it in and more about ticking all the boxes.
The golden rule of MEDDPICC: No Champion, No Deal!
What does this look like in the real world?
To help paint the picture in your mind, here are a couple of made-up examples of what answering these questions might look like during a deal.
Example 1: Selling Accounting Software to a Construction Company
Metrics: They aim to reduce invoice processing time by 50%.
Economic Buyer: The CFO has the final say, while the Head of Accounting is a key influencer.
Decision Criteria: Must integrate with existing systems and provide real-time reporting.
Decision Process: Involves an initial demo, team evaluation, and final board presentation.
Paper Process: Requires a formal tender submission and security audit.
Identify Pain: Delays in payment and poor cash flow management.
Champion: The Accounts Payable Manager sees immediate value in automation.
Competition: Two other software providers, neither offering robust mobile access for field staff.
Key Takeaway: By aligning your solution to their 50% reduction target, you demonstrate clear ROI and outshine competitors who may not address that specific goal.
Example 2: Selling High-Tech Manufacturing Equipment
Metrics: Increase production by 30% and reduce energy consumption by 20%.
Economic Buyer: The CEO, influenced by the Operations Manager.
Decision Criteria: Reliability, energy efficiency, and an extensive warranty.
Decision Process: Requires an on-site demo and reference visits.
Paper Process: Must include detailed technical specifications and a cost-benefit analysis.
Identify Pain: The factory is losing customers to competitors with faster, cheaper production.
Champion: The Maintenance Manager, impressed by the easier upkeep of your equipment.
Competition: Another supplier whose machines cost more to operate.
Key Takeaway: When you show exactly how you’ll help them achieve 30% higher output while cutting energy costs, you align perfectly with their metrics for success.
What can I expect to get in return?
What makes MEDDPICC especially valuable is how it helps you:
Improve Forecasting Accuracy: By systematically evaluating each deal’s metrics, stakeholder dynamics, and buying processes, MEDDPICC offers a clear picture of where an opportunity truly stands. This means fewer surprises and more reliable sales forecasts - allowing you to allocate resources more effectively and plan with greater confidence.
Increase Close Rates: When you have a full grasp of a potential customer’s decision-making process and pain points, you can tailor your approach to address their specific needs. This makes your proposal more compelling and significantly raises the likelihood of a successful close.
Prioritise High-Potential Deals: MEDDPICC enables you to quickly spot deals that lack a champion, are missing clear metrics, or have complex paper processes. By identifying these red flags early, you can decide whether to re-engage or focus your energy on opportunities more likely to convert.
Align Teams Around a Common Framework: Because it breaks the sales cycle down into distinct elements, MEDDPICC serves as a unifying language across your sales team, ensuring consistent deal evaluation and more collaborative pipeline management.
In essence, MEDDPICC is about gathering the right information at the right time so you can make informed decisions that improve both sales forecasting and close rates.
Practical Tips for Implementation
"Everything is hard before it is easy." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Like learning any new skill, implementing MEDDPICC may feel awkward at first, and it will take time before it starts to flow.
MEDDPICC isn't for everyone - but if you want to give it a go, here are some tips to help integrate it into your sales team:
Get Your Team on Board
Training Sessions: Organise workshops to ensure every member of your sales team understands each element of MEDDPICC and how it applies to your industry.
Role-Playing: Practise typical sales scenarios, focusing on how to uncover Metrics or identify the Economic Buyer.
Tailor It to Your Business
Industry-Specific Adjustments: If you sell medical devices, for instance, your Paper Process might involve regulatory approvals. If you sell SaaS, security audits might be key.
Custom Checklists: Develop a version of MEDDPICC that speaks directly to the common sales cycles in your sector.
Integrate With Your CRM
Custom Fields: Add MEDDPICC-related fields (e.g., “Economic Buyer Identified?”) to your CRM to keep important details top of mind.
Pipeline Reviews: Centre your sales meetings around the MEDDPICC framework, ensuring each opportunity is fully qualified.
Track, Measure, and Refine
Deal Analysis: Compare close rates and forecasting accuracy before and after implementing MEDDPICC to gauge its impact.
Continuous Improvement: Encourage feedback from the team. Are there elements of MEDDPICC that need more emphasis or are particularly challenging?
Conclusion and Next Steps
MEDDPICC transforms sales qualification from a gut-feel approach into a data-driven process. By dissecting each step of the buying journey, you’ll not only forecast more accurately but also customise your solution to address your customer’s unique pain points and objectives - leading to higher close rates.
Ready to Take Action?
Create a MEDDPICC Checklist: Keep a handy one-pager for quick reference during deal qualification.
Conduct a Pipeline Review: Apply MEDDPICC to your current deals; identify gaps in your knowledge or areas needing more research.
Schedule Team Training: Ensure everyone on your sales team understands and embraces MEDDPICC.
Gather Feedback: After a few months, analyse what’s working, what isn’t, and where you can refine your approach.
By investing in MEDDPICC, you’re setting the stage for more accurate forecasts, higher close rates, and long-lasting customer relationships.
Success might not happen overnight, but with consistency and a willingness to adapt, you’ll soon see why so many top-performing organisations swear by this framework.
P.S. Want to learn more? Check out the MEDDICC channel on YouTube for some great content, which is easy to digest.
Looking to grow your business, get more customers, and reduce your cost of acquiring new customers over time?
The reality is that the way people buy has fundamentally changed. By the time most prospects contact you, they are generally 70% of the way through their decision-making process.
At Tattica, we specialise in developing and implementing Digital Selling Strategies for businesses that want to get ahead of the curve and live rent-free in their prospects' heads long before they are ready to make a purchase.
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