How do you qualify a prospect? How do you close a sale, even during a complex process? To answer these crucial questions, there's the MEDDIC method!
You've probably heard of it: the acronym MEDDIC details each stage of this innovative and effective approach, which enables us to follow a precise process to improve our performance and sales strategy.
The quest for efficiency is an art, and of course, when it comes to optimizing processes, sales teams are on the case. Modjo's teams have embraced it from the start!
We'll show you how it works, how to implement it and optimize your sales strategy.
What is the MEDDIC method?
The acronym MEDDIC
A quick reminder: the MEDDIC approach is structured to qualify prospects upstream, then manage and close complex sales.
The acronym MEDDIC stands for the six key stages in the sales process:
- Metrics, i.e. the metrics or KPIs to highlight
- Economic Buyer: who decides whether or not to buy your solution?
- Decision Criteria: the criteria used to make a decision
- Decision Process, or what is the decision process?
- Identify Pain: identify your customers' pain points
- Champion : find the person who supports your project and can help you close the sale
Getting all this information means we always have a handle on our deals: we can calibrate our efforts correctly. At Modjo, we realized that every time a sale failed, it was because one of these boxes had not been ticked.
Is the MEDDIC method right for your team?
MEDDIC was developed to support complex sales strategy. We owe it to Jack Napoli and Dick Dunkel, when they were working for PTC. They realized that some sales have high stakes:
- Long sales (over 4 months)
- High-budget sales
- Those involving numerous contacts (5 or more)
- Those that can shake up a company's internal structure
Sales teams therefore need to adopt a structured, targeted approach, like MEDDIC. It helps build a relationship of trust with our customers: we show them that we understand their needs and can solve their problems and help them achieve their goals.
How can we apply MEDDIC to our sales strategy?
Metrics: measuring our success
We all know that it's important to quantify our results to better understand our impact. In the MEDDIC acronym, the M emphasizes the KPIs that enable us to concretely demonstrate the benefits of our products or services.
It's not just about sales figures. KPIs can be about productivity gains, cost savings or customer satisfaction. The right metrics are those that really correspond to our product or service and speak to our customers.
But above all, you need to know exactly where your prospect's KPIs are and where he wants to take them.
To guide them, we use case studies to illustrate our products in a clear and understandable way. We want our prospects to understand right away why it's worth investing.
We really get them into the investment mindset, just as we do with real estate.
Economic buyer: identifying decision-makers
We've all had to deal with people who wasted our time. MEDDIC's objective is to quickly identify the decision-maker, the one who has the power to say "yes" to our offer. Once we've identified them, we can concentrate our efforts on them and deploy our best persuasion strategies.
There are two ways to find it:
- Ask the question. It may sound silly, but asking our prospects directly who the final decision-maker is can be a real time-saver.
- Pay attention to clues and information. Sometimes, our Economic Buyer is not easy to identify. So it's up to us to find out who holds the purse strings, by looking for someone with responsibility: a CFO? A purchasing manager?
In both cases, rely on experience.
Lean into your prospect's buying experience by asking, "of all the old tools you've adopted, who was in the decision loop?"
You can also draw on your own sales experience. For example, on all our recent sales at Modjo, the CFO was always present.
The decision-maker is the key to unlocking complex sales. But let's not forget that his or her position within the company can change! For example, a year ago, the CFO was never present in sales. Today, he's the hub.
Decision criteria: understanding expectations
To sell better, it's essential to know our customers' decision-making criteria. It could be product quality, price, our company's reputation or after-sales service.
The problem we often encounter is that these criteria are rarely precisely defined. They remain vague.
So, to understand what motivates them and what concerns them, we start by asking questions. We do a little research on the company, finding out about its objectives, values and culture.
Once we have the information, we have two lines of attack:
- We propose decision criteria, based on what we've identified (and what suits us).
- We encourage prospects to put their criteria in writing.
Once we know what really matters to them, we can adapt our sales strategy accordingly.
Decision process: tracking the purchasing process
With the MEDDIC method, we seek to understand the decision-making process in order to better anticipate needs and expectations.
Knowing the key stages in this process enables us to adapt our approach and be present at the right moment to positively influence their choice. For example, we prepare documents adapted to each level of decision. We also anticipate potential objections with solid arguments to counter them.
It's also up to us to impose our buying process. We adapt, but we also clearly present our sales process: "Here's the experience you'll have when you talk to me".
And throughout the decision-making process, we stay in touch with our contacts. This allows us to accompany them, advise them and reassure them, to help them succeed at every stage.
Identify bread: targeting problems
Our mission as sales people is to solve our customers' problems. Thanks to MEDDIC, we can identify their problems (pain points) and propose appropriate solutions. Our goal is to become the hero who saves the day!
We ask questions that challenge them. We make them wonder about things they hadn't seen, or about a lack of data they hadn't anticipated.
The next step is to analyze these problems to determine which are the most urgent to resolve. Tools such as the Eisenhower matrix or the "5 Whys" method can be used to prioritize problems and identify their root causes.
Champion: an ally for your sales strategy
Finally, the C in the MEDDIC acronym stands for Champion. Identifying and collaborating with him maximizes our chances of success. To find him, we identify the people who understand our added value, are ready to defend us internally, and have enough influence to weigh in on decisions.
Once we've identified our champion, we work hand-in-hand with him to develop an effective sales strategy. We share our arguments, case studies and testimonials: he must have all the cards in his hand to convince the other stakeholders.
He's also the one who tells us how to address our internal contacts. What is the right relationship to adopt with them, what are their expectations or fears?
And for our part, we promote him as an expert and opinion leader within his company, to reinforce his influence and credibility.
In a nutshell, MEDDIC enables salespeople and sales teams to be more efficient and precise in their approach. When we focus on the aspects that are most important to our prospects, we avoid the pitfalls of complex sales. When used properly, this method enables us to create a relationship of trust: we show that we understand their needs and are ready to support them. In short, we improve our performance and make more sales, even complex ones!
