MEDDIC is a qualification framework for complex B2B sales. It stands for Metrics, Economic buyer, Decision criteria, Decision process, Identify pain and Champion. A deal counts as qualified when the seller has evidence for each of the six, not when someone has typed something into six CRM fields.
It was created in 1996 at Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC) by Dick Dunkel, working with Jack Napoli under John McMahon, according to MEDDICC's own history of the framework. It has since grown two common variants, covered below.
The six letters, with the questions and the evidence
| Letter | What it means | Questions to ask | Evidence it is real |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metrics | The measurable outcome the buyer expects | What number has to move, from what to what, by when? Who reports on it? | A figure the buyer said in their own words and repeats to their boss |
| Economic buyer | The person who can approve the spend without anyone else's sign-off | Who signs? Who could say no after everyone else says yes? | You have met them, or the champion has put the business case in front of them |
| Decision criteria | How the buyer will judge the options | What has to be true for you to choose a vendor? Who wrote these criteria? | Written criteria you helped shape, not a list you guessed |
| Decision process | The steps, people and dates between now and signature | After you decide, what happens? Who else reviews it? What has delayed past purchases? | A dated plan the buyer agreed to, such as a mutual action plan |
| Identify pain | The business problem that makes doing nothing costly | What happens if you do nothing this year? Who feels it most? | A cost of inaction the buyer quantified |
| Champion | A person inside with power and influence who is selling for you when you are not there | What do you personally get if this goes well? Will you take this to the economic buyer? | They have done something for you that cost them capital, such as setting up a meeting with the economic buyer |
MEDDIC, MEDDICC and MEDDPICC
The extra letters were added as teams found new places deals were lost:
- MEDDICC adds Competition: who and what else the buyer is considering, including doing nothing or building it themselves.
- MEDDPICC also adds Paper process: the legal, procurement and contracting steps that turn a verbal yes into a signature.
For a fuller comparison see MEDDIC vs MEDDPICC, and for how it sits against older frameworks, BANT vs MEDDIC vs SPIN.
How to score a deal
A simple rubric keeps scoring honest across a team. Score each letter 0, 1 or 2:
- 0, unknown. Nobody has asked, or the rep is guessing.
- 1, claimed. The rep has an answer, but it came from one contact and nobody else has confirmed it.
- 2, evidenced. The buyer has said or done something that proves it, such as the economic buyer attending a meeting or the decision process existing as a dated, shared plan.
Twelve is the maximum. The useful number in a forecast call is not the total but the lowest letters: a deal at 10 with a 0 on Economic buyer is a different risk from a deal at 10 with a 1 on Competition. Inspect the zeros first.
Common mistakes
- Treating it as discovery. MEDDIC tells you what you must confirm. It does not tell you how to run the conversation. Do discovery first, then score.
- Accepting a coach as a champion. Someone who likes you and shares information is a coach. A champion spends their own credibility on your deal.
- Naming the economic buyer without meeting them. A name in a CRM field is not access.
- Scoring once. Letters decay. Champions leave, budgets move, criteria change. Re-score at every stage change.
- Using it on small deals. On a fast, single-decision-maker sale, six letters add process without adding information. Match the rigour to the deal.
The two letters a warm path moves
Four of the letters come from good discovery. Two depend on access, and that is where most deals stall:
- Economic buyer. An introduction from someone they already trust, such as a board member, an investor, one of your executives or a peer at one of your customers, is often the difference between a name in a field and a meeting.
- Champion. Asking your contact to broker the economic buyer meeting is the cleanest champion test there is. If they will not make that ask, they are a supporter, not a champion.
MEDDIC tells you who you need. Boomerang's agent, Rudy, tells you who can get you there: he maps paths across your executives, investors and board, customer champions and partners, proposes who should make the ask, and drafts it. The rep approves, and the person who holds the relationship sends it from their own account. For a weekly view of this, see relationship coverage in the deal review.
Frequently asked questions
What does MEDDIC stand for?
Metrics, Economic buyer, Decision criteria, Decision process, Identify pain and Champion. It is a qualification framework for complex B2B sales.
Who created MEDDIC?
MEDDIC was created in 1996 at Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC) by Dick Dunkel, working with Jack Napoli under John McMahon.
What is the difference between MEDDIC, MEDDICC and MEDDPICC?
MEDDICC adds Competition. MEDDPICC adds Paper process as well as Competition, covering the legal, procurement and contracting steps between a verbal yes and a signature.
How do you score MEDDIC?
A common approach scores each letter 0 for unknown, 1 for claimed by one contact, and 2 for evidenced by something the buyer said or did. Inspect the lowest-scoring letters first rather than the total.
What is the difference between a champion and a coach?
A coach shares information and wants you to win. A champion has power and influence and spends their own credibility selling for you, for example by setting up the meeting with the economic buyer.
When is MEDDIC overkill?
On small, fast deals with a single decision-maker. The framework is built for long, multi-stakeholder enterprise sales, where the decision process and buying committee are complex.
Is MEDDIC a sales methodology or a qualification framework?
It is a qualification framework. It tells you what you need to confirm about a deal. How you run discovery and the conversations that produce that evidence is a separate skill.
