If you are considering implementing MEDDICC or one of its variants, you are well on your way to building a foundation that will help drive repeatable revenue growth. However, MEDDICC is just one piece of the puzzle.
In this downloadable PDF, you'll learn how MEDDICC works with an effective sales process and a value selling methodology to create an environment where sales reps know how to execute, managers know how to coach and leaders know how to accurately predict revenue.
Too often, sales leaders hastily implement new processes for salespeople and managers, in hopes of improving qualification across the sales organization. The rush to results means there is a lack of thought around making the new processes, content and tools relevant, as well as finding ways to continually reinforce them. These new edicts from upper management fail to incorporate how sales reps are having conversations or how they need to engage with the buyer to effectively qualify. As a result, what typically remains is a bunch of CRM fields that provide little value for the organization. People fill in the information, but the fields don’t mean anything because there is no accountability associated with them... and they sure can’t help you predict where you are in a quarter.
As with any change initiative, there's no quick fix for improving qualification and shortening the sales process. However, it takes a commitment, along with focused time and resources to transform your organization into one that accelerates growth with predictable revenue. The leaders who have the guts to take on a sales transformation initiative around MEDDICC reap great rewards.
MEDDICC is a sales qualification tool that is often celebrated for its easy-to-remember components and for its ability to help leaders dissect deals. Created at Parametric Technology Corporation in the 1990s, the system helped PTC accurately deliver their number to Wall Street for 40+ quarters straight. Over the years, the salespeople who used the tool at PTC in the 1990s took it with them as they moved to other companies and took on leadership roles. Since then, it has been a highly celebrated and used qualification tool, particularly among high-tech sales organizations. There's no doubt that there is power in the acronym and the system behind it. MEDDICC’s strength, when implemented correctly, is how it helps sales teams dissect an opportunity, ensuring that all the pieces are in place to effectively move a singular deal forward and close it at a premium.
We receive frequent inquiries about implementing MEDDICC. It can help leaders "stop the bleeding" in a lot of areas and at the same time, it can build momentum around a sales process. But, it’s important to use it for what it is and understand what it’s not. Launching MEDDICC (or one of its variants) without an effective sales process to support it — won't enable your sales team to improve business predictability. At the same time, implementing it without providing your sales teams with the ability to articulate a value-based sales message will only get you so far. Implementing MEDDICC on its own has the risk of creating an environment where salespeople may know what to do, but they don’t know how. They don't know how to have the necessary conversations to further qualify a deal.
MEDDICC's specific function is to qualify opportunities. It’s a tool, merely a checklist for keeping qualification benchmarks top of mind. It doesn’t tell sales reps how to go and get that information. Although it’s commonly confused with a sales process or a way to have better sales conversations, MEDDICC requires a solid sales process and value-selling methodology to maximize its impact. Our founder, John Kaplan uses the analogy of an x-ray to explain what MEDDICC is and what it's not.
"Think of MEDDICC as an x-ray. It tells you where you're hurt (where your deals have gaps), but it doesn't tell you how to fix them. You can't fix your deals or solve your forecasting issues without having both the x-ray to identify gaps and the treatment so you can fix them."
While MEDDICC helps reps and managers identify gaps in opportunities, an effective sales process tells reps what they should do at any given time in an opportunity’s lifecycle. When used together, a defined sales process and MEDDICC, create an effective discipline around sales execution.
It’s difficult to make MEDDICC successful without a sales process that is (1) aligned to how your customers buy and (2) defines who does what as a deal progresses and when they do it. An effective sales process allows for inspection and planning – in advance. Here are five questions you can use to assess the effectiveness of your sales process for possible red flags and opportunities to improve:
When your sales teams have clear answers to the above questions, it is easier for them to execute against the MEDDICC components.
Companies that accurately predict revenue have implemented a consistent sales qualification process and language that becomes a part of their sales organization’s DNA, weaving it into every core operation and deal. Then, MEDDICC sits on top of the sales process to ensure sales teams are spending time on the right opportunities and performing the right sales activities to hit their predicted number on time. When there is a consistent sales process that incorporates MEDDICC qualification, sales teams and managers work together to execute MEDDICC by mapping out deals, testing the strength of opportunities, and reinforcing high-value sales activities. As managers and sellers work together to identify qualification gaps using MEDDICC, they assess what’s needed to fill the gaps and define where the deal truly lies on any given day — which gives leadership an accurate picture of every opportunity in the pipeline.
Everyone in the entire sales organization, and supporting departments, know their role and how to master the hand-off to the next person or department. There’s a consistent language that gets everyone (from leadership down to the rep level) to evaluate consistently where any particular deal lies in the pipeline.
“It’s really an invaluable tool that when used correctly can drive extreme predictability into your business, we were nearly 100% accurate in every quarterly forecast after deploying MEDDICC.” - Joe Marcin, former SVP of Global Sales at ClickSoftware
2. Connecting the Sales Process with the Sales MessageGreat sales leaders ensure their teams have a productive sales process and qualification methodology. But, those teams also need to know how to have the right types of conversations, ones that support moving a deal through those critical qualification steps. They may know what's missing in a deal, but do they know how to have the right conversations to fill in those gaps? That’s why a sales messaging framework is critical to realizing the power of MEDDICC. Having a framework in place provides the tool that brings together qualification parameters with the sales conversation.
It’s making this connection that really moves the needle and where most of the sales leaders we work with start to see the bigger picture of combining MEDDICC with other key areas of sales effectiveness.
By providing your reps with a buyer-focused messaging framework , your salespeople will be able to have the conversations necessary to fill gaps identified by MEDDICC and instill value in their deals while they qualify.
Buyer-focused messaging enables your salespeople to be ‘audible-ready’ or prepared to quickly respond and adapt, based on what the customer communicates about their complex business issues. This ability can be crucial to moving a deal forward at a high value, especially when new decision-makers are introduced and competitive differentiation becomes critical. The result? Reps are able to:
Not only will your reps identify the key components and gaps in their deals, but they'll be able to have the conversations necessary to close them.
For more information on how implementing a value-based sales messaging framework and qualification process can propel sales organizations forward, watch this on-demand webinar on How MEDDICC Drives Revenue Predictability.
While important, MEDDICC is just one step to a fully enabled sales performance engine. Consider it as part of your roadmap to success. Achieving revenue predictability, increased deal velocity and higher win rates and margins, requires a great qualification tool, sales process and value-based sales message. MEDDICC powers your reps' ability to identify the highest-value opportunities. A great sales process and buyer-focused message powers your reps' ability to progress and close those high-value opportunities, repeatedly.
It can be overwhelming to think about where to start making changes in your sales organizations. Even simply pursuing one initiative is a great first step toward elevating numbers. A sales qualification and/or messaging transformation initiative can improve your sales teams’ ability to increase average deal size and win rates consistently. In fact, due to budget or timing restraints, some of the sales leaders we work with decide to launch MEDDICC first to move their organization in the right direction and build familiarity. Then, they move forward with a sales messaging and/or sales process initiative to further build a sales engine that drives predictable growth.
While there are many ways to launch a sales transformation initiative, one thing is certain. If you don't make a change, you will continue to see the same results. Don't wait for your challenges to correct themselves. Create a roadmap for success and take action.
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