Everything You Should Know About the MEDDIC Sales Process

Working in business-to-business (B2B) sales isn’t easy. It’s a tough job that requires a lot of persistence and can sometimes feel like an uphill battle. However, there are some strategies you can use to make the sales process easier for yourself. One of these strategies is using a framework called MEDDIC. This blog post will discuss the MEDDIC sales process, how it works, and its benefits.

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What is MEDDIC?

Considering the average B2B sales cycle is between 1-6 months, no salesperson wants to miscalculate a lead’s interest. The MEDDIC sales process is a great tool to ensure you're targeting the right customers. Following this process can avoid wasting time on leads that don't lead anywhere. 

MEDDIC stands for:

M – Metrics. You should clearly understand your target customers, the metrics that matter to them, and how they evaluate solutions.

E – Economic buyer. Find out who makes the purchasing decisions at each level of your target customer’s organization (e.g., CIO vs. CFO).

D – Decision criteria. What are their critical decision criteria? How do they prioritize them? Are there any other factors that we should be aware of?

D – Decision process. Where does our product fit into their purchase cycle: How will it be used before and after purchase? Who else is involved in this process—and what role do they play?

I –  Identify pain. What's gone wrong that they need to fix?

C – Champion. Who is your advocate and supporter inside the organization?

Metrics – How Does The Customer Measure Success?

You can’t sell what you don’t understand, and if you don’t know how your customer measures success, you won’t be able to show that your product will help them achieve their goals.

You need to ask questions like:

• How does the customer measure success?
  This is usually some combination of revenue growth, profit margin improvements, and customer satisfaction scores.
• What are their key performance indicators (KPIs)?
  These may include the number of customers served per month or year, the number of new products launched in a quarter, employee turnover rates, etc.
• What are their key metrics?
  These are quantifiable ways for a company to measure its performance—often determined by industry best practices or benchmarks developed by independent third parties such as Gartner Group.

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Economic Buyer – Who is The Person Who Makes The Final Decision?

An economic buyer is a person who has the final say on whether to buy or not. They are typically responsible for making the decision, signing off on it, and authorizing payment from their organization. They may not be the actual user of the product but must ultimately decide if it is worth investing in.

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Decision Criteria – Why Are They Buying It?

The next step is to understand why they are buying it. Ask them about their pain and other solutions they tried. What is the ROI of their problem? What are the deadlines?

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Decision Process – What's The Standard Process They Go Through?

The decision process is highly variable, but there are common steps that most companies follow. The first step in the MEDDIC Sales Process is general awareness. Companies will start with a standard advertising strategy and then move into more targeted campaigns as they narrow their audience to a specific segment of customers.

Next comes consideration, where prospects begin evaluating solutions and vendors through market research and testing before deciding which solution to choose. At this stage, it becomes more formalized because buyers want to ensure they get all the information they need before making a decision.

After consideration comes purchase, which involves choosing a vendor or product after weighing options and exploring alternatives. The main goal at this point is for companies looking for new solutions to evaluate those available for them to decide whether or not they should adopt them within their organization.

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Identify Pain – What's Gone Wrong That They Need To Fix?

Identify the pain points your prospect faces so you can customize your pitch to show how your product or service can alleviate that pain. When it comes to the MEDDIC sales process, pain is a significant factor. The goal of the first stage is to understand the problem.

To do this, you must ask questions and show that you’re listening. For example: “What went wrong?” or “How long have you been experiencing this problem?” Showing empathy in your responses will also help them trust you more and make it easier for them to talk about their issues with you.

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Champion – Inside The Organization, Who Is Your Advocate And Supporter?

The first step is identifying your champion – who is your advocate and supporter? Who do you need to reach out to get things moving forward? Then ask yourself who their champion could be their champion. This will help you determine where your support has been coming from and what it might look like going forward.

Finally, at the end of the day, one person has the final say on whether or not a project gets approved: The decision maker. Make sure that if this project doesn’t align with their goals for growth and profitability, it won't move forward at all.

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The Benefits Of MEDDIC

Every B2B salesperson knows the importance of their job. You're the one that helps bring in new customers and keeps existing ones happy by assisting them in growing their businesses. However, it can be hard to keep your focus when you're talking with so many different types of clients each day. The good news is that there's a simple way to stay focused on what matters most: using the MEDDIC method.

The MEDDIC method can help you:

• Understand the client’s decision process
• Identify key decision-makers
• Understand the client’s budget and timeline
• Gather all the necessary information to ensure you're targeting only qualified leads
• Helps you organize your leads by asking questions about their company’s goals and objectives so you know who to target and when.

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To Recap

Sales reps shooting from the hip can only get your business so far. Without a systemized way to qualify leads, representatives are wasting time and missing vital tasks for closable deals. At Recapped, we’re taking MEDDIC a few steps further.

Surface qualified buyers, enforce a data-driven process, and increase sales by 30% with the proven MEDDPICC methodology.

Get your free template here. This template is a great start.

If you want to take it to the next level, schedule a consultation for a free trial to unlock our Recapped MEDDPICC template.