MEDDPICC: The CRO's Secret Weapon in Uncertain Markets

When Every Deal Counts

In a market defined by softening demand, missed deals are no longer bumps in the road; they can derail the quarter. Chief Revenue Officers are under immense pressure to deliver results, and a watertight deal strategy is paramount.

At Brevet, we're strong advocates for MEDDPICC (and derivatives like MEDDICC) as a framework to drive deal success. However, many organizations struggle with its implementation. Here's how to ensure MEDDPICC becomes a cornerstone of your sales team, particularly in challenging environments.

Beyond the Basic

The power of MEDDPICC lies in its universal applicability. Most experienced sellers know its core concepts: Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Paper Process, Implicated Pain, Champion, and Competition.

Yet, awareness is insufficient to drive results in most organizations. To successfully implement MEDDPICC, you must translate these concepts into the specific context of your organization, use cases, and deal structures. Here's the key: situational specificity.

Actionable Deal Reviews

The best place for situational specificity is in the manager-led deal review process. In these reviews, don't settle for generic questions like "Have you identified the key performance metrics?” Instead, managers should ask: "Have you baselined the customer's current total cost of ownership over the last three years?"

Similarly, instead of a vague "Do you have a champion?", delve deeper: "Have you developed the Chief Data Officer to champion our message with the largest business unit?"

By enabling managers to probe with highly specific deal review questions tied to your unique value proposition, you empower your reps to identify critical deal gaps and tailor next actions accordingly.

Implemented correctly, MEDDPICC equips sellers with the right focus. It also gives managers a practical framework for more precise deal inspection and coaching. And all that enables sales leadership to make data-driven forecasting and pipeline management decisions.

The Power of Sales Plays

MEDDPICC is not a sales methodology. Let's say that again for emphasis: MEDDPICC isn't a sales methodology!

Instead, it's a framework for deal qualification, inspection, and coaching. To unlock its full potential, you need to activate it with sales methods and actions. Ideally, this comes to life as sales plays.

These sales plays guide sellers in addressing specific deal scenarios given various deal factors. Reps simply "checking the boxes" on a MEDDPICC checklist isn't enough.

The Winning Sales Play Formula

Effective sales plays combine the wisdom of top performers with the precision of deal inspection. For instance, identifying a champion is crucial for any B2B deal. But instead of telling your reps to "find a champion," develop a comprehensive sales play to cultivate and support your advocate.

Here's the winning sales play formula:

1. Targeted Actions: The specific steps sellers must take to uncover information, position solutions, align stakeholders, and outmaneuver the competition.
2. Value Messages: This isn't a product pitch. Real value messages include high-impact discovery questions combined and compelling customer insights to share throughout the process.
3. Knowledge: This includes all the things sellers need to know about the customer's business, industry, challenges, solutions, and customer success process.
4. Tools: Clear alignment and connection to all various sales technology for accelerating the sales cycle and providing valuable insights.

Building Accountability and Consistency

For long-term success with MEDDPICC, don't relegate it to a one-time training session. Integrate the concept into your core sales management practices and the daily routines of your sellers.

Technology solutions like Gong and Clari are great tools for managers to uncover MEDDPICC in real-time.

Here's how to operationalize MEDDPICC using such tools:

• Enriched CRM Data: Add custom fields to your CRM system to capture the granular details unearthed through MEDDPICC questioning. (Suggested tool: Salesforce)
• Deal Scorecards: Develop scorecards that highlight information gaps and areas for improvement. (Suggested tool: Gong)
• Visualized Deal Intelligence: Utilize CRM integrations to visualize key deal factors, like relationship maps and activity levels by deal (Suggested tool: Clari or Gong)
• Coaching Integration: Embed MEDDPICC criteria and questions into front-line manager coaching guides. (Suggested tool: Gong)
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Anchor forecasting and deal conversations to customer evidence, not gut feelings. (Suggested tool: Clari)
  
  

The goal is to create a culture of consistency and a shared language across your sales organization. Sellers become adept at identifying critical deal factors, understanding what their managers expect, and seeing a direct correlation between effective MEDDPICC application and improved quota performance.

By operationalizing MEDDPICC and equipping your salesforce with targeted sales plays, you can ensure every deal is meticulously qualified and expertly navigated. This translates to higher win rates, reduced churn, and a more resilient sales organization in any market condition. The time to double down on MEDDPICC is now.