What is MEDDICC?

MEDDICC is a B2B sales qualification methodology used to determine if a deal is actually real, or if you are just having nice chats with people who can’t buy from you. It is an acronym that stands for Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, Champion, and Competition.

Originally developed in the 90s (yes, it’s been around a while), it remains the gold standard for complex enterprise sales. However, in the modern era, it is less about interrogating your prospect and more about gathering intelligence to ensure you are spending time on deals that will actually close.

The Acronym Explained (The “Real Talk” Version)

Here is the textbook definition of each letter, followed by what it actually means for your pipeline.

• M — Metrics: The quantifiable value you provide.
  Translation: The ROI. If you can’t prove you make them money or save them time, you are just a nice-to-have.

• E — Economic Buyer: The person with the ultimate authority to spend the budget.
  Translation: The person who actually signs the check. If you haven’t met them, you haven’t sold the deal.

• D — Decision Criteria: The technical, financial, and operational requirements the company uses to compare solutions.
  Translation: Their wishlist. If you don’t fit the box, you won’t get the buy.

• D — Decision Process: The steps the company must take to finalize a purchase.
  Translation: The hoops you have to jump through. Legal, procurement, security reviews—the boring stuff that kills deals at the last minute.

• I — Identify Pain: The problem the prospect needs to solve.
  Translation: The headache. If the pain isn’t sharp enough, they will just stick with the status quo (doing nothing).

• C — Champion: An internal stakeholder who has power and influence, and advocates for you.
  Translation: Your cheerleader. The person who sells your product internally when you aren’t in the room.

• C — Competition: Any alternative solution, including competitors or internal initiatives.
  Translation: The other guys. Or worse, an Excel spreadsheet they’ve been using since 2010.

In Plain English: The “Home Inspection” Metaphor

Think of MEDDICC like a home inspection before buying a house.

You might love the way the house looks (that’s a “good meeting”). But you wouldn’t wire the money without checking the foundation (Metrics), verifying the seller actually owns the title (Economic Buyer), and ensuring the roof isn’t about to cave in (Identify Pain).

If you skip the inspection, you might end up owning a money pit. If you skip MEDDICC, you end up with a pipeline full of “ghosts”—deals that look pretty but have zero structural integrity.

MEDDIC vs. MEDDPICC: What’s the Difference?

Sales operations teams love adding letters. You might see MEDDPICC floating around. The extra “P” stands for Paper Process.

While “Decision Process” covers the steps (who needs to say yes), “Paper Process” covers the logistics (contracts, MSAs, security questionnaires). For SMBs, MEDDIC is usually enough. For enterprise deals where legal teams can stall a contract for three months, that extra “P” is critical.

Modernizing MEDDICC with AI

The old way of doing MEDDICC involved grilling your prospect with twenty questions until they got annoyed. The modern way involves using AI and signals to fill in the blanks before you even hop on a call.

For example, instead of asking “What is your pain?”, platforms like Topo can help you identify intent signals—like a company hiring for a specific role or adopting a competitor’s tech—that reveal the pain for you. By using a scraper assistant to gather public data on the Economic Buyer and Decision Criteria, you can walk into the meeting with half the scorecard already filled out. This lets you focus on strategy, not data entry.