Complete Guide to MEDDIC Sales Acronym & Sales Terms

The MEDDIC sales framework was created in the 90s to find a way to qualify customers for a higher level of success and efficiency - in basic terms, whether you should put the required time and resources into a customer to get them in line for a deal. The MEDDIC sales framework and the process have helped sales workers qualify potential customers better, leading to a higher closing rate, increased upsells, and a boosted retention rate.

MEDDIC stands for Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, and Champion - these are elements that a sales worker will refer to when qualifying a customer during a sales cycle.

Metrics - Through discovery, you will find the key quantifiable metrics that the customer will want to improve by or what your solution can provide in a metric output. Once you know what metrics the customer works around, you can look at how your solution provides a significant ROI from a financial standpoint.

Economic Buyer - This is how you define who makes key decisions within an organization. By finding out who has true authority and the ability to sign off on contracts, you can look into their mindset and find out how to convince one of the few people within the deal who matter.

Decision Criteria - To understand the Decision Criteria is to know how an organization makes its decision. A company will often have multiple options on its table at any given moment, so you need to know how to make yours stand out in its in-house process. Their companies will focus on motors like budgetary requirements, ROI, ease of use, and more that comp which one from your standpoint can help you tailor your conversation in the right way.

Decision Process - The Decision Process tells you how a decision is resolved and confirmed and what happens after. Knowing a Decision Process will lead you to know how the customer’s timeline works and what approval or sign-off process they work around. If you know a Decision Process, you are much more likely to stay in tune and ‘on the ball’, avoiding the dreading stagnation of a deal that can lose you business.

Identify Pain - Whenever a customer is looking for a solution, there is a reason why. Whether it is a need, a desire, a pain point they want to alleviate, or a growth spurt they want to enhance, it is vital to know which one. Knowing their need or pain can help you provide a strong ROI and Metric focus on how your solution helps. Whether it is helping cut costs or boosting revenue, you can present your solution as doing just that for your customer.

Champion - Finding a Champion involves getting someone inside the customer business who is rooting for your success. It could be the person working directly with the pain point or someone who benefits the most from your solution - they will have a vested interest in your success. They don’t necessarily have to have a specific role, just someone who is well-respected and has a good standing with their colleagues.