What is MEDDPICC®?
The MEDDPICC® program is built around a qualification discipline for B2B enterprise sales. At its foundation is a historical qualification checklist covering Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Paper Process, Identify Pain, Champion, and Competition. Darius Lahoutifard later developed and codified that foundation through MEDDIC Academy into a broader educational sales ecosystem encompassing training, certification, books, tools, and practical application.
This broader sales system is designed not only to accelerate sales cycles and increase average contract values but also to improve deal assessment and forecasting accuracy in complex B2B and enterprise sales environments. The MEDDPICC® ecosystem includes online courses, certification programs, live workshops, books, audiobooks, software tools, apps, and related content.
Independent description. Grokipedia describes MEDDPICC® as a “registered trademark for an advanced sales qualification framework.”
Grokipedia further states:
“MEDDPICC® is a structured sales qualification methodology designed specifically for complex business-to-business (B2B) and enterprise sales environments, where deals often involve multiple decision-makers, extended timelines, and significant procurement or legal challenges that distinguish them from simpler transactional sales.”
MEDDPICC® on Grokipedia
The MEDDPICC® program builds on its historical qualification foundation with a broader set of concepts, disciplines, and practical tools, including:
- Metrics: Quantification of the potential gain and, ultimately, the economic benefit
- Economic Buyer: Interaction with the person who has decision control on the funds for the PO
- Decision Criteria: Criteria used by the company to make the purchase decision and choose among options
- Decision Process: Process defined by the company to reach the purchase decision
- The Value Triangle: A visual representation of our value for the client’s needs vs our competitor.
- Paper Process: Formal procurement process that the customer has defined internally for all suppliers, including security review, legal, purchasing, etc.
- Identify Pain: Actual pains at the company that would require your product/service to be relieved
- Champion: Powerful & influential persons at the company who are favorable to your solution
- Competition: The alternatives that the customer is considering alongside your solution, including another supplier, internal developments, or simply status quo (i.e., no decision)
- ROI: Return on Investment or Payback period – How to develop any metrics into an ROI pitch
- Say No: Why, When, and How to Say No
- Champion Development: How to identify, develop, and test champions
- Objection Handling
- MEDDPICC Scorecard
- and many more elements.
Together, these elements provide a comprehensive structure for assessing qualification, identifying gaps, directing next actions, and improving forecast confidence throughout the sales cycle. The historical qualification checklist remains the foundation, while the broader MEDDPICC® program extends its practical application across the sales motion.
What is the history of MEDDPICC®?
MEDDPICC® has similarities with MEDDIC, which finds its conceptual roots at PTC, a software maker founded in 1988 and headquartered in Boston. In the early 90s, PTC had a leading product. They had to grow fast while the competitors, including IBM, Dassault Systems, Siemens, and Computervision, were working on their products to catch up.
The collective efforts of the sales organization at PTC, under Steve Walske’s leadership, resulted in one of the most exceptional success stories in the history of technology adoption and growth. Growing from inception to $1B revenue in 10 years was rare in the 90s. Through forty consecutive quarters of unstoppable growth, the initial sales leaders at PTC made it possible through discipline and execution. Some of their best practices were put together as a checklist by the training teams at the headquarters, and they were given an internal name: MEDDIC. While the MEDDIC Checklist is sometimes considered as MEDDPICC’s ancestor, in terms of concept, the MEDDPICC sales training program and course curriculum at MEDDIC Academy is a lot more than just a concept or even a framework.
MEDDIC was the result of teamwork, not one person’s creation. Some key executives who contributed to MEDDIC are:
- > Steve Walske, mastermind strategist, the CEO
- > Dick Harrison, the first seller hired by Walske (later became the CRO per today’s language)
- > Mike Mc Guinness and John Mc Mahon joined soon after and quickly became sales VPs who were instrumental in the initial growth, especially in the US
- > Joachim Fietz, Head of Germany and Western Europe, the 2nd market after the US
- > Darius Lahoutifard, Head of France and Southern Europe, the most strategic market where PTC faced the toughest competition
- > Anne Gary, Jack Napoli, and Dick Dunkel, the internal training team.
- > And many more Country Directors and VP of Sales
MEDDIC was just an internal concept for over a decade since PTC was not a sales training company. To our knowledge, the following notable events helped shape the current status of sales training offers around MEDDIC and MEDDPICC.
- > In 2006, Jack Napoli’s CIS, sometimes known as “The Godfather of MEDDIC”, started offering in-person training services branded as MEDDIC.
- > Also in 2006, Darius Lahoutifard’s 01consulting started offering in-person training services branded MEDDIC & MEDDPICC.
- > In 2013, Darius Lahoutifard published the first educational material branded MEDDPICC on Slideshare, the most popular repository of corporate slides during those years. The company was later acquired by LinkedIn.
- > In May 2017, Darius Lahoutifard’s 01consulting launched MEDDIC Academy, the first eLearning platform to offer MEDDPICC courses online, including videos, audio, slides, ebooks, etc. MEDDIC Academy’s offer included the first MEDDPICC vILT (Virtual Instructor Led Training).
- > In June 2020, Darius Lahoutifard published the first book on MEDDIC and MEDDPICC, “Always Be Qualifying, MEDDIC, MEDDPICC.” The book became an Amazon Best Seller. Its educational style makes it practical learning material similar to a workbook. Steve Walske recommended it. You can download a free Exclusive Preview of the book here.
- > In February 2021, Darius Lahoutifard‘s MEDDIC Academy became the first sales training company offering MEDDIC Training to be on a Gartner Group’s Magic Quadrant.
- > In June 2021, John Mc Mahon also published a MEDDIC book, titled The Qualified Sales Leader, a popular book on sales qualification. The book is written in a story-telling style, focusing on sales leadership.
The MEDDPICC educational ecosystem/program including training programs, workshops, and other educational materials presented here is exclusively offered through MEDDIC Academy.
What are the benefits of the MEDDPICC® Program?
- Higher Sales Productivity by focusing sellers on better-qualified opportunities
- Increased revenue through sales efficiency thanks to better qualification
- More accurate sales forecasts
- Shorter Sales Cycle
- Higher Average Contract Value
- Increased win rate
What do customers say?
Click to read our customer testimonials:
Frequently Asked Questions About MEDDPICC®
What does MEDDPICC stand for?
The historical qualification checklist underlying the MEDDPICC® program covers Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Paper Process, Identify Pain, Champion, and Competition.
Is MEDDPICC® only a qualification checklist?
No. The historical qualification checklist is the foundation of the MEDDPICC® program. The broader educational ecosystem also includes concepts, disciplines, training, certification, books, tools, software applications, and practical methods for applying qualification throughout complex B2B sales.
What is the difference between MEDDIC and MEDDPICC®?
MEDDIC originated as an internal qualification checklist at PTC. MEDDPICC® builds on that historical foundation by incorporating Paper Process and Competition and, through MEDDIC Academy, extends into a broader educational sales program and ecosystem.
How is MEDDPICC® used in enterprise sales?
Sales teams use the MEDDPICC® program to assess opportunity qualification, identify gaps, determine next actions, improve deal progression, and increase confidence in sales forecasts.
Does MEDDPICC® help with sales forecasting?
Yes. By making qualification gaps explicit and requiring evidence around critical elements of an opportunity, the MEDDPICC® program helps sales teams distinguish well-qualified opportunities from deals carrying unresolved risk.
What does the MEDDPICC® program include beyond the eight historical qualification elements?
MEDDIC Academy’s MEDDPICC® program extends beyond the historical checklist with concepts and tools including Value Triangle, ROI, Champion Development, objection handling, qualification scorecards, software applications, training, certification, books, and workshops.
Is MEDDPICC® intended only for software sales?
No. It is designed for complex B2B and enterprise sales environments where opportunities involve multiple stakeholders, substantial buying processes, extended sales cycles, and meaningful qualification risk.
How Can We Implement the MEDDPICC® Program Within Our Sales Force?
We train your sales force starting with as short as 8 hours of training and workshops, in-person or through the most modern formats: VILT (Virtual Instructor-Led Training), In-person or face-to-face training, self-paced eLearning, Blended learning, and more. If you liked the MEDDPICC Definition,
Contact us here and let’s start selling smartly.
Reference (MEDDPICC on Grokipedia):
Related: Darius Lahoutifard