Lesson 4 of 6
Qualify or qualify out with MEDDPICC
Grade every deal in seconds, see what is missing, and decide whether it deserves your week.
What is MEDDPICC
Most lost deals were never deals.
MEDDPICC is a sales qualification methodology: a checklist of eight things you need to know about a deal before you can trust it. Sales teams use it to decide which deals to pursue and which to walk away from. It started at PTC in 1996 as MEDDIC, gained two letters as enterprise deals grew more complex, and is now the most widely used qualification method in B2B software sales.
- MMetrics
- EEconomic buyer
- DDecision criteria
- DDecision process
- PPaper process
- IIdentify pain
- CChampion
- CCompetition
A pipeline without an economic buyer, a clear customer pain or a decision process looks healthy on paper and carries a high risk of never closing. MEDDPICC makes those gaps visible in week one instead of at the end of the quarter. Your time goes to the deals that can close, and the rest are qualified out early, with a reason you can defend.
Sales teams that run MEDDPICC include
- CEOs and foundersa number they can take to the board
- CROs and VPs of Salesa forecast on evidence, deal by deal
- Heads of Salescoaching on the gaps, not the gut feel
- RevOpsa pipeline comparable deal to deal
- Sales and Account Executiveswhat is still missing before the proposal
- SDRs and BDRsa qualified meeting, not just a booked one
- Customer successrenewals where the buyer and champion change
Every deal in Brainess gets this scorecard: graded for you, gaps named, fixed in a click.
MEDDPICC in 30 seconds
Every deal graded, the gaps named, fixed in one click.
The eight pillars of MEDDPICC
- Metrics
- The measurable result the customer expects.
- Economic buyer
- The person who owns the budget and can say yes alone.
- Decision criteria
- What the customer will compare vendors on.
- Decision process
- The steps and people from pilot to signature.
- Paper process
- Procurement, legal, security, the DPA.
- Identify pain
- The problem that makes doing nothing expensive.
- Champion
- The person inside who sells for you when you are not in the room.
- Competition
- Who else is in the deal, including “do nothing”.
Qualify or qualify out
| Grade | Decision | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 7 to 10 | Commit | Fill the last gap, set the close date. |
| 4 to 6 | Work it | Find the economic buyer and map the decision process this week. |
| 0 to 3 | Qualify out | Close as lost or park with a date, and say why. |
How Brainess grades
Brainess reads the deal record, the account signals, the contacts, the email threads and your notes. It gives each pillar a verdict (sufficient, thin, missing), names the stakeholder gaps, and suggests which person belongs to which pillar, with a drafted note. Accept them one by one or all at once with Fix all. The grade updates as the deal moves.
The lesson
Step by step
- 01
Open the deal
From Opportunities, open a deal and go to the Qualification tab. The scorecard lists the eight pillars with a note and the people attached to each.
- 02
Evaluate with Brainess
One click. Brainess reads the deal, the account, the contacts, the emails and your notes, and grades the deal out of 10 with a summary.
- 03
Read the gaps
Each pillar gets a verdict: sufficient, thin or missing. Stakeholder gaps name the role you still need, for example the economic buyer.
- 04
Fix all
Suggested links attach the right person and a drafted note to each pillar. Accept them all or one by one; the scorecard fills in.
- 05
Qualify out
A low grade with no champion, no clear customer pain and no decision process is a deal to close as lost or park with a deadline. Move the card, and spend the time on the deals that score.
What you get
- A grade and a summary per deal
- Named gaps and the person to find
- A clear qualify or qualify-out decision