MEDDPICC: Connecting The Dots – PART ONE
Let’s try to connect the dots of MEDDPICC!
My Name is Rizan Flenner and I am the founder of iSEEit – a tool that operationalizes MEDD(P)ICC qualification on Salesforce.com. When you read this, you might have heard about the sales qualification methodology in different derivatives like MEDDIC or even MEDDPICC, read a book on the methodology or just went through an initial training. Today we want to talk about applying MEDD(P)ICC, trying to connect the dots between the letters of this acronym and identifying its ability to improve the way you qualify and close deals.
Why MEDDPICC?
First, MEDDPICC is in no means rocket science, it is just a very lean way to understand and qualify how a customer potentially is able to make a buying decision. However when you first get in touch with the methodology it might come across a bit constructed with a lot of acronyms, which may not be 100% clear to all parties, but once you understand what the underlying reasoning is, it’s pretty straightforward. When I first got familiarized with MEDDIC I thought, wait a moment, this is what I try to qualify anyway. This might intrigue you to devalue it, however the beauty lies in the way you apply it. But more to that later.
MEDDIC in Sales Teams
Why?
Because it is simple and lightweight and as Jack Napoli says “It fits on the back of a napkin”. It helped me as a sales individual to cross-check my understanding of the clients’ buying process and identify blind spots.
This is very similar to a GPS identifying where you are and what you still need to qualify and accomplish to drive your deals to closure. This first phase is all about qualifying the right deals that you want to work on.
Why?
Because we usually don’t have time to chase after all deals within our pipelines. This is why we need to qualify and see if it’s worth our time. Yes, I really mean it. Same as when a professional athlete needs to prioritise their competition in order to prepare sufficiently and therefore not waste time on other races. This is how top class sales people manage their time and focus on those opportunities that have the highest chance to win.
In MEDDIC/MEDDPICC we talk about a sales qualified opportunity, when we identify a real pain or initiative, with a measurable implication on the business that is not being addressed plus a person that has a personal interest tackling the issue we call a potential champion.
The I in MEDDPICC
How does identifying the pain help?
Identifying the pain is all about answering the questions:
Why would the client want to do anything?
Identifying the real pain will always be customer centric! You might have the best solution that helps a lot of clients become faster, leaner and secure. If the client cannot identify a reason to move, then it might not be perceived as a real pain – yet …
- Why is the client talking to you?
- What is the underlying problem?
- How big of a problem is it?
- Can they quantify it?
- Is it something they need to tackle or could it be considered a “nice to have”? If so, it will not be getting the highest priority for obtaining resources or budget.
Attach to the highest problem
After identifying the real pain, you want to understand if the business is impacted.
Why?
If there is an implication on the business, the pain is not addressed. If there is a consequence of “doing nothing” it will make a whole lot of a difference for the urgency of your deal in terms of access to budgets, stakeholders and priority. Now, when your prospect has chosen to tackle the issue, they usually appoint a person or team to make sure it happens. These people, we like to call change agents, are appointed for a reason: because of their knowledge, reputation, personality and/or track record for getting things done. Identifying the right person is not an easy task, however it pays off to look for them, as they will help you drive this deal together with you, once they are convinced you can help solve their pain-points.
We call this person a Champion.
The C in MEDDPICC
Who is my champion?
This is a person with power & influence. They have a personal interest in getting things done. While the latter is the personal motivation to solve the problem, the first gives them strength and stamina to succeed to drive the change in their organizations. If you found and qualified your potential champion(s). Yes, I really mean qualify, often the first contacts we get in a prospect are evaluators, picked to scan the market for potential solutions, very often not having the power and influence to drive decisions.
Why is this important?
Not qualifying for power and influence might make your deal stall in the end, as your potential champion might not be strong enough to fight the corporate mills of decision making. This might derail your sales campaign or slow things down until finally no decision is made. On the other hand if you have a strong champion that has a personal goal aligned with the success of the project you found. This ally will stand up and sell for you, especially on those countless internal talks and meetings, when you can’t be around.
Check out a sample of qualification items here.
Once you have qualified the real underlying pain, a business need for the client to act upon and a potential champion you have all the ingredients to proactively drive the deal. MEDDPICC is all about qualifying early and being in a drivers position. If you can’t find these ingredients you might want to continue to discover by qualifying another potential champion, find higher pain in the organization or focus your time on different opportunities. The next steps will be to build trust with your champion, quantify the pain. Collect decision criteria and drive next steps.
This will be in PART TWO.
Stay tuned and continue read –
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