Lead Qualification: MEDDIC

Qualify complex enterprise opportunities using the MEDDIC framework to ensure deal viability and improve forecast accuracy.

When to Use This Skill

• Enterprise deal qualification
• Complex sales cycles (60+ days)
• Multiple stakeholder deals
• High ACV opportunities ($50K+)
• Improving forecast accuracy

Methodology Foundation

Based on PTC’s MEDDIC methodology (developed by Dick Dunkel), extended to MEDDPICC:

• Metrics – Quantified value
• Economic Buyer – Decision authority
• Decision Criteria – How they’ll choose
• Decision Process – How they’ll buy
• Identify Pain – Business problem
• Champion – Internal advocate
• Competition – Competitive landscape
• Paper Process – Legal/procurement

What Claude Does vs What You Decide

Instructions

Step 1: Define MEDDIC Components

Step 2: Discovery Questions by Component

Metrics:

• “If this project succeeds, what numbers will change?”
• “How will you measure ROI?”
• “What’s the cost of the current problem?”
• “What KPIs are you trying to impact?”

Economic Buyer:

• “Who ultimately approves the budget for this?”
• “Have you worked with them on similar initiatives?”
• “Can I meet them before we finalize a proposal?”

Decision Criteria:

• “What are the must-haves vs nice-to-haves?”
• “How will you compare solutions?”
• “Who developed these criteria?”
• “How important is [your differentiator]?”

Decision Process:

• “Walk me through the steps from here to signed contract.”
• “Who else needs to evaluate this?”
• “Are there approval committees or board reviews?”
• “What could delay or derail this process?”

Identify Pain:

• “What’s driving this initiative now?”
• “What happens if you do nothing?”
• “How is this affecting your team/business/customers?”
• “Have you tried to solve this before?”

Champion:

• “Who’s the biggest advocate for this project?”
• “What happens to them if this succeeds/fails?”
• “Can they get us access to [stakeholder]?”
• “How much influence do they have?”

Competition:

• “What alternatives are you considering?”
• “How far along are you with other vendors?”
• “What do you like about what you’ve seen?”
• “How does that compare to what we’ve shown you?”

Paper Process:

• “What’s your typical procurement timeline?”
• “Are there security or legal reviews required?”
• “Have you worked with vendors like us before?”
• “What can we do to expedite the process?”

Step 3: Score Each Component

Deal Qualification Levels:

Examples

Example 1: Full MEDDIC Analysis

Output:

## MEDDIC Deal Scorecard: GlobalTech ($250K)

### Deal Overview
- **Account:** GlobalTech Inc
- **Value:** $250,000 ARR
- **Stage:** Proposal
- **Close Date:** March 15
- **Sales Cycle:** 90 days (Day 60)

---

### MEDDIC Score: 18/24 🟡 Developing

| Component | Score | Status |
|-----------|-------|--------|
| Metrics | 3/3 | 🟢 |
| Economic Buyer | 2/3 | 🟡 |
| Decision Criteria | 3/3 | 🟢 |
| Decision Process | 2/3 | 🟡 |
| Identify Pain | 3/3 | 🟢 |
| Champion | 3/3 | 🟢 |
| Competition | 1/3 | 🟠 |
| Paper Process | 1/3 | 🟠 |

---

### Component Details

#### Metrics: 3/3 🟢
**Status:** Strong - Quantified and agreed

**Evidence:**
- ROI target: 3x in Year 1
- Specific KPIs: Reduce CAC by 20%, increase pipeline by 40%
- CFO signed off on business case
- Baseline metrics documented

**Quote:** "If we can hit these numbers, this pays for itself in 6 months."

---

#### Economic Buyer: 2/3 🟡
**Status:** Identified but not met

**Evidence:**
- EB: CFO Jennifer Walsh
- Champion confirmed she has budget authority
- Haven't had direct meeting yet
- Email correspondence only

**Gap:** Need face-to-face with CFO before proposal review

**Action:** Request 15-min executive alignment call

---

#### Decision Criteria: 3/3 🟢
**Status:** Strong - Criteria aligned with our strengths

**Evidence:**
- Formal RFP with weighted criteria
- Our top differentiators match their priorities:
  - Integration depth (30% weight) - ✅ Our strength
  - Time to value (25% weight) - ✅ Our strength
  - Price (20% weight) - ⚠️ Neutral
  - Support (15% weight) - ✅ Our strength
  - References (10% weight) - ✅ Have 3 ready

**Quote:** "Integration is non-negotiable for us."

---

#### Decision Process: 2/3 🟡
**Status:** Mapped but timeline fuzzy

**Evidence:**
- Step 1: Technical evaluation ✅ Complete
- Step 2: Business review ✅ Complete
- Step 3: Proposal review ⏳ This week
- Step 4: CFO approval ⏳ Pending
- Step 5: Legal/Procurement ⏳ Unknown timeline
- Step 6: Contract signed ⏳ Target March 15

**Gap:** Steps 4-6 timeline not confirmed

**Action:** Get specific dates for approval meeting and legal review

---

#### Identify Pain: 3/3 🟢
**Status:** Strong - Urgent, quantified pain

**Evidence:**
- Current problem: 40% of leads fall through cracks
- Business impact: $2M estimated lost revenue
- Trigger: Missed Q3 target, board pressure
- Previous attempts: Tried 2 solutions, both failed

**Quote:** "This is keeping our CEO up at night."

---

#### Champion: 3/3 🟢
**Status:** Strong - Active, influential champion

**Champion Profile:**
- Name: Marcus Chen, VP Revenue Operations
- Motivation: His initiative, career impact
- Influence: Direct report to CFO
- Actions taken:
  - Built internal business case
  - Scheduled all meetings
  - Defended us vs. competitor
  - Sharing our content internally

**Quote:** "I'm putting my reputation on this."

---

#### Competition: 1/3 🟠
**Status:** Weak - Incomplete intel

**Evidence:**
- Know they evaluated CompetitorX
- Don't know current status
- Champion said "we've narrowed to two"
- No details on competitor proposal

**Gap:** Critical blind spot

**Action:**
- Ask champion directly about competitor status
- Understand their proposal/pricing
- Prepare competitive battle card response

---

#### Paper Process: 1/3 🟠
**Status:** Weak - Unknown

**Evidence:**
- They have a procurement team
- Security review likely required
- No timeline documented
- Haven't met procurement

**Gap:** Could add 2-4 weeks we haven't planned for

**Action:**
- Ask champion about typical procurement timeline
- Offer to start security questionnaire early
- Get intro to procurement contact

---

### Gap Summary

| Gap | Priority | Owner | Action | Due |
|-----|----------|-------|--------|-----|
| Meet CFO | High | AE | Request exec call | Day 62 |
| Competition intel | High | AE | Discovery with champion | Day 63 |
| Paper process | Medium | SE | Start security review | Day 65 |
| Decision timeline | Medium | AE | Confirm dates | Day 65 |

---

### Forecast Recommendation

**Current:** In forecast at 50% probability
**Recommendation:** Keep in forecast, but address gaps before increasing commit

**Path to 80%:**
1. Meet CFO (Economic Buyer confirmed)
2. Confirm competitor status (know we're preferred)
3. Map procurement timeline (no surprises)

**Risks:**
- Competition could have better pricing
- Procurement could delay past March 15
- CFO hasn't engaged directly

Example 2: Champion Assessment

Output:

## Champion Evaluation: Marcus Chen

### Champion Scorecard

| Criteria | Score | Evidence |
|----------|-------|----------|
| Access | 🟢 High | Direct report to EB |
| Influence | 🟢 High | Owns budget recommendation |
| Motivation | 🟢 High | Career tied to outcome |
| Credibility | 🟢 High | 8 years at company |
| Engagement | 🟢 High | Weekly calls, sharing content |
| **Overall** | **Strong Champion** | |

---

### Champion Profile

**Name:** Marcus Chen
**Title:** VP Revenue Operations
**Reports to:** Jennifer Walsh (CFO)
**Tenure:** 8 years
**Role in Deal:** Project owner and recommender

---

### Why They're Championing

1. **Personal Win:** This is his initiative; success = promotion
2. **Pain Owner:** Responsible for the problem we solve
3. **Budget Influence:** Makes recommendation to CFO
4. **Trusted:** Long tenure, respected internally

---

### Champion Actions Taken

✅ Built internal business case
✅ Scheduled all meetings
✅ Shared our ROI calculator with CFO
✅ Defended us when competitor name dropped
✅ Gave us competitive intel
✅ Proactively updated us on internal discussions

---

### Champion Test Questions

**Question: Can they sell when you're not in the room?**
Answer: Yes - built business case, defends us

**Question: Will they give you bad news?**
Answer: Yes - warned us about CFO concerns

**Question: Can they get you to the Economic Buyer?**
Answer: Partially - email intros yes, meeting not yet

---

### Champion Gaps

| Gap | Risk | Mitigation |
|-----|------|------------|
| Hasn't secured CFO meeting | Medium | Help champion prepare ask |
| Single-threaded | Medium | Build relationships with IT Director |

---

### Champion Coaching Plan

**Help Marcus succeed by:**
1. Provide leave-behind for his CFO conversation
2. Share competitor objection responses
3. Arm with 3 references he can share
4. Prepare him for likely CFO questions:
   - "Why not build this ourselves?"
   - "What's the implementation risk?"
   - "Can we get better pricing?"

Skill Boundaries

What This Skill Does Well

• Structuring complex deal qualification
• Identifying deal gaps systematically
• Creating deal coaching plans
• Improving forecast accuracy

What This Skill Cannot Do

• Replace relationship skills
• Guarantee deal outcomes
• Know competitor strategies
• Handle negotiation tactics

References

• PTC MEDDIC Framework (Dick Dunkel)
• Force Management MEDDICC
• Salesforce Enterprise Selling
• Winning by Design MEDDIC

Related Skills

• lead-qualification-bant – Simpler qualification
• deal-risk-scoring – Risk assessment
• pipeline-forecasting – Commit based on MEDDIC

Skill Metadata

• Domain: SDR Automation / Sales
• Complexity: Advanced
• Mode: centaur
• Time to Value: 45-60 min per deal
• Prerequisites: Enterprise sales experience