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Sales Tips from

MEDDICC

Do you want to get better at sales? You're in the right place.

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What is MEDDICC? MEDDICC is a Sales Qualification Framework used by the world's most successful sales teams to help your company or business drive sustainable growth.

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picture holding the MEDDIC book

First, five tips

  1. Everything should start with the customer

  2. Qualify opportunities and forecast revenue - if you’re not confident it will make you money let it go

  3. To embed MEDDIC everyone in your org has to be onboard. This can be done through a discovery process, workshops, delivery and embedding. 

  4. Time is a seller’s most precious asset, be conservative with it. Effort + time does not always equal success, work optimally and avoid sunk cost fallacies

  5. Plan who you want to attract and qualify relentlessly. Customers as a result will self-qualify and respect you more. Those who qualify out may come back to you when they are ready.

DISCOVERY

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  1. Discovery is not a stage, it’s a mindset. Always be curious, actively listen play back what you’ve heard.

    1. Ask questions like “Have I heard that correctly?”

    2. Use open-ended questions

      1. If you’re ever lost use the TED model. Ask one question that starts with the word tell, one that starts with the word explain, and one that starts with the word describe

    3. Try questions like the following

      1. What is working?

      2. What is not working?

      3. When it works, what good things happen?

      4. When it does not work, what bad things happen?

      5. Whom does that affect?

      6. How much does that cost?

      7. Why haven’t you tried to solve it yet?

  2. Do your research. Start with the company’s annual report, tech stack and news articles/ press releases. Know who you are talking to.

  3. Know who you will be engaging with. What is their role? What are their likely goals and challenges? Who are your mutual connections? Can anyone give you insights on this person? Would they have used your solution or competitors before? What public information is available online about this person?

  4. Quantify the value of what you offer by asking how much additional growth the customer thinks they will see implementing your solution. This allows them to envision themselves in the future.

  5.  FREE MEDDICC DEAL SHEET

    1. Find the brief

    2. Ask about their tech

    3. Know who you will be on the call with

    4. Ask questions

    5. Anticipate objections

    6. Be open

    7. Hunt for negatives (find a problem worth solving, act as a consultant)

    8. Remember to be in a qualification mindset

    9. This call is about them not you

  6.  Finish the call strong, ask for next steps. Try

    1. “It seems like you might have some next steps in mind?”

    2. OR be more direct and try “Thank you for this super insight you have given me today. If it is ok with you I think a good next step would be to show you how we can connect our solutions to solving some of the goals and challenges you have raised today.”

  7. If a customer doesn’t know what their problem is, it’s your job to plant one

  8. Talk like a business person trying to solve a business problem. Not a salesman trying to solve a business problem.

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COMPETITION

 

  1. Take the high road with the competition

  2.  List pros and cons of both methods in a balanced way

  3.  Know your unique differentiator

 

THE GO-LIVE PLAN

 

  1. Go-live is to be shared with you and your customer for a mutual launch date

  2. It keeps them engaged

  3. If they’re not engaged, find out why. It is often because they are disorganised, don’t have technical expertise or are unqualified. Investigate and remember if it doesn’t seem worth your time anymore get out.

  4. I’ve created one for you here

  5. Free lesson link here

 

METRICS

 

  1. Use metrics to drive urgency and answer questions like:

    1. Why should you buy from us?

    2. Why should you buy now?

  2. Uncover metrics by asking

    1.  What does your solution do that is unique and valuable?

    2. What is the metric that quantifies that value?

    3. Two kinds of metrics (M1 and M2) M1 is business outcome metrics and M2 is Return on Investment Metrics.

  3. A common mistake is aligning metrics to value, aligning metrics to initiatives is key. Ask about this during discovery

  4. Use storytelling to illustrate metrics

  5. Make sure your champion knows your M1 and M2 for their business

  6. Include metrics early in the process, mid-way, and post-sales for ongoing business

 

ECONOMIC BUYER

 

  1. Engage with an economic buyer. An economic buyer is a person with overall authority in your buying decision They can say yes when other people say no, and no when other people say yes.

  2. Identifying the economic buyer isn’t easy

  3. Underqualifying the buyer - is the most common. Don’t trust someone just because they say they own the budget

  4. Overqualifying the buyer. Some CEOs have no hand in day-to-day offerings.

  5. Qualifying criteria for the economic buyer

    1. They can veto your champion

    2. Their focus is in line with keeping with the organisation’s strategy

    3. Access to discretionary funds not part of the budget

    4. They have profit and loss responsibility

    5. They will sign your contract or be a key approver

  6. Find out information about your economic buyer from your champion.

    1. How do they like to be engaged (phone, email?)

    2. What do they care about?

    3. What do they like?

    4. What do they dislike?

  7. If your champion won’t introduce you to the economic buyer, find out why and explain the benefits and that it’s literally your job to talk to people like the economic buyer

  8. Other routes to engage the economic buyer are to go direct or use a senior exec on your team to engage

  9.  Always be ready to engage with an economic buyer, and talk in their language. In your first interaction build credibility by showing

    1. what you’ve helped them solve

    2. the results they’ve seen

    3. mutual connections you have

    4. who you can introduce them to

  10. Ask the economic buyer questions like 

    1. “I’d love to get an idea from you of what you think would be a great indicator of this solution being a success for you?”

    2. From our conversation today, it seems as though we can really help you solve your objectives. With your sponsorship, I think we could find more areas of value across the organisation. Would you be willing to sponsor the project?”

  11. Don’t expect them to get your solution at first

  12. Economic buyers make decisions through

    1. Cost - how much will it cost?

    2. Completion - how long until we can realise the value?

    3. Confidence - how confident is everyone around the solution

  13. Introduce the economic buyer to the Go-live plan

  14. Economic buyers may be able to help you circumnavigate procurement

 

DECISION CRITERIA

 

  1.  Decision criteria is a checklist of requirements your client wants to satisfy

  2. Double-check your customer’s decision criteria if it will be costly. Is it necessary? What data are they basing the requirement on?

  3. No decision criteria might be a red flag, it can indicate non-motivated decision-makers

  4. There are three types of decision criteria: 

    1. Technical - does your solution match the criteria? Look at infrastructure, integrations and ease of use

    2. Economic - is your solution financially viable? Most companies will have an ROI variable. For every £ they spend they will want to get £x back. Other economic criteria are risk, time, opportunity cost & commercial terms

    3. Relationship - how closely do your organisation’s values align with your customers? This involves executive alignment, industry, company direction, values, reputation, character and investment

  5. Influence the decision criteria where you can

  6. Influence the decision criteria as early as possible

  7. If you don’t influence the decision criteria, your competition will

  8. Articulate the decision criteria so people can understand it and talk about it to key decision-makers

  9. Make agreeing to a decision criteria with your champion part of their decision criteria

 

DECISION PROCESS

 

  1. This is how your customer will make a decision. Know your key people and the process people go through to evaluate, select and purchase your solution

  2. Uncover the decision process as early as possible

  3. Normally there will be parts added or hidden in the decision-making process you don’t know about. Be mentally prepared for this

  4. There are two parts, technical validations and business approval

    1. Technical validation is the process your customer goes through to validate your solution’s feasibility to solve requirements in the decision criteria

    2. Business approval often runs parallel to the technical validation, but if it happens before this can be a red flag. The business approval consists of people. Ask yourself questions like

      1. Who needs to approve this deal?

      2. What is their role?

      3. Are there any committees or formal bonds?

      4. How long does each person take?

      5. Who or what can slow this down?

      6. Who can help me speed it up?

  5. Never assume your Go-Live plan is correct

  6. Ask other parties who have worked with your clients for any advice or heads-up they can give you

  7. Summary snapshot of the sales process

    1. Early: How does the customer make a decision?

    2. I fully understand how the decision in my deal is going to be made and I am tracking my progress along each step

    3. Late: Everything is on track against the decision process and I am managing the final steps

 

PAPER PROCESS

 

  1. The paper process is the steps that lie in place ahead of contracts being agreed and signed

  2. The paper process begins once the seller has been given a clear indication they’ve been selected

  3. You need your champion to help you map out your paper process. Ask your champion:

    1. Have you worked through these stages with a solution of similar complexity/cost to mine before?

    2. What things should we look out for?

    3. What have you seen go wrong?

    4. What things should we be doing to be on the front foot?

  4. Three key elements of the paper process

    1. The process - know the process and who to go to if a key stakeholder becomes incapacitated

    2. The people - know who is required at each stage and make sure they’re not going on vacation

    3. The timing - the seller should have an end time in mind. Generally, these tend to cluster around the end of a quarter. If you want the sale by the end of the quarter plan to close it a week before

  5. Put your paper process in the Go-Live plan

  6. Stay on your toes

  7. Introduce NDA’s in the early stages

  8. Paper is evidence of commitment

 

IMPLICATE THE PAIN

 

  1. There are three types of pain

    1. Financial pain - in pounds earned

    2. Efficiency pain - in efficiency lost

    3. People pain - lack of motivation, productivity or morale. Often measured in output or  high turnover

  2.  Find the owner of the pain

  3. Mirror the language your customer uses about their pain to describe their pain so they feel understood

  4. Identify the pain

    1. Identify -  talk about problems you have solved for other customers and expand on them by asking if they are having the same issues

    2. Put yourself in your customer’s customers shoes and identify the pain

  5. Indicate the pain

    1. Work with your champion to quantify the pain and create a business care

  6. Implicate the pain

    1. Show a glimpse of the future utopian state your solution can provide

    2. Use two-sided discovery to keep the customer in the moment of their pain

  7. Uncover Pain in Discovery

  8. Pain creates urgency

  9. Implicate pain throughout your sales process

  10. Transfer ownership of the pain from your customer to you

 

CHAMPION

 

  1. A champion is a person who helps you and has power, influence and credibility within the customer’s organisation

  2. The more champions you have the better, although generally there is only one

  3. Champions have three criteria that must be met

    1. A champion must have power and influence

    2. A champion acts as an internal seller for you

    3. A champion has a vested interest in your success

  4. Power and influence do not necessarily mean seniority

  5. The most critical selling your champion can do for you is when you’re not around

  6. Build credibility with your champion by value selling

  7. Educate your champion on MEDDICC

  8. Make sure your champion knows how to sell what you’re selling at any time and should be able to answer

    1. Why the customer should buy the solution

    2. Why they should buy from your company

    3. Why they should buy now

  9. Fall back on your references if required to add credibility for your champion

  10. Build credibility with your champion via networking 

  11. You can use events to build champions, but they have to be exclusive, and there can’t be any business chat

  12. Write an email to someone senior to your champion if appropriate giving the champion praise on their diligence

  13. Elevate your champion’s career

    1. Invite your champion to speak at an event you’re hosting

    2. Invite your champion to a podcast

    3. Interview your champion for an industry magazine or blog post

  14. Test your champion and ask

    1. What are they measured on?

    2. Who are they accountable to?

    3. Who was involved in creating the decision criteria?

    4. Who is included in the decision process?

    5. What resources are they in control of or have access to?

  15. Check your network for mutual connections to your champion and ask what they’re like

  16. Ask your champion “In the conversations you’ve been having about my solutions internally, has anyone raised concerned or negative opinions?”

  17. Test your champion has a vested interest in your success and ask them “What happens if we don’t win” to find out what they have on the line from bonuses to awards to promotions

  18. Red flags in champions

    1. No buying experience

    2. Not run any deals in their current company

    3. They won’t overstep

    4. They don’t provide any information you don’t already know

  19. Champions are comfortable with the uncomfortable

  20. No champion is better than a fake champion

 

COMPETITION

 

  1. Types of competition

    1. Rival solutions - natural competitors

    2. Other projects/ initiatives that require the same funds/ resources

    3. The organisation's internal team building on the same funds/ resources

    4. Inertia - the organisation doing nothing

  2. Build vs. buy debates are as political as they are technical

  3.  Signs your deal is headed for inertia blockers

    1. The customer is unwilling or unenthusiastic to build out metrics

    2. You are unable to engage the economic buyer

    3. The decision criteria are undefined or there is no decision process

    4. You haven’t been able to identify a strong enough pain

    5. You are failing at finding other stakeholders interested in sponsoring your deal

    6. There is no compelling event

  4. Before building your competitive strategy consider political, technical and commercial elements

    1. Political 

      1. Who is your competition? Are they known to you?

      2. How were they engaged? Before you? At the same time? What were the circumstances?

      3. Do they have a champion? Who is it? Are they stronger than yours?

    2. Technical

      1. Do you know their strengths and weaknesses?

      2. Do you see any evidence of their presence in the materials you are coming across?

    3. Commercial

      1. How do you usually compare commercially?

      2. What areas of value do you have over your Competition? Are they in the Decision Criteria? If not can you have them added?

  5. Build traps to highlight your strengths and your competitor’s weaknesses

  6. Plan the traps they will set against you and create counter traps

  7. Have a competitive strategy document

 

RISKS

 

  1. Risks sit with both the seller and the customer and are things like deadlines or maternity leave

  2. Mark risks as green, amber and red

  3. The best tool for eradicating risks is your champion

 

CLOSING

 

  1. Your team has to be all-in for MEDDICC to work

  2. Front-line managers are vital for the adoption of MEDDICC

  3. Executives have to be on board

  4. You need to showcase quick wins and celebrate them early

  5. Training never stops

  6. Run MEDDICC reviews

  7. Sales and marketing need to work together

  8. Create your own MEDDICC checklist (pretty much the list you just read)

  9. Create your own closing checklist -  or get some smart hardworking girl to read a book and make one for herself and share it with you: click here

  10. Score each deal on how you performed using MEDDICC breaking it down into each component to assess which area needs improvement. Go back through this list after major deals to reflect

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