MEDDICC Sales Qualification Steps & Examples
1. Metrics
What does the prospect hope to gain from your product or service? A metric should be a quantifiable measure of the value your organization’s products or services can provide. You will use this metric to prove ROI and help the customer build a business case.Qualified opportunity: The prospect has a clear, measurable metric for determining the value of your product or service. For example, how much time or money they can save as a result of implementing your offering.Unqualified opportunity: The prospect’s metrics are ambiguous; it is unclear how they will determine the difference your product or service makes.
2. Economic Buyer
The economic buyer actually has the authority to make or approve the purchase. They have ultimate veto or approval power.Make sure you know who this is, engage them at the right stage of the opportunity, and do the right level of qualification when you meet with them. Otherwise, your deal will be at risk.Qualified opportunity: Your sales team can identify all of the key decision makers, including the economic buyer, and knows how and when to get in touch with them. You also know how to establish credibility with the economic buyer, such as the objectives they want to achieve. .Unqualified opportunity: It is unclear who is in charge of purchasing or budgeting in the prospect’s organization, or the other contacts are reluctant to introduce you to the economic buyer (which could be a red flag for the opportunity).
3. Decision Criteria
How will the prospect evaluate your product or service compared to other vendor offerings? Decision criteria are the requirements your offering must satisfy for the customer to make an investment. These criteria are typically categorized based on financial, technical, and legal or regulatory requirements.Qualified opportunity: The prospect’s evaluation criteria matches their metrics for determining success and/or are reasonable in regard to the product or service offered. The economic buyer has signed off on the decision criteria, and your sales team is confident that your offering can satisfy them.Unqualified opportunity: Your team can’t determine how the prospect will decide whether or not to purchase your product, or they seem to have decision criteria that you can’t satisfy or that has little alignment with the value your offerings provide.
4. Decision Process
What does the prospect’s decision-making process look like? What steps are involved, who will be involved, how long will it take, and what are the possible bottlenecks or pain points that may prevent or slow down the deal?Qualified opportunity: The prospect’s decision-making process is clear at all stages; your sales team can identify who is in charge of decision making at each level and why.Unqualified opportunity: The prospect’s decision-making process is ambiguous. Steps aren’t clearly defined, the timeline is well understood, and your sales team is not confident they would know why they may lose the deal.
5. Identify Pain
What are the prospect’s pain points or business challenges? What are the problems your product or service can actually solve for the prospect? Your prospect may or may not be aware of these pain points If they aren’t, help them understand the magnitude of the problem, what the impact would be if they left it unaddressed, and how resolving the issue can help their business initiatives.Qualified opportunity: The prospect can articulate the pain points, understands the impact, and knows they would genuinely benefit from your products or services (and your sales team is confident they can demonstrate why it’s helpful to the prospect).Unqualified opportunity: The prospect cannot identify any relevant pain points and/or the pain isn’t compelling enough for them to take action. In these cases, it’s unlikely that your sales team can confidently demonstrate the value of your products or services.
6. Champion
A champion is someone within the prospect’s organization with a vested interest in purchasing your product or service. They are your primary advocate and have the power or influence to help advance the opportunity.Qualified opportunity: Someone within the prospect’s organization has a vested interest in purchasing your product or service, and your sales team is reasonably confident they will advocate for your product or service, even when you’re not present.Unqualified opportunity: You cannot identify a champion who has the right level of advocacy or influence and/or they are relucant to help connect you with others in the organization, such as the economic buyer.
7. Competition
Outline the competitive landscape related to this opportunity. Understanding the competition (internal and external) will help you better position your offerings. Be sure to validate your strategy and key differentiators with your champion and economic buyer.Qualified opportunity: You have a good grasp of the other vendors you’re competing against for the opportunity. The differentiators for your product or service relative to the competition are well documented and understood by your champion and economic buyer, and they understand the inherent value.Unqualified opportunity: You don’t yet know who you’re competing against, and you can’t validate any competitive positioning with your buyers.
Why Should You Use the MEDDICC Template
Much like MEDDICC itself, the MEDDICC template is meant to expedite and optimize your sales qualification process. By applying a single, standardized MEDDICC template to each prospect, you will quickly identify which are qualified or, conversely, which prospects require more nurturing or are not a good fit . Not only will this help you improve your win rate in the immediate term, but it will also help you optimize your ideal customer profile (ICP) moving forward.
